The Hidden Life of Jesus

Book excerpt: The discovery of the so-called Nag Hammadi Library rocked the world. Among the texts discovered in 1945 were some Gospels that modern eyes had never seen. Since then, studies regarding the life and teaching of Jesus of Nazareth have made significant advances. As this new light was cast on one of history's most influential figures (if not the most influential), a dark cloud of doubt moved in almost simultaneously. Had the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John reflected the real Jesus, or was this new attention on the ""hidden"" Gospels about to unveil the ""hidden life"" of the Revealer? The canonical Gospels say very little about the early years of Jesus' life. In fact, Mark and John say nothing. The so-called apocryphal Gospels, on the other hand, say a whole lot. After an analysis of the first two chapters of Matthew and Luke (Part 1), the information found in the so-called apocryphal Gospels is synthesized in story form (Part 2). What should we think of this hidden life? In the end, the reader must decide. But this hidden life is hidden no longer. Of course, that all depends on whether the events they describe actually happened. ""Antonio Pinero's colloquial retelling of legends about Jesus' birth and childhood is taken not only from the New Testament but, more particularly, from a synthesis of many apocryphal gospels. The book is a fascinating introduction to Jesus' career prior to his ministry and is aimed at readers unfamiliar with these 'hidden' years. Editorial chapters provide helpful introductory material. --J. Keith Elliott, Emeritus Professor, The University of Leeds, UK; Editor of A Synopsis of Apocryphal Nativity and Infancy Narratives ""Professor Antonio Pinero deserves to be better known in English-speaking New Testament scholarly circles. In this volume, Professor Pinero plays to his strengths by bringing together discussion of both the canonical Gospels and the non-canonical early Christian gospels. There is plenty here to agree with, as well as a number of things to disagree with, regarding Professor Pinero's various historical and theological assessments, but all readers will benefit from being able to have access to such illuminating and challenging discussion in one compact volume."" --Stanley E. Porter, President, Dean, and Professor of New Testament, Roy A. Hope Chair in Christian Worldview, McMaster Divinity College, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada Antonio Pinero is Chair and Professor Emeritus of Greek Philology at the Complutense University of Madrid. He is an internationally-renowned New Testament scholar, specializing in the language and literature of early Christianity. In 2007, Antonio won the I Finis Terrae Award for his book Los cristianos derrotados.