New Book: "Boy Jesus" (by Joan Taylor)

Growing Up Judean in Turbulent Times

This looks to be an exciting new book from Joan Taylor, Emerita Professor of Christian Origins and Second Temple Judaism, King’s College London. Taylor is a renowned archaeologist and a great communicator.

Boy Jesus: Growing Up Judean in Turbulent Times

Coming March 11, 2025

Book description:

As a boy, Jesus was a refugee, an outsider, an immigrant in Galilee in which he grew up, and affected by horrific atrocities by the occupying Roman overlords.

All this and more is explored in this scholarly but highly accessible investigation into the world of Jesus, ranging from his birth to his coming of age and beyond. Joan Taylor, a world authority on the history and literature of the first century CE, draws both on the latest archaeological findings and on the historical clues to be found within ancient texts of the period. The result is a book that brings the story of Jesus' childhood clearly and vividly to life as never before, while also pointing to the many ways in which Jesus' experiences as a child are likely to have influenced his life, attitudes, and actions as an adult.

Jeannine Brown Says:

In Boy Jesus, Joan Taylor challenges the view that there is little we can confidently know about Jesus’s early years. She comes to judicious and fresh conclusions about Jesus’s Judean and Davidic heritage, his family, and his Galilean childhood, emphasizing the precarious and at times dangerous contexts in which Jesus grew up. Taylor’s work emerges from her wide- ranging knowledge of ancient Judaism and Christianity, coupled with exceptional historical facility and a disciplined historical imagination. A unique and valuable resource.

Here is a little “teaser” video from Taylor: