Sarah Bliss
Dr. Cate
CST
Book Review
October 4, 2014
The Shadow of the Galilean What would you do if you had the opportunity to follow the life of Jesus as it was happening? Would you just stand there or follow and seek more information? In The Shadow of the Galilean, by Gerd Theissen, is a book for the perspective of a fictional Jewish merchant and his journey to discover more information about John the Baptist, Jesus, and a group known as Essenes, the main character does just that and follows the life of Jesus. The author, Dr. Ger Theissen, was born April 24, 1943. He is a German Protestant theologian and New Testaments scholar who received his doctorate in theology in Protestant theology from the University of Bonn in 1968. Afterwards he took a position studying Evangelical Theology there and later obtained his habilitation there as well. In 1978, Theissen became a professor at the University of Copenhagen and since 1980 he has been a professor at the University of Heidelberg. In his personal life, he is married to a psychotherapist named Dr. Christa Schaible and they have two children. Other works he has authored…show more content… The Essenes were a group of people of Second Temple Judaism that some scholars think seceded from the Zadokite priests; they were a considerably smaller sect than the Pharisees and the Sadducees. On his quest through the Dead Sea wilderness, Andreas and his companions come across Baruch, who was a banished Essene, and told him to come along on their quest and they got enough information for the report for the Romans through him. Andreas gives facts of the community, as it is one focused on religious associations that pursues ridged monogamy, follows a distinctive almanac and still pays taxes to the Temple (pg
