[The European Conservative] The Politics of the Passion

Jesus Christ died unlike he had lived — politically. D. L. Dusenbury urges us to reassess the gospels.

I Judge No One: A Political Life of Jesus. By David Lloyd Dusenbury. Hurst; 302 pages; $29.99.

Was Jesus a politician? In a pathbreaking and meticulous reading of the gospels published last week under the title borrowed from John 8:15 I Judge No One (2022), Budapest-based scholar of religion David Lloyd Dusenbury wrestles with — and ultimately submits to — the evidence that affirms this provocative claim, whilst summoning a healthy dose of nuance. Jesus got by necessity enmeshed in the political fray of 1st century AD Judaea, Dusenbury reasons, but his message to humanity lays eternally beyond politics. Lay readers may be taken aback by the author’s exceedingly crisp, hyper-textualist prose, which makes the reviewer’s work at once a challenge and a necessity. They would, however, be wrong to dismiss the book out of hand, for beneath the cacophony of references lies and important — and heterodox — argument worth heeding.

Continue reading the entire book review at The European Conservative here.