It is surprisingly difficult to find a history of the time of Jesus Christ which has not been infected by Christian dogma. Regardless of whether or not we believe Christ was divine, we know that he existed, in some form, and that he and his faith changed the world forever. As such, it's important, even to this non-believer, to understand the place and the time that shaped him. Mr. Korb has done a wonderful job of illuminating the Palestine that Christ knew, reconstructing the customs he would have practiced, the towns he would have known, and even a few of the time's great figures he may have met. In doing so, Mr. Korb edifies us on the ways in which Christ's world was not our world, how so much of what he knew was drenched in the misconceptions that dominate a world without science and scientific inquiry.
Rather than diminish the man, Life In Year One fleshes him out by animating the challenges Christ faced in the form of the corrupt sociopolitical forces at work in 1st century Palestine. Riding shotgun are explanations for the origins of numerous biblical dictates, some of which amuse but many of which enlighten us on the necessary context for what now seem like non-sensical biblical notions. This is a quick and playful read, composed by an author with a sense of humor, an author who attacked his subject with a proper balance of humor and curiosity. Definitely one of the five books you must take with you when you decide to embark upon that time-traveling trip back to the dawn of Christianity. (3/5 Stars)
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