Killing Jesus: A History by Bill O'Reilly (Book Review)

Killing Jesus

A History

by Bill O'Reilly

& Martin Dugard

259 pages

Henry Holt, 2013

history / religious

Read in 5 days

Rating: ★★

Amazon | BN

"To say that Jesus of Nazareth was the most influential man who ever lived is almost trite."

Review: I finished this book last week but it's taken me this long to write a review of it because the end bothered me so greatly I wanted to calm my frustration first. I'm not 100% calm but I think I can manage a review less scathing than what I had in mind the second I finished it. Where to begin? How about what I liked? The Afterword.

Yep, you read the correctly, my favorite part was the chapter after the last chapter that most people don't even read anymore nowadays! And trust me, after reading the last 2 or 3 chapters I almost wasn't going to read the Afterword, but figured I might as well since I read over 200 pages already! The reason I liked it was because it gives brief descriptions of what happened to the main players in the story of Jesus, namely the disciples. Admittedly, these are stories I didn't know because it's never dawned on me to be remotely interested in their lives as much as I was/am in the life of Jesus.

Otherwise, I found Killing Jesus to be lacking in a discernible flow the way Killing Lincoln did. I realize there was a lot to cover, what with all the different bad guys and their story and history as well as how Jesus lived, but for all the 200+ pages written I got no sense of his life. With Killing Lincoln I felt like I was in the mind of Boothe and walking in the shoes of Lincoln. It all felt very real. Maybe because it was in a relative time period? Whatever the reason I felt there was too much "fact" and not enough story. And then what little story was there didn't match up to what I know the story of Jesus to be.

Again, I realize O'Reilly wasn't going for the faith based aspect of Jesus' life, more the facts and what could be proven. Fine, I get that. But there were two things left out towards the tail end; the first is when Jesus is carrying the cross through town, he falls, and a young woman is able to walk over to him and give him a cup of water without the guards noticing her. The other is while on the cross one of the two men on either side of him speaks and Jesus says something along the lines of, "forgive them Father for they know not what they do." Those two moments are left out! Were they not provable? Did they not happen? If so then say that cause I was confused as to why they were left out. I know it couldn't have been for the sake of space. I know that can't be it because a good chunk was wasted on telling the story of Caesar which I felt could have been condensed down to a few pages. We all (I hope) know his story and didn't need to hear it again. And all those pages on the ancestry of the evil people surrounding the life of Jesus could have been left out as well. They felt more like fillers than a means to move the story along.

I honestly never thought this book would disappoint me the way that it has. And while I have no interest in the story of Killing Kennedy, I hope it (as well as his other Killing Series books) is better told than this one.

Summary: Millions of readers have thrilled by bestselling authors Bill O’Reilly and historian Martin Dugard's Killing Kennedy and Killing Lincoln, page-turning works of nonfiction that have changed the way we read history.

Now the anchor of The O’Reilly Factor details the events leading up to the murder of the most influential man in history: Jesus of Nazareth. Nearly two thousand years after this beloved and controversial young revolutionary was brutally killed by Roman soldiers, more than 2.2 billion human beings attempt to follow his teachings and believe he is God. Killing Jesus will take readers inside Jesus’s life, recounting the seismic political and historical events that made his death inevitable – and changed the world forever.

To learn more about Bill O'Reilly visit his site here.

WWW Wednesdays (October 23)

What are you currently reading: Killing Jesus by Bill O'Reilly and Matt Dugard

What did you recently finish reading: Brave New World by Aldous Huxley & The Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie

What do you think you'll read next: The Prodigal Son (Frankenstein Book #1) by Dean Koontz

Read of the Town: Killing Jesus

If you haven't heard this book mentioned on the news or seen an interview with Bill O'Reilly about the book, you must be living under a rock. Ever since the book has been released into the general public he's been hammered by both Right Wing extremists and of course, Leftists but for different reasons. Right Wingers who profess themselves to be devout Christians do not think it appropriate for someone like Bill O'Reilly (a known political talking head of sorts on Fox News) to be writing a book about Jesus Christ, no matter his intentions. Then there are the Leftists who also profess themselves to be Christians, but believe Jesus Christ was a socialist and would have carried the banner for Obamacare if he were alive today. No matter what you believe, my understanding of this book is it's NOT meant to be taken as a sixth Gospel or as any stand-alone religious book about Jesus Christ whatsoever. This is meant to be a book about Jesus Christ the living breathing man who walked this Earth and how He was able to influence hundreds of millions (some say close to two billion) of people to drop their very livelihood to follow Him.

I've read Killing Lincoln which was written by both Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard. One thing I learned from watching the countless interviews done about this book is it will be a part of a 6 book series that will involve using the word "Killing..." in the title of course. Hey, if it ain't broke, don't fix it!

Because I now know it will be a 6 book series I'll probably buy Killing Camelot (aka Killing Kennedy) just so I can complete the set as they come out. I wasn't really interested in the assassination of Kennedy the way I was/am about Lincoln's but if it's even half as well written with combining a facts and an actual storyline then I'll probably like it as well.

If you've ever been interested in the facts about Lincoln, or Kennedy, and now Jesus Christ, but don't want to be bored by a textbook-style book then this is just what you've been looking for. Both these men have come up with a great recipe for success by taking the story and actually telling the facts as a story.

I've already got this book in my ever-expanding library of books yet to be read but knowing this will be a great and quick read I have jumped it to the head of the line to be my next read after I finish my second collaboration read of Brave New World by Aldous Huxley with Alaina (That's What She Read).

Summary:

Millions of readers have thrilled by bestselling authors Bill O’Reilly and historian Martin Dugard's Killing Kennedy and Killing Lincoln, page-turning works of nonfiction that have changed the way we read history.

Now the anchor of The O’Reilly Factor details the events leading up to the murder of the most influential man in history: Jesus of Nazareth. Nearly two thousand years after this beloved and controversial young revolutionary was brutally killed by Roman soldiers, more than 2.2 billion human beings attempt to follow his teachings and believe he is God. Killing Jesus will take readers inside Jesus’s life, recounting the seismic political and historical events that made his death inevitable – and changed the world forever.