Jesus and Brian: Exploring the Historical Jesus and His Times via Monty Python's Life of Brian by Joan E. Taylor

Abstract

Reviewed by: Jesus and Brian: Exploring the Historical Jesus and His Times via Monty Python'sLife of Brian by Joan E. Taylor Chris L. de Wet Taylor, Joan E. 2015. Jesus and Brian: Exploring the Historical Jesus and His Times via Monty Python's Life of Brian. London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark. Paperback. ISBN 978-0567658302. Pp. 288. $29.95. This engaging edited volume is the product of a conference that took place at King's College in June 2014. The main question the book asks is what we can learn about the historical Jesus from the 1979 Monty Python film, Life of Brian. The conference itself was a great success and even had the involvement of two of the original actors, John Cleese and Terry Jones. Jones was also the director of the film. In my opinion, this book is indeed a must-read for any scholar interested in the study of the historical Jesus. One contributor in the book, James Crossley, even characterises the film as a legitimate part of the quest for the historical Jesus. It is a very accessible and socially relevant book as well that will definitely appeal to a wider audience. Of course, anyone reading the book should view the movie first, which is highly entertaining (if one is amenable to satire, that is). The film is especially known, and even notorious, for its satirical humour. In fact, after reading this volume, I watched the film again and managed to appreciate it anew, particularly its subtle yet clever references to historical Jesus scholarship of the late 1970s. Despite becoming something of a cult classic, the original film had a mixed reception at the time of its release. Most famous are the responses by Malcom Muggeridge and the Bishop of Southwark, Mervyn Stockwood, who felt that the film was blasphemous and that it ridiculed and belittled Christ. Several chapters in the volume engage with the responses by the Church of England, especially the chapters by Richard Burridge and David Tollerton. Burridge looks at the response of the Church to the film, and argues that both Church and academy missed an opportunity to engage creatively with the life of the historical Jesus in wider society. Tollerton looks at the notion of blasphemy, both within the film and in extraneous responses to it, showing how fluid the character of blasphemy can be across various time periods and cultures. [End Page 196] Several chapters in the book also illustrate how scholars may look for critical receptions of primary Jesus-texts in unfamiliar and surprising places, as in the film, and how receptions of primary texts also recreate these primary texts. An overall argument the book successfully makes is that Life of Briancan help us not only to better understand the historical Jesus, but also to better understand ourselves and others as readers of the Gospel texts. The chapter by Joan Taylor, the editor of the volume, challenges readers to rethink the notion of reception exegesis by closing the gap between the primary text and its cultural reception. This is a crucial point in the book, and is nuanced further in the chapters by Bart Ehrman (on parody as historical method) and Paula Fredriksen (on the relationship between exegesis and the invention of tradition). Primary texts are constructed by means of their reception. There are no neutral readings. Rather than trying to avoid cultural receptions of texts, cultural receptions may be used as constructive conversation partners in the process of exegesis. Aspects like satire, parody and humour, in general, are regarded as alternative and creative apparatuses for exegesis and historical analysis. Readers should not assume that the studies in this book are uncritical of the film. Amy-Jill Levine's chapter shows that Life of Briandoes reinforce heteronormative gender stereotypes, but perhaps not intentionally. Rather, when viewers approach the film with their own presuppositions of first-century Galilean society, it becomes easier to reinforce gender and heteronormative stereotypes. Levine does concur that Life of Brian, and some other Python films, actually show how absurd patriarchy can be. It stands to reason that by approaching the historical Jesus through the lens of a film like Life of...