... his birth. Crossan explains that the idea of attaching a divine status to a mortal man was not new in the 1st century CE, as with Caesar Augustus or Octavius. The author argues that the infancy stories found in the Gospels of Luke and Matthew concerning Jesus are fictitious. Crossan states that the Lucan account shows a parallel between Jesus and John the Baptist, whereas the Matthean account exhibits a parallel to Moses. He claims that details are dramatically different in both Gospels and that the idea of Jesus' divine conception simply did not occur. He uses a methodological approach to arrive at his controversial conclusions regarding the 'historical' Jesus. Crossan shifts his attention toward the apocalyptical prophet, John the Baptist. He never denies that John did not baptize Jesus, but arrives at a conclusion that Jesus "became the exact opposite of the Baptist." (Crossan, p. 48) The author then ...

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