A Week in the Fall of Jerusalem by Ben Witherington III

A Week in the Fall of Jerusalem by Ben Witherington III ISBN-13: 9780830851737 Paperback: 304 pages Publisher: InterVarsity Press Released: Aug. 14, 2017

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from NetGalley:
It’s A.D. 70. Amid smoke, clamor, and terror, Jerusalem is falling to the Romans, its temple being destroyed. As Jews and Christians try to escape the city, we travel with some of them through an imagined week of flight and faith. In this narrative retelling of events in the ancient church, New Testament scholar Ben Witherington leads us behind the veil of centuries to see and experience the historical and social realities of the epochal event of the fall of Jerusalem.


My Review:
A Week in the Fall of Jerusalem is a narrative retelling mixing nonfiction about the Fall of Jerusalem with fiction about what happened to various Christ followers. The first two or three days focused on what happened in Jerusalem in A.D. 70 when the Romans finally broke into the city. Then the story shifted focus to the scattering of the Christ followers, their plans for the future, and things that had happened to them between A.D. 30 and A.D. 70.

The fictional parts were largely speculative. For example, as Levi (Matthew) flees Jerusalem, he meets other Christ followers, collects stories from Christ's life, then returns to Galilee to finally give up tax collecting and start work on his gospel. Mary, Martha, and Joanna flee to Pella, where Mary Magdalene has been living. Titus, Josephus, and some other people (some purely fictional) also have brief parts.

As the narrative unfolded, various historical and cultural elements were mentioned. The author provided sidebars that gave further information on these topics--things like slaves, taxes, villas, and coins. The author used modern wording and phrasing, so it's an easy read. Overall, I'd recommend this interesting book, though I liked A Week in the Life of Corinth better.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.