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Christmaker: A Life of John the Baptist
Meet the real John the Baptist.
For many, John the Baptist is a footnote in the gospels—Jesus’s unkempt forerunner. But if we look closer, John emerges as a fascinating and influential religious leader in his own right.
Esteemed New Testament scholar James F. McGrath turns his critical eye to overlooked details in Scripture and long-neglected sources to discover who John the Baptist really was. McGrath covers the well-known events of John’s life, from his miraculous conception to his execution at the hands of Herod Antipas. Along the way, he introduces key context about John’s social and religious world that fleshes out John’s character. John becomes a rebel son of a priest. An innovator of ritual. A mentor of Jesus.
McGrath also explores John’s far-reaching impact on the history of religion. Aside from his influence on Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, John is also revered by the Mandaeans, the last extant gnostic sect, who consider themselves John’s faithful disciples. This fresh look at the life of John the Baptist will fascinate any reader interested in John, Jesus, and their dynamic world.
For many, John the Baptist is a footnote in the gospels—Jesus’s unkempt forerunner. But if we look closer, John emerges as a fascinating and influential religious leader in his own right.
Esteemed New Testament scholar James F. McGrath turns his critical eye to overlooked details in Scripture and long-neglected sources to discover who John the Baptist really was. McGrath covers the well-known events of John’s life, from his miraculous conception to his execution at the hands of Herod Antipas. Along the way, he introduces key context about John’s social and religious world that fleshes out John’s character. John becomes a rebel son of a priest. An innovator of ritual. A mentor of Jesus.
McGrath also explores John’s far-reaching impact on the history of religion. Aside from his influence on Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, John is also revered by the Mandaeans, the last extant gnostic sect, who consider themselves John’s faithful disciples. This fresh look at the life of John the Baptist will fascinate any reader interested in John, Jesus, and their dynamic world.
182 pages, Paperback
Published June 11, 2024
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June 8, 2024
Most Christians know the name of John the Baptist. He appears at Advent preparing the way for Jesus and then on Baptism of Jesus Sunday, he appears again at the Jordan where he baptized Jesus. There are other references but those are the primary places we find him in the liturgical calendar. Many have a certain picture of John. He's probably dressed similarly to a caveman or maybe the crazy guy with the sandwich board who yells at people on the street corner telling them to repent or they'll go to hell. Of course, there's his diet of locusts and wild honey. Finally, many will know the story of his demise on orders of Herod Antipas after Herod's stepdaughter dances before him. We know parts of the story, but is there more to the story? Could our perceptions of John be off the mark? The answer is probably, yes we've gotten much of the story wrong.
If we have gotten things wrong, we will need a corrective. Fortunately James McGrath has done just that in Christmaker: A Life of John the Baptist. This volume is offered as an accessible introduction to the life of John the Baptist. A second volume on the life of John the Baptist is also appearing, but the second volume is a scholarly version titled John of History, Baptist of Faith: The Quest for the Historical Baptizer. I plan on offering a review of the more in-depth volume, but I would like to introduce you to this volume. Although I thought I knew something about John the Baptist, I discovered that there is much more to the story than I had imagined. From the Gospels, we are led to understand John serving as the precursor to the ministry of Jesus. He was called by God to prepare the way for Jesus, and therefore he would play a secondary role in the story. But, what if Jesus started out as one of John's followers and then took leadership of that movement after John's arrest and execution? Then there is the question of where John got his start. Where did he get the idea of using baptism as a means of calling people to repentance with the offer of forgiveness?
McGrath, who teaches New Testament literature and language at Butler University, has taken a special interest in John, in part because John factors into the Mandean religious community, a community McGrath has a scholarly interest in. Therefore, he brings the Mandean accounts of John's life and ministry into his retelling of John's life. Thus, he draws on the Gospel accounts, Mandean accounts, Josephus, and other apocryphal accounts that deal with John's life and ministry.
When it comes to the origins of John's ministry, McGrath places his sense of call in his upbringing. From the Gospel of Luke, we learn that John was the son of Zechariah a priest. We also learn that his mother, Elizabeth dedicated him to God, likely making him a Nazarite. As such, he would not be able to follow in his father's footsteps in serving in the Temple. However, he would sense a call to offer an alternative to the Temple sacrifices, choosing the act of baptism as a means of receiving forgiveness of sins. Baptism was free while it took money to offer sacrifices. Thus, John is a rebellious son.
One important element in the story, when it comes to John's origins is whether he was part of the Essene community. McGrath demonstrates that this is unlikely. Though there are similarities, including protests against the Temple leadership, the Essenes still held out hope of a restoration of the Temple leadership, while John completely repudiated the Temple. Thus, if Jesus was his follower, which I think McGrath has demonstrated here, then Jesus was not part of the Essene community either. What Jesus did was extend and expand John's ministry.
I look forward to the more academic piece, but in itself, this is an important contribution to the Christian story. John does prepare the way for Jesus, but perhaps not in the way we usually understand it. By understanding John's ministry we can gain a better understanding of Jesus' own sense of call. So, take and read. This is really good!
If we have gotten things wrong, we will need a corrective. Fortunately James McGrath has done just that in Christmaker: A Life of John the Baptist. This volume is offered as an accessible introduction to the life of John the Baptist. A second volume on the life of John the Baptist is also appearing, but the second volume is a scholarly version titled John of History, Baptist of Faith: The Quest for the Historical Baptizer. I plan on offering a review of the more in-depth volume, but I would like to introduce you to this volume. Although I thought I knew something about John the Baptist, I discovered that there is much more to the story than I had imagined. From the Gospels, we are led to understand John serving as the precursor to the ministry of Jesus. He was called by God to prepare the way for Jesus, and therefore he would play a secondary role in the story. But, what if Jesus started out as one of John's followers and then took leadership of that movement after John's arrest and execution? Then there is the question of where John got his start. Where did he get the idea of using baptism as a means of calling people to repentance with the offer of forgiveness?
McGrath, who teaches New Testament literature and language at Butler University, has taken a special interest in John, in part because John factors into the Mandean religious community, a community McGrath has a scholarly interest in. Therefore, he brings the Mandean accounts of John's life and ministry into his retelling of John's life. Thus, he draws on the Gospel accounts, Mandean accounts, Josephus, and other apocryphal accounts that deal with John's life and ministry.
When it comes to the origins of John's ministry, McGrath places his sense of call in his upbringing. From the Gospel of Luke, we learn that John was the son of Zechariah a priest. We also learn that his mother, Elizabeth dedicated him to God, likely making him a Nazarite. As such, he would not be able to follow in his father's footsteps in serving in the Temple. However, he would sense a call to offer an alternative to the Temple sacrifices, choosing the act of baptism as a means of receiving forgiveness of sins. Baptism was free while it took money to offer sacrifices. Thus, John is a rebellious son.
One important element in the story, when it comes to John's origins is whether he was part of the Essene community. McGrath demonstrates that this is unlikely. Though there are similarities, including protests against the Temple leadership, the Essenes still held out hope of a restoration of the Temple leadership, while John completely repudiated the Temple. Thus, if Jesus was his follower, which I think McGrath has demonstrated here, then Jesus was not part of the Essene community either. What Jesus did was extend and expand John's ministry.
I look forward to the more academic piece, but in itself, this is an important contribution to the Christian story. John does prepare the way for Jesus, but perhaps not in the way we usually understand it. By understanding John's ministry we can gain a better understanding of Jesus' own sense of call. So, take and read. This is really good!
December 21, 2024
Every once in a while I come across a book that I finish, set down, and immediately want to discuss with everyone and anyone. This is one such book,
Only to find that it's near impossible to find someone else who has read it.
More people need to read this. While I had points of disagreement, it is inspired, fascinating, illuminating and important. Not to mention a perfect compliment for the Christmas season too.
At the core of this book is the idea that "Jesus and John were linked, not just in the minds of their opponents and of early Christian authors but apparently also in the mind of Jesus himself." (P 11). So much so that "If we do not understand John correctly, we will misunderstand Jesus as well."
It is this premise that shines a light not only on how John "prepares the way" for Jesus, but becomes the very model Jesus' ministry is built upon. He sets the stage for the revolutionary spirit that Jesus carries forward. He frames the necessary question in the following way:
Scholars understandably suspect that those texts tell us more about what the gospel author thought the relationship between the Baptist and Jesus ought to be than about what John the Baptist actually said. Yet our earliest sources depict John as talking about someone who would come after him, who would be stronger than he (Mark 1:7–8). A central question that this book answers is how an individual whose contemporaries thought he himself might be the Christ (Luke 3:15) came to be thought of exclusively as the forerunner—or as we put it in the title of this book, the Christmaker. (P 11)
There is a concession early on that notes possible skepticism over how much we can actually say and know about the Baptizer. He clarifies some important shifts in the study of history that open doors not just to the earliest materials containing references and documentation, but on analyzing his influence through extant sources that eclipse his own name. In fact, part of what he is helping to uncover is how John is eclipsed by Jesus in a way that shadows his figure and impact, even as John is clearly integral to that development (Jesus being baptized by John being an important starting point).
He touches on the infancy narrative of John (the stories about Zechariah and Elizabeth in Luke 1 are very similar in style and themes to the stories about Hannah and the wife of Manoah in the Jewish Scriptures (1 Sam. 1–2; Judg. 13) p28. He contextualizes John's choice of clothing (calling it a form of cosplay rooted in his unique family relationship and lineage, caught between the Priestly line of his father and the Nazarite commitments of his mother). He connects details like the wilderness and his weird diet as hyperlinking back to Israel's wilderness wanderings and the manna. He challenges common conceptions of John as an Essene by instead making him a conversation partner with the Essenes.
The body of the book focuses on two key components of John's ministry- his baptism for repentance and his critique of the temple and its centralized position. Proclaiming the forgiveness of sins outside of the temple and playing the role of the priest expressly challenged this centrality by making the practice, which was a baptism rite not a singular act (meaning it was practiced daily), available to all people anywhere as part of the universal nature of Israel's story. This paves the way for Jesus to proclaim the forgiveness of sins apart from the temple and its priests and to challenge the religious order.
Here I push back on the author slightly, even if he is touching on some legitimate points. There is has been so much work lately on correcting misunderstandings of the temple and its practices, and I do wonder if he has fallen into the trap of perpetuating some of these caricatures. There is good reason to believe that domestication of the temple rites in the life of the common household was already widespread, and equal evidence that such notions of forgivness for individual sins was never something tied to those rites in the way the author suggests. If a sin was present, such individuals would be directed to actual reconciliation with the offense and offended. Temple rites were connected with purification of an external space, not repentance.
Which still has relevance connected to John. I just think he overplays his hand here and stands in danger of feeding some supersessionist tendencies. Perhaps some of this will gain further clarity with more reflection, and it's certainty not a point that undercuts the book as a whole. I think these words from his final chapter are fitting:
Yes, from our vantage point, we can see him as Christmaker, especially in relation to Jesus, but also as one whose own prophetic life and vision inspired would-be successors and imitators galore for centuries to come. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, the highest form of praise, then perhaps no one in history has been appreciated as much as John, if we include not only those who emulated him directly but also those who imitated those who themselves patterned their lives on John, his predictions, or both.
Only to find that it's near impossible to find someone else who has read it.
More people need to read this. While I had points of disagreement, it is inspired, fascinating, illuminating and important. Not to mention a perfect compliment for the Christmas season too.
At the core of this book is the idea that "Jesus and John were linked, not just in the minds of their opponents and of early Christian authors but apparently also in the mind of Jesus himself." (P 11). So much so that "If we do not understand John correctly, we will misunderstand Jesus as well."
It is this premise that shines a light not only on how John "prepares the way" for Jesus, but becomes the very model Jesus' ministry is built upon. He sets the stage for the revolutionary spirit that Jesus carries forward. He frames the necessary question in the following way:
Scholars understandably suspect that those texts tell us more about what the gospel author thought the relationship between the Baptist and Jesus ought to be than about what John the Baptist actually said. Yet our earliest sources depict John as talking about someone who would come after him, who would be stronger than he (Mark 1:7–8). A central question that this book answers is how an individual whose contemporaries thought he himself might be the Christ (Luke 3:15) came to be thought of exclusively as the forerunner—or as we put it in the title of this book, the Christmaker. (P 11)
There is a concession early on that notes possible skepticism over how much we can actually say and know about the Baptizer. He clarifies some important shifts in the study of history that open doors not just to the earliest materials containing references and documentation, but on analyzing his influence through extant sources that eclipse his own name. In fact, part of what he is helping to uncover is how John is eclipsed by Jesus in a way that shadows his figure and impact, even as John is clearly integral to that development (Jesus being baptized by John being an important starting point).
He touches on the infancy narrative of John (the stories about Zechariah and Elizabeth in Luke 1 are very similar in style and themes to the stories about Hannah and the wife of Manoah in the Jewish Scriptures (1 Sam. 1–2; Judg. 13) p28. He contextualizes John's choice of clothing (calling it a form of cosplay rooted in his unique family relationship and lineage, caught between the Priestly line of his father and the Nazarite commitments of his mother). He connects details like the wilderness and his weird diet as hyperlinking back to Israel's wilderness wanderings and the manna. He challenges common conceptions of John as an Essene by instead making him a conversation partner with the Essenes.
The body of the book focuses on two key components of John's ministry- his baptism for repentance and his critique of the temple and its centralized position. Proclaiming the forgiveness of sins outside of the temple and playing the role of the priest expressly challenged this centrality by making the practice, which was a baptism rite not a singular act (meaning it was practiced daily), available to all people anywhere as part of the universal nature of Israel's story. This paves the way for Jesus to proclaim the forgiveness of sins apart from the temple and its priests and to challenge the religious order.
Here I push back on the author slightly, even if he is touching on some legitimate points. There is has been so much work lately on correcting misunderstandings of the temple and its practices, and I do wonder if he has fallen into the trap of perpetuating some of these caricatures. There is good reason to believe that domestication of the temple rites in the life of the common household was already widespread, and equal evidence that such notions of forgivness for individual sins was never something tied to those rites in the way the author suggests. If a sin was present, such individuals would be directed to actual reconciliation with the offense and offended. Temple rites were connected with purification of an external space, not repentance.
Which still has relevance connected to John. I just think he overplays his hand here and stands in danger of feeding some supersessionist tendencies. Perhaps some of this will gain further clarity with more reflection, and it's certainty not a point that undercuts the book as a whole. I think these words from his final chapter are fitting:
Yes, from our vantage point, we can see him as Christmaker, especially in relation to Jesus, but also as one whose own prophetic life and vision inspired would-be successors and imitators galore for centuries to come. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, the highest form of praise, then perhaps no one in history has been appreciated as much as John, if we include not only those who emulated him directly but also those who imitated those who themselves patterned their lives on John, his predictions, or both.
December 26, 2024
I want to start by saying that any critiques I have of this book may be attenuated after I read the other volume McGrath published on John. He put out two books for this research project, the present volume, which is very much geared to a lay/non-expert audience, and a second, much more academic volume.
That said, on the whole, this is a good book. It’s well written, for the most part, and very engaging. McGrath puts forward a lot of interesting ideas and provides at least enough argument for all those ideas to be possible, if not necessarily likely.
However, McGrath often makes or implies claims and arguments that feel very much like a stretch, and these don’t receive enough discussion or support in the text. If these are better supported in his John of History, Baptist of Faith, that would be fantastic, because I like many of these ideas. McGrath attempted to write a scholarly monograph in that work, and a popular biographical account in this one.
He did a decent job of it, and frankly made fewer unsupported and unsubstantiated claims and assumptions than someone like NT Wright did in his book about Paul. This might just be because of my own preferences and biases, but I’d have preferred a book with maybe another 50 pages of supporting material, which is why I’m not giving this 5 stars. For the genre (semi-academic, popular biography of long-dead religious figure), it’s much better than the vast majority I’ve encountered, though.
That said, on the whole, this is a good book. It’s well written, for the most part, and very engaging. McGrath puts forward a lot of interesting ideas and provides at least enough argument for all those ideas to be possible, if not necessarily likely.
However, McGrath often makes or implies claims and arguments that feel very much like a stretch, and these don’t receive enough discussion or support in the text. If these are better supported in his John of History, Baptist of Faith, that would be fantastic, because I like many of these ideas. McGrath attempted to write a scholarly monograph in that work, and a popular biographical account in this one.
He did a decent job of it, and frankly made fewer unsupported and unsubstantiated claims and assumptions than someone like NT Wright did in his book about Paul. This might just be because of my own preferences and biases, but I’d have preferred a book with maybe another 50 pages of supporting material, which is why I’m not giving this 5 stars. For the genre (semi-academic, popular biography of long-dead religious figure), it’s much better than the vast majority I’ve encountered, though.
February 24, 2025
I found this book fascinating. I am not religious scholar so I feel as if I was the audience that this book was made for. Learning more about John the Baptist was my goal going into this and I can say this book accomplished that and then some. I fully believe that John did lead the way for our savior Jesus and he should be marked as a hero of our faith.
February 12, 2025
Meeting John for the First Time
James F. McGrath, the Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University, has released a “first-of-its-kind” academic study on the historical John the Baptist. Looking through the gospels and stringing the common threads (Synoptic and otherwise), non-biblical sources, and gnostic texts, Dr. McGrath paints a vivid, and wholly convincing, argument about the person that John was and his influence during his time.
Like the aforementioned examples of the gospel authors addressing rumors or falsehoods (at least from how closely aligned it was to the belief at the time in the respective group writing about it), we can learn a great deal about John and how he affected the socio-polical environment at the time. I don’t wish to give any spoilers, but even the fear of Herod (Matthew 14:1–2) that John the Baptist had returned from the dead should tell the reader John wasn’t just known for dunking people in water.
Truly I cannot stop thinking about the connections in this book. While I, personally, have dug deep into the life of the historical Jesus and his family I am dumbfounded by how I could ignore such a vital figure in Jesus’ story. I’ve admittedly only read Christmaker, (what I would classify as pop-theology for lay readers) but I fully intend to read John of Faith, Baptist of History, (the more scholarly work) as well. Dr. McGrath’s writing and arguments, not only gave me a fresh perspective on John the Baptist, but a new look on the chronology of the Bible and how much closer the sayings may be to what Jesus actually said. In situations where I felt the author was putting later events on the lips of Jesus, McGrath convinces me that that may not be the case.
Even more exciting is the prospect that John’s influence was so great that it even touched the apostle Paul. We could rightly assume, since John was Jesus’ mentor (a person must be of higher spiritual authority to offer baptism to another) then we could rightly assume Paul ran with those teachings as well, given his obvious reverence for Jesus. However, it’s not in places you might expect. That is the wonder of Christmaker.
Thank you, Dr. McGrath, for my new hyperfocus and a better framing for the ministry of Jesus, his mentor John the Baptist, and all who followed after him.
James F. McGrath, the Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University, has released a “first-of-its-kind” academic study on the historical John the Baptist. Looking through the gospels and stringing the common threads (Synoptic and otherwise), non-biblical sources, and gnostic texts, Dr. McGrath paints a vivid, and wholly convincing, argument about the person that John was and his influence during his time.
Like the aforementioned examples of the gospel authors addressing rumors or falsehoods (at least from how closely aligned it was to the belief at the time in the respective group writing about it), we can learn a great deal about John and how he affected the socio-polical environment at the time. I don’t wish to give any spoilers, but even the fear of Herod (Matthew 14:1–2) that John the Baptist had returned from the dead should tell the reader John wasn’t just known for dunking people in water.
Truly I cannot stop thinking about the connections in this book. While I, personally, have dug deep into the life of the historical Jesus and his family I am dumbfounded by how I could ignore such a vital figure in Jesus’ story. I’ve admittedly only read Christmaker, (what I would classify as pop-theology for lay readers) but I fully intend to read John of Faith, Baptist of History, (the more scholarly work) as well. Dr. McGrath’s writing and arguments, not only gave me a fresh perspective on John the Baptist, but a new look on the chronology of the Bible and how much closer the sayings may be to what Jesus actually said. In situations where I felt the author was putting later events on the lips of Jesus, McGrath convinces me that that may not be the case.
Even more exciting is the prospect that John’s influence was so great that it even touched the apostle Paul. We could rightly assume, since John was Jesus’ mentor (a person must be of higher spiritual authority to offer baptism to another) then we could rightly assume Paul ran with those teachings as well, given his obvious reverence for Jesus. However, it’s not in places you might expect. That is the wonder of Christmaker.
Thank you, Dr. McGrath, for my new hyperfocus and a better framing for the ministry of Jesus, his mentor John the Baptist, and all who followed after him.
June 5, 2024
One colleague described me as "a noted John the Baptist fangirl." This book challenged some of my views about John but did not diminish my enthusiasm.
August 6, 2024
Christmaker is an examination of the life of the historical John the Baptist. The author takes a critical, historical approach to the life of John the Baptist, but the book is written for a lay audience and not academics. The book is well researched and presents an interesting portrait of a figure who has a largely been eclipsed by Jesus of Nazareth.
May 25, 2024
Thought proving book. McGrath has spent a good bit of time studying John the Baptist and the Mandeans who revere him. Most of the book is spent teasing out insights about John from the biblical texts. Like the fact that some saw Jesus as “John the Baptist raised to life” suggests that the two were viewed as very similar. The author argues that Jesus spent most of his time as a disciple of John’s and that many of the apostles were initially followers of John. 4/5 stars because a lot of what he says in this book is speculative - and not proved or cited. Still- Highly recommended.
July 11, 2024
The main thesis of this book is that John the Baptist is an underappreciated figure in his own right — his story having become sort of a brief intro on the way to the story of Jesus — and that there’s much we can learn by attempting a biography of John himself.
The author (to my mind) sometimes goes beyond the evidence a bit — for example, inferring from the parallels between Elizabeth’s story and the story of Samuel’s birth that John’s mother must have made a Nazirite vow for him, which is an interesting idea but a little thin as a load bearing foundation to base much of the entire rest of the book on. McGrath is also the only scholar I’ve ever encountered who prefers the Gospel of John’s dating of Jesus’s temple demonstration to the beginning of his ministry rather than the end, and I’m not sure he spends enough time selling why every other scholar alive is wrong about that.
But with those few nitpicks aside, this book is a unique and fascinating ‘biography’ of an important figure. McGrath threads the needle very well between reasonable scholarly skepticism about ancient sources versus not throwing out every line of ancient evidence too quickly. He balances our typical sources (the gospels, Acts, the works of Josephus) and fills in historical context around them, while also bringing in Mandaean traditions that no scholar I’m aware of has added to the mix. (Did you know there is a Gnostic sect — still around today! — that follows John the Baptist and may go back to his early inner circle? I didn’t!)
Overall I highly recommend this book. Even the most seasoned reader of early Christian history will learn things they never knew, and even if some of the links in the chain seem like a stretch to me, I think in total, McGrath makes a persuasive case that John is one of the most influential and under-studied figures in the history of religion.
The author (to my mind) sometimes goes beyond the evidence a bit — for example, inferring from the parallels between Elizabeth’s story and the story of Samuel’s birth that John’s mother must have made a Nazirite vow for him, which is an interesting idea but a little thin as a load bearing foundation to base much of the entire rest of the book on. McGrath is also the only scholar I’ve ever encountered who prefers the Gospel of John’s dating of Jesus’s temple demonstration to the beginning of his ministry rather than the end, and I’m not sure he spends enough time selling why every other scholar alive is wrong about that.
But with those few nitpicks aside, this book is a unique and fascinating ‘biography’ of an important figure. McGrath threads the needle very well between reasonable scholarly skepticism about ancient sources versus not throwing out every line of ancient evidence too quickly. He balances our typical sources (the gospels, Acts, the works of Josephus) and fills in historical context around them, while also bringing in Mandaean traditions that no scholar I’m aware of has added to the mix. (Did you know there is a Gnostic sect — still around today! — that follows John the Baptist and may go back to his early inner circle? I didn’t!)
Overall I highly recommend this book. Even the most seasoned reader of early Christian history will learn things they never knew, and even if some of the links in the chain seem like a stretch to me, I think in total, McGrath makes a persuasive case that John is one of the most influential and under-studied figures in the history of religion.
August 28, 2024
James F. McGrath has done groundbreaking work for the past several years in the study of John the Baptist. I have been startled to learn how this specific field of New Testament studies has been neglected. McGrath has been translating texts which were previously ignored, lifting out stories from surrounding confusion, and putting it together in this volume intended for popular reading. (There is also a scholarly version of McGrath's studies on the way for you folks at university.)
I have been interested to learn more about the history of the Baptist all my life, but it didn't seem like much was out there. McGrath unearths every detail. He fleshes out the stories by adding the background that a historian knows. And he cuts back any overgrowth of popular nonsense that obscure history. E.g. the Baptist's long hair makes a modern day person think of a runaway at a commune, or maybe picturing Robin the Caveman in Ghosts UK. But people of the day saw the hair designating John as a pledged holy man.
I learned a great deal of how the Baptist introduced so much of the theology that Jesus practiced into the world. I will need to re-read the book a time or two to absorb it all.
P.S. This is a book with a focus on history. I know many religious folks are put off by this approach. If you are one of those, this may not be for you. Otherwise I highly recommend it.
I have been interested to learn more about the history of the Baptist all my life, but it didn't seem like much was out there. McGrath unearths every detail. He fleshes out the stories by adding the background that a historian knows. And he cuts back any overgrowth of popular nonsense that obscure history. E.g. the Baptist's long hair makes a modern day person think of a runaway at a commune, or maybe picturing Robin the Caveman in Ghosts UK. But people of the day saw the hair designating John as a pledged holy man.
I learned a great deal of how the Baptist introduced so much of the theology that Jesus practiced into the world. I will need to re-read the book a time or two to absorb it all.
P.S. This is a book with a focus on history. I know many religious folks are put off by this approach. If you are one of those, this may not be for you. Otherwise I highly recommend it.
October 10, 2024
Summary: A life of John the Baptist making the case that he was a far more important figure than just the opening act for Jesus.
When I learned of this book, I realized that I had never given John the Baptist a great deal of thought. You might say I just considered him the opening act, perhaps somewhat eccentric, for Jesus. James F. McGrath contends that John was far more influential than that, not only with Jesus, but also with other religious movements that sprang from his influence. For example, he points to the Mandaeans, a gnostic sect still in existence. They see themselves as faithful disciples of John. Not only does McGrath seek to argue for the influence of John. He also sets out to “offer a full-fledged biography of John the Baptist.”
McGrath begins with John’s beginnings, the child of Zechariah the priest and Elizabeth. He explores why john did not follow his father as a priest but rebelled. He argues there is a good case, given John’s dress and diet, that Elizabeth had dedicated him as a Nazirite. This conflict in the family drove him into the wilderness, and to an alternative to the temple system of sacrifices–a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. He took an act of purification or initiation for converts and turned it into a challenge to the temple system. He laid the basis for Jesus to speak of “Destroying this Temple” and his act of purifying it.
His wilderness ministry was to “the Lost Sheep of Israel,” diverse groups who were not only on the cultural margins but, in the case of some sects, on the theological margins. McGrath explores how this interplay led to the emergence of Gnostic groups who connected to John, even when John would not have embraced their ideas. John’s preaching of “one who is to come” would have attracted multiple aspirants to that role. Given John’s prophetic role, many thought John to be speaking of a coming king, and several aspirants died at Roman hands as a result.
McGrath goes on to explore the ways Jesus ministry reflected that of John. Both taught on prayer, spoke in parables, proclaimed justice and a coming rule of God. McGrath also explores the accounts of John’s death at the hands of Herod Antipas and the growing focus of Jesus on inaugurating his rule through death.
Finally, he concludes by considering evidence for the widespread influence of John, beyond his influence on Jesus. In addition to Mandaeism, he notes influences upon Islam, Manichaeism, and his immersion practices on religion in India. Aside from Mandaeism, this seemed the most speculative part of the work, subject to alternate explanations. But he raises questions worth further inquiry.
McGrath, looking at the fine details, particularly of Luke’s account, finds discrepancies and is candid about them. He argues against either trying to harmonize the accounts or just treating them as literature, abandoning the pursuit of history. Instead he adopts an approach of “seeking the gist of what was remembered as that which is most likely correct, while recognizing that individual details can and will be wrong in any source.” I would question whether the approach in the first part of this statement requires the conclusion of the latter part. I wonder if a belief in the trustworthiness of scripture might call for acknowledging but suspending judgment on the apparently discrepant details while focusing on the gist of the text.
Overall, I found this to be an illuminating study. I had not thought about the rebellion against vocation that John’s wilderness represented. I had not considered his influence as a “Christmaker,” not only with Jesus but others. Nor had I considered the ways he might have influenced the ministry of Jesus. I’m also weighing personally his “takeaways,” which I will leave for you to discover!
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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.
When I learned of this book, I realized that I had never given John the Baptist a great deal of thought. You might say I just considered him the opening act, perhaps somewhat eccentric, for Jesus. James F. McGrath contends that John was far more influential than that, not only with Jesus, but also with other religious movements that sprang from his influence. For example, he points to the Mandaeans, a gnostic sect still in existence. They see themselves as faithful disciples of John. Not only does McGrath seek to argue for the influence of John. He also sets out to “offer a full-fledged biography of John the Baptist.”
McGrath begins with John’s beginnings, the child of Zechariah the priest and Elizabeth. He explores why john did not follow his father as a priest but rebelled. He argues there is a good case, given John’s dress and diet, that Elizabeth had dedicated him as a Nazirite. This conflict in the family drove him into the wilderness, and to an alternative to the temple system of sacrifices–a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. He took an act of purification or initiation for converts and turned it into a challenge to the temple system. He laid the basis for Jesus to speak of “Destroying this Temple” and his act of purifying it.
His wilderness ministry was to “the Lost Sheep of Israel,” diverse groups who were not only on the cultural margins but, in the case of some sects, on the theological margins. McGrath explores how this interplay led to the emergence of Gnostic groups who connected to John, even when John would not have embraced their ideas. John’s preaching of “one who is to come” would have attracted multiple aspirants to that role. Given John’s prophetic role, many thought John to be speaking of a coming king, and several aspirants died at Roman hands as a result.
McGrath goes on to explore the ways Jesus ministry reflected that of John. Both taught on prayer, spoke in parables, proclaimed justice and a coming rule of God. McGrath also explores the accounts of John’s death at the hands of Herod Antipas and the growing focus of Jesus on inaugurating his rule through death.
Finally, he concludes by considering evidence for the widespread influence of John, beyond his influence on Jesus. In addition to Mandaeism, he notes influences upon Islam, Manichaeism, and his immersion practices on religion in India. Aside from Mandaeism, this seemed the most speculative part of the work, subject to alternate explanations. But he raises questions worth further inquiry.
McGrath, looking at the fine details, particularly of Luke’s account, finds discrepancies and is candid about them. He argues against either trying to harmonize the accounts or just treating them as literature, abandoning the pursuit of history. Instead he adopts an approach of “seeking the gist of what was remembered as that which is most likely correct, while recognizing that individual details can and will be wrong in any source.” I would question whether the approach in the first part of this statement requires the conclusion of the latter part. I wonder if a belief in the trustworthiness of scripture might call for acknowledging but suspending judgment on the apparently discrepant details while focusing on the gist of the text.
Overall, I found this to be an illuminating study. I had not thought about the rebellion against vocation that John’s wilderness represented. I had not considered his influence as a “Christmaker,” not only with Jesus but others. Nor had I considered the ways he might have influenced the ministry of Jesus. I’m also weighing personally his “takeaways,” which I will leave for you to discover!
____________________
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.
January 8, 2026
The author attempts to write a biography of John, using various sources and traditions. The criterion of embarrassment, that the early Christian writers probably wouldn't have included details that went against their narrative unless there was a historical reason they couldn't be avoided, comes into play, as the Son of God appearing to be a follower of a different preacher could be controversial. But John was a well-known figure who was considered a necessary part of an account of Jesus. He's right there at or near the beginning of all four canonical Gospels. It's interesting that McGrath thinks Jesus and John being related, as the Gospel of Luke indicates, might actually be true, as connections in that time and place were usually made through families. He also points out that the similarity of John's birth story to that of Samuel might not have just been a repetition of an existing story, but a reflection of how John's parents might themselves have made that connection. His father Zechariah is described as a priest, while John himself essentially presented an alternative to the Temple in his use of immersion in water to forgive sins, something that had some basis in earlier Jewish tradition but would mostly have been a new thing. It's also mentioned that the common image of John as some sort of wild man isn't really accurate and is largely a misinterpretation of the way he's described. He casts doubt on the statement in Mark that Herod Antipas didn't initially want to have John executed, comparing it to how unlikely it was that Pontius Pilate thought Jesus was innocent; they're both attempts by later writers to shift the blame. And there's a story in the Protoevangelium of James that interrupts the story of Jesus to tell how his parents saved him from Herod the Great's massacre of the innocents, and includes the detail that Herod thinks John would be the one to take his place as king. Also frequently referenced is the Mandaean Book of John, from a Gnostic religious group mostly active in Iran for whom John is the most important prophet. I found a copy of this book online that was translated by McGrath.
June 3, 2024
A fascinating, interesting and enlightening look into the llfe and influence of John the Baptist. In recent years I have become interested in the influence that John may have had with regards to the life and ministry of Jesus. This book investigates the far reaching influence of John's life, the importance of his view of baptism which circumvented the long held view of animal sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins, his gathering of large crowds, that he had disciples of which Jesus was one, and much more.
Especially interesting was how the author connected the dots regarding John's role in Christianity beyond what we have been told i.e his role as Elijah to Jesus' messiah. Also fascinating was how many of Jesus' teaching were not only influenced by John, but learned from John while a disciple of John's. As well as JOhn was not the wildman in the wilderness that he has been protrayed as being.
How the author also guves us new insights of John's death and how Jesus knew that should he follow in John's footsteps he too, would face a similar fate.
John's story along with a few others such as Thomas, Judas, James (jesus' brother) and Mary Magdalene have interested me and what role they played and how they have been protrayed. And I believed that the true impact of John has not been adequately explored...that he has been, while obviously being acknowledged, has been left on the periphery in scripture.
This book assists in rectifying that.
Highly recommended deservedly so. I will return to this book again.
Especially interesting was how the author connected the dots regarding John's role in Christianity beyond what we have been told i.e his role as Elijah to Jesus' messiah. Also fascinating was how many of Jesus' teaching were not only influenced by John, but learned from John while a disciple of John's. As well as JOhn was not the wildman in the wilderness that he has been protrayed as being.
How the author also guves us new insights of John's death and how Jesus knew that should he follow in John's footsteps he too, would face a similar fate.
John's story along with a few others such as Thomas, Judas, James (jesus' brother) and Mary Magdalene have interested me and what role they played and how they have been protrayed. And I believed that the true impact of John has not been adequately explored...that he has been, while obviously being acknowledged, has been left on the periphery in scripture.
This book assists in rectifying that.
Highly recommended deservedly so. I will return to this book again.
August 11, 2025
Much of what we think we know about John the Baptist is wrong. So James McGrath argues in this fascinating biography, one of two books he released in 2024 on John.
“John was less recluse and wild man, than an articulate intellectual of profound moral and spiritual vision,” he writes.
McGrath draws many provocative conclusions from available texts and visits to Middle Eastern sites associated with John’s ministry.
People who skip over scriptural references to John in their rush to get to Jesus and miss the influence the former had on the latter risk misunderstanding Jesus, he says.
And John was better known than Jesus when both men were teaching.
John decided not to follow in his father’s footsteps as a temple priest, ignoring the hereditary nature of that role. He chose instead to become a prophet, a critic of the temple practice of requiring animal sacrifices for the forgiveness of sin.
He was an itinerant speaker whose way with words drew admiring crowds and worried temple and secular leaders alike.
John was a rebel and martyr revered in Christian and Muslim circles. He baptized Jesus and had a major influence on some of Jesus’ teachings.
In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus’s disciples ask him to teach them how to pray in the same way that John taught his disciples to pray.
Or consider Jesus’ words in Luke 7: “I tell you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John.”
This book is well-argued and well worth buying.
“John was less recluse and wild man, than an articulate intellectual of profound moral and spiritual vision,” he writes.
McGrath draws many provocative conclusions from available texts and visits to Middle Eastern sites associated with John’s ministry.
People who skip over scriptural references to John in their rush to get to Jesus and miss the influence the former had on the latter risk misunderstanding Jesus, he says.
And John was better known than Jesus when both men were teaching.
John decided not to follow in his father’s footsteps as a temple priest, ignoring the hereditary nature of that role. He chose instead to become a prophet, a critic of the temple practice of requiring animal sacrifices for the forgiveness of sin.
He was an itinerant speaker whose way with words drew admiring crowds and worried temple and secular leaders alike.
John was a rebel and martyr revered in Christian and Muslim circles. He baptized Jesus and had a major influence on some of Jesus’ teachings.
In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus’s disciples ask him to teach them how to pray in the same way that John taught his disciples to pray.
Or consider Jesus’ words in Luke 7: “I tell you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John.”
This book is well-argued and well worth buying.
July 13, 2024
A radical and highly interesting portrait of John the Baptist that really does justice to his importance in history. However, I would advise interested readers to wait until October for the longer and more academic treatment the author is releasing as a counterpart to this book called 'John of History, Baptist of Faith'. 'Christmaker' is short and aimed at a wide audience, and information that is only teased at here (such as the impact of John on the Q Source, Gnosticism, and Mandeanism) will be much more expanded in that. I was also irritated by quite a few claims and statements made here that didn't have scriptural citations or secondary literature footnotes (particularly in the first half); I'm unsure if this is because of the less academic nature of this book (doubtful because the author uses thorough citations in other parts) or simply an oversight (perhaps due to a rushed trimming down of the longer book). Regardless, the upcoming longer work or this particular book for the more casually interested reader are essential reading for anyone interested in Christian origins.
September 30, 2024
A wonderful little book digging into the history of John the Baptist—what we know, what we can infer, what we might guess. An imaginative work of scholarship, packaged for lay people. McGrath does a good job at clearly explaining his research and marking the difference between what he thinks he can prove and what is more speculative.
I learned a lot and found it really thought provoking. His explanations of the significance of John's baptism and the deep connection underlying some of the apparent differences between John's ministry and Jesus's, in particular, are very good.
I learned a lot and found it really thought provoking. His explanations of the significance of John's baptism and the deep connection underlying some of the apparent differences between John's ministry and Jesus's, in particular, are very good.
February 20, 2025
Really glad I ordered this book to learn more about John the Baptist. Author James McGrath pours a tremendous amount of information in his book from accounts in Scripture, to views of multiple theologians. It was a lot to sort through, but well worth it. A very meaningful and enlightening book.
July 1, 2025
The concept is great, research is rigorous, but the writing, unfortunately, is rather heavy-handed
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