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A Shift in Time: How Historical Documents Reveal the Surprising Truth about Jesus Kindle Edition

by Lena Einhorn (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 102 ratings
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Did the Christian Church rewrite history?

In the midst of her research on the historical Jesus, scholar Lena Einhorn stumbled upon a surprising find. While reading through narratives of the Jewish revolt by first-century historian Flavius Josephus, Einhorn encountered a number of similarities to the Bible. These parallels—all limited to a short period of time—include an unnamed and mysterious messianic leader strikingly similar to the Jesus described in the Gospels—only he’s not the peaceful miracle worker we know so well.

Significantly, Einhorn found that historical records consistently place these events (which allude to the conspicuous figure in Josephus’s writings) twenty years later than in the New Testament. Twenty years, with precision, every time.

A Shift in Time explores the possibility that there may have been a conscious effort by those writing and compiling the New Testament to place Jesus’s ministry in an earlier, less violent time period than when it actually happened. In this groundbreaking book, Einhorn argues that when the bible and the accounts of first-century historians are compared side by side, it is clear that the events that shaped the Christian world were not exactly as they seem.

Elements of this emerging hypothesis were included in Einhorn’s previous book,The Jesus Mystery, originally published in Swedish in 2006 and later published in the United States. Much has happened since then and Einhorn has presented her findings in various academic forums. The publication of A Shift in Time marks the first complete presentation of the full details of the hypothesis and a discussion of its conclusions and inevitable implications.

Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Arcade imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in history--books about World War II, the Third Reich, Hitler and his henchmen, the JFK assassination, conspiracies, the American Civil War, the American Revolution, gladiators, Vikings, ancient Rome, medieval times, the old West, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.
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  1. Print length
    242 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Yucca
  5. Publication date
    March 15, 2016
  6. File size
    2513 KB
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Do we really need another book purporting to dig fresh insights out of the New Testament? The surprising answer provided by A Shift in Time is a resounding,'Yes!'" —Mark Adams, best-selling author of Meet Me in Atlantis and Turn Right At Machu Picchu

"What if historians cannot find Jesus because they have been looking in the wrong places? Or, more to the point, the wrong time? That is the suggestion of television documentarian turned New Testament scholar Lena Einhorn, based on a bold and eye-opening new reading of Josephus. Sometimes it takes new eyes to see old things. While she may not convince everyone, her presentation of sources is so meticulous and clear, no one will be able to say after reading A Shift in Time they have not benefitted by immensely widening their horizons and immeasurably increasing their insight." —Professor Robert Eisenman, Author of James the Brother of Jesus and The New Testament Code

“Lena Einhorn shows that there is still gold in Josephus for New Testament researchers to mine. What a fascinating, striking hypothesis! In the manner described by Thomas Kuhn in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, she makes a fresh start from the "anomalous data" which stumped the conventional paradigm and makes it central to a bold new paradigm. The gauntlet is thrown!” —Robert M. Price, Johnnie Colemon Theological Seminary

“Most readers of this book, and especially New Testament scholars, will find its thesis unpalatable and even unacceptable. They should for that reason take its evidence and argument seriously, not just as positive historical proposals but as a challenge to traditional reconstructions of the life and precise setting of Jesus of Nazareth. Those who trust the Gospel portraits as reasonably accurate historically will encounter an alternative that challenges such trust; those who consider these portraits to be substantially products of social memory will also find valuable clues to historical events that may have fashioned that memory. At the very least, this book should make us think.” —Philip R. Davies, Professor emeritus of Biblical studies at the University of Sheffield, Former Director for the Centre for the Study of the Dead Sea Scrolls

"Do we really need another book purporting to dig fresh insights out of the New Testament? The surprising answer provided by A Shift in Time is a resounding,'Yes!'" —Mark Adams, best-selling author of Meet Me in Atlantis and Turn Right At Machu Picchu

"What if historians cannot find Jesus because they have been looking in the wrong places? Or, more to the point, the wrong time? That is the suggestion of television documentarian turned New Testament scholar Lena Einhorn, based on a bold and eye-opening new reading of Josephus. Sometimes it takes new eyes to see old things. While she may not convince everyone, her presentation of sources is so meticulous and clear, no one will be able to say after reading A Shift in Time they have not benefitted by immensely widening their horizons and immeasurably increasing their insight." —Professor Robert Eisenman, Author of James the Brother of Jesus and The New Testament Code

“Lena Einhorn shows that there is still gold in Josephus for New Testament researchers to mine. What a fascinating, striking hypothesis! In the manner described by Thomas Kuhn in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, she makes a fresh start from the "anomalous data" which stumped the conventional paradigm and makes it central to a bold new paradigm. The gauntlet is thrown!” —Robert M. Price, Johnnie Colemon Theological Seminary

“Most readers of this book, and especially New Testament scholars, will find its thesis unpalatable and even unacceptable. They should for that reason take its evidence and argument seriously, not just as positive historical proposals but as a challenge to traditional reconstructions of the life and precise setting of Jesus of Nazareth. Those who trust the Gospel portraits as reasonably accurate historically will encounter an alternative that challenges such trust; those who consider these portraits to be substantially products of social memory will also find valuable clues to historical events that may have fashioned that memory. At the very least, this book should make us think.” —Philip R. Davies, Professor emeritus of Biblical studies at the University of Sheffield, Former Director for the Centre for the Study of the Dead Sea Scrolls

About the Author

Lena Einhorn, MD, PhD, is an acclaimed filmmaker, author, and former medical researcher with a PhD in virology and tumor biology. As a filmmaker, she has written and produced multiple medical documentaries for independent production companies as well as for PBS. Later in her career, she branched out into nonmedical subjects and wrote and directed various award-winning dramas and documentaries, including the series From the Shadows of the Past, which explores three historical puzzles, biblical and nonbiblical. In 2007, her first book on the historical Jesus, The Jesus Mystery, was published in English.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B01C6D0L16
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Yucca (March 15, 2016)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 15, 2016
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 2513 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 242 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 102 ratings

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
102 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Marion Fust Sæternes
5.0 out of 5 stars A Shift in Mind
Reviewed in the United States on August 7, 2017
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A shift in time reads more like a series of lectures than a literary work. - I understand this is because the substance of the book was produced that way, with lectures by Lena Einhorn in settings with peers. The book would have gained from a tighter edit, but this however does not change the fact that it is a page-turner. It is a book that changed my understanding of New-Testament events.

In her previous book (with the Swedish title "Vad hände på vägen till Damaskus?" / "What happened on the Road to Damascus" / English: "The Jesus Mystery") Einhorns (Swedish) writing was more literary in style. That book was also a page-turner, and was humbly, but lucidly written and quite superbly researched. I savored every aha-moment.
Her main thesis in that book is however quite speculative. Few readers probably bought into the main-thesis. Sadly, this might have influenced the books “popularity” negatively. (This is just an assumption by me, not something I know). I highly recommend that book as well! I may re-read it.

In "A Shift In Time" her new thesis is different and seems much more solid. Though the book was clearly not written in a vacuum, as far as I understand it is quite revolutionary.

I am not a historian nor a theologian, but I imagine a "before" and "after" this book. Einhorns excellent study will probably alter our view and framing of many events and create a base for much further study into the time of the New Testament and Jesus’ life.

It shifted my understanding, and I believe it will shift most non-dogmatic readers’ minds.
11 people found this helpful
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Frans J. Vermeiren
4.0 out of 5 stars It’s all about chronology – and war
Reviewed in the United States on June 6, 2016
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On discovering the title of this book on the internet I felt joy, connection and curiosity, as I have been conducting chronological research on the origins of Christianity myself. I ordered and read the book immediately, and now I take the opportunity to write this review, which means something quite special to me. Most of all I see Einhorn as a companion on the road to a full understanding of the origins of Christianity, even though our conclusions on the real course of events are slightly different.

Reading the New Testament Einhorn discovered many subtle references to rebellious activity. But when reading Josephus’s Jewish War and Antiquities she ascertained that rebellious activity was low in the years of Jesus’ ministry (around 30 CE) but that it steeply rose after 44 CE. Einhorn discovered several parallels between events or persons in the ‘earlier’ New Testament and in the ‘later’ Josephus. This brings her to the core of her ‘time shift’ theory: that Jesus was not active under Pontius Pilate but about 20 years later. According to Einhorn the Gospel writers have deliberately shifted the events back in time from the 50s to the 30s of the first century CE because the real founding story was too anti-Roman to be told overtly.

The greatest merit of this book is the clear discussion of the rebellious activity in the middle of the first century CE and its relation to early Christianity as a rebellious faction. The main parallel in her book is the one between Jesus of the Gospels and the rebel leader called the Egyptian in Josephus. Although there are similarities between the two stories, there are major differences also, so in my opinion this parallel is not really convincing.

This brings me to my most important criticism of Einhorn’s theory. Although most of her observations are interesting and worth considering in themselves, Einhorn only explores the first years when rebellious activity rose after a period of relative calm. In a few sentences she touches the culminating period of the rebellion, the war of the Jews against the Romans (66-70 CE), and discusses a couple of parallels during that period, but an in-depth discussion of this period is missing. In my opinion the strongest parallels with the Gospels are to be found not in Josephus’s Jewish War and Antiquities but in his Life. In the first part of the great rebellion, end 66 to mid-67 CE, Josephus was in Galilea as organizer of the rebellion, and it is in his description of this period (together with an event at the end of the siege of Jerusalem) that the most powerful parallels are to be found. It really is a pity that Einhorn, who is so familiar with Josephus’ works in general, has overlooked the most powerful fragments. She also limits herself to the New Testament and to Josephus, while the wider literature of the time (the Apostolic Fathers, the Old Testament Pseudepigrapha and the Dead Sea Scrolls) is also important when researching the true origins of Christianity, not only in the sense of parallel events (here Josephus remains the most important partner) but also in supporting secondary clues and in the understanding of the mindset of the messianistic rebellious movement of the era. The most important conclusion of my research is a 40-year time shift.

Therefore I advise everyone interested in the working method of the Gospel writers and in the historical truth about the origins of Christianity to read Einhorn’s book alongside my ‘A Chronological Revision of the Origins of Christianity’.
50 people found this helpful
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A. Perkins
5.0 out of 5 stars This truth fits with valliant fahy and I’m a total believer
Reviewed in the United States on August 21, 2023
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This book is right. Fits nearly satisfactorily into the Flavian cult is god Jesus spirit hypothesis which I completely am buying into until proven wrong.
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Red Ryder
5.0 out of 5 stars A Comparison in Time
Reviewed in the United States on September 9, 2023
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Einhorn is greatly interested in a Shift in Time as it applies to Jesus. And although he makes several points in his attempt to place the happenings of Jesus to the time of turmoil between Rome and Jerusalem rather than the peaceful years associated with Jesus in the gospels. He fails to draw a definite case for moving Jesus’ life forward 30 or 40 years. But I must say it is a work that serious students of the Christian religion will find more than interesting.
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Susan McCosker
3.0 out of 5 stars Three Stars
Reviewed in the United States on February 5, 2017
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A bit of a stretch, but Einhorn provokes thought and provides questions from the original texts.
2 people found this helpful
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Pghgrl
4.0 out of 5 stars Not for the Casual Reader
Reviewed in the United States on February 20, 2019
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A scholarly work on deviations and parallels between New Testament figures and historical figures. The author presents voluminous pieces of evidence and chronological graphs supporting; and, at times, refuting her hypothesis. I confess I found it to be both fascinating and mind numbing. Not a work for the casually curious reader.
11 people found this helpful
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Jackson H. Snyder
5.0 out of 5 stars For decades I wondered
Reviewed in the United States on March 27, 2019
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Yes, for decades I have been reading the New Testament along with Josephus and have noticed the baffling time differences between historical events in Acts (for instance), Revelation and Josephus - I calculated about 20 years. And sure enough, Lena Einhorn, it a sequel to book The Jesus Mystery, tracks down every "shift" I found and many more. A few 'for instances': the birth of Jesus - over a decade later in Luke than Matthew, several events in the Acts can be compared to similar events in Josephus, who dates them 20 years later, Judas the Galilean and Theudas in Acts 5 - mis-dated and corrected in Josephus, with the "Egyptian" of the Acts and the "Egyptian" of Josephus 20 years difference. Einhorn really doesn't make much of a case for WHY; rather, she leaves it up to the reader to decide that. Yes, this is easily read, written for lay people (but probably not for the inerrancy crowd), and I found several of her comparisons to be fascinating. It really doesn't answer my inquiries, but it begs me to keep looking.
18 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Joseph Bonnar
5.0 out of 5 stars Einhorn versus Carrier?
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 8, 2018
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I read this after I read Richard Carrier's book on the lack of good evidence for Jesus as a Historical figure. He makes an excellent case that the life of Jesus, as portrayed in the New Testamen,t is a work of fiction. (see my review). I then read Lena Einhorn's book 'A Shift in Time' which makes the case for relocating the Jesus story in the 50s AD when Jewish unrest eventually lead to open war with Rome, lead by Messianic figures. As an alternative scenario, it is well worth considering, though these Messianic figures bear little resemblance to the Jesus of the Gospel. He does appear to be a mostly fictional creation, as Carrier suggests.
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Ms. A. L. Goodall
5.0 out of 5 stars but there is enough here (and not speaking any of the ancient languages in which these documents were written I can't check the sources) to hold together a good story. Certainly its as good as the standard ...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 27, 2017
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A very interesting hypothesis. One or two bits of evidence over-egged I think, but there is enough here (and not speaking any of the ancient languages in which these documents were written I can't check the sources) to hold together a good story. Certainly its as good as the standard received story. I particularly like the idea of placing the events against the political/military situation in Palestine and the wider area at the time of the received story and the new hypothesis and asking which one gives the better, more probable fit?
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Dave, Hertford Town
5.0 out of 5 stars A very convincing book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 8, 2019
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This is an important book in trying to find the real Jesus if he had of lived he would of been one of these men in this book, coupled with a mythical god, or gods I believe this is as close as we will ever come to finding to source of Christianity. A must read book.
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Amazon Customer
3.0 out of 5 stars Three Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 4, 2018
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Book itself rather disappointing.
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Ms. V. Whitmarsh
5.0 out of 5 stars enjoyed
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 10, 2018
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Well worth a read, enjoyed it
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