"According to the letters of Paul, the Gospel of Mark, Q, and the Gospel of Thomas, Jesus was fatherless. Although Joseph played a minimal role in Jesus' life, for all intents and purposes Jesus grew up without a father. In first-century Galilee, such children were marginalized and excluded from being considered "children of God." Yet Jesus' followers considered him to be just that - the child of God." "Fatherless in Galilee explores the stories of Jesus, who, lacking a father, called upon God to act in this paternal role. Andries van Aarde offers an explanation of the historical figure of Jesus who destroyed conventional patriarchal values by caring for fatherless children within the Palestinian society of his time. Aarde's portrait adds an entirely new dimension to historical Jesus scholarship by convincingly demonstrating that Jesus' own experience of marginalization provided the foundation for his compassionate ministry to society's outcasts."--Jacket.