Two billion people today identify as Christians, with the implication that Jesus is the focus of their relationship with God, and their way of living in the world. Such followers of Jesus are now more numerous and make up a greater proportion of the world's population than ever before. Despite its decline in the West, Christianity is rapidly increasing in areas such as Africa and China. Richard Bauckham explores the historical figure of Jesus, evaluating the sources and concluding that they provide us with good historical evidence for his life and teaching. In order to place Jesus in his proper historical context, as a Jew from Galilee in the early first century of our era, Bauckham looks at Jewish religion and society in the land of Israel under Roman rule. He explores Jesus' symbolic practices as well as his teachings, looks at his public career and emphasises how his actions, such as healing and his association with notorious sinners, were just as important as his words. Bauckham shows that Jesus was devoted to the God of Israel, with a special focus on God's fatherly love and compassion, and like every Jewish teacher he expounded the Torah, but did so in his own distinctive way. With a discussion about the way Jesus understood himself and what finally led to his death as a criminal on a Roman cross, he concludes by considering the significance Jesus has come to have for Christian faith worldwide. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

This Companion's starting point is the realization that Jesus of Nazareth cannot be studied purely as a subject of ancient history, or as "a man like any other man". History, literature, theology and the dynamic of a living, worldwide religious reality appropriately impinge on the study of Jesus. This book therefore incorporates the most up-to-date historical work on Jesus with the "larger issues" of critical method--the story of Christian faith and study, as well as Jesus in a global church and in the encounter with Judaism and Islam.

Drawing on examples from literature, art, and popular culture, as well as theology, this engaging book reveals the importance of the question, "whose was he?" in fully understanding the life and legacy of Jesus.A concise, accessible and engaging exploration of Jesus's life and enduring influenceCharts the changing global status and influence of Jesus, a Galilean Jew born when the ancient Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean world, and how he has come to be honored as the Christ and recognized by billions of people around the worldTraces the reception history of Jesus and his story over the past two millennia, through art, literature, and culture, as well as theologyDraws on a fascinating range of materials - from ancient texts, creeds, and theological treatises, to the visual and dramatic arts, including books like "The DaVinci Code" and films such as "The Passion of the Christ"

The Historical Jesus: Five Views provides readers with an introductory survey to the key issues in the 'quest for the historical Jesus' After a scene-setting historical introduction, prominent figures in the Jesus quest set forth their views and respond to their fellow scholars. The issues are probed with formidable knowledge and honed insight. The contributors are: Professor Darrell L. Bock: Dallas Theological Seminary, Texas; Professor Emeritus John Dominic Crossan: DePaul University, Illinois; Professor Emeritus James D. G. Dunn: Durham University, England; Professor Luke Timothy Johnson: Emory University, Georgia; Professor Robert M. Price: Johnnie Colemon Theological Seminary, Florida.

Who is Jesus? What did he do? What did he say? -Are the traditional answer to these questions still to be trusted? - Did the early church and tradition "Christianize" Jesus? - Was Christianity built on clever conceptions of the church, or on the character and actions of an actual person? These and similar questions have come under scrutiny by a forum of biblical scholars called the Jesus Seminar. Their conclusions have been widely publicized in magazines such as Time and Newsweek. Jesus Under Fire challenges the methodology and findings of the Jesus Seminar, which generally clash with the biblical records. It examines the authenticity of the words, actions, miracles, and resurrection of Jesus, and presents compelling evidence for the traditional biblical teachings. Combining accessibility with scholarly depth, Jesus Under Fire helps readers judge for themselves whether the Jesus of the Bible is the Jesus of history, and whether the gospels' claim is valid that he is the only way to God.

For almost two millennia, Jesus' story has been retold in various forms and fashions but in the last century a new way of reimagining the man from Galilee has sprung up in the form of novels about the life ofJesus. While the novels themselves are as varied as their authors, this work aims to introduce readers to some common literary strategies and theological agendas found in this phenomenon by surveying a few prominent examples. It also explores the question of what happens when we examine the intertextual play between these reimaginings and their Gospel progenitors as we allow these contemporary novels to pose new questions to their ancient counterparts. An intriguing hermeneutical circle ensues as we embark on our quest for the fictional Jesus and accompany his incarnations as they lead us back to re-examine the canonical portraits of Jesus anew.

New York Times bestselling author Kathie Lee Gifford reveals heartwarming, entertaining conversations between people and personalities who both agree and disagree about who Jesus is, his role throughout history, and his presence in our lives today. For decades Kathie Lee has had deep conversations about her faith with anyone who is interested in talking about it. What she discovered early on is most people are very willing to talk about Jesus: atheists, agnostics, Scientologists, Jews, broken-hearted Catholics, confused Baptists, Pentecostals, Sikhs, Buddhists, and Hindus alike. While some of the people Kathie Lee has spoken with do not share her belief that Jesus is the Messiah-as prophesied for centuries by prophets in the Hebrew scriptures-they nonetheless have a universal fascination with Him. This singular man who lived more than two thousand years ago, and never traveled more than one hundred miles from where He was born, managed to change the entire world. Even the way we delineate history (BC/AD) comes from His short thirty-three years of life. In The Jesus I Know, Kathie Lee shares cherished conversations that she's had with others who find Jesus to be an ancient historical figure who somehow continues to be an undeniably magnetic, relevant presence in the modern world. Those conversations include actors like Kristin Chenoweth and Cynthia Garrett, with stories of Craig Ferguson and Kevin Costner, newsmakers and news personalities like Kris Jenner, Megyn Kelly, Jason Kennedy, and Janice Dean, performers like Chynna Phillips Baldwin, Brian Welch, Jimmie Allen, and Jimmy Wayne, hitmakers like Louis York and David Pomeranz, as well as those coming from other faith traditions. Using Kathie Lee's favorite Scripture passages as scaffolding, these thought-provoking exchanges will bring His teachings to life before your very eyes.

Christianity stands or falls by what is believed and thought about Jesus. Brunner's thorough and provocative analysis of the Biblical doctrine of the Person and the work of Christ, establishing Jesus Christ as the Mediator between God and man, not only made the central theme of Christianity live again, but established him as one of the great modern theologians. Why should there be an intermediary between God and mankind Brunner's answer is that what matters supremely is not whether man is 'aware' of, or has a 'feeling' for 'something divine', but whether there is only one 'place' at which God challenges man to decision. The God who is real and alive is the God who confronts man in such a way that man knows that he must act. And Jesus Christ, the Mediator, confronts man with the true and living God. The deity of Christ, the humanity of Christ, the God-Man, the Incarnation, and the Atonement are re-examined and rescued from misunderstanding. The result is a clear and provocative discussion concluding that only in Jesus Christ can we know ourselves as we really are; and only in Jesus Christ can God be known as he really is.

In a book that took eight years to research and write, leading Bible scholar Bart D. Ehrman explores how an apocalyptic prophet from the backwaters of rural Galilee crucified for crimes against the state came to be thought of as equal with the one God Almighty Creator of all things.

Ehrman sketches Jesus's transformation from a human prophet to the Son of God exalted to divine status at his resurrection. Only when some of Jesus's followers had visions of him after his death--alive again--did anyone come to think that he, the prophet from Galilee, had become God. And what they meant by that was not at all what people mean today.

As a historian--not a believer--Ehrman answers the questions: How did this transformation of Jesus occur? How did he move from being a Jewish prophet to being God? The dramatic shifts throughout history reveal not only why Jesus's followers began to claim he was God, but also how they came to understand this claim in so many different ways.

Written for secular historians of religion and believers alike, How Jesus Became God will engage anyone interested in the historical developments that led to the affirmation at the heart of Christianity: Jesus was, and is, God.

This book discusses Irish Passion plays (plays that rewrite or parody the story of the Passion of Christ) in modern Irish drama from the Irish Literary Revival to the present day. It offers innovative readings of such canonical plays as J. M. Synge's The Playboy of the Western World, W. B. Yeats's Calvary, Brendan Behan's The Hostage, Samuel Beckett's Endgame, Brian Friel's Faith Healer and Tom Murphy's Bailegangaire, as well as of less well-known plays by Padraic Pearse, Lady Gregory, G. B. Shaw, Sean O'Casey, Denis Johnston, Samuel Beckett and David Lloyd. Challenging revisionist readings of the rhetoric of "blood sacrifice" and martyrdom in the Irish Republican tradition, it argues that the Passion play is a powerful political genre which centres on the staged death of the (usually male) protagonist, and makes visible the usually invisible violence perpetrated both by colonial power and by the postcolonial state in the name of modernity.

By the signs, wonders and miracles He performed, Jesus manifested His compassion for His creatures and the ultimate reason for his coming into the world - His healing and restoration of mankind. The miracles are presented in three parts. The first deals with the miracles recorded in St Matthew's and St Luke's Gospels, as they are read on the Sundays after Pentecost. The second section treats the signs of the Gospel of St John, and the third part surveys the miracles in St Mark's Gospel.

The Story of Jesus small group video Bible study is a seven-week exploration into the life and ministry of Jesus that is adapted from the original The Story Adult Curriculum. Pulled straight from the pages of the Bible, this study provides individuals and groups of all sizes the opportunity to learn, discuss, and apply Jesus life, work, and teaching to their everyday lives. Pastor and author Randy Frazee presents seven ten-minute teachings on how the story of Jesus intersects with the story of our modern day lives. To understand the Bible, says author and pastor Randy Frazee, you need bifocal lenses, because two perspectives are involved. The Lower Story, our story, is actually many stories of men and women interacting with God in the daily course of life. The Upper Story is God's story, the tale of his great, overarching purpose that fits all the individual stories together like panels in one unified mural. Bestselling author Max Lucado also adds some introductory insights. The Story of Jesus DVD (sold separately) and Participant's Guide are designed for use by individuals as well as groups of all sizes, including small groups and Sunday school and adult education classes. The Story of Jesus Participant s Guide includes DVD teaching notes, discussion questions, between session personal experiences, and also includes seven chapters of the full text of The Story hardcover book as it relates to Jesus, from his birth to the beginning of the church."

Very little is known or recorded about Jesus in his formative years. In the Gospel stories, we witness Jesus' birth and then see him as a young boy of 12 questioning the Rabbis in the Temple in Jerusalem. Following this, he does not reappear until age 30, when he emerges as the potent and stirring rebel baptized by John at the River Jordan. From his unceremonious birth in Bethlehem to his ultimate betrayal in Jerusalem, "Jesus" is a riveting and soul-stirring account of the most remarkable story of all time.

The words Christ spoke from the cross can inform Christians of the purpose, the meaning, the sufferings, and the sufficiency of his death. After an introduction that discusses the nature of Christ's death as natural, unnatural, preternatural, and supernatural, Dr. Arthur W. Pink clearly illustrates the lessons that can be drawn from Christ's words-lessons on forgiveness, salvation, affection, anguish, suffering, victory, and contentment. This comprehensive and accessible volume is useful for both sermon preparation and personal study.

Mater Misericordiae-Mother of Mercy-emerged as one of the most prolific subjects in central Italian art from the late thirteenth through the sixteenth centuries. With iconographic origins in Marian cult relics brought from Palestine to Constantinople in the fifth century, the amalgam of attributes coalesced in Armenian Cilicia then morphed as it spread to Cyprus. An early concept of Mary of Mercy-the Virgin standing with outstretched arms and a wide mantle under which kneel or stand devotees-entered the Italian peninsula at the ports of Bari and Venice during the Crusades, eventually converging in central Italy. The mendicant orders adopted the image as an easily recognizable symbol for mercy and aided in its diffusion. In this study, the author's primary goals are to explore the iconographic origins of the Madonna della Misericordia as a devotional image by identifying and analyzing key attributes; to consider circumstances for its eventual overlapping function as a secular symbol used by lay confraternities; and to discuss its diaspora throughout the Italian peninsula, Western Europe, and eastward into Russia and Ukraine. With over 100 illustrations, the book presents an array of works of art as examples, including altarpieces, frescoes, oil paintings, manuscript illuminations, metallurgy, glazed terracotta, stained glass, architectural relief sculpture, and processional banners.

In The Final Days of Jesus, Mark Smith brings his experience as a classical historian to bear on the life of the historical Jesus, piecing together the volatile political context of first-century Judaea, as well as the lives of Pontius Pilate, Annas, and Joseph Caiaphas. The claim that 'the Jews crucified Jesus' has spawned a long and tragic history of Christian anti-Semitism. Smith challenges this claim through detailed exploration of Roman, Jewish, and Christian written sources and a broad range of archaeological evidence, such as the ossuary of Caiaphas, the 'Hidden Gate', and the rich vein of research devoted to the archaeology of ritual purity. The result is an earthy and nuanced portrait of Jewish life under Roman rule. From his discussion of the multiplicity and brutality of Roman executions to the intricate personal relationships among elites that provided the means of collaboration and redress, Smith details the complex push-pull of forces between Rome and the Temple as they collided in one history-changing week.

In this readable, succinct volume, Keith Fournier portrays the young virgin of Nazareth in a fresh light as an antidote to the spiritual ills of the age. The Prayer of Mary presents humility, simplicity, and selfless love as fitting responses to the loving invitation of God, who visits people in their daily lives and invites them into a relationship with Him.

In Jesus and the Chaos of History, James Crossley looks at the way the earliest traditions about Jesus interacted with a context of social upheaval and the ways in which this historical chaos of the early first century led to a range of ideas which were taken up, modified, ignored, and reinterpreted in the movement that followed. Crossley examines how the earliest Palestinian tradition intersected with social upheaval and historical change and how accidental, purposeful, discontinuous, contradictory, and implicit meanings in the developments of ideas appeared in the movement that followed. He considers the ways seemingly egalitarian and countercultural ideas co-exist with ideas of dominance and power and how human reactions to socio-economic inequalities can end up mimicking dominant power. In this case, the book analyses how a Galilean 'protest' movement laid the foundations for its own brand of imperial rule. This evaluation is carried out in detailed studies on the kingdom of God and 'Christology', 'sinners' and purity, and gender and revolution.

In Jesus and the Chaos of History, James Crossley looks at the way the earliest traditions about Jesus interacted with a context of social upheaval and the ways in which this historical chaos of the early first century led to a range of ideas which were taken up, modified, ignored, and reinterpreted in the movement that followed. Crossley examines how the earliest Palestinian tradition intersected with social upheaval and historical change and how accidental, purposeful, discontinuous, contradictory, and implicit meanings in the developments of ideas appeared in the movement that followed. He considers the ways seemingly egalitarian and countercultural ideas co-exist with ideas of dominance and power and how human reactions to socio-economic inequalities can end up mimicking dominant power. In this case, the book analyses how a Galilean 'protest' movement laid the foundations for its own brand of imperial rule. This evaluation is carried out in detailed studies on the kingdom of God and 'Christology', 'sinners' and purity, and gender and revolution.

An Unlikely Union tells the dramatic story of how two of America's largest ethnic groups learned to love and laugh with each other after decades of animosity. They came from the poorest parts of Ireland and Italy and met as rivals on the sidewalks of New York. Beginning in the nineteenth century, the Irish and Italians clashed in the Catholic Church, on the waterfront, at construction sites, and in the streets. Then they made peace through romance, marrying each other on a large scale in the years after World War II. The vibrant cast of characters features saints such as Mother Frances X. Cabrini, who stood up to the Irish American archbishop of New York when he tried to send her back to Italy, and sinners like Al Capone, who left his Irish wife home the night he shot it out with Brooklyn's Irish mob. The book also highlights the torrid love affair between radical labor organizers Elizabeth Gurley Flynn and Carlo Tresca; the alliance between Italian American gangster Paul Kelly and Tammany's "Big Tim" Sullivan; heroic detective Joseph Petrosino's struggle to be accepted in the Irish-run NYPD; and the competition between Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby to become the country's top male vocalist. In this engaging history of the Irish and Italians, veteran New York City journalist and professor Paul Moses offers a classic American story of competition, cooperation, and resilience. At a time of renewed fear of immigrants, An Unlikely Union reminds us that Americans are able to absorb tremendous social change and conflict-and come out the better for it.

Did Jesus of Nazareth really rise from the dead? Of the many world religions, only one claims that its founder returned from the grave. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the very cornerstone of Christianity. But a dead man coming back to life? In our sophisticated age, when myth has given way to science, who can take such a claim seriously? Some argue that Jesus never died on the cross. Conflicting accounts make the empty tomb seem suspect. How credible is the evidence for--and against--the resurrection? Focusing his award-winning skills as a legal journalist on history's most compelling enigma, Lee Strobel retraces the startling findings that led him from atheism to belief. He examines: The Medical Evidence--Was Jesus' death a sham and his resurrection a hoax? The Evidence of the Missing Body--Was Jesus' body really absent from his tomb? The Evidence of Appearances--Was Jesus seen alive after his death on the cross? Written in a hard-hitting journalistic style, The Case for Easter probes the core issues of the resurrection. Jesus Christ, risen from the dead: superstitious myth or life-changing reality? The evidence is in. The verdict is up to you.

Did Jesus really exist?

The search for the historical Jesus continues to be headline news. Any speculative theory seems to get instant attention as the debate rages about His real identity and the claims made in His name. Did Jesus really exist? Is there real historical evidence that demonstrates that He lived and actually said and did the things the Gospels record? Is there any validity to the speculative claims that the Jesus story was a myth, borrowed from a variety of pagan cultures of the ancient world?

In this follow-up to the book God's Not Dead (that inspired the movie), Man, Myth, Messiah looks at the evidence for the historical Jesus and exposes the notions of skeptics that Jesus was a contrived figure of ancient mythology. It also looks at the reliability of the Gospel records as well as the evidence for the resurrection that validates His identity as the promised Messiah.

This volume presents a collection of papers by scholars from Europe and the USA on a question which is currently again the subject of intensive discussion - the figure of the historical Jesus. One main problem is that of methodology - how in general can history be constructed from texts, how is it possible in this particular case to draw a picture of Jesus the person from the texts about him? This question is placed within the wider context of epistemological and historiographical enquiry. A further major question is that of the relationship between Jesus' work and the development of the Christian faith. Whereas earlier scholars often saw a gap between the two, many of the present contributors put forward a different point of view. In addition, a number of questions of detail are treated which are important for research into the historical Jesus (the law, Jesus' concept of death, judgement and salvation).

In this cultural and intellectual history, David Burns contends that the influence of biblical criticism in America was more widespread than previously thought. Burns proves this point by uncovering the hidden history of the radical historical Jesus, a construct created and sustained by freethinkers, feminists, socialists and anarchists during the Gilded Age and Progressive Era. The result of this exploration is a new narrative revealing that Cyrenus Osborne Ward, Caroline Bartlett, George Herron, Bouck White, and other radical religionists had an impact on the history of religion in America rivaling that of recognized religious intellectuals such as Shailer Mathews, Charles Briggs, Francis Peabody, and Walter Rauschenbusch. The methods and approaches utilized by radical religionists were different from those employed by elite liberal divines, however, and part of a larger struggle over the relationship between religion and civilization. There were numerous reasons for this conflict, but, as Burns argues, the primary one was that radicals used Ernest Renan's The Life of Jesus to create an imaginative brand of biblical criticism that struck a balance between the demands of reason and the doctrines of religion. Thus, while radical religionists like Robert Ingersoll, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Eugene Debs were secular-minded thinkers who sought to purge Christianity of its supernatural dimensions, they believed the religious imagination that enabled modern day radicals to make common cause with an ancient peasant from Galilee was something wonderful. This provocative blend of reason and religion produced a vibrant countercultural movement that spanned communities, classes, and creeds and makes The Life and Death of the Radical Historical Jesus a book that deserves a wide readership in an era when public intellectuals and politicians on both the left and right draw rigid lines between the secular and the sacred.