Product Overview
Distinctive features of this book: 1. Comprehensive historical approach, with evidence from ancient Judaism, Christianity, and paganism. 2. Based on ancient archaeological and literary sources, including Dead Sea scrolls, abundantly quoted. 3. Focuses on the problems of the early churches. 4. Considers those problems as the source of gospel stories and sayings of Jesus. 5. Applies advanced methods of biblical research. 6. Incorporates new research on the life and death of Jesus, and the origins of Christian baptism, the Lord's Supper, and Gnosticism.
How did Christianity begin? What did Jesus actually say and do? Was he only a myth? Was he human or divine? What new information do the Dead Sea scrolls provide? Other Jewish sources? Christian writings? Greco-Roman archaeology? Etc. Here the author presents the conclusions to which the ancient sources lead. This book is the product of 50 years of personal research in libraries, museums, and archaeological sites. It is written for both scholars and the general public.
