Tuesday, September 06, 2011

The Historicity of Jesus

I subscribe to Biblical Archaeology Review, and receive e-mails letting me know about all things archaeological. Today this came from BAR: "Did Jesus Exist? An Essential Guide to the Evidence Jesus Existed. James H. Charlesworth summarizes the historical evidence of Jesus." It's a review of Princeton New Testament scholar Charlesworth's The Historical Jesus: An Essential Guide. Because I am continuously full-immersion-baptized in Jesus-scholarship, I kindled it.

Here's a tidbit I can't resist quoting. In the midst of looking at Tacitus and Josephus and their Jesus-references, Charlesworth writes: "The references to Jesus by a Roman historian [Tacitus] and a Jewish historian [Josephus] disprove the absurd contention that Jesus never lived, a claim made by authors, often not scholars..." (p. 35)