The Evidence for Jesus

by James D.G. Dunn

Book Overview

An acknowledged New Testament authority, James D. G. Dunn here makes an important contribution to contemporary thought. He looks at the origins of Christianity in the light of modern scholarship, demonstrating why Christians should "welcome the critically inquiring and investigative skills of scholars."

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0664246982
• ISBN13: 9780664246983
• Release Date: January 1986
• Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press
• Length: 128 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.6" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

level headed reading, avoiding extremes

this is a splendid little book about the historical Jesus. Deals with some of the issues that bear upon whether or not the Jesus of the new testament is as presented therein. This book is short, and yes, it is a little bit dated, but it is still very relevant and gets to the point. It presents, what I think to be, sane and responsible judgement from a bona-fide new testament scholar. It's not liberal, it's not excessively conservative either, it lingers somewhere in the middle with perhaps just a slight leaning towards a conservative take. But it's well informed and it makes sense. It will not treat all relevant issues, but it's still a good place to start, and not a bad place to come back to from time to time. When dealing with Jesus studies though, one really needs to read a variety of works on the subject in order to be well informed, and thus, able to make sober conclusions. If you are trying to come to grips with the historicity of Jesus/new testament issues, this little book is pretty good, although you will not want to stop with this one. A few others will go a long way towards being more well rounded in Jesus studies. Here are some others that are level headed and sensible- Jesus in His World by Peter Walker, Jesus and The Gospels by Craig Blomberg, The Evidence For Jesus by R.T. France, Who Is Jesus by Thomas Rausch, Familiar Stranger by Michael McClymond, Fabricating Jesus by Craig Evans, Jesus as a Figure in History by Mark Allen Powell, and for a good introduction to the new testament in general, see Early Christianity and It's Sacred Literature by Lee Martin McDonald and Stanley E. Porter (it has some good chapters on Jesus and Jesus studies). None of these are fundamentalist, they are definitely on the conservative side, but not in an obscurantist way. These are serious new testament scholars who know their stuff. These books and the bibliographies in them will introduce one to just about the whole world of Jesus/new tesatment studies. There is enough here to get started, and enough here to stay busy for years.

Good Introduction

James D.G. Dunn is a "centrist" New Testament scholar who has written a large number of books, many focusing on the Apostle Paul. Dunn is one of the leaders of the "new perspective on Paul" movement, which argues that the Reformers misunderstood or overemphasized Paul's teaching on justification by faith (or at least that's what their critics assert they are saying). This relatively small book discusses four questions: (1) the historicity of the Gospels; (2) did Jesus claim to be the Son of God?; (3) what the first Christians believed about the resurrection; and (4) unity and diversity in earliest Christianity. It assumes little or no knowledge of the Gospels and could be studied profitably by beginners and those who are exposed to fanciful stories of Jesus' life (e.g., Jesus married Mary Magdalene and moved to India). The discussion of the resurrection is particularly good, and Dunn shows that there are few parallels to belief in Jesus' resurrection in the pagan or Jewish world of the time. Not everyone will agree with Prof. Dunn's conclusions. For example, he argues that John's Gospel is something of a theological commentary on Jesus' life and that the dispute with "the Jews" reflects the later separation between church and synagogue. Another book, which complements this one and reaches perhaps more conservative conclusions, is F.F. Bruce's THE NEW TESTAMENT DOCUMENTS: ARE THEY RELIABLE?

Concise and Balanced Introduction to Critical Scholarship

If you're looking for an exhaustive treatment of critical scholarship issues, this book is not for you. Its intended audience is the layperson or young college student.Professor Dunn's book deals with four issues which provide a response to the television series, Jesus: The Evidence, which first aired in the mid-eighties, and, according to Dunn, misrepresented the scholarly consensus in early Christian studies. Rather than provide a balanced overview of scholarship, this show favored the eccentric views of a minority of scholars, and thus misled many viewers. This book is a brief reply, and deals with four salient issues:1. The Reliability of the Synoptic Gospels2. Finding the Historical Jesus in the Gospel of John3. Beliefs of the Resurrection in the Early Church4. The Early Church -- Christianity or Christianities?Brief, lucid, and a fine example of deftly blending scholarship with a concern for the contemporary church, this book is a must for every layperson not yet exposed to critical scholarship.

A thoughtful book dealing with tough issues

It is nice to see a book dealing with the tough issues of the day with respect to the new testament and modern scholarship. There are so few authors who are tackling the issues (did the resurrection occur? Was Jesus God? Why do the gospels differ in their accounts? Why do christians disagree on so many points?) that I was surprised to find one that did. I would recommend this book for anyone who struggles with some of these issues and would like to see a thoughtful response. I was so impressed with Professor's Dunn's book, I purchased another, Jesus, Paul, and the Law.