Christmas Selection 2020
John Dickson, Is Jesus History? (The Good Book Company, 2019)
Summary: Brilliantly concise and carefully reasoned. Compares the historical record of Jesus to the historical record of other great figures, contextualizing the sources, weighing the strengths and weaknesses, and asking provocative questions.
Key Quote: “At least three aspects of ancient written sources are of great interest to today’s scholars, whether they are studying Alexander the Great or Jesus of Nazareth: What is the date of the writing? What earlier sources are employed in the writing? And how well-preserved are the manuscript copies of the writing? On all three tests, the Gospels and letters of Paul now in the New Testament compare — to put it mildly — well.” - p. 84
Bottom Line: Read this book if you want to better understand the historical basis for the first six letters in “Christmas.”
