The Historical Jesus For Dummies [Paperback]

Catherine M. Murphy PhD (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 5, 2007

Was Jesus of Nazareth a real person? Did all of the events described in the gospels really happen? How was the world Jesus lived in different from our own? In The Historical Jesus For Dummies, you'll discover the answers to these questions and hundreds more.

This accessible, plain-English guide to the life and times of Jesus paints a vibrant picture of his world, examining records in the New Testament and Roman history as well as recent archeological finds that shed new light on his life. You'll find informative explanations of Jesus's birth, infancy, and childhood; meet his followers and enemies; learn about his teachings and miracles, and discover how modern scholars and historians have arrived at these conclusions. This fascinating primer to the real-life Jesus explores:

• The different stories of Jesus in the gospels
• The three quests for the historical Jesus
• The miracles of Jesus
• Jewish society and the influence of Rome in Jesus's time
• The Roman practice of crucifixion
• The politics of Roman-occupied Judea
• What people though of Jesus when he was alive
• The Gnostic gospels and other non-biblical texts of the time
• The top controversies surrounding Jesus
• Portrayals of Jesus in art and film

Complete with a concise account of the spread of Christianity throughout the world, The Historical Jesus For Dummies puts you in touch with the human Jesus who walked the earth and whose teachings changed the world.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Demystifies top controversies surrounding Jesus

Your accessible guide to the life and times of Jesus

Want to know more about Jesus? This plain-English, practical guide paints a vibrant picture of his world, examining records in the Bible and Roman history and exploring recent archaeological finds that shed new light on his life. You get informative explanations of Jesus's infancy, followers, teachings, and miracles, as well as the crucifixion and resurrection.

Discover:

• The different stories of Jesus in the gospels
• The three quests for the historical Jesus
• Jewish society and the influence of Rome in Jesus's time
• The spread of Christianity around the world
• Jesus in art and film

About the Author

Dr. Catherine Murphy is Associate Professor of New Testament at Santa Clara University, where she teaches courses on the Bible, the historical Jesus, gender in early Christianity, and apocalyptic literature. She earned her doctorate in New Testament and early Christianity from the University of Notre Dame, where she worked on the Dead Sea Scrolls publication team. She has traveled frequently to Israel, Greece, Turkey, and Europe and has written two books, Wealth in the Dead Sea Scrolls and in the Qumran Community (2002) and John the Baptist: Prophet of Purity for a New Age (2003). She also gives frequent talks on the Bible, the historical Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and Jesus in film.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: For Dummies; 1 edition (December 5, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470167858
• ISBN-13: 978-0470167854
• Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 0.8 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #294,873 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars HJFD Not Just for Dummies, June 11, 2008

By 

Frederick J. Parrella (San Jose, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Historical Jesus For Dummies (Paperback)

The Historical Jesus for Dummies is a tour de force of scholarship in history, sociology, and theology. It is not just for "dummies" but for anyone who wants to discover the real Jesus of Nazareth or review some of the best current thinking on the subject. This book is informative, readable, and most of all, accurate. It challenges readers to go beyond what they thought they knew about Jesus and find out what history really tells us.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent text for educated people with little or no theological training, April 20, 2009

By 

Sally Vance-Trembath (San Francisco) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Historical Jesus For Dummies (Paperback)

I have been working for 4 years with a group of very well educated adults who have little or no theological training. We rarely find a text that is as helpful and engaging as Prof. Murphy's text. Too often the texts that claim to help "familiarize" are overly simplified. Murphy's writing is elegantly clear and summarizes complex arguments quite nicely. It is a book for the un-initiated who can think. In addition, it is no small task to satisfy the skeptics and the people who stand firmly in their belief in a personal God. Murphy's book satisfies both.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Strong and simple overview of who Christians believe Jesus was, April 3, 2011

By 

Derek Murphy - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Historical Jesus For Dummies (Paperback)

I love the "For Dummies" series - usually they are clean, objective and unbiased. However in the case of historical Jesus research, it's exceedingly difficult to review the evidence without sneaking into the territory of apologetics. Dr. Catherine Murphy, associate professor of Santa Clara, does a fine job in laying out the evidence for the historical Jesus, and the things that modern biblical scholars belief/infer about him. However in a topic as polarized as "Who was the historical Jesus", it would have been nice to at least point out that many researchers and writers have doubted whether Jesus existed at all, how much of the bible is fact and how much literature, which portions of the gospels refer to Jesus the man and which portions were either copied from Jewish/Pagan traditions or later generated by theologically-specific views of early Christian communities.

Murphy does present an excellent overview of the ground "orthodox" researchers stand upon. Whether or not this ground is as firm as they imply is questionable.