The Historical Jesus: An essential Reader James H. Charlesworth Recent Years have been an explosion of interest in the historical Jesus. Scholarly portraits of Jesus appear regularly. Television documentaries and national magazines cover the latest manuscript and archeological discoveries pertaining to Jesus, often making sensational pronouncements. How is the student of the Bible to assess these various claims about Jesus? And what difference does understanding his time and place make for theological thinking and historical research? James Charlesworth presents the solid results of modern study into the life and times of Jesus. Concisely yet comprehensively, Professor Charlesworth addresses the major questions of what can be known about Jesus' life and thought. No one today is better equipped to lead students through the thickets of controversy that surround contemporary Historical Jesus research. This Abingdon Essential Guide fulfills the need for a brief, substantive, yet highly accessible introduction to this subject. Drawing on the best in current scholarship, written with the needs of students foremost in mind, and addressed to learners in a number of contexts, this book is the first choice of those who wish to acquaint themselves with the broad scope of issues and perspectives relating to modern quests for the Historical Jesus. It will also be a preferred source for those who want to refresh their knowledge regarding the context within which Jesus lived. James H. Charlesworth is George L. Collord Professor of New Testament Language and Literature and Editor and Director of the Princeton Theological Seminary Dead Sea Scrolls Project. An internationally recognized expert in the Apocrypha and Pseudepigraphia of the Old and New Testaments, the Dead Sea Scrolls, Josephus, Jesus Research, and the Gospel of John, he is the author or editor of over sixty books and countless articles, and a frequent lecturer in public and academic settings.