Studying the Historical Jesus: A Guide to Sources and Methods

Interest in the historical Jesus continues to drive much of today's discussion of the Gospels. The vexing question is how the Jesus presented in the Gospels relates to the Jesus that actually walked this earth. Studying the Historical Jesus is an introductory guide to how to go about answering that question by doing historical inquiry into the material found in the Gospels. Darrell Bock introduces the sources of our knowledge about Jesus, both biblical and extrabiblical. He then surveys the history and culture of the world of Jesus. The final chapters introduce some of the methods used to study the Gospels, including historical, source, form, redaction, and narrative criticisms. Bock offers an informed, scholarly approach that takes the Gospels seriously as a source of historical information. By doing so, he provides a sound alternative to the skeptical or radical approaches to Jesus that frequently make the headlines.