[PDF] The Quest For The Fictional Jesus eBook

Author : Margaret E Ramey
Publisher : Lutterworth Press
Page : 228 pages
File Size : 31,55 MB
Release : 2017-03-31
Category : Literary Criticism
ISBN : 0718845803

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For almost two millennia, Jesus' story has been retold in various forms and fashions but in the last century a new way of reimagining the man from Galilee has sprung up in the form of novels about the life ofJesus. While the novels themselves are asvaried as their authors, this work aims to introduce readers to some common literary strategies and theological agendas found in this phenomenon by surveying a few prominent examples. It also explores the question of what happens when we examine theintertextual play between these reimaginings and their Gospel progenitors as we allow these contemporary novels to pose new questions to their ancient counterparts. An intriguing hermeneutical circle ensues as we embark on our quest for the fictional Jesus and accompany his incarnations as they lead us back to re-examine the canonical portraits of Jesus anew.

Author : W. Brian Shelton
Publisher : Baker Books
Page : 312 pages
File Size : 50,72 MB
Release : 2018-04-17
Category : Religion
ISBN : 1493413198

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The stories and contributions of the apostles provide an important entrée into church history. This comprehensive historical and literary introduction uncovers their lives and legacies, underscoring the apostles' impact on the growth of the early church. The author collects and distills the histories, legends, symbols, and iconography of the original twelve and locates figures such as Paul, Peter, and John in the broader context of the history of the apostles. He also explores the continuing story of the gospel mission and the twelve disciples beyond the New Testament.

Author : Gerd Theissen
Publisher : SCM Press
Page : 299 pages
File Size : 24,40 MB
Release : 2014-07-24
Category : Religion
ISBN : 0334047897

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Combining New Testament study with the terseness of thriller writing, Theissen conveys the Gospel story in the imaginative prose of a novel. This is a story of our times, or how the gospels might have turned out if they were written by John Le Carre: racy, readable and full of incident.

Author : Bill Zuersher
Publisher : Xlibris Corporation
Page : 317 pages
File Size : 40,34 MB
Release : 2014-06-20
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 1499018495

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The only book you'll ever need to read about Christianity. This remarkable book provides a critical overview of Christian beliefs and the evidence for them. Where did these beliefs come from? Are there good reasons to believe Christianity is true? Bill Zuersher clearly explains each of Christianity's major beliefs. He then proceeds to demonstrate significant difficulties with each of them. The book tackles these beliefs in a logical order, beginning with the problems at the root of virtually all religions, suffering and death, and culminating in their supposed resolution through Jesus. Mr. Zuersher also examines the evidence for Christianity, namely religious writings and the historical fact of the early Jesus movement. He makes the case that this evidence does not support the religion's claims and he provides naturalistic alternative explanations for how its core beliefs arose. In these pages we see the coalescence of Jewish and Zoroastrian religious ideas with those of Greek philosophy and mystery cults, to form the belief system we recognize as Christianity today. The result, Mr. Zuersher argues, is not revealed truth, but rather a human patchwork which contains unwarranted assumptions and logical flaws, all founded upon questionable evidence. Entertaining throughout, it is must-reading for skeptics, apologists, and anyone interested the world's largest religion or the culture wars behind today's politics -- an invaluable resource for students and teachers, writers and debaters.

Author : Michael Haag
Publisher : Profile Books
Page : 437 pages
File Size : 22,25 MB
Release : 2016-03-17
Category : History
ISBN : 1847659381

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Mary Magdalene is a larger figure than any text, larger than the Bible or the Church; she has taken on a life of her own. She has been portrayed as a penitent whore, a wealthy woman, Christ's wife, an adulteress, a symbol of the frailty of women and an object of veneration. And, to this day, she remains a potent and mysterious figure. In the manner of a quest, this book follows Mary Magdalene through the centuries, explores how she has been reinterpreted for every age, and examines what she herself reveals about woman and man and the divine. It seeks the real Mary Magdalene in the New Testament and in the Gnostic gospels where she is extolled as the chief disciple of Christ. It investigates how and why the Church recast her as a fallen woman, it traces her story through the Renaissance when she became a goddess of beauty and love, and it looks at Mary Magdalene as the feminist icon she has become today.

Author : Thomas L. Brodie
Publisher : Sheffield Phoenix Press Limited
Page : 256 pages
File Size : 50,2 MB
Release : 2012
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781907534584

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In the past forty years, while historical-critical studies were seeking with renewed intensity to reconstruct events behind the biblical texts, not least the life of Jesus, two branches of literary studies were finally reaching maturity. First, researchers were recognizing that many biblical texts are rewritings or transformations of older texts that still exist, thus giving a clearer sense of where the biblical texts came from; and second, studies in the ancient art of composition clarified the biblical texts' unity and purpose, that is to say, where biblical texts were headed. The work of tracing literary indebtedness and art is far from finished but it is already possible and necessary to draw a conclusion: it is that, bluntly, Jesus did not exist as a historical individual. This is not as negative as may at first appear. In a deeply personal coda, Brodie begins to develop a new vision of Jesus as an icon of God's presence in the world and in human history.

Author : Bart D. Ehrman
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 209 pages
File Size : 29,19 MB
Release : 2008
Category : Religion
ISBN : 0195343514

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The biblical scholar recounts the events surrounding the discovery and handling of the Gospel of Judas, and provides an overview of its content, in which Judas is portrayed as a faithful disciple.

Author : Ben Witherington III
Publisher : InterVarsity Press
Page : 340 pages
File Size : 35,98 MB
Release : 1997-05-08
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780830815449

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Ben Witherington III offers a comprehensive assessment of what scholars such as John Dominic Crossan, Marcus Borg, Burton Mack and the Jesus Seminar are really saying about Jesus.