The Jesus Legend: A Case for the Historical Reliability of the Synoptic Jesus Tradition

Much New Testament scholarship of the last 200 years has seen fit, to one degree or another, to relegate the Jesus tradition as recorded in the Gospels to the realm of legend, i.e., to the realm of fiction. But is this really what the evidence points to? By drawing together recent scholarship from a variety of fields, including history, anthropology, ethnography, folklore, and New Testament studies, Paul Eddy and Gregory Boyd show that the evidence actually supports, rather than refutes, the historical reliability of the Gospels and the existence of Jesus.

After first presenting the cumulative case argument for the 'legendary Jesus' thesis, the authors proceed to dismantle it and seriously bring into question its viability. In the process, they range through issues such as the historical-critical method, form criticism, oral tradition, the use of non-Christian sources, the writings of Paul, and the Hellenization of Judaism. They come to the conclusion that the view of Jesus embraced by the early church was 'substantially rooted in history.'

Gregory A. Boyd, formerly professor of theology at Bethel College, is senior pastor of Woodland Hills Church. He is the author of many books, including the critically acclaimed Seeing Is Believing and the best-selling Gold Medallion Award-winner Letters from a Skeptic.

Paul R. Eddy is assistant professor of biblical and theological studies at Bethel College and coeditor of Divine Foreknowledge: Four Views.

Skeptical answers to the question of what can be historically known about Jesus of Nazareth have elicited from evangelical authors a plethora of responses. This one, by biblical scholar Eddy (Bethel Univ.) and megachurch pastor Boyd (Woodland Hills Church, Maplewood, MN), is certainly among the best. It is accurate, up-to-date, grounded in a critical but fair understanding of its opponents’ positions, and thoroughly situated within the academic literature (the authors have also produced Lord or Legend?: Wrestling with the Jesus Dilemma, for a general readership). Eddy and Boyd understand and accept the value of critical biblical studies, and they avoid much of the defensiveness that characterizes the genre, e.g., as seen in Michael J. Wilkins and J.P. Moreland’s Jesus Under Fire: Modern Scholarship Reinvents the Historical Jesus. Philosophically, the authors do not question the metaphysical usefulness of a naturalist/supernaturalist dichotomy, and their treatment of deconstruction is shallow. However, they are on firmer footing in biblical studies, offering compelling, nuanced critiques of tradition-critical readings of the Gospels and helpful surveys of relevant external and archaeological data. Highly recommended for all academic libraries.—Steve Young, McHenry Cty. Coll., Crystal Lake, IL

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Reviewed by david s. (olathe ks), September 17, 2007

this book aims to disarm the theories that the Jesus of the new testament is nothing more than myth and legend. there is a lot of info in this work and it covers lots of grounds, deals with philosophical presuppositions against the supernatural, the historical nature and reliability of the new testament gospel accounts and more. I give it only 3 stars because it is basically a rehash of typical christian apologetics along the lines of Norman Geisler, William Lane Craig, Josh McDowell, and the like. Don't get me wrong, there is plenty to ponder in these trains of thought and this book, but these types of works being apologetic in nature are a little less interested in being as objective as possible (a tough thing ) and instead these types of books are really grinding an axe which may cause some skewing of the issues. of course the same is true of the skeptics and their works. anyhow this work is worth checking out for an updated typical conservative christian apologetic work on safeguarding the new testament Jesus idea from "doubters", but again that's about all it really is. for a much more objective study, yet still a conservative one, Michael McClymond's Familiar Stranger is a gem! CBD has it too.

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