Gospel Truth

The Last Supper, the Virgin Birth, the Resurrection: one by one the great beams of Christianity are being tested. Biblical scholars - once the guardians of Christian theology - are now using the tools of archaeology, anthropology, linguistics, comput... Read more

The Last Supper, the Virgin Birth, the Resurrection: one by one the great beams of Christianity are being tested. Biblical scholars - once the guardians of Christian theology - are now using the tools of archaeology, anthropology, linguistics, computer science, and even particle physics to probe the question "Who was Jesus?" The result is a radical revision of the gospel story that is both surprisingly vivid and, to some people, deeply shocking. In Gospel Truth, Russell Shorto draws the first composite of Jesus the man. With the skill of a seasoned journalist and the passion of an amateur sleuth, he moves from scholarly conclaves in California to archaeological digs in Israel, tracking down the story of the astounding consensus emerging from a varied group of experts. Most important, he tells of the impact the scientific perspective is having now that even scholars working under a conservative Catholic imprimatur agree that much of what we know of Jesus is myth. Many people believe that to move closer to historical and scientific truth is to undermine spiritual truth. But Shorto reports on a profound change in thinking that is under way among the scholars, clergy, and ordinary Christians who believe that the new findings about the life and times of Jesus do not negate Christian faith but in fact give it new life and a secure foundation in the modern world. Less