The Final Days of Jesus: The Archaeological Evidence
by Shimon Gibson
Reviewed by Urban C. von Wahlde

Shimon Gibson, one of the more active and respected archaeologists in Jerusalem today, presents his view of the archaeological evidence pertinent to “the final days of Jesus.”

The Jesus Papers
by Michael Baigent
Reviewed by Hershel Shanks

Hershel Shanks exposes the foolishness of The Jesus Papers’ central thesis, and points out the obvious lack of any conceivably reliable evidence regarding the papyrus letters.

Christmas: Festival of Incarnation
by Donald Heinz
Reviewed by John Yeats

With all the lights, Christmas trees, Santa visits and the hunt for presents at crowded malls, have we lost sight of the true meaning of the celebration? Has the commercialization of the holiday stolen our joy in Immanuel and replaced it with a credit card bill?

The Jesus Dynasty
by James D. Tabor
Reviewed by James F. Strange

Tabor’s book is a new historical investigation of Jesus, his royal family, and the birth of Christianity.

The Last Days of Jesus
by François Bovon, Kristin Hennessy, translator
Reviewed by Helmut Koester

This is a learned and masterful evaluation of all the available sources, including the apocryphal Gospel of Peter, testing carefully and critically the historicity of the Gospel accounts of the last days of Jesus.

The First Paul: Reclaiming the Radical Visionary Behind the Church’s Conservative Icon
By Marcus J. Borg and John Dominic Crossan
Reviewed by Jerome Murphy-O’Connor

In this book, Paul’s attitude toward slavery and patriarchy is shown as degrading over time. Borg and Crossan are well known as active participants in the quest for the historical Jesus, but they have not done the homework that would give credibility to their vision of Paul.

The Resurrection
By Geza Vermes
Reviewed by John Merrill

Vermes explains the history of the Jews’ views on life after death and the concept of resurrection. He then describes and investigates Jesus’ resurrection from the dead.

Jesus, the Final Days
By Craig Evans and N.T. Wright
Reviewed by John Merrill

This book begins by describing Roman execution practices and Jewish burial practices in the historical timeframe of the life of Jesus. The book then concludes with the discussion of whether or not the resurrection took place.

Jesus’ Last Night with His Disciples
By Hannaniah O. Pinto and James W. Fleming
Reviewed by Dorothy Resig

In nearly 240 richly illustrated pages, Pinto and Fleming set the Last Supper in the context of Jesus’ teachings and crucifixion, as well as in the broader history of the Exodus, Passover traditions and Roman culture.

The First Christmas
by Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan
Reviewed by John Merrill

The topic of this book is the conception and birth of Jesus as given in the books Matthew and Luke. The joint authors Borg and Crossan address the noticeable differences between the two accounts and give the explanation that the Nativity story was meant to be read as a parable.

The Last Week
by Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan
Reviewed by John Merrill

This book by Borg and Crossan focus on the passion and resurrection stories of Jesus.

The Meaning of Jesus
by Marcus Borg and N.T. Wright
Reviewed by John Merrill

In their book, Borg and Wright discuss how biblical New Testament texts should be interpreted. Borg supports a parabolic interpretation in which the events are symbolic. Wright, in sharp contrast, interprets the events literally. The book is strongly argued and well-written.

Jesus, the Gospels, and Cinematic Imagination: A Handbook to Jesus on DVD
By Jeffrey L. Staley and Richard Walsh
Reviewed by Leonard Greenspoon

This book is a thorough guide to 18 different Jesus films (one for each chapter). Each chapter gives detailed film information such as plot summary, characters, setting and memorable visuals.

The Passion
by Geza Vermes
Reviewed by John Merrill

The Passion seeks to answer the question of who (Jews or Roman authorities) receives the ultimate blame and responsibility for Jesus’ death.

The Nativity
by Geza Vermes
Reviewed by John Merrill

In this work, Vermes dissects and analyses the differences found in Jesus’ birth accounts in the New Testament books of Matthew and Luke.

Jesus and the Eyewitnesses. The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony
By Richard Bauckham
Reviewed by Ben Witherington, III

Bauckham’s presents a seminal study that serves as a road marker for the field. He stresses the importance of eyewitness testimony, and therefore, looks closely at individual accounts, chiefly Papias the Bishop of Hierapolis.

The Nativity Story
A Film Review.
Reviewed by James F. Strange

This film epically brings to life the story of Jesus’ conception and birth. Despite minor blunders, it is both historically and Biblically accurate.

The Beginnings of Christianity. An Introduction to the New Testament
By Howard Clark Kee
Reviewed by Bruce Chilton

Professor emeritus from Boston University, Kee looks at the living communities of people and social conditions of the New Testament time period in order to better understand the scriptural texts.

Busting the Da Vinci Code
By Dan Brown
Reviewed by Ben Witherington, III

With all the ballyhoo over the book and the brand-new movie, get the facts.