JESUS, A SHORT LIFE
The historical evidence
By John Dickson. Lion. 158 pages. £6.99
ISBN 978 0 745 955 780
This is an accessible book, even for those with little background of studying history.
At the outset Dickson states his intention only to affirm as history ‘those things that the historical critical method can reliably establish and that the consensus of scholars affirms’ (p.14). These things include when and where Jesus lived, his fame as teacher and healer, his preaching about the kingdom of God and warnings of God’s judgment, his rejection by the priestly elite who handed him over to Pontius Pilate, his crucifixion, the fact that numerous people insisted that they saw him alive shortly after his death and that these people established communities that sought to extend his kingdom. In the epilogue, Dickson traces the connections between the historical Jesus and early Christian practice.
