The Christ Files: How Historians Know What They Know about Jesus

John Dickson

Dec 2010 · Sold by Zondervan

About this ebook

Uniquely among the world’s religions, the central claims of Christianity concern not just timeless spiritual truths, but tangible historical events. At the heart of the of the Christian faith are things that are meant to have happened in Palestine between 5 BC and AD 30. It’s as if Christianity happily places its head on the chopping block of public scrutiny and invites anyone who wants to come and take a swing. Some of Christianity’s claims are so spectacular that they provoke a firestorm of questions, scrutiny, debate, and misinformation whenever they are discussed. The popularity of The Da Vinci Code and the frequent airing of TV documentaries delving into the darker uncertainties of Christianity show that such skepticism flourishes in the Western world today. In The Christ Files you will learn how historians know what they know about Jesus. Historian John Dickson embraces the need to examine Christianity’s claims in the light of history, opening readers to a wealth of ancient sources and explaining how mainstream scholars—whether or not they claim Christian faith personally—reach their conclusions. Christianity arrived on the historical scene at a time of great literary activity. While many texts penned by ancient philosophers, historians, poets, and playwrights can reliably inform us about Jesus himself and about the culture in which he lived, others are not so credible. Dickson skillfully highlights both types of sources along with the historical methods used to study Christianity’s claims. He also shows how historians asses the reliability of available data, and provides an honest but informed perspective on where historical issues are clear-cut and where personal faith comes into play. The Christ Files is a must-read for those looking to expand their understanding of early Christianity and the life of Jesus.

Ratings and reviews

John Dickson is an historian in the Ancient History department at Macquarie University, and in this accessible book, survey’s the sources for Jesus ben Joseph that historians look at, and how they are treated and viewed by mainstream scholarship. It’s probably worth noting what this book is not: it is not a book of Christian apologetics, and although Dickson is a co-director of The Centre for Public Christianity he criticises the way apologists often overplay the historical data and what we can establish from it (he suggests that apologetics and hyper-sceptic mythicists form the opposite fringes of scholarship). Christianity, Dickson says, makes certain historical claims, and this book looks at what can reliably known about Jesus from the historical data, and the methods historians use, whether they have Christian faith themselves or not. Dickson is an excellent writer and communicator, and takes a thorough understanding of scholarly issues and make them accessible without being patronising or simplistic. For anyone who is interested in the state of current historical scholarship regarding Jesus, this survey is highly recommended.

About the author

John Dickson (PhD, Macquarie University) serves as the Jean Kvamme Distinguished Professor of Biblical Evangelism and Distinguished Scholar in Public Christianity at Wheaton College. A speaker, historian, and media presenter, John is the author of more than 20 books, two of which became television documentaries. He also cohosted the documentary For the Love of God: How the Church is Better and Worse Than you Ever Imagined. He is an Honorary Research Associate at the University of Sydney, a Visiting Academic in the Faculty of Classics at Oxford University (2016-2021), and Distinguished Fellow in Public Christianity at Ridley College Melbourne. John presents Australia’s no.1 religion podcast, Undeceptions, exploring aspects of life, faith, history, culture, or ethics that are either much misunderstood or mostly forgotten.