Donald Senior, CP, Catholic Theological Union, Chicago,

Bible Today

“Required reading on the origins of the criteria of authenticity, their logical problems, ideological underpinnings, and theological implications”

Amy-Jill Levine, Vanderbilt University, USA

http://bloomsbury.com/uk/jesus-criteria-and-the-demise-of-authenticity-9780567377234/

Mark S. Goodacre, Duke University, USA

Jesus: Evidence and Argument or Mythicist Myth, by Maurice Casey, T&T Clark, Jan 2014, £19.99

James F. McGrath, Butler University, USA “In his latest book, Maurice Casey brings his great expertise in historical Jesus studies to bear on the phenomenon of mythicism, the claim that Jesus of Nazareth never existed. Although mythicism is universally rejected by professional historians, it is surprisingly popular on the internet and in a small number of self-published books. Casey's book offers both the scholarly detail needed to deal with the subject seriously, and the sarcastic wit appropriate to the character of the phenomenon. The result is not only informative but also entertaining. Casey's book provides a clear and sufficiently detailed explanation of what mainstream scholarly conclusions are, why and how they are reached, and why professions in the field all but universally find the denialist alternative not merely unpersuasive, but failing to even implement the appropriate methods of scholarly investigation and argument.” –

The good folks at T&T Clark are giving away not one but three Jesus books to one lucky reader of The Jesus Blog. The three books are my and Anthony's co-edited Jesus, Criteria, and the Demise of Authenticity, Helen Bond's amazing The Historical Jesus: A Guide for the Perplexed, and Maurice Casey's new anti-mythicist book Jesus: Evidence and Argument or Mythicist Myth, which I haven't read but promises to be entertaining. Below is some more information on each of the books, but here's how you can enter. You can (1) leave a comment below, (2) sign up to follow The Jesus Blog and leave comment saying that you did, (3) share this post on Facebook, Twitter, or any other social media site and leave a comment saying you did (you can leave a comment for each form of sharing), (4) tell us in a comment your favorite book that T&T Clark has ever published, and (5) tell us in a comment your favorite guilty pleasure 80s or early-90s hair band. (Mine is no doubt Poison, with Def Leppard in a real close second.) Don't fail to leave comments, since the way we determine the winner is giving adding up the comments and letting the ol' true number generator decide; so the more comments you have, the better your chance of winning.“[] make[s] a singular contribution by calling for a renewal of how biblical scholarship approaches the quest for the historical Jesus.” – ‘Written by an expert in the historical context of the emerging Christian movement, this is a thoughtful, lucid and intelligent introduction to the historical Jesus, ideal for the new student and the general reader.' –‘This is a gem! Bond manages to canvass an ocean of modern Jesus-scholarship in an impressively concise discussion, clearly and accessibly conveying the basics of each scholar and issue considered, and also crisply representing majority views of scholars on the key historical data and what we can make of them. It is, to my knowledge, the best general-reader-level introduction to the subject available.' - Larry W. Hurtado, University of Edinburgh, UK