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by R. Joseph Hoffman (Foreword by), George Albert Wells (Author)
Did Jesus actually exist as a historical personage roughly corresponding to the various stories given in the four New Testament gospels and other Christian documents? Was he really born in Bethlehem and crucified by Pilate?
In The Jesus Legend, G.A. Wells shows how the story of Jesus developed through telling and re-telling, from an early version in the letters of Paul (who does not mention Jesus in connection with any specific time or place) to the more elaborate and detailed picture later presented in the gospels.
"G.A. Wells knows thoroughly the works of those scholars who, like himself, have devoted much of their lives to asking, 'Who is Jesus Christ?'. In The Jesus Legend, he once again exemplifies first-rate historical investigation and praiseworthy biblical scholarship. I know of no author who has shed more light on the question of how Christianity came into being". -- J.E. Barnhart University of North Texas
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Did Jesus actually exist as a historical personage roughly corresponding to the various stories given in the four New Testament gospels? Was he really born In Bethlehem and crucified by Pilate? These questions are usually answered with an unqualified 'yes', and often with an expression of outrage or ridicule that any such doubts could even be voiced. Yet it is considered quite normal to question the historical existence of other legendary figures, such as King Arthur or William Tell, who, like Jesus, are not attested to by any surviving contemporary records. In The Jesus Legend, G. A. Wells explains how the story of Jesus developed through telling and re-telling, from an early version in the letters of Paul (who does not mention Jesus in connection with any specific time or place) to the more elaborate and detailed pictures later presented in the New Testament gospels. Professor Wells also replies to recent criticisms of his own radical theory of the origin of Christianity.
