To most people on the planet, the existence of Jesus is a given: “Of course he did!” They take it for granted that he existed simply because it reaffirms their faith. But to the rest of us who don't believe in a supernatural Jesus, the question of the historicity of Jesus is not simple. There are thousands of different ideas about to what extent the Jesus tales were based on a real man, or men, or woman... Did Jesus even exist, and if not, what best explains the rise of such a character in the New Testament? That is where John W. Loftus and Robert M. Price come in. Each with decades of experience in the fields of theology and Christian history, Loftus and Price have compiled essays from some of the top authorities on Jesus mythicism to establish the world's first academic catalogue of mythicist beliefs. Experts who provided chapters include David Fitzgerald, Joseph Atwill, Michael Lockwood, and more! The question is no longer simply, "Did Jesus even exist?" In this compilation, you'll find yourself questioning everything about the Christ story and how it truly began.

A new theory: The Gospel of Mark began as a play performed in Rome 90-95 CE, and produced by Flavia Domitilla, a Roman aristocrat. Author takes a director's point of view to systematically uncover the play beneath Mark's condensed, literary text. Illuminates early Christianity. For scholars in biblical studies or ancient theater.

Professor Wells argues that there was no historical Jesus, and in thus arguing he deals with the many recent writers who have interpreted the historical Jesus as some kind of political figure in the struggle against Rome, and calls in evidence the many contemporary theologians who agree with some of his arguments about early Christianity. The question at issue is what all the evidence adds up to. Does it establish that Jesus did or did not exist? Professor Wells concludes that the latter is the more likely hypothesis. This challenge to received thinking by both Christians and non-Christians is supported by much documentary evidence, and Professor Wells carefully examines all the relevant problems and answers all the relevant questions. He deliberately avoids polemic and speculation, and sticks so far as possible to the known facts and to rational inferences from the facts.

In Did Jesus Exist? historian and Bible expert Bart Ehrman confronts the question, "Did Jesus exist at all?" Ehrman vigorously defends the historical Jesus, identifies the most historically reliable sources for best understanding Jesus’ mission and message, and offers a compelling portrait of the person at the heart of the Christian tradition. Known as a master explainer with deep knowledge of the field, Bart Ehrman methodically demolishes both the scholarly and popular “mythicist” arguments against the existence of Jesus. Marshaling evidence from within the Bible and the wider historical record of the ancient world, Ehrman tackles the key issues that surround the mythologies associated with Jesus and the early Christian movement. In Did Jesus Exist?: The Historical Argument for Jesus of Nazareth, Ehrman establishes the criterion for any genuine historical investigation and provides a robust defense of the methods required to discover the Jesus of history.

Why would anyone think Jesus never existed? Isn't it perfectly reasonable to accept that he was a real first century figure? As it turns out, no.NAILED sheds light on ten beloved Christian myths, and, with evidence gathered from historians across the theological spectrum, shows how they point to a Jesus Christ created solely through allegorical alchemy of hope and imagination; a messiah transformed from a purely literary, theological construct into the familiar figure of Jesus ' in short, a purely mythic Christ.

Christians believe that Jesus is the Messiah and the Savior of the human race, who died for the sins of humanity on the cross (1 Cor. 15:3). The next verse adds the essential “that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.” In Jesus’ Death and Burial, Michael Alter critically surveys the writings of leading Christian apologists about Jesus’ death and burial, and then explains why detractors and skeptics cannot accept the New Testament claim that Jesus died on the cross and received a tomb burial. The Resurrection and Its Apologetics is an in-depth series that significantly contributes both to the academic and non-academic world reviewing and analyzing the most salient claims put forward in defense of Jesus’ death, burial, and bodily resurrection from the dead.

The Real Jesus Myth is what happens when a retired (but still cynical) journalist, who is also a retired (but still cynical) Anglican priest, decides to answer some of the questions tossed at him about the Christian Faith. Many people don’t know enough about the nuts and bolts of Christian belief – “doctrine” to use an unpopular word. This isn’t their fault: most mainline churches put “social justice” issues front and centre while doctrine, evangelism and apologetics gather dust in the rear pews. This may be one reason so many mainline churches are scrambling to stay afloat and, if so, why it’s long past time to re-emphasize the fundamentals of the Faith. The Real Jesus Myth is a (fairly) orthodox look at the Christian Faith centered around the Nicene Creed and bookended by comments on everything from why the bible is God’s word to why orthodoxy isn’t as scary as you may think. It is written both for Christians and for the curious non-Christian but one caution – the author is an ex columnist and police reporter, not a theologian, so don’t expect this to read like a textbook.