The New Testament contains a story about Jesus of Nazareth which has always been understood by the Church to be historically true. It is an account of the life, death, and resurrection of a real person, whose links with history are firmly signalled in the creeds of the early church. Contemporary historical scholarship, on the other hand, has called into question the reliability of the church's version of this story, and thereby raised the question as to whether ordinary people can know its historical truth. In this book, a leading philosopher of religion argues that the historicity of the story still matters, and that its religious significance cannot be captured by the category of "non-historical myth." The commonly drawn distinction between the Christ of faith and the Jesus of history cannot be maintained. The Christ who is the object of faith must be seen as historical; the Jesus who is reconstructed by historical scholarship is always shaped by commitments to faith. Evans looks carefully at contemporary New Testament studies, and the philosophical and literary assumptions upon which it rests, to show that this scholarship does not undermine the confidence of lay people who believe that they can know that the church's story about Jesus is true. His accessible and controversial study will interest all thoughtful Christian readers. -- Publisher description.

The religion of the Incarnation is the religion of Humanity, for religion is bringing to its utmost best the best that is in us. A clearer vision of what Christ is can alone give us the needed vision of man as God intends him to be. "Because as He is, even so are we in this world." (I John 4:7). Less than a divine Christ means less than a redeemed race. Only the Saviour of men can become their Exemplar. To this end was the Son of God manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil. Without that manifestation or incarnation, both true religion and true ethics were impossible. - Foreword