Jesus Legend: New Book by Eddy & Boyd

Once again, Paul Rhodes Eddy and Gregory A. Boyd join forces in writing what seems to me a very interesting book, The Jesus Legend: A Case for the Historical Reliability of the Synoptic Jesus Tradition, to be published by Baker in August 2007.

The description of the book provided by the publisher is as follows:

"Much New Testament scholarship of the last 200 years has seen fit, to one degree or another, to relegate the Jesus tradition as recorded in the Gospels to the realm of legend, i.e., to the realm of fiction. But is this really what the evidence points to? By drawing together recent scholarship from a variety of fields, including history, anthropology, ethnography, folklore, and New Testament studies, Paul Eddy and Gregory Boyd show that the evidence actually supports--rather than refutes--the historical reliability of the Gospels and the existence of Jesus."

"After first presenting the cumulative case argument for the 'legendary Jesus' thesis, the authors proceed to dismantle it and seriously bring into question its viability. In the process, they range through issues such as the historical-critical method, form criticism, oral tradition, the use of non-Christian sources, the writings of Paul, and the Hellenization of Judaism. They come to the conclusion that the view of Jesus embraced by the early church was 'substantially rooted in history.' Here is an important book in the field of Jesus studies, with potential textbook use in courses in New Testament studies and apologetics."

In one of the blurbs for the book, Robert M. Price, Professor of Biblical Criticism, Center for Inquiry Institute, and fellow of the Jesus Seminar has to to say: "I am gratified that my friends and colleagues Paul Eddy and Greg Boyd have taken my work as seriously as they have in this comprehensively researched book. Bravo for their repudiation of any bias of philosophical naturalism! Amen to their urging that the burden of proof is on whomever would reject any bit of gospel tradition as unhistorical. Other than this, I would dispute almost every one of their assertions--but that is why I recommend the book! What can you learn if you only reinforce your own viewpoint? I urge any reader of my books to read this one alongside them!"

Robert Price has successfully increased my appetite for this book. Will the Ringgit strengthen against the US dollars, please?