9 Dramatic portrayals
Main article: Dramatic portrayals of Jesus Christ
Jesus has been featured in many films and media, sometimes as a serious portrayal, and other times as satire. Many of these portrayals have attracted controversy, whether they were intended to be based on the Biblical accounts (such as Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ and Pier Pasolini's The Gospel According to St. Matthew) or intentionally added extra material (such as The Last Temptation of Christ). Another recurring theme is the up-dating of aspects of the life of Jesus, or imagining his Second Coming (for example, The Seventh Sign).
In many portrayals Jesus himself is a minor character, used to develop the overall themes. For example, in Ben Hur and The Life of Brian Jesus only appears in a few scenes.
10 Sources and further reading
- The New Testament of the Bible, especially the Gospels.
- Albright, William F. Yahweh and the Gods of Canaan: An Historical Analysis of Two Contrasting Faiths, BooksEnthsiast.com
- Ehrman, Bart Jesus: apocalyptic prophet of the new millennium, BooksEnthsiast.com
- Ehrman, Bart The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings, BooksEnthsiast.com
- Fredriksen, Paula Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews: A Jewish Life and the Emergence of Christianity BooksEnthsiast.com
- Fredriksen, Paula From Jesus to Christ: The Origins of the New Testament Images of Christ BooksEnthsiast.com, BooksEnthsiast.com
- Mendenhall, George E. The Tenth Generation: The Origins of the Biblical Tradition, The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1973. BooksEnthsiast.com. A study of the earliest traditions of Israel from linguistic and archaeological evidence which also treats the teachings and followers of Jesus in that context.
- Mendenhall, George E. Ancient Israel's Faith and History: An Introduction to the Bible in Context, Westminster John Knox Press, 2001. BooksEnthsiast.com. Another, less technical, study of the earliest traditions of Israel from linguistic and archaeological evidence which also treats the teachings and followers of Jesus in that context.
- Pelikan, Jaroslav Jesus Through the Centuries: His Place in the History of Culture, Yale University Press, 1985, hardcover, 270 pages, BooksEnthsiast.com; trade paperback, HarperCollins reprint, 304 pages, BooksEnthsiast.com; trade paperback, Yale University Press, 1999, 320 pages, BooksEnthsiast.com
- Sanders, E.P. The historical figure of Jesus, Penguin, 1996, BooksEnthsiast.com. An up-to-date, popular, but thoroughly scholarly book.
- Sanders, E.P. Jesus and Judaism, Fortress Press, 1987, BooksEnthsiast.com. More specialistic than the previous book, still not inaccessible though.
- Theissen, Gerd & Annette Merz, The Historical Jesus: A Comprehensive Guide, Fortress Press, 2003, BooksEnthsiast.com. An amazing book, tough but rewarding, exceptionally detailed.
- Theissen, Gerd The Shadow of the Galilean: The Quest of the Historical Jesus in Narrative Form. Fortress Press.
- Lewis, C.S. Mere Christianity
- Vermes, Geza Jesus the Jew: A Historian's Reading of the Gospels BooksEnthsiast.com
- Vermes, Geza, The Religion of Jesus the Jew BooksEnthsiast.com
- Vermes, Geza, Jesus in his Jewish context BooksEnthsiast.com
- Walvoord, John F. Jesus Christ Our Lord. Moody Press, 1969. BooksEnthsiast.com
- Wilson, Ian Jesus: The evidence BooksEnthsiast.com
- Yogananda, Paramahansa: The Second Coming of Christ, BooksEnthsiast.com
- In Quest of the Hero:(Mythos Series) — Otto Rank, Lord Fitzroy Richard Somerset Raglan and Alan Dundes, Princeton University Press, 1990, BooksEnthsiast.com
- On Heroes, Hero-Worship, & the Heroic in History — Thomas Carlyle
- The Superhuman life of Gesar of Ling — Alexandra David-Neel (A divine hero still in oral tradition)
- The Jewish historian Josephus allegedly wrote about Jesus in Antiquities, Book 18, chapter 3, paragraph www.josephus-1.com
- Bloodline of the Holy Grail by Laurence Gardner. A popular book, but with a hypothesis that would not be accepted by mainstream scholars.
- Jesus and the Victory of God N.T.Wright, SPCK (London), 1996 BooksEnthsiast.com. Second in a projected massive five or six volume series on Christian origins, dealing with the life and death of Christ from a very open Evangelical perspective. The author is now Bishop of Durham (Church of England).
- Michael H. Hart, The 100, Carol Publishing Group, July 1992, paperback, 576 pages, BooksEnthsiast.com
