The Christ Files Participant's Guide with DVD: How Historians Know What They Know about Jesus

(Paperback)

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

Pack containing one softcover Participant Guide and one DVD. In The Christ Files, a four-session video-based small group Bible study, bible scholar John Dickson examines the Christian faith through a historical look at the Christian faith and life of Jesus from both Scriptural and other non-Bible documentation.

Unique among the worlds religions, the central claims of Christianity concern not just timeless spiritual truths, but tangible historical events as well. Historian John Dickson examines Christianitys claims in the light of history, opening you and your group to a wealth of ancient sources and explaining how mainstream scholars whether or not they claim Christian Faith personally reach their conclusions about historys most influential figure, Jesus of Nazareth.

In The Christ Files, Dickson skillfully highlights sources and historical methods used to study Christianitys assertions. He illustrates how historians assess the reliability of data, and provides an honest and informed perspective on where historical issues or clear-cut and where personal faith comes into play.

The Christ Files will help you and your small group expand your understanding of early Christianity and the life of Jesus.

The 110-page Participant's Guide includes seven chapters of reading and background contextual information, along with questions for four impactful small group sessions. The DVD features four sessions of live teaching from John Dickson. This pack includes both the Participant Guide and DVD.

Chapter titles:
1. The Game of ScholarshipHow to Read between the Haedlines
2. Secret GospelsJesus in the Gnostic Writings
3. The TroublemakerJesus in Ancient Pagan Writings
4. Deceiver and MagicianJesus in Ancient Jewish Writings
5. Behind the New TestamentEarliest Christian Sources
6. Before the GospelsJesus in the Oral Tradition
7. Jesus in ContextBackground Sources for the Study of Jesus

Sessions include:
1. Gnostics and Romans
2. Jews and Christians
3. Lost Sources and Oral Traditions
4. Archaeologists and Artifacts

Author Bio

John Dickson (PhD, Ancient History) is the author of more than a dozen books, Rector of St Andrew's Roseville, and a busy public speaker. He has hosted three TV documentaries and is a regular media commentator. In 2007 he founded the Centre for Public Christianity. He has held lecturing and research positions at both Macquarie University (Sydney) and the University of Sydney, where he teaches a course on the historical Jesus. A visiting academic in the department of Classics at Oxford University for 2017-18, he lives in Sydney with his wife and three children.