The Resurrection of Jesus-A New Historiographical Approach

Description

 * By Michael R. Licona
 * Published by IVP Academic (October 7, 2010)
 * 718 page softcover
 * ISBN 0830827196

The question of the historicity of Jesus' resurrection has been repeatedly probed, investigated and debated. And the results have varied widely. Perhaps some now regard this issue as the burned-over district of New Testament scholarship. Could there be any new and promising approach to this problem? Yes, answers Michael Licona. And he convincingly points us to a significant deficiency in approaching this question: our historiographical orientation and practice. So he opens this study with an extensive consideration of historiography and the particular problem of investigating claims of miracles. This alone is a valuable contribution. But then Licona carefully applies his principles and methods to the question of Jesus' resurrection. In addition to determining and working from the most reliable sources and bedrock historical evidence, Licona critically weighs other prominent hypotheses. His own argument is a challenging and closely argued case for the historicity of the resurrection of Jesus, the Christ. Any future approaches to dealing with this "prize puzzle" of New Testament study will need to be routed through The Resurrection of Jesus.

Source

 * Purchase from Christian Book
 * Purchase from Amazon

External Reviews

 * 1) Hub Post: Reflective Review of Mike Licona's "The Resurrection of Jesus" Posted by J. P Holding at 6:01 AM. Tekton Ticker.
 * 2) book review: the resurrection of Jesus By Dayton Hartman

Internal Review
Michael Licona does a masterful job at first grasping history, philosophy of history. There is then treatment of relevant texts during the epoch surrounding the New Testament. This is to find proper historiography of the resurrection of Christ. The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach is 700 pages of referenced data/material after referenced data/material. At its heart it is about the most honest presentation of the search for the historical Jesus I have had the pleasure to read. The book lays it out and does not stray from critical methods of historical investigation. In fact it defines them, and does not back down from counter-arguments from popular critics. It goes into depth regarding historical method and relevant facts which it then weighs against the backdrop of competing naturalistic hypotheses.

This book is highly recommended and should be in any skeptics or Christian's library.