Jesus Unmasked

Jesus Christ is the most famous man in human history, but exactly who was He? Some say a fable; others think just one option among many good teachers, or even a nice guy who taught morals. Do any of these descriptions capture the totality of who He was? Jesus Unmasked goes directly to the world's greatest expert on Jesus Christ, Jesus Himself. Who Jesus said He was and why He said it the way He did What historical accounts and Biblical details reveal versus what we assume Why 4000 years of history, prophecy and chronology force every human being to render their verdict about this one man. When you encounter Jesus Unmasked, you will not be ambivalent. Jesus gives us clarity and insight into the nature of God. Interact with what Jesus taught about Himself and draw your own conclusions to the world's most important question: "Who is the real Jesus?"

Jesus Christ is the most famous man in human history, but exactly who was He? Some say a fable; others think just one option among many good teachers, or even a nice guy who taught morals. Do any of these descriptions capture the totality of who He was? Jesus Unmasked goes directly to the world’s greatest expert on Jesus Christ, Jesus Himself: Who Jesus said He was and why He said it the way He did What historical accounts and Biblical details reveal versus what we assume Why 4000 years of history, prophecy and chronology force every human being to render their verdict about this one man. When you encounter Jesus Unmasked, you will not be ambivalent. Jesus gives us clarity and insight into the nature of God. Interact with what Jesus taught about Himself and draw your own conclusions to the world’s most important question: “Who is the real Jesus?”

Who was Jesus? Get to know Jesus intimately ... as though you had walked with Him during His days of earthly life. This book is all about the Birth of Jesus and how Jesus was aided by Clear signs, His attributes and Virtues. Whether you are a Christian, a Jew, or a Muslim, you will enjoy this enlightening book.

Rabbi or Messiah? Prophet or the Son of God? People have debated the identity of Jesus of Nazareth since the first century. But what if there was no Jesus? What if there was no Mary or Joseph, no twelve apostles? What if the story of Jesus was no more than a myth to convey spiritual truth? These claims have been around for hundreds of years and have become more prominent with well-known religion columnist Tom Harpur's recent book, The Pagan Christ. Harpur claims that Jesus was not a historical figure, but was one version of an ancient myth that can be traced from ancient Egyptian religion to the Roman mystery cults. Stanley Porter and Stephen Bedard tackle this radical claim by looking at the roots of the "pagan Christ idea," examining the supposed pagan parallels and presenting the evidence for the historical Jesus. The authors demonstrate that the suggestion of pagan origins for the Gospel story is not based on historical or textual evidence, but rather on a desire to create a universalistic spirituality revolving around a "Cosmic Christ" within each person. A fair examination of both the mythological and biblical texts reveal that the traditional understanding of an actual historical figure known as Jesus of Nazareth appearing two thousand years ago is indeed the only logical conclusion. Stanley E. Porter is President and Dean, and Professor of New Testament at McMaster Divinity College, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Porter has M.A. degrees from Claremont Graduate School and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and the Ph.D. from the University of Sheffield. He has written widely on issues of concern in study of the New Testament, such as Jesus, Paul, the book of Acts, and John. He has a passion for education in the church, and preaches and teaches regularly. Stephen J. Bedard is the pastor of Woodford Baptist Church and First Baptist Church, Meaford, Ontario, Canada. He holds the M.Div. and M.Th. degrees from McMaster Divinity College, and is actively engaged in further graduate study. Bedard is an advocate of informed preaching and teaching, and is devoted to the ministry of the local church.

The great German theologian Albert Schweitzer famously drew a line under nineteenth-century historical Jesus research by showing that at the bottom of the well lay not the face of Joseph's son, but rather the features of all the New Testament scholars who had tried to reveal his elusive essence. In his thoughtful and provocative new book, Halvor Moxnes takes Schweitzer's observation much further: the doomed 'quest for the historical Jesus' was determined not only by the different personalities of the seekers who undertook it, but also by the social, cultural and political agendas of the countries from which their presentations emerged. Thus, Friedrich Schleiermacher's Jesus was a teacher, corresponding with the role German teachers played in Germany's movement for democratic socialism. Ernst Renan's Jesus was by contrast an attempt to represent the 'positive Orient' as a precursor to the civilized self of his own French society. Scottish theologian G A Smith demonstrated in his manly portrayal of Jesus a distinctively British liberalism and Victorian moralism. Moxnes argues that one cannot understand any 'life of Jesus' apart from nationalism and national identity: and that what is needed in modern biblical studies is an awareness of all the presuppositions that underlie presentations of Jesus, whether in terms of power, gender, sex and class. Only then, he says, can we start to look at Jesus in a way that does him justice.

Raising a prodigal is every Christian parent’s worst nightmare. Horrifyingly, George Barna contends that over 60 percent of Christian kids will run off to university and “lose their faith.” Some pollsters believe the number is as high as 80 percent. But there is great news! Your child doesn’t have to become a statistic. Your child can become an adult who loves the Lord the same way you do — but this will likely require a radical parenting reset on your part. Todd Friel has witnessed to hundreds of university students, most of whom are Bible-belt backsliders. Reset for Parents gets to the heart of the issue and presents a solid, biblical roadmap for parents to avoid the pain and heartache of raising a prodigal.

"In this original and insightful book, Dorothy Jonaitis offers a refreshing alternative to the popular view of biblical apocalyptic writing as gloom-and-doom, fire-and-brimstone literature. Rather, she presents it as literature of hope and its authors as people who knew how to use their creative imaginations to communicate their hope-filled messages. The reader will come to see the apocalyptic authors of both the Old and the New Testaments as dramatists and will learn to preach, teach, and imagine their writings as dramatic messages to be applied in contemporary times of crisis."--BOOK JACKET.

The Book of Revelation was meant to ignite awe and worship. There is a special blessing promised to all who read and obey the words of Revelation (1:3). Yet many Christians slam their Bible shut before reading because they find the end times prophecy to be confusing, weird, and even scary. Revelation was never meant to be feared or skipped over. In Unmasking Revelation, Sam Chess walks through how Jesus left first century Christians with the hope of His return, and how the letter of Revelation was given as a guide to how it all would end. Jesus was going to victoriously win and satan, and death, and hell, and even the curse of sin itself (22:3) would be purged off this planet! Through Unmasking Revelation, the difficult parts of Revelation become understandable, and the weird and frightening are “unmasked” to simply unfold the storyline of Jesus’ (and Christians’) final triumphant victory.

The first full-length study to trace how early Christians came to perceive Jesus as a sinless human being. Jeffrey S. Siker presents a taxonomy of sin in early Judaism and examines moments in Jesus' life associated with sinfulness: his birth to the unwed Mary, his baptism by John the Baptist, his public ministry - transgressing boundaries of family, friends, and faith - and his cursed death by crucifixion. Although followers viewed his immediate death in tragic terms, with no expectation of his resurrection, they soon began to believe that God had raised him from the dead. Their resurrection faith produced a new understanding of Jesus' prophetic ministry, in which his death had been a perfect sacrificial death for sin, his ministry perfectly obedient, his baptism a demonstration of perfect righteousness, and his birth a perfect virgin birth. This study explores the implications of a retrospective faith that elevated Jesus to perfect divinity, redefining sin.