THE NAZARENE GOSPEL RESTORED

The provocative thesis of this extensive book of Biblical criticism is that the four canonical Gospels cannot be regarded as a true and historical picture of Jesus, or as an accurate description of his person and his message, since these accounts are overlaid with interpretations of Jesus' life and ministry made by theologians of the early Christian church. These authors, one of Jewish, the other of Catholic background, are at considerable pains of study and research to prove that the life and ministry of Jesus was to his own people alone; that he never intended his disciples to preach to the gentiles; that while he "officially" died on the Cross, he recovered from his death-like coma and became a penitent and branded fugitive among the Jews of the Dispersal, disappointed that his hopes of the coming of the "Day of the Lord" were frustrated. The authors accordingly throw out of the window all of the work of Catholic and Protestant New Testament scholars. It is a controversial book which however is not apt to be taken seriously by Catholics or Protestants and will serve chiefly to provide faulty ammunition for attacks on the Christian faith.