Searching for Jesus by Robert J. Hutchinson

We've seen the television specials that claim Jesus is a mythical figure and what Christians believe about Him is not true. But what if everything the Bible says about Him is, in fact, true?

This book is about new discoveries and recent developments on the reality of Jesus. They are showing that Jesus as He is portrayed in the Bible is much more plausible than reconstructions made by skeptics.

Hutchinson looks at recent manuscript discoveries, new research results and new conclusions from scholars. Some of the topics covered: writers of the gospels and eyewitness accounts, dates of the gospels, alternative portraits of Jesus and models from Christian scholars, manuscript evidence and reliability, recent archaeological discoveries, whether the “suffering” Messiah image was created by the church, whether Jesus was orthodox or a zealot, whether there are lost sayings of Jesus or secret information in the Gnostic gospels, whether Jesus' crucifixion was rigged or faked, if there is any proof for the resurrection.

There is a great deal of background information in this book. Hutchinson gives good reviews of popular skeptical books written in the last decades. He also gives good evidence in response to the ones critical of the biblical Jesus. This is a good introductory book for those new to the issue and good update for those who have read popular books published in the last several years.

This is an excellent book for Christians who want to reaffirm their belief in the biblical Jesus. It is very readable and very informative. Hutchinson explains well how scholars come to conclusions. He gives plenty of evidence, some from non-Christians scholars, that what the Bible says is worth accepting. He also corrects much of the hype recent television programs have generated. 

This would also be a good book for skeptics who are willing to revisit their view of Jesus. It would also help them understand why we Christians value our beliefs so much. For those desiring further study, Hutchinson provides a list of books at the end of each chapter as well as a bibliography at the end.

My rating: 5/5 stars.

Robert J. Hutchinson was raised in the Pacific Northwest, attended a Jesuit high school and university, and earned an undergraduate degree in philosophy. He moved to Israel to learn Hebrew and earned an MA in New Testament and theology from Fuller Theological Seminary. He is the former managing editor of Hawaii Magazine. He has worked as a full-time professional writer for the past 30 years. He and his wife and their five children live on the ocean. You can find out more at http://roberthutchinson.com/

Thomas Nelson, 352 pages.

I received a complimentary digital copy of this book from the publisher for the purpose of an independent and honest review.