What Are They Doing To Jesus?

Mark Allan Powell, Professor of New Testament at Trinity Lutheran Seminary, Columbus

Newspapers, magazines, television are presenting "new" information about Jesus. What can be said about Jesus that people of all faiths, or no faith, would affirm? This course, on DVD, will examine the opinions of modern historians concerning the life and work of Jesus. It will try to determine whether historical studies of Jesus undermine the Christian faith or in fact confirm and support our religious confessions.

Textbook: Jesus as a Figure in History, Mark Allan Powell [Click here to purchase]

1. Historians Discover Jesus: Five modern historians: Crossan, Borg, Sanders, Meier, Wright (22 min.)
2. Jesus Outside the Bible: Ancient writers such as Apocryphal Gospels, Josephus (31 min.)
3. The Jesus Seminar: The most controversial modern look at Jesus (26 min.)
4. Jesus and Politics: Was Jesus a revolutionary? Just a non-conformist? (24 min.)
5. Did Jesus work miracles?: Historians treat the difficult questions regarding "supernatural" events (29 min.)
6. Who killed Jesus - and why?: A summary of arguments involving the crucifixion of Jesus (28 min.)

Generally, if this course is being used by lay persons, it should be taught by a pastor or someone familiar with the issues involved. The course can be understood using only the video lectures, however, it would be very useful for the instructor (or all the participants) to have Dr. Powell's textbook.

*Archival Series: vintage material of excellent content and varying technical quality