The 3rd ed. of my book has now been published by Tectum Verlag in Germany. This is a revised and corrected ed. with a (new) preface. This offers a complete explanation for the life of Jesus and the origin of Christianity. Nothing like this has been published before. No other writer found the secret of Jesus' plan and he carried it out--until it failed at the crucifixion.
I ask what really happened to Jesus? Did he rise from the dead, and if not why do Christians believe that he did? Did he have a plan and, if so, what was it? Did he accomplish his purpose or did the plan fail? If it failed, what were the consequences? Did Jesus want to be crucifiedf?
As a former Christian, I take a rationalist look at the problem of Christian origins and shows that no previous writer has completely solved the riddle of Jesus. Here I show a new hypothesis, one that explains Jesus curious behaviour. Here is Jesus in historical context, the leader of an obscure Jewish sect which believed that it was fulfilling a divine plan revealed in the Scriptures. This plan required the Messiah to die and rise again to become the king of Israel, throwing the Romans out of Judaea and even replacing the Emperor as ruler of the known world. Read how Jesus expected to accomplish this. I had to draw on all my Biblical knowledge and also contemporary history of the Jews. I build on the work of many other authors and constructs what is surely the true explanation for the origin of Christianity. This should be the last word on the historical Jesus. In the process review of the many attempts to solve the mystery by other writers and I also correct many misunderstandings about Jesus.
I ask what really happened to Jesus? Did he rise from the dead, and if not why do Christians believe that he did? Did he have a plan and, if so, what was it? Did he accomplish his purpose or did the plan fail? If it failed, what were the consequences? Did Jesus want to be crucifiedf?
As a former Christian, I take a rationalist look at the problem of Christian origins and shows that no previous writer has completely solved the riddle of Jesus. Here I show a new hypothesis, one that explains Jesus curious behaviour. Here is Jesus in historical context, the leader of an obscure Jewish sect which believed that it was fulfilling a divine plan revealed in the Scriptures. This plan required the Messiah to die and rise again to become the king of Israel, throwing the Romans out of Judaea and even replacing the Emperor as ruler of the known world. Read how Jesus expected to accomplish this. I had to draw on all my Biblical knowledge and also contemporary history of the Jews. I build on the work of many other authors and constructs what is surely the true explanation for the origin of Christianity. This should be the last word on the historical Jesus. In the process review of the many attempts to solve the mystery by other writers and I also correct many misunderstandings about Jesus.