Historical and Neutral book on the life and beliefs of Jesus?

Question

I am looking for a book that takes is as non-biased as possible about what we know of Jesus, his teachings, and his life. Anyone have any suggestions? Thanks.

Thanks for all the bonafide responses, you guys. I find it amazing that there are so many people who answer "the bible." It's always convienent not to ask questions if god apparently answered them already.

I'll check out those books (and that movie -- which looks very interesting).

Answer 1

Very little (if any) undisputed evidence of Jesus exists outside of the bible. It's a bit strange that there are more references to John the baptist than there are to Jesus. You'd think the "saviour" would rate a few more notes in history's pages.

Or, maybe he never existed.

Some interesting links for you to research below:

Answer 2

www.earlychristianwritings.com/theories.html
This Website will give you several links to both historical and theological investigations.

For a comparative study of your own, you can also check out these references. They are listed in alphabetical order.

Briant, Pierre, "Alexander the Great: Man of Action Man of Spirit," Harry N. Abrams, 1996
Doherty, Earl, "The Jesus Puzzle," Canadian Humanist Publications, 1999
Flavius, Josephus (37 or 38-circa 101 C.E.), Antiquities
Gauvin, Marshall J., "Did Jesus Christ Really Live?" (from: www.infidels.org/)
Gould, Stephen Jay "Dinosaur in a Haystack," (Chapter 2), Harmony Books, New York, 1995
Graham, Henry Grey, Rev., "Where we got the Bible," B. Heder Book Company, 1960
Graves, Kersey "The World's Sixteen Crucified Saviors," 1875
Helms, Randel McCraw , "Who Wrote the Gospels?", Millennium Press
Irenaeus of Lyon (140?-202? C.E.), Against the Heresies
Leedom, Tim C. "The Book Your Church Doesn't Want You To Read," Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, 1993
Massey, Gerald, "Gerald Massey's Lectures: The Historical Jesus and Mythical Christ," 1900
McKinsey, C. Dennis "The Encyclopedia of Biblical Errancy," Prometheus Books, 1995
Metzger, Bruce,"The Text of the New Testament-- Its Transmission, Corruption, and Restoration," Oxford University Press, 1968
Pagels, Elaine, "The Gnostic Gospels," Vintage Books, New York, 1979
Pagels, Elaine, "Adam, Eve, and the Serpent," Vintage Books, New York, 1888
Pagels, Elaine, "The Origin of Satan," Random House, New York, 1995
Price, Robert M.," Deconstructing Jesus," Prometheus Books, 2000
Pritchard, John Paul, "A Literary Approach to the New Testament," Norman, University of Oklahoma Press, 1972
Remsberg, John E., "The Christ," Prometheus Books
Robertson, J.M. "Pagan Christs," Barnes & Noble Books, 1966
Romer, John, "Testament : The Bible and History," Henry Holt and Company, New York, 1988
Schonfield, Hugh Joseph, "A History of Biblical Literature," New American Library, 1962
Spong, Bishop Shelby, "Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism," HarperSanFrancisco, 1991
Tacitus (55?-117? C.E.), Annals
Wilson, Dorothy Frances, "The Gospel Sources, some results of modern scholarship," London, Student Christian Movement press, 1938
The Revell Bible Dictionary," Wynwood Press, New York, 1990
King James Bible, 1611
U.S. News & World Report, Dec. 10, 1990
Various issues of Bible Review magazine, published by the Biblical Archaeology Society, Washington D.C.

Answer 3

Oddly, there is very little historical informatiojn on Jesus. Either he never existed, or others were more important at the time, such as John the Baptist....

try checking out "The Jesus Papers" by Michael Baigent. Good book making historical guesss work at where Jesus may have spent his early life (that is missing from the Bible)...

Answer 4

"The Christ: A Critical Review and Analysis of the Evidence of His Existence"
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0879759240/ajewishresp09-20

"The Great Deception: And What Jesus Really Said and Did"
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0879759240/ajewishresp09-20

"The Christ Conspiracy: The Greatest Story Ever Sold"
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0879759240/ajewishresp09-20

Answer 5

King James Bible

Answer 6

Try "The Nine Faces Of Christ"

Answer 7

a fable is not historical nor neutral, so i dont think it is possible

Answer 8

... and someone missed the point of the question

Answer 9

its in the Holy Bible..