What is this book? At its most basic, it is a story of Jesus’ death and resurrection, harmonizing and integrating the four Gospels from the Bible in a reasonable chronological order. Beyond that, with contemporary readability it weaves in his story’s first-century historical setting, along with the cultural and political perspectives of the time.
The Gospels, the first four books of the Bible’s New Testament, were written by four disciples of Jesus: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. These original biographers drew from personal experience, eyewitness interviews, and historical resources.
They sometimes arranged their material chronologically and other times topically. When they quoted Jesus, some included more of what he said than others. In this biography, multiple accounts of teaching and miracles are merged into single reports. Quotes are paraphrased and blended, sometimes taking part of a quote from one Gospel account of an event and the rest of the quote from the other places where it is reported.
The intention here is not to replace the original biographers’ accounts but to present the story in a fresh, readable and reliable style that is both comprehensive and consistent. The serious student will want to compare to the Bible in order to read complete quotes and reports of the events of Jesus’ life in their original wording and context.
The Risen Christ uses a literary device currently popular in the writing of historical biography, adding descriptive language to conversations, emotions, and thought processes to facilitate the telling of the story. While they may not be historically documented, these embellishments are likely, based on historical or archaeological evidence of the times.
If I have done my job well, whether Jesus’ story is new to you or very familiar, reading this book will send you to those four original biographers.
Leith Anderson
January 2005