For For readers asking what non-Christian and non-canonical sources say about Jesus; not for those wanting the latest scholarship.
Should I read this?
For the general reader
4 of 5strongly recommended
For the researcher
4 of 5important
Difficulty
2 of 5moderate
The evidence for Jesus and Christian origins outside the New Testament, from Roman and Jewish writers to the apocryphal gospels (1974).
How it proceeds
Philosophic0 of 5
Scriptural2 of 5
Experiential0 of 5
Sociological2 of 5
Historical5 of 5
Independent intensities, 0–5 — what the work is made of, not how good it is.
Published by Hodder & Stoughton and Eerdmans in 1974 (216 pages) and revised in 1984. Bruce gathers and assesses the evidence about Jesus and the beginnings of Christianity outside the New Testament: Roman writers, Josephus and other Jewish sources, and the non-canonical gospels and sayings. It complements The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable?