New Testament scholars have long debated the historical identity of Jesus and the development of Christology within the church's history. In this book Carl E. Braaten reviews the history of the three historical Jesus quests the different approaches scholars have taken to understand Jesus. Against the implication that the "real" Jesus has been lost and needs to be found, Braaten suggests that "the only real Jesus is the One presented in the canonical Gospels" and "any other Jesus is irrelevant to Christian faith."
Braaten openly confesses his Lutheran theological convictions even as he conducts a thorough and well-reasoned study and encourages readers to engage enthusiastically with contentious questions such as these: What can we know about Jesus of Nazareth? How do Christians come to believe in Jesus? Did Jesus really rise from the dead? Why do Christians believe that Jesus is "truly God"? Is Jesus unique the one and only way of salvation? Why did Jesus have to die on the cross? Was Jesus the founder of the Christian church?
