The historicity of Jesus is now widely accepted, but this assumption disarms biblical texts of much of their power by privileging an historical interpretation, effectively sweeping aside much theological speculation and allusion. The assumption of historicity gathers further assumptions to it, shaping the interpretation of texts, both denying and adding subtext. We are now faced with an endless array of works on the historical Jesus few of which question what has been lost through this wide-spread assumption of historicity. Is This Not The Carpenter? offers readers the most up to date overview of how the historicity of Jesus is examined in contemporary scholarship. An international range of scholars - with divergent views on the historical Jesus - present a literary re-reading of the New Testament, arguing that the gospel evidence is to be discovered not in oral tradition but in the written literature of the ancient world.

"An important example of what we need more of: serious scholarly examinations and debates on the historicity of Jesus and what methods to use in resolving it. It includes papers that for specialists are required reading on this topic.'"

Richard Carrier

"Marks an important milestone in the debate concerning mythicism in New Testament scholarship.'"

Thomas Bolin

"This volume contributes to a crucial development, namely moving historical investigation beyond the usual restrictions of the historical critical method, particularly beyond reliance on the theory of oral tradition, and bringing it into new terrain, especially that of literature.'"

Thomas L. Brodie