Which "Real" Jesus?: Jonathan Edwards, Benjamin Franklin, and the Early American Roots of the Current Debate

Steve Bateman

ISBN 10: 1556359314 / ISBN 13: 9781556359316

Published by Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2008

About this Item

187 pages. 8.90x5.90x0.60 inches. In Stock.

Seller Inventory # x-1556359314

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Which "Real" Jesus?: Jonathan Edwards, Benjamin Franklin, and the Early American Roots of the Current Debate
• Publisher: Wipf & Stock Publishers
• Publication Date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1556359314
• ISBN 13: 9781556359316
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: Brand New
• Weight: 0.3 kilograms

About this title

Synopsis

_ Are the gospels reliable accounts of Jesus? _ Did Jesus claim to be God? _ Was Jesus bodily raised from the dead? _ Is Jesus the only way to salvation? _ Are Christianity and Islam basically the same? _ Were the Founding Fathers orthodox Christians? Christians in America are routinely confronted with news of archaeological discoveries or new scholarship claiming to present the "real" Jesus. These challenges have a long tradition in America and can be traced to some of the best-known founders of our nation. In pre-Revolutionary America, the formidable Jonathan Edwards directly confronted the challenge, providing an enduring model for Christians today who desire to articulate and defend the historic, orthodox doctrine of Christ. While Edwards sought to prove the historic Jesus, Benjamin Franklin attempted to improve on the original, offering a Jesus of more practical use to his social and civic purposes. Franklin's approach, inspired by Deist thinkers and refined by Thomas Jefferson, has found new life in the advocates of the Jesus Seminar and of other alternative Christianities. Even the ambassadors of strident atheism-Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, and Sam Harris-are resurrecting Deist arguments in their best-selling books. These skeptics notably follow the Deist tactic of using the rise of Islam to undermine the uniqueness of Jesus. As a result, there is a widespread erosion of confidence among professing Christians in the supremacy of Jesus Christ. Which "Real" Jesus? reveals that these new views of the "real Jesus" are, in fact, old news.

About the Author

Steve Bateman has studied at Columbia International University, Dallas Theological Seminary, and Reformed Theological Seminary. He is the author of Which 'Real' Jesus?: Jonathan Edwards, Benjamin Franklin, and the Early American Roots of the Current Debate (Wipf & Stock, 2008). He is the Senior Pastor of First Bible Church, a multi-site church meeting in Decatur and Madison, AL.