Jesus Tried and True

Synopsis: Are the gospels found within the New Testament superior to others? Has the church unfairly chosen Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John while leaving out many others? Are there truly lost Christianities that would enrich our understanding of Jesus? Would modern-day seekers as well as followers of Jesus be better served by including gospels outside of the New Testament in their understanding of Jesus? Jesus Tried and True answers these questions by examining the date, source, and reception of the canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John and then comparing this data with the other gospels. It assesses this information by looking within these gospels and also evaluating early church history, examining the writings of early church writers such as Papias, Ignatius of Antioch, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, and Eusebius. It then compares these findings with the date, source, and reception of the non-canonical gospels that have received the most attention lately such as the Gospel of Thomas, Gospel of Mary, Gospel of Judas, Gospel of Philip, and Gospel of Peter. There is also a brief survey of thirteen of the most important non-canonical gospels. The survey provides an opinion on the dependence of these upon the gospels within the New Testament. Jesus Tried and True affirms the superiority of the New Testament gospels. It concludes by addressing whether non-canonical gospels are "lost Christianities" and also whether the designation "apocryphal" is appropriate for other gospels. Endorsements: "Given media reports of a newly discovered artifact or papyrus, people soon start talking about the 'real Jesus we never knew' and soon enough too--enter conspiracy theories and cover-ups--the nonsense begins. A lot of this nonsense could be dispelled ahead of time if people took the time to read Jesus Tried and True. Carefully argued, this book provides the kind of spadework we need to carefully and fairly consider the data surrounding the historical Jesus." --Nicholas Perrin, Professor of Biblical Studies and Acting Dean of Wheaton Graduate School Author Biography: H. H. Drake Williams III is Academic Dean and Professor of New Testament Language and Literature at Tyndale Theological Seminary in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. He is the author of The Wisdom of the Wise: The Presence and Function of Scripture within 1 Cor. 1:18-3:23 (2001), Making Sense of the Bible: A Study of Ten Key Themes Traced through Scripture (2006), and editor of Caspar Schwenckfeld: Eight Writings on Christian Beliefs (2006).