About
Many people are unaware of the vast amount of historical evidence there is for trustworthiness of the New Testament — that section of the Bible that discusses Jesus and first Christians.
Without this knowledge, they reasonably assume that accounts of Jesus are mere fables, stories that not historically true.
Often they consider that original wording of the New Testament has been distorted as copies were made of copies over and over again for hundreds of years.
Others have concern that the bias of original authors would have distorted their written records of Jesus’ teachings and actions.
Written without presuming prior knowledge of Jesus or Christianity
Many of these same individuals, when shown evidence for the reliability of the New Testament, are eager to learn more.
However, they often do not have any background knowledge of the subjects of history or Christianity.
So this book has been written with as little jargon as possible, and with explanatory comments when technical language is unavoidable.
The author has supplied a wealth of background information whenever experience — from many conversations he has had over the decades — has taught him that it can’t be assumed.
Although there are a number of other excellent books that focus on reliability of the New Testament, like all books, they can’t be all things to all people.
For example, many books that present evidence for reliability of copying of the New Testament do so using many technical terms and assume that the reader has a good understanding of the topic already.
Some are written for an audience that is competent in ancient Greek.
Those books that do cover this topic in a more accessible way often don’t present much actual evidence, leaving the reader to rely heavily on the reassuring words of a scholar.
Book Sample and
Features of 2nd Edition
- More than 104,000 words of text spread over 19 chapters, appendices, and more than 440 pages
- Discussion and reflection questions for each chapter, ideal for small group studies
- Footnotes placed at the bottom of pages for easy access
- More than 1,000 footnoted references
- Easy to hold format (octavo size)
- Over 22,000 words of footnotes
- Scripture index
- Page dimensions: 6 x 9 inches /152.4 mm x 228.6 mm
Author
Jonathan Clerke is passionate about encouraging people to consider Jesus Christ as revealed through the pages of the Bible. He has had the privilege of presenting to churches of various denominations, sports teams, young adult groups and students. He has taught in places as diverse as Russia and the Solomon Islands.
His qualifications have nurtured a strong research-based approach to examining information, and include a B.Sc(Hons) and a B.Phty. Jonathan has had papers published in peer-review international scientific journals, and is a member of the Australian Society of Authors, and Omega Writers.
In Echoes of Jesus he has presented the evidence that has formed the basis of his conclusions. In this way, readers can independently evaluate whether such conclusions are reasonable. When relying on the conclusions of others he has sought out scholars who have the relevant qualifications. Readers should have the opportunity to be judges. Judges do not have to be experts in forensics, ballistics and criminal psychology in order to weigh up well-presented evidence from experts on a shooting murder.