Richard N. Soulen

This book sets forth a clear scheme for distinguishing the complex topic of books, writings and films on Jesus Christ : (1) Jesus as he actually was, (2) the earthly Jesus, (3) the Biblical Jesus, i.e., Jesus as portrayed in scriptural and Biblical writings, (4) the historical Jesus as reconstructed by various theologians and modern historians, (5) historical Jesus criteria for normative portraits, and (6) the real Jesus and the Christ of faith, as described for example by Luke Timothy Johnson his Real Jesus and by John R. Stott in his Incomparable Christ series of lectures and videos.… (más)

This is an encyclopedic reference book for students of Biblical studies, providing definitions and discussions of many of the terms you may hear or read. Here are some examples of topics, chosen at random:

Eisegesis

The Gospel of Thomas

The Jesus Seminar

The New Hermeneutic

The Synoptic Problem

You get the idea. The book is quite exhaustive now that it’s reached its fourth edition, and I use it for occasional reference, but I do once in a while feel frustrated by the emphasis of precision in definitions over simple explanations, particularly when the discussion is not accompanied by examples. In other words, it could sometimes be more user-friendly. Never-the-less, there is a lot of good information, presented quite compactly.… (más)