"Here is the first comprehensive, balanced account of historical Jesus studies. Beginning with brief discussions of the early days of historical research into the person of Jesus and the methods developed by researchers at the time, [the author] offers insightful overviews of some of the most important participants in the contemporary Jesus quests: Robert Funk, John Dominic Crossan, Marcus Borg, E.P. Saunders, John Meier, and N.T. Wright, among others. [He] concludes by outlining issues and directions for research that will likely guide these quests [in the 21st] century." from the book cover

Debate about the historical Jesus has been particularly intense in recent decades. This absorbing and enlightening account of modern Jesus scholarship provides a supurb critical summary of contemporary arguments.

The first thing that the reader may wish to know is that there is a later edition (2013) by the same title (which I have not read).

If now somewhat dated, this, or perhaps the new edition, is a good choice either as an introduction to the subject or for someone who wants to understand the issue is general, but perhaps not really study it (like me). Powell has bibliographical references, a separate bibliography, and an index. I made great use of the latter jumping back and forth between the various authors.

Mark Allen Powell spells out his position (he is a believing Christian) but does a good job of demonstrating that objectivity is possible. He spells out the authors' widely varying positions, methods, and criticisms of their work. There are six authors covered in depth: The Jesus Seminar, John Dominic Crossan, Marcus J. Borg, E. P. Sanders, John P. Meier, and N.T. Wright. He points out that four of these has future plans for publications in this and related areas; presumably these are updated in the new edition. He also describes the work and influence of 16 previous authors. The first, Hermann Samuel Reimarus, only allowed his radical work to be published after his death in 1768. This was probably a good idea, as two of the next three authors described lost their positions at their universities over their work. Next came Albert Schweitzer, whose book was considered definitive as a historical work for 50 years. The New Quest began in the 1950s, and what N.T. Wright dubbed the Third Quest in the late 20th century. ( )

Now somewhat dated (even 11 years makes a big difference in this field), but still a good first reference before deciding which scholars to read. Powell seems to do a fairly decent job of keeping neutral. The strength of this is that he gives a good idea of what the strengths and weaknesses are of each scholar, in a form that is much easier to read than many of the books he is describing. The weakness is that most of these books are much richer than his description, and without the supporting arguments the conclusions are up in the air. It would be dangerous to argue for or against any of these positions merely on the basis of what Powell writes.

The scholars described are: Jesus Seminar, Crossan, Borg, Sanders, Meier, Wright. ( )