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Book review
The Christ Files
Reviewed by Cornelis (Kees) Wegman
This book is an introduction for those who wonder how
scholars know so much about the historical Christ.
John Dickson, a Sydney-based academic historian, outlines
sources of information about Christ from ancient pagan and
Jewish writings, early Christian and background sources, and
oral traditions. He explains that, in biblical times, oral
transmissions were more highly regarded than written ones.
Sources include reputable, but not necessarily Christian,
historians who approach Jesus from sceptical, mainstream, or
apologetic perspectives. Whilst he does not agree with some
of their views, he takes care to treat the differing
opinions with fairness and balance.
Dickson also deals with ‘hidden’ and
‘secret’ gospels. Of the ones that have been
discovered, he says that only the Gospel of Thomas includes
up to five sayings of Jesus that might be genuine, but are
not included in the New Testament. (In his opinion, these
sayings do not add to our overall picture of the historical
Jesus).
He also comments briefly on The Da Vinci Code
– finding 10 factual errors in just one short section!
To counter commentators who ask why non-biblical sources are
not examined or considered, he explains that there are
thousands of researchers who publish, in over 100 scholarly
journals, articles about the life of Christ.
The book stresses that it is concerned with sources, and
not the contents of those sources. With this in mind, Dr
Dickson has produced a very readable and accessible guide,
with plenty of references, for those who want to discover
what is known about the historical Jesus.
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The Christ Files by John Dickson.
Published 2006 by Blue Bottle Books, Sydney.
100pp RRP $14.95
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