REL2011/Evans Course Module:
Life of Jesus

Source: The Collegeville Bible Handbook (Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical Press, c1997), p. 263.

Although the previous screens give only the barest overview of the life of Jesus, in fact there is little more biographical detail to tell. The focus of early Christianity was on the teachings of Jesus while he was alive and the role of the resurrected Christ after he died NOT on gathering details regarding his birthday, family, home, etc. Once a little time had passed this biographical information became unrecoverable. For the historian of the first century, the limited historical sources make it difficult to describe Jesus and his followers as real persons or to verify the facticity of ideas or events described in the Christian Gospels. However the truth of Christianity for believing Christians has never relied on the biographical detail of the life of Jesus but on faith in the risen Christ. As with any religion faith does not depend on historical proof just as accurate historical reconstruction cannot rely on faith.