Over two thousand years ago, a child was born whom many now worship as “the Son of God.” But before the miracles and resurrection, Jesus was more a charismatic and engaging Jewish teacher from the village of Nazareth, a son to Mary and her husband. From the beginning of his ministry, numerous Jews imagined him to be the Savior, a magnetic Jewish revolutionary.

Who was Jesus, the Jewish man from Nazareth? What made him so exceptional that, throughout the world, so many people still feel his presence?

James H. Charlesworth has authored more than seven books on the historical Jesus, and edited over ten volumes of the Aramaic, Hebrew, and Greek manuscripts of the Dead Sea Scrolls. In his new series of three complete volumes, Charlesworth seeks to explain the mystery of Jesus’ life and lift some of the historical fog surrounding it. Including:

• Where was Jesus born, in Bethlehem or in Nazareth?
• What are the conflicting biographical details canonized in the Gospels?
• Did Jesus travel in his early ministry to the Jordan River to join John the Baptizer?
• Why would some Jews believe Jesus could walk on water?
• Was Jesus influenced, perhaps in the Temple, by the great Rabbi Hillel?
• Did Jesus ever imagine or declare himself to be the Messiah?
• Who was Mary Magdalene?
• Who rolled the stone back from the tomb?

For the first time, virtually every dimension of Jesus’ life is presented through historical and archeological lenses focused on his time – from 200 BCE to nearly 200 CE, from before his birth to after his crucifixion. With modern historical, textual, and scientific methods, Charlesworth invites us to contemplate such phenomenological perspectives as charisma, pilgrimages, and spiritually charged holy sites. Charlesworth further explores the influences of such historical figures as the Roman Emperors Ceaser Augustus, Vespasian, and Titus, the complicated genius Herod the Great, and other influential Jews, including the Righteous Teacher of Qumran’s Dead Sea Scrolls, Hillel of the Mishnah, and the vast number of traditions that help us illuminate the Jesus of Pre-70 Judaism.

Charlesworth yields an ambitious and comprehensive biography, enlivened by exciting new archaeological, theological, and Christological discoveries.