The Historical Jesus

The following is a list of English books on the historical Jesus. I have categorized the books in this bibliography into the various “quests” as a general guide, and I have highlighted with yellow the volumes that I recommend most highly. Many more books could be added to this list, but for the sake of usability, I do not plan to expand it much more. For more information about the origins of this list, read this post.

First Quest

• Talbert, Charles H. Editor. Reimarus: Fragments. Translated by R. S. Fraser. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1970.

• Strauss, David Friedrich. The Life of Jesus, Critically Examined. 2 volumes. Translated by Marian Evans (George Eliot). New York: Calvin Blanchard, 1860.

• Renan, Ernest. The Life of Jesus. Translated by C. E. Wilbour. New York: Carleton, 1864.

• Weiss, Johannes. Jesus’ Proclamation of the Kingdom of God. Translated and Edited by R. H. Hiers and D. L. Holland. Chico, CA: Scholars, 1985.

• Wrede, William. The Messianic Secret. Translated by J. C. G. Greig. Cambridge: J. Clarke, 1971.

End of First Quest / Period of No Quest

• Schweitzer, Albert. The Quest for the Historical Jesus. Edited by J. Bowden. Translated by W. Montgomery, J. R. Coates, S. Cupitt, and J. Bowden. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2001.

• Kähler, Martin. So-Called Historical Jesus and the Historic-Biblical Christ. Translated and Edited by Carl E. Braaten. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1988.

• Bultmann, Rudolf. Jesus and the Word. Translated by L. P. Smith and E. H. Lanterno. New York: Scribners, 1958.

Second Quest

• Käsemann, Ernst. “The Problem of the Historical Jesus,” in Essays on New Testament Themes. Studies in Biblical Theology 41. Naperville, IL: Alec R. Allenson, 1964., 15-47.

• Käsemann, Ernst. “Blind Alleys in the ‘Jesus of History’ Controversy,” in New Testament Questions of Today. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1969., 23-65.

• Bornkamm, Günther. Jesus of Nazareth. Translated by I. McLuskey, F. McLuskey, and J. M. Robinson. New York: Harper & Row, 1960.

• Robinson, James M. A New Quest of the Historical Jesus and Other Essays. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1983.

• Harvey, A. E. Jesus and the Constraints of History. The Bampton Lectures, 1980. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1982.

Third Quest and Other Recent Approaches

• Meyer, Ben F. The Aims of Jesus. Princeton Theological Monograph Series 48. Eugene, OR: Pickwick, 2002.

• Sanders, E. P. Jesus and Judaism. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1985.

• Crossan, John Dominic. The Historical Jesus: The Life of a Mediterranean Jewish Peasant. HarperSanFrancisco, 1991.

• Wright, N. T. Jesus and the Victory of God. Christian Origins and the Question of God 2. Minneapolis: Fortress, 1997.

• Allison, Dale C., Jr. Resurrecting Jesus: The Earliest Christian Tradition And Its Interpreters. Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha Supplement. London: T. & T. Clark, 2009.

• Allison, Dale C. Jesus of Nazareth: Millenarian Prophet. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2001.

• Allison, Dale C., Jr. The Historical Christ and the Theological Jesus. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2009.

• Meier, John P. A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus, Volume 1: The Roots of the Problem and the Person. Anchor Yale Bible Reference Library. New Haven: Yale University, 1991.

• Meier, John P. A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus, Volume 2: Mentor, Message, and Miracles. Anchor Yale Bible Reference Library. New Haven: Yale University, 1994.

• Meier, John P. A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus, Volume 3: Companions and Competitors. Anchor Yale Bible Reference Library. New Haven: Yale University, 2001.

• Meier, John P. A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus, Volume 4: Law and Love. Anchor Yale Bible Reference Library. New Haven: Yale University, 2009.

• Dunn, James D. G. Jesus Remembered. Christianity in the Making 1. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2003.

• Bauckham, Richard. Jesus and the Eyewitnesses: The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2006.

Jesus through Jewish Eyes

• Klausner, Joseph. Jesus of Nazareth: His Life, Times, and Teaching. Translated by H. Danby. New York: MacMillan, 1944.

• Vermes, Geza. Jesus the Jew: A Historian’s Reading of the Gospels. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1981.

Miscellaneous Books on Jesus Scholarship

• Hayes, John H. Son of God to Super Star: Twentieth-century Interpretations of Jesus. Nashville: Abingdon, 1976.

• Powell, Mark Allan Jesus As a Figure in History: How Modern Historians View the Man from Galilee. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1998.

• Levine, Amy-Jill, Dale C. Allison Jr., and John Dominic Crossan. eds., The Historical Jesus in Context. Princeton: Princeton University, 2006.

• Evans, Craig A. Editor. Encyclopedia of the Historical Jesus. New York: Routeledge, 2008.

• Gaventa, Beverly Roberts, and Richard B. Hays. Seeking the Identity of Jesus: A Pilgrimage. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2008.