THE JESUS PUZZLE

Canadian Humanist Publications, Ottawa, 1999.  ISBN 0-968-6014-0-5.  Trade soft cover, 380 pages including Acknowledgments, Appendices, Notes, Bibliography, and Index.  Some edge and cover wear, light creases; binding sound with a very slight lean.  Prior owner’s name and date inked on verso of front wrap, impressed seal on half-title page.  FLAT SIGNED by author on half-title page; remainder of interior clean and unmarked.  Newspaper clipping and map with approx. date of books laid in.  ‘Why are the events of the Gospel story, and its central character Jesus of Nazareth, not found in the New Testament epistles?  Why does Paul’s divine Christ seem to have no connection to the Gospel Jesus, but closely resembles the many pagan savior gods of the time who lived only in myth?  Why, given the spread of Christianity across the Roman Empire in the first century, did only one Christian community compose a story of Jesus’ life and death – the Gospel of Mark – while every other Gospel simply copied and reworked the first one?  Why is every detail of the Gospel story of Jesus’ trial and crucifixion drawn from passages in the Old Testament? … With the arrival of the third millennium, the time has come to face the stunning realization that for the last 1900 years, Christianity has revered a founder and icon of the faith who probably never existed.’ (from rear wrap)