Much as the Magnolia Little Gem is a wonderful and small version of the enormous and stunning Magnolia Grandiflora, The Christ Files is a 100 page distillation of lots of serious scholarship about the person of Christ as a significant historical figure.
John Dickson knows his stuff and writes in a straightforward manner. This book is a great starting point for anyone wanting to learn a little bit more about the history behind the man at the centre of history. Use it to kick-off a conversation or to fill in some of the background history. Read it in an hour or two and be inspired and able to trust that what we know about Jesus comes from sources upon which we can rely.
The Christ Files looks at how historians approach their work, arguing and demonstrating that what they do is different from the work of the theologian, but nonetheless still of marked significant. The mindset and the approach of the historian can be different from that of the Christian believer, and whilst perhaps confronting at first, the level of seriousness in the purpose of historical scholarship is comforting. This is particularly the case when one comes to realise that Christianity is an historical religion, embedded in place and time.
Dickson runs at a canter through the variety of pagan, Jewish and Christian sources for Jesus, detailing the direct sources for our understanding of Jesus. He finishes by putting these in their context and urging his readers to give the New Testament the serious and thoughtful, inquiring read that it deserves. One of the great strengths of The Christ Files is that it is scholarly without being scary. Too many readers are put off by tomes of scholarship that can't be read in bed for fear of curing insomnia and providing an impromptu nose job. Rest assured this is not one of those books. Lest you be given to thinking that it is then too lightweight to bother with, it contains reference to enough other works to be an excellent travel guide to some more detailed and comprehensive works.
Read The Christ Files: it will prove to be a profitable use of your time and a helpful guide to deeper thinking about how we know of history's great man and God's own son.
