The Christ Files
Subtitle: How historians know what the know about Jesus
Publisher: Blue Bottle Books
Published: February 2006
Format: 101
Number of pages: 114
Subjects: jesus; history
First sentence: One of the most enjoyable parts of my work is running a course for 'sceptics' and 'enquirers' on the history  and practice of Christianity.
Description: Dr John Dickson looks at the historical sources that are used by those researching into who the historical Jesus actually was.  Rather than trying to be an apologetics book, The Christ Files focuses on the sources themselves rather than dealing with issues such as whether Jesus actually did perform miracles. The book is aimed at an introductory level for those who know nothing about this subject and attempts to remove some of the misconceptions created by the popular media.
Table of contents: title: Foreward by Professor Alanna Nobbs; title: The Game of Scholarship - How to read between the headlines; title: The Troublemaker - Jesus in ancient pagan writings; title: Deciever and Magician - Jesus in ancient Jewish writings; title: Behind the New Testament - Earliest Christian Sources; title: Before the Gospels - Jesus in Oral Tradition; title: Jesus in Context - Background sources for the study of Jesus; title: Conclusion