Who Was Jesus?

Very little is known about the life of Jesus. The gospels were written to propagate an image of Jesus as the prophesied Messiah, and give few details of his life. Moreover, most of the fundamental tenets of Christianity are not derived directly from the gospels but from the teachings of St Paul. Between and indeed within these sources there are baffling inconsistencies. This book seeks, as far as possible to uncover the historical figure of Jesus, and to explore what it was about his teaching that created a dedicated and able following that propagated a religion in his name. It also traces the life and teachings of St Paul, asks what Paul knew of the man, Jesus, and suggests that there may have been a conspiracy between Paul and Peter to disseminate a selective and distorted image of Jesus' life, character and teaching.

Acknowledgements. Introduction. 1. The problem. 2. What Acts does not say about Paul. 3. The Gospel evidence. 4. The Koranic testimony. 5. The lost Gospel of Waraqah Ibn Nawfal. 6. How much did John know?. 7. From Arabia to Palestine?. 8. The Messiah. 9. Dynasty of the Cross. 10. The god who became Christ. 11. The 'Bethany' mysteries. 12. The treason of Judas. 13. Does it matter?. Index.