In Jesus Two Thousand Years Later, James H. Charlesworth (Princeton Seminary faculty member) and Walter P. Weaver (Emeritus Professor of Religion at Florida Southern College) effectively collaborate to provide the reader with a provocative and challenging examination of the history and impact of historical Jesus research by some of the finest scholars working in the field today. Highly recommended for both theology students and interested non-specialist general readers, Jesus Two Thousand Years Later offers a fascinating tour of the development of the research (including the methods scholars use), explores the debate that such research has sparked in the community of faith, and examines the difficulties in apply the results of historical Jesus research to our contemporary lives and Christian belief systems.

A short presentation of the content and importance of discoveries in Qumran! This short book composed of 4 small essays written by Biblical scholars gives us a brief explanation of the importance of the Dead Sea scrolls discovered in Qumran both in our understanding of Christian and Jewish origins. These documents remain as the only and greatest evidence of 1st century's Palestinian Judaism and give us a better understanding of the birth of Christianity. The Christian ideas about a "Son of God", a mass of bread and wine, a final Apocalypse and some literary similarities in the interpretation of Old Testament prophecies are proof of a relation (although complicated) between Christians and Essenes. Also, the authors explain how the content of the scrolls leave rational Christian faith unaffected and that the sensational documents about "a dying Messiah" or "Mark's little apocalypse" may have been ill-interpreted by their translators. Still, I would have liked to read a more extensive explanation of these matters, because I believe that there still remains more to be said. For instance, James Charlesworth was quite brief in dismissing Allegro's ideas about Christian origins and I would like to have read a better discussion of this subject. This reading defied several of my thoughts and beliefs about the nature of the discoveries at Qumran and gave me a better view of their content and importance.

Carlos Madeira, 21st of August of 99

What has archaeology to do with faith? Obviously nothing. Archaeology is a social science that utilizes the scientific method. Archaeologists analyze artifacts and their distribution to help understand the lifeways of those who came before us. Whereas faith is accepting something as truth which has no evidence indicating it as such.

What has Archaeology to do with Faith, edited by Charlesworth and Weaver, is a collection of four excellent papers on what is typically called 'biblical' archaeology and its relationship to ones faithful devotion to the Bible. The papers examine the implications of archaeology, and its scientific reconstruction of ancient social history, on Biblical studies. These implications can often be archaeological contradictions of biblical accounts, and even when archaeology can verify biblical events, there is no way to verify the work of God. These papers examine such issues. Faith is more than archaeological understanding, yet this historical knowledge can ultimately inform our faith. These four papers address the often-ignored (by non-archaeologist) reality of 'biblical' archaeology.