Jesus in The Books Store

New York Times best-selling author Darrell Bock teams with Daniel Wallace to help lay readers separate fact from fiction and help from hype in the recent best-selling Jesus books and television specials.

There is a quest going on. It's the quest to reduce Jesus to a mythic legend or to nothing more than a mere man. Scholars such as Elaine Pagels and James Tabor are using such recent discoveries as the Gospel of Judas and the Gospel of Thomas to argue that the Christ of Christianity is a contrived figure and that a different Christ-one human and not divine-is the "true" Christ.

In his trademark easy-to-understand style Darrell Bock takes on these attempts to redefine Jesus in a convincing, winsome way that will help readers understand that the orthodox understanding of Christ and his divinity is as trustworthy and sure as it ever was. Joining Bock for the first time is fellow scholar Daniel Wallace.

Lucado invites us to understand the symbols surrounding Christ's crucifixion and celebrate the significance of the promises they offer. From the sign in different languages tacked to the cross ("I will speak to you in your language") to the burial clothing ("I can turn your tragedy into triumph"), he speaks of each symbol as a "gift of grace" that reveals God's love for mankind.

Lucado takes us to Calvary and shows us our sins nailed between the hand of Jesus and the cross. "You've made some bad choices in life, haven't you," writes Lucado. "You've chosen the wrong friends, maybe the wrong career, even the wrong spouse. You look back over your life and say, 'If only I could make up for those bad choices.' You can. One good choice for eternity offsets a thousand bad ones on earth. The choice is yours."

Author Bruxy Cavey asserts that Christ came to earth not to create a new religion but to destroy the very idea. To permanently shatter every barrier that exists between God and people. To unite and not divide.