Shorter Life of Christ, A

by Donald Guthrie

A survey of Christ's life in an evangelical perspective—concise and thorough at once. Well-known New Testament scholar and theologian Donald Guthrie seeks to give an up-to-date account of the background, sources, and historical outline of the life of Jesus. Any quest for the historical Jesus is faced with immediate challenges, and in some places this quest has fallen out of favor entirely—but the Christian faith is an historic faith, and it necessarily attaches great importance to its historic beginnings. A Shorter Life of Christ discusses the background and historical sources as an important prelude to attempting an outline of the life of Christ. Guthrie recognizes that there are problems surrounding the history of Jesus and these must not be minimized. The most important of them are discussed in the following pages. . . Chapters are organized in such a way as to make this a welcoming read for the student and anyone looking for an overall introduction to the life of Our Lord and

Paperback

First published October 9, 1970

About the author

Donald Guthrie was a British New Testament scholar. Guthrie was a graduate of the University of London (B.D., Th.M., Ph. D.). From 1949 until his retirement in 1982 Guthrie was lecturer in New Testament studies at London Bible College (now London School of Theology), and from 1978 until 1982 he served as vice-principal of the college.
Guthrie wrote New Testament Introduction (1962) and New Testament Theology (1981) which are recognized as significant books related to the New Testament.

Reviews

[Joseph Carrabis · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found a handwritten note to myself deep in this book, evidently a bookmark: I had to go to the Health Center on Wednesday, 20 Nov, 1974.
I probably got this book for a class I took long ago and it remained on my shelf as a curiosity. It's an interesting read for many reasons. First, the bias. The message of the book is "Christ is the Risen Lord" or something similar. The last line of the book states as much, and the entire text works towards establishing that.
I don't have an issue with such statements. However, if you're going to prove something unscientific - essentially an opinion - please present opposing views and frame your proof as a discussion or dialogue. Without opposing views, the most you've got is Trump saying the Mexicans will pay for the wall and the Mexicans pointing and chuckling.
That noted, A Shorter Life of Christ is a good research book for someone wanting to write biblical era fiction or something requiring information about the early christian church (I wondered if Dan Brown read it).
So not for me except as research. Feel free to form your own opinion.