Jesus as Man, Myth, and Metaphor

Current New Testament scholarship has done much to advance knowledge of Jesus's authentic words and message. The works of Crossan, Borg, Vermes, Mack, and many others attest to this movement. In this process, however, the Christ of the Gospels, or the so-called Christ of faith, has been caught in the crosshairs, forcing Christianity to reflect anew on the church's interpretation of his life and place in history. Has the church's dogma overreached the ""facts"" of Jesus's life?

Farley's book addresses these issues and offers a feasible and illuminating context within which to reexamine Jesus's life and significance for modern humankind. His book probes the boundaries of Jesus as a historical person (as a man), as a figure of mythical proportions, and as a metaphor for today's Christian sense of wholeness. Along the way, Farley incorporates the insights of Carl Jung, Joseph Campbell, and Paul Tillich to demonstrate the ways that psychology, mythology, and symbolism contribute to an appreciation of Jesus that moves beyond the debate of Jesus's historical status alone.

Benjamin W. Farley is Younts Professor Emeritus of Bible, Religion, and Philosophy at Erskine College in Due West, South Carolina. He is the author of In Praise of Virtue and The Providence of God. Farley has also translated John Calvin's sermons and others of Calvin's works. In his spare time he writes fiction.