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Jesus. Latest Research. Treatise on Jesus of Nazareth.

Volume III: Historical Analysis

Jesus Fernandez-Pedrera

A forensic historical investigation of Jesus of Nazareth—from Bethlehem to the empty tomb—examining the birth narratives, the chronology of his life, the reliability of the Gospels, and the evidence for the Resurrection.

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About

About

About the Book

What if the life of Jesus could be examined with the tools of rigorous historical inquiry?

In Volume III: Historical Analysis, the third part of Treatise on Jesus of Nazareth, Jesús Fernández-Pedrera follows the evidence from the birth narratives to the empty tomb, asking whether the events reported in the Gospels can withstand detailed historical-critical scrutiny. This volume investigates the genealogy and birth of Jesus, the historical reliability of the Gospels, the chronology of his birth and public ministry, the arrest and trials, the crucifixion, and the Resurrection itself as a historical problem demanding explanation.

Drawing on biblical texts, ancient history, archaeology, manuscript transmission, and chronological analysis, the author examines difficult questions such as Herod the Great, Quirinius’ census, the meaning of Luke’s “inn,” the evidence for the public ministry of Jesus, and the competing explanations for the Resurrection. The result is a structured, forceful, and evidence-driven defense of the historical credibility of the Gospel accounts.

If you are looking for a serious, research-based study of Jesus of Nazareth that engages both believers and skeptics, this volume offers a detailed historical case built step by step from the sources themselves.

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Author

About the Author

Jesus Fernandez-Pedrera

Lawyer, philosopher, historian, analyst; born in Barcelona (Spain) in 1959.

Contents

Table of Contents

  • Introduction
  • Birth and lineage: biblical tradition and historical-critical perspective
    • According to the Gospel of Matthew
    • According to the Gospel of Luke
    • The genealogies of Jesus in Matthew and Luke
    • The transmission of genealogies in the Hebrew tradition, especially in the tribe of Judah
      • The importance of genealogy in Hebrew culture
      • The special role of the tribe of Judah and the messianic promise
      • Genealogical transmission in the history of the Jewish people
      • Consequences of this tradition
    • Conclusion
  • Historical evidence and reliability of the Gospels
    • Archaeological and contextual findings
    • Ancient manuscripts and textual transmission
    • Absence of contemporary refutations
  • Chronological Analysis of the Birth of Jesus of Nazareth: A Synthesis of Biblical and Historical Evidence
    • The Ministerial Anchor: Dating the Beginning of Jesus' Public Life
      • The "Fifteenth Year" of Tiberius Caesar (Luke 3:1)
      • The Political Mosaic of Judea (Luke 3:1-2)
      • The Chronology of the Herodian Temple (John 2:20)
      • The Meaning of "About Thirty Years" (Luke 3:23)
    • The Insurmountable Limit: The Death of Herod the Great
      • The Testimony of Flavius Josephus
      • Identifying the Eclipse: The Astronomical Evidence
      • The Terminus Ad Quem of the Nativity
    • The Celestial Evidence: Astronomical Interpretation of the "Star of Bethlehem"
      • Discarding Less Likely Hypotheses
      • The Great Conjunction of 7 BC
      • Other Candidate Phenomena
    • The Enigma of Quirinius' Census: A Historical Knot
      • The Explicit Contradiction between Luke and Josephus
      • Proposals for Harmonization and Critical Analysis
      • Most plausible solution proposed
      • A Census of the Entire Empire? Res Gestae and Roman Politics
      • Roman Administrative Practices: The Return to the Ancestral Home
      • The Quirinius Problem: Reexamining the Evidence
      • Reconciling Quirinius with an Earlier Census: A Plausible Scenario
    • Another Hypothesis on the Terminal Date of Herod the Great's Reign: A Chronological Reassessment
      • Deconstructing Josephus's Prevailing Data
      • The Anchoring of the Olympiads
      • The Eclipse Testimony
      • Corroboration from the Successor Tetrarchs
    • Synthesis and Chronological Verdict
      • Convergence of Data and Weighting of Evidence
      • Constructing the Most Plausible Scenario
      • Conclusion: The Most Probable Year of Jesus' Birth
  • The Inn: A Historical, Linguistic, and Cultural Analysis of Luke 2:7 and the Birth of Jesus in Bethlehem
    • The Linguistic Dilemma: Unraveling the Meaning of Kataluma
    • The Setting of the Birth: Architecture and Domestic Life in First Century Judea
    • Imperatives of Purity and Modesty
    • Synthesis and Reconstruction
    • Conclusion
  • Beginning of the public ministry of Jesus of Nazareth
    • Geographical context
    • Retreating into the desert and temptation
    • The first proclamation in Galilee
    • John the Baptist as precursor and the spiritual context of the first century
    • The first followers of Jesus and their socio-religious profile
    • Jesus' initial message: Kingdom of God, conversion, and inner righteousness
    • Initial reception
  • Reaction of the Jewish religious elites and Roman authorities
    • The growing opposition
    • Herod Antipas and his stance toward Jesus
    • Pontius Pilate and the Roman trial of Jesus
  • Arrest of Jesus and trial
    • Immediate causes of Jesus' arrest
    • The role of Judas Iscariot
    • Time and place of arrest
    • The judicial process
    • Trial before the Roman authorities
    • Comparison with contemporary judicial procedures
  • The crucifixion of Jesus
    • Archaeological evidence
    • Literary evidence
    • Roman law and context
    • Burials of Christian martyrs
  • The Resurrection of Jesus: Analysis
    • Jesus of Nazareth crucified under Pontius Pilate
    • The discovery of the empty tomb
    • Multiple early attestation
    • Appearances of the risen Jesus
    • The conversion of Paul and James
    • The emergence of the Church
    • Extrabiblical testimonies
    • Evaluation of alternative explanations
    • The resurrection hypothesis
    • Methodological considerations
    • Conclusion
  • Conversion of new believers and growth of the community in Jerusalem
  • Internal organization of the early community
  • Opposition and persecution
  • The resurrection as the center of the movement
  • Archaeology
  • Epilogue
  • Bibliography

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