There have been numerous competing perspectives regarding Jesus, whether he is a “heavenly Messiah,” “a magician,” “a demon-possessed man,” or a mere person, due to differing concepts or irreconcilable viewpoints. So with the authenticity of Jesus, his being, doing, and teaching, always being a source of skepticism, and the many conflicting and derailing speculations on Jesus’ identity. The author Jonathan Geoffrey Dean presents his ambitious research on the historical reality of Jesus in Salt and Light: The Complete Jesus. In his analysis of the ‘authenticity’ of Jesus, the author provides a comprehensive and reflective analysis from three perspectives – what did Jesus do, what did Jesus say, and who was Jesus?

Divided into thirty-one succinct and to-the-point chapters, the reader gets a full view of the entire research process, the author’s thoughtful choices of various methodologies, and his meticulous preparation of a ‘Source List.’ Until chapter number twenty-three, the emphasis is on constructing and compiling a reasonable and plausible list of sources. Then, despite a limited pool of references, it strives to weed out invalid and non-credible sources of information and “come with sources as “close” to Jesus as possible.” This is accomplished by applying certain principles to various religious and pagan sources and gospels, such as dating, credible facts, repetition, and custody rules.

Part two focuses on the book’s goal: answering the three questions about Jesus. Beginning with the origins and early life of Jesus of Nazareth and his familial and educational background, the various itineraries of activities surrounding his life are dated from his birth to his death, burial, and after-effects. The following chapters focus on establishing Jesus’ sayings and teachings and his persona, again in the most authentic form, filtering out the information and sources based on the rules mentioned previously.

There is no questioning the author’s precision and meticulousness in his approach to doing the research study. Not being intolerant and openly dismissing the opposing hypothesis on Jesus’ identity, he ingeniously evaluates and validates sources before keeping them for future investigation or dismissing them. In addition, the traditional and archaic pictures of art items and information charts captivate the reader just as much as the highly authentic and appealing information.

Salt and Light: The Complete Jesus presents the image of Jesus as a man who spread and affirmed the message of choice to humanity and of love of God and was equally prone to making mistakes. Additionally, it provides other viewpoints that may not be acceptable to everyone based on their beliefs.  As a result, reading the book necessitates a broad mindset and a readiness to examine things in light of contextual information.

Pages: 212 | ISBN : 978-1-03-913144-6

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