CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER 1:  WHY JESUS WAS NOT THE CHRIST

I.  WHO OR WHAT WAS THE MESSIAH?

II.  Christian Proof Texts

A.  Isaiah 53 and the Suffering Servant

B.  The Crucifixion: Psalms 22:16/17 and Zechariah 12:10, 13:6

C.  Jesus’ Birth and Infancy

1.  Isaiah 7:14 and the ‘virgin’ birth

2.  Micah 5:2, and Bethlehem the birthplace of the Messiah

3.  Hosea 11:1, ‘Out of Egypt’

D.  Psalm 110, the Dixit Dominus

E.  Psalms 2:7, Jesus the ‘Son’ of God?

F.   Isaiah 9:5-6, the child who shall be called the Mighty God

G.  Daniel 9, did Daniel predict the year Jesus would die?

H.  Isaiah 59:20, will the Messiah come to take away sin?

I.  Zechariah 9:9, will the Messiah come to Jerusalem on two animals?

III. Parsing the Claim that Jesus was the Messiah

CHAPTER 2:  WHY THE CHRIST OF PAUL REPLACED THE HISTORICAL JESUS

I.  The Influence of Paul

A.  Paul’s Conversion

B.  Paul shares his gospel with the apostles

C.  Paul and the apostles in open conflict

D.  Paul’s self-proclaimed apostleship

E.  The teachings of Paul versus those of Second Temple Judaism

1.  Man cannot obtain God’s forgiveness or salvation on his own

2.  The role of the Messiah

3.  The role of the Torah in relation to Jesus

4.  The Jewish view

5.  Jesus as an atoning sacrifice

6.  Baptism and the Eucharist

7.  Salvation through faith

8.  The coming of the Messiah

II.  The Remainder of the New Testament Canon

A.  The Epistle of James

B.  The Other Gospels, Acts, and Revelation

C.  Christologies Through the Gospels

III.  THE DEVELOPMENT OF JESUS THROUGH THE FOURTH CENTURY

CHAPTER 3:  WHY JESUS WAS NOT RESURRECTED FROM THE DEAD

I.  The Hallucination Hypothesis

A.  Bereavement Hallucinations

B.  Peter, the first visionary of Jesus

C.  Collective hallucinations

D.  Paul’s visions

II.  1 Corinthians 15

A.  Appearance to Peter

B.  Appearance to the Twelve

C.  Appearance to the 500

D.  Appearance to James

III.  The Empty Tomb

A.  Legend

B.  Jesus’ Body was Relocated from Joseph’s Tomb

C.  Jesus’ Body was Stolen

IV.  Parsing the Evidence for the Resurrection

CONCLUSION

APPENDIX 1: Daniel 9

APPENDIX 2: Statements by prominent theologians and philosophers on Paul and Jesus

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

John Campbell is a lawyer, magician, songwriter, photographer, video producer, adventure travel enthusiast, and history buff who lives with his family in the southern United States. John has been a trial lawyer for over twenty-five years, successfully handling cases all over the country. He graduated from the College of William and Mary in Virginia and from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock law school.John was the coauthor of a book on close up magic, Pure Imagination, before writing Cross-Examined: Putting Christianity on Trial, his dissection of Christianity and the case of apologists for the Christian God. John was raised in a Christian household but lost his faith in college, ironically in the process of tying to to strengthen it. Since that time he has had a profound interest in religion, especially Christianity.