Portraying themselves as challenging blind religious dogma with evidence-led skepticism, the neo-atheist movement claims that the New Testament contains unreliable tales about a mythical figure who, far from being the resurrected Lord of life, may not even have lived. Getting at Jesus: A Comprehensive Critique of Neo-Atheist Nonsense About the Jesus of History (Wipf & Stock, 2019) documents the falsehood of these neo-atheist claims, correcting their historical and philosophical mistakes to show how we can get at the truth about the historical Jesus.
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Available from Wipf and Stock, amazon.co.uk, amazon.com, donner.nl, Koorong, VitalSource
Praise for Getting at Jesus
‘If you are looking for a one-stop comprehensive and up-to-date critique of the new atheists, look no further – this is it.’ – Tim Dieppe, Foundations Journal 78 (Spring 2020), see full review here
‘Peter Williams is a highly regarded Christian intellectual, and his writings and lectures always engage important topics in a rigorous and skilful way. Getting at Jesus may be his best and most important book to date. The book manages to be, at once, well researched, insightful in the topics covered, very well ordered in the flow of the book’s argument, and interesting to read. I highly endorse Williams’ outstanding contribution to believers and unbelievers alike.’ – Dr J.P. Moreland, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at Biola University in La Mirada, California
‘Are the high profile neo-atheists right when they claim that there is little-to-no evidence for the existence of Jesus, much less his exulted self-understanding, the historical reliability of the Gospels, or the veracity of the resurrection? Peter S. Williams leaves no stone unturned to amass the most comprehensive collection of scholarly testimony against these novel and misguided claims that is available today. Time and time again, he shows how the critics do not even follow their own alleged standards for truth. A must read for anyone who cares about evidence and not just propaganda.’ – Dr Craig L. Blomberg, Distinguished Professor of New Testament, Denver Seminary
‘This is a book that does what it says it will do, Williams looks at the key objections that the New-Atheists have made about the historical Jesus and he deals with them in great detail and systematically…. There are two things I particularly like about Williams approach. Firstly, his wide reading, drawing not just from standard evangelical scholars and apologists… but also from critical scholars, Catholic scholars and even key atheist thinkers. Secondly… he includes copious references to articles, books and YouTube clips…. an excellent resource for further study.’ – Stephen McQuoid, GLO Europe General Director
Resources
Listen
‘An Interdisciplinary Inquiry into Dating the Fourth Gospel, Part I: John 5:2 and Papyrus 52′, Theofilos. Volume 13, 2021, issue 1-2, 215–233, Theofilos. Volume 13, 2021, issue 1-2, 215–233.
ELF 2022: Dating the Fourth Gospel: An Interdisciplinary Approach
ELF 2022: New Testament Archaeology
ELF 2021: Archaeological Evidence for Jesus
‘Learning about Jesus with the New Atheists’ (May 2020)
‘Getting at Jesus – Interviewed by Iain Morris at Wycliffe Hall’
Read
Christian Evidence Society Blog: Getting at Jesus
Peter S. Williams, Behold the Man: Essays on the Historical Jesus (Wipf and Stock, 2024)
Peter S. Williams, Digging For Evidence (Christian Evidence Society)
Peter S. Williams, Understanding Jesus: Five Ways to Spiritual Enlightenment (Paternoster, 2011)
Watch
YOUTUBE PLAYLISTS
Textual Reliability of the New Testament
The Reliability of the New Testament
The ‘Lunatic, Liar or Lord’ Argument
Videos Featuring Peter S. Williams