Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction -- What this book is about -- The Jesus of the early Epistles is not the Jesus of the Gospels -- Basic facts about the Gospels -- Mark -- Matthew and Luke -- John -- More on 'the Jews' in the Gospels -- The question of miracles and the work of David Friedrich Strauss -- The virgin birth -- The birth at Bethlehem -- Matthew's account -- Luke's account -- Luke's parallel between John the Baptist and Jesus -- The nativity as fulfillment of prophecy -- The genealogies -- The origin and purpose of the Christian virgin birth traditions and their post-scriptural developments -- The Resurrection -- The Gospel accounts -- The first three Gospels -- The Fourth Gospel -- Paul's account -- To whom the risen Jesus appeared -- Cephas -- James -- The twelve -- The five hundred and more -- The New Testament evidence as a whole and the synoptic burial narratives -- Recent defenders of the traditional doctrine -- Recent reinterpreters of the traditional doctrine -- The Gospel of Mark : history or dogma? -- William Wrede's epoch-making book -- The role of the disciples -- The secret of Jesus's status as Son of God -- Mark and community tradition : K.L. Schmidt and form-criticism -- The sayings GGspel, Q -- The prelude to Jesus's public ministry -- Jesus and John the Baptist -- The temptation -- Jesus as apocalyptic prophet -- The transition from prophecy to apocalyptic thinking -- From Reimarus to Schweitzer -- Hermann Samuel Reimarus -- Franz Overbeck, Johannes Weiss, and William Wrede -- Albert Schweitzer -- The Fourth Gospel and later -- An appraisal of relevant passages -- Recent attempts to cope with the texts -- Sundry proposals -- Meta-narratives -- Coping with the Romans -- Concluding thoughts -- Epilogue: The Gospels and eyewitnesses.