Book excerpt: From the author of the acclaimed historical novel, The Matthias Scroll, comes this nonfiction advance in Gospel interpretation. As fresh translations and undeniable inference open the Christianizing shells of lore and legend, a complete biography of Jesus emerges. For the first time, this penetrating study brings us together with the one so many have been seeking to know and appreciate as a human being. Never considered possible, Epsteins critical analysis crosses seemingly insurmountable linguistic hurdles, solving millenia-old riddles about the historical Jesus. With his arrest foreshadowed by formerly unknown circumstance, Epstein suggests, most serious New Testament scholars are likely to be amazed by the facts surrounding his capture, crucifixion, and interment. Praise from eminent scholar and author Shaul Magid: Delightful and provocative! Epstein has constructed a novel portrait of Jesus life based on New Testament passages juxtaposed to the Judaism of his time. Applying his own method of interpretation, the author challenges the Gospel account, recovering biographical dimensions of a pre-Christian, humanized Jesus. Joining the tradition of the search for the historical Jesus, what results is a readable, provocative thesis. Shaul Magid The Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein Chair Professor of Jewish and Religious Studies Indiana University