It is often observed that no historical figure has had a greater impact on the world than Jesus Christ. Why is that? And what difference does his impact make to the world today?

It is also often said that Jesus was a 'revolutionary', and numerous books have appeared in recent years claiming just that - from the wild and sensational to the serious and respectable.

This book, written by influential authors reflecting a diversity of expertise and points of view, considers the claims that continue to be made about Jesus, whether by believers or nonbelievers.

Contributors:

Julian Baggini

Philosopher, journalist and co-founder of The Philosophers' Magazine. Author of The Godless Gospel: Was Jesus a Great Moral Teacher? (Granta 2020), How the World Thinks: A Global History of Philosophy (Granta 2019) and A Short History of Truth: Consolations for a Post-Truth World (Quercus 2017).

Terry Eagleton

Distinguished Professor of English Literature, Lancaster University. Author of Radical Sacrifice (Yale 2018), Reason, Faith and Revolution (Yale 2009), and The Meaning of Life: A Very Short Introduction (OUP 2007).

Robin Gill

Former Professor of Applied Theology, University of Kent, and editor of the journal Theology. Author of Society Shaped by Theology (Routledge 2017), Moral Passion and Christian Ethics (CUP 2017) and editor of The Cambridge Companion to Christian Ethics (CUP 2011).

Amy-Jill Levine

University Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies and Mary Jane Werthan Professor of Jewish Studies, Vanderbilt Divinity School and College of Arts and Science. Author of The Gospel of Luke (CUP 2018), The Jewish Annotated New Testament (OUP 2017) and The Misunderstood Jew: The Church and the Scandal of the Jewish Jesus (HarperOne 2006).

Tarif Khalidi

Professor of Islamic and Arabic Studies, American University of Beirut; formerly Professor of Arabic and a fellow of King's College, Cambridge. Translator of The Qur'an (Penguin Classics 2013), and author of Images of Muhammad (Doubleday 2009) and The Muslim Jesus (Harvard 2003).

Nick Spencer

Senior Fellow, Theos. Author of The Evolution of the West (SPCK 2016), Atheists: The Origins of the Species (Bloomsbury 2014) and Darwin and God (SPCK 2009).

Joan E. Taylor

Professor of Christian Origins and Second Temple Judaism, King's College London. Author of What Did Jesus Look Like? (Bloomsbury 2018) and editor of Jesus and Brian: Exploring the Historical Jesus and his Times via Monty Python’s Life of Brian (Bloomsbury 2015).

Rowan Williams

Master of Magdalen College, Cambridge and 104th Archbishop of Canterbury (2002-12). Author of Christ the Heart of Creation (Bloomsbury 2018), God With Us: The meaning of the cross and resurrection - then and now (SPCK 2017) and Meeting God in Mark (SPCK 2014).

A N Wilson

Novelist, journalist and broadcaster. Author of The Book of the People (Atlantic 2015), Paul: The Mind of the Apostle (Norton 1997) and Jesus: A Life (Norton 1992).