New Testament scholars have long debated the historical identity of Jesus and the development of Christology within the church's history. In Who Is Jesus? Carl Braaten reviews the various historical Jesus quests, arguing that it is time for the current ("third") quest to admit failure. Against the implication that "the real Jesus has been lost and needs to be found," Braaten maintains that the only real Jesus is the One presented in the canonical Gospels and that "any other Jesus is irrelevant to Christian faith." He draws on a wealth of historical resources to address such contentious questions as these:

- What can we actually know about Jesus of Nazareth?
- Did Jesus really rise from the dead?
- Is Jesus unique -- the one and only way of salvation?
- Why did Jesus have to die on the cross?
- Was Jesus the founder of the Christian church?
- What does Jesus have to do with politics?