A Short Life

“Jesus: A Short Life” by John Dickson

While I was in the mood for reading Dickson I moved on from his books for teens to one of his more adult efforts. “Jesus: A Short Life” is Dickson’s attempt to make scholarly history accessible to the mainstream. The purpose being that the majority of historians studying biblical history are often overshadowed by the sensationalised claims from the lunatic fringe who dominate the headlines.

One example is Bishop John Shelby Sponge who, despite his title, seems to undermine the core tenets of Christianity at every opportunity. Needless to say he gets a lot of attention with his books and other outlets, even though what he says and writes has nothing to do with historical fact.

I enjoy reading Dickson’s work. Sometimes though I feel I need to extend myself in regards to content. As a friend likes to say, “He’s too mainstream”. This is true, but he’s still good. There are not many of us that could stand reading through tomes of scholarly writing. But Dickson does all that so I don’t have to.