Telling the Untold Stories

Not long after Jesus' death, some of his followers began to report that they had seen Jesus, that he had been raised from the dead. Are these stories pious hoaxes? Do they represent living reality? Are they theological fantasies, concocted by the early Christian church as a means to distinguish itself from its religious and political context? With all the books that have been written about this subject, it seems that some kind of consensus might have arisen. Yet, in the late twentieth century previously unknown Gospels and other scriptures were discovered that expand and clarify the New Testament records. In Telling the Untold Stories, John Beverly Butcher explores the canonical and non-canonical Resurrection stories helping readers discover the enormous variety of experiences Jesus friends, family, and followers had of the Risen Christ. At the same time, Butcher's book invites readers to reflect on these first-century stories to discover what the Resurrection means in their own lives. John Beverley Butcher is a priest of the Episcopal Diocese of California and is the author of The Tao of Jesus. For: General audiences; pastors; seminarians; undergraduates>