Argues that Jesus, like many of his later followers, proclaimed that God was soon to intervene in human affairs and bring all of history to a screeching halt. Through a careful evaluation of the New Testament Gospels and other sources, the author shows why Jesus should be understood as an apocalyptic prophet.

preface 1: The End of History as We Know It 2: Who was Jesus? Why It's So Hard to Know 3: How Did the Gospels Get to Be This Way? 4: Looking about a Bit: Non-Christian Sources for the Historical Jesus 5: Looking about a Bit More: Other Christian Sources for the Historical Jesus 6: Moving on to the Past: How Can We Reconstruct the Life of Jesus? 7: Finding a Fit: Jesus in Context 8: Jesus the Apocalyptic Prophet 9: The Apocalyptic Teachings of Jesus 10: A Place for Everything: Jesus' Other Teachings in Their Apocalyptic Context 11: Not in Word Only: The Associates, Deeds, and Controversies of Jesus in Apocalyptic Context 12: The Last Days of Jesus 13: From Apocalyptic Prophet to Lord of All: The Afterlife of Jesus 14: Jesus as the Prophet of the New Millennium: Then and Now notes bibliography index

"Very readable. Useful especially for undergraduates and interested public."--Blake R. Grangaard, Heidelberg College "Jesus is a superb example of how scholarship can be as full of suspense and surprises as a well-plotted mystery."--The Los Angeles Times "As fine and succinct a gathering of the voluminous Jesus scholarship as you're likely to find."--The Atlanta Journal-Constitution "An elegantly written, much-needed book....Ehrman's should be the first book for any lay reader interested in the historical Jesus."--Kirkus Reviews "[Ehrman's] warm, inviting prose style and his easy-to-read historical and critical overviews make this the single best introduction to the study of the historical Jesus."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Bart D. Ehrman is Bowman and Gordon Gray Professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He is the author of many books, including The New Testament: A Historical Introduction and The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture.