Gregory A. Boyd and Paul Rhodes Eddy co-authored "Lord or Legend?" for “critically minded laypeople” in hopes that their research would “provide a solid intellectual foundation” to their faith, and they are true to their mission. The book’s content is very academic in nature, covering two specific areas of study: 1) earliest religious beliefs and mythology and 2) the historical reliability of the Gospels in the Bible. This book was a challenging piece for me, and I consider myself to be a voracious and eclectic reader. Not only were the authors intellectual experts in their field—ancient historical veracity— but their vocabulary sprang from a veritable dictionary tucked away in each mind. More than once, I found myself re-reading a sentence to grasp its message.

Due to my Christian upbringing, I have seldom had cause to consider some of the arguments touted by naturalists, so Boyd and Eddy’s work was a trip into uncharted territory for me. Indeed, some of the opposing positions and interpretations of Jesus’ story were absolutely fascinating! For example, Boyd and Eddy tackle “The Discrepancies within and between the Gospels” with surprising integrity, bringing to light apparent contradictions I never knew existed.

The authors also weave a fascinating thread of Jewish history and religious customs throughout their analysis of the "Lord or Legend?" debate. And since their use of the historical-critical method closely studies topics such as oral tradition, textual reconstruction, and literary corroboration, the peppered anecdotes and authors’ personal insights help ease the cerebral focus of the text.

Because Boyd and Eddy so convincingly refute, or at least reasonably explain away, nearly every legend theorists’ argument, I was almost relieved to read their concession that the "Testimonium Flavianum" we have today is, in all probability, a reconstructed version of Josephus’s original. The authors had previously, however, established that Josephus, the single most important Jewish historian in ancient times, indisputably acknowledged Jesus’ very existence. So the slight allowance for the Christian interpolation in the "Testimonium Flavianum" does little to alleviate the authors’ unashamed (and valid!) bias.

"Lord or Legend?" is an invaluable volume for readers seeking intellectual, compelling arguments for and against the historical veracity of the Jesus story. Boyd and Eddy gave me a greater appreciation and understanding of the struggle some have for accepting Jesus as God, while deepening my own beliefs for accepting Jesus for Who He said He is. As they so eloquently put it, “No story could be imagined in which a lover sacrificed more for a beloved who deserved it less.” ( )