"Though Johnson insists that he is a quiet scholar reluctant to engage in public polemic, his entrance into this battle is anything but reticent. He launches an attack on presentation of recent historical Jesus research in the popular press directed more at the Jesus Seminar (a group of scholars that has been at the forefront of such research for more than a decade) than at the press itself (pictured as manipulated rather than manipulator). Behind Johnson's dismissive attitude toward the media and his ad hominem attack on Seminar founder Robert Funk lurk three serious questions for readers familiar with the work of Seminar participants, including Funk, John Dominic Crossan, and Burton Mack. The first concerns the place of scholarly debate on issues of public interest; the second, the limitations of history and historical method; and the third, the interrelationship of faith, history, and institution. Despite Johnson's protestations, scholarly work is most often a war of words, a battle of interpretations--and whether in classrooms, scholarly journals, or the popular press, scholars (like preachers) know that massaging the medium is more than half the battle."--Steve Schroeder, Booklist (via Amazon.com)