This is an annotated bibliography of useful books and online resources for study of the historical Jesus. "Historical Jesus" is a term used to described what can be said of Jesus of Nazareth from a critical, historical perspective. Critical research into the historical Jesus is generally considered to have four phases.

1. The First Quest for the Historical Jesus was pursued primarily by nineteenth-century European Liberals, who sought to use gospel sources critically to write a biography ("Life of Jesus") to portray Jesus as he really was. Albert Schweitzer's research showed that most of this work tended to portray Jesus as a nineteenth-century European Liberal.

2. A period sometimes known as "No Quest for the Historical Jesus" followed, at least in Europe. Jesus scholars of this period typically considered it both historically impossible and theologically illegitimate to write a biography of Jesus. Rudolf Bultmann and Martin Dibelius are typical of this period.

3. The Second Quest (originally, the "New Quest") began in 1953. While agreeing that it was not possible to write a biography of Jesus in nineteenth-century terms, this quest considered it possible and necessary to discover what could be said about the historical Jesus. G|nther Bornkamm is typical of this period.

4. The Third Quest began in about the 1970s. Rejecting the anti-Semitism implicit in the Criterion of Dissimilarity, it places Jesus squarely within Judaism. It uses non-canonical texts as well as canonical texts, and it shows an interest in social history. While there is no real consensus in the Third Quest, there are noticeable tendencies. Some scholars (for example, E. P. Sanders and Gerd Theissen) see Jesus as an apocalyptic prophet and others (for example, Burton Mack and Dom Crossan) see him as a non-apocalyptic wisdom teacher. In addition, there are Third Quest dissenters (for example, Luke Timothy Johnson) who have a more conservative perspective.

This book is an early major study of the Third Quest of the historical Jesus.  It focuses on Jesus as a Jew. It emphasizes what Jesus did more than what he said.  In particular, it sees the "Cleansing of the Temple" as a key to understanding Jesus as an eschatological prophet who saw himself as God's last messenger before the coming of the kingdom.

Dom Crossan is a member of the Jesus Seminar.  This is a third-quest study. It depends heavily on the Gospel of Thomas and argues that the Gospel of Peter contains the most original passion narrative.  It presents Jesus as a Jewish peasant cynic, a non-violent, counter-cultural protestor who tried to move people into unmediated ("unbrokered") contact with God and one another. 

This is a major third-quest study, presenting Jesus as charismatic, non-apocalyptic healer and sage promoting "holiness as compassion." Borg is a member of the Jesus Seminar, and this was the first book-length study to emerge from the Jesus Seminar.

This book is intended to be an introductory textbook in the area of historical Jesus studies. The authors take a critical approach, typical of the "Third Quest" for the historical Jesus. The textbook gives a good overview of scholarly approaches to the subject. It also provides a collection of primary sources in English translation. This book is a good place to begin one's own research into the historical Jesus.