The Historical Jesus and the Literary Imagination 1860-1920

Fictional reconstructions of the Gospels continue to find a place in contemporary literature and the popular imagination. Present-day writers of New Testament–based fiction are considered to be part of a tradition formed in the mid-to-late twentieth century. Yet the foundations were laid earlier still by writers like Oscar Wilde, George Moore, and Marie Corelli who, in turn, drew influence from other works of biblical scholarship. The latest in the English Association Monographs series, The Historical Jesus and the Literary Imagination paints a convincing picture of the relationship between nineteenth-century biblical scholarship and literary works that raises interesting questions for scholars working at the intersection of literature and theology.