My librarian friend Jill Prouty from Peach Tree City, Georgia tells me that abebooks.com is a great source for used books. I just checked and they have several copies of Hugh Schonfield, The Authentic New Testament, including the lovely 1st edition hardcover, which I would highly recommend. They also have the 1955 Holy Scriptures/JPS translation I recommended as does Amazon and quite a few other places. On that one though things can get a bit confusing, in that the new JPS Holy Scriptures/Tanakh (1985) often comes up as well on searches. I recommend both but in terms of a more “literal” translation, which I had recommended, the 1955 (based on the original 1917 edition) is preferrable.

Speaking of Jill Prouty and Peach Tree City Library, this past weekend they flew me to Atlanta to do a lecture and book signing and the turnout was wonderful, with hundreds of people streaming in. Jill had worked hard and managed to generate an amazing amount of publicity and buzz, including a full page story in the local paper, The Citizen by veteran reporter Michael Boylan:

We had to move from the original room scheduled to the City Hall next door. The audience was warm, intelligent, enthusiastic, and respectful and it was really gratifying to me to see the way in which my book has positively sparked lots of good enlightened discussion among Jews, Christians, and secularists about the historical Jesus. Although I have completed my “official tour” East, West, as well as abroad to the UK in connection with the book, Jill Prouty, who had reviewed the book for her local paper, contacted me and set this event up herself. I was reluctant at first to do any more traveling but I am so glad I did. It was truly a wonderful experience to visit this south of Atlanta community and I hope to return sometime.

So “have book, will travel,” but only if someone with the enthusiasm and skills of Jill Prouty “prepares the way” in the wilderness…

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