Debate over Jesus book continues

An expert on the relationship between history, science and religion will discuss the politics of publishing an anonymous account of Christ’s life in a Kelowna talk on Tuesday.

Ian Hesketh is an Australian Research Council Future Fellow at the University of Queensland.

He will speak from 2 to 4 p.m. in room 337 in UBC Okanagan’s Science building.

He is the author of three books: Of Apes and Ancestors: Evolution, Christianity, and the Oxford Debate (2009); The Science of History in Victorian Britain (2011); and, most recently, Victorian Jesus: J.R. Seeley, Religion, and the Cultural Authority of Anonymity (2017).

Hesketh is originally from Quesnel and completed a Bachelor of Arts in history at Okanagan University College before earning a master’s degree and PhD at York University.

“One of his earlier books is used as a text in a history course that he took from me as an undergraduate,” said associate professor of history James Hull.

Hesketh will talk about his research into the book Ecce Homo: A Survey in the Life and Work of Jesus Christ, published in 1865. It created a sensation, selling upwards of 20,000 copies in just over a year.

Ecce Homo presented Christ not as a worker of miracles but as an enthusiast for humanity. The fact the book was anonymously published added a further layer of intrigue. Hesketh’s will examine the varied receptions the book received.