some of this elusiveness may be traced back to Jesus himself.
When he talked he often spoke in riddles and parables, and when asked who he was, he replied:'who do you say I am?'.
He laid down few clear rules, left no systematic body of teaching, and founded no school to pass on his wisdom
The mystery is also a function of the sources on which we have to rely. We cannot consult the books Jesus wrote because he wrote no books, and we cannot turn to contemporary accounts of his life and works for there are no such accounts. We have only interpretations, and interpretations of interpretations. Our most important sources of information are already embroiled in the debate about his significance and already take sides. What is more, where Jesus is concerned the parameters of interpretation are particularly broad. It is hard enough to give a reliable account of the life of any individual; biographers make a