During the Lenten season of 1996, Harper San Francisco publishing company sponsored an e-mail debate which explored the significance of the historical Jesus for Christian faith. The seven-week debate took place between John Dominic Crossan and Marcus Borg, both members of the Jesus Seminar, and Luke Timothy Johnson, the Seminar's foremost critic. Here are the messages from this contentious and intense debate. Each week except for the last consisted of a main message from one of the participants and replies from the other two.

Week 1 

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• Crossan's message (Sun, 18 Feb 1996 15:16:08)
• Borg's reply (Wed, 21 Feb 1996 16:14:15)
• Johnson's reply (Thu, 22 Feb 1996 08:34:25)

Week 2 

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• Johnson's message (Sun, 25 Feb 1996 18:59:59)
• Crossan's reply (Tue, 27 Feb 1996 10:31:41)
• Borg's reply (Tue, 27 Feb 1996 13:46:09)

Week 3 

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• Borg's message (Mon, 04 Mar 1996 15:40:12)
• Johnson's reply (Thu, 7 Mar 1996 08:26:44 )
• Crossan's reply (Thu, 7 Mar 1996 15:54:29 )

Week 4 

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• Crossan's message (Sun, 10 Mar 1996 14:59:53)
• Johnson's reply (Mon, 11 Mar 1996 16:07:33)
• Borg's reply (Thu, 14 Mar 1996 16:32:52)

Week 5 

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• Johnson's message (Mon, 18 Mar 1996 08:20:04)
• Crossan's reply (Tue, 19 Mar 1996 14:08:51)
• Borg's reply (Wed, 20 Mar 1996 18:01:53)

Week 6 

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• Borg's message (Mon, 25 Mar 1996 11:40:56)
• Johnson's reply (Thu, 28 Mar 1996 09:05:11)
• Crossan's reply (Thu, 28 Mar 1996 12:07:18)

Week 7 

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• Crossan's closing message (Sun, 31 Mar 1996 16:16:45)
• Johnson's closing message (Mon, 1 Apr 1996 08:19:28)
• Borg's closing message (Tue, 02 Apr 1996 09:34:29)

The Conversation Continued: