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Summary: The Jesus I Never Knew
Review: **** In the last eighteen months or so, the question of ''who is Jesus" has been on the minds of many. Although this is not actually a new book, it does answer the question to a great extent, stripping away the Hollywood images to reveal the man who could be termed "a good Jew", and still is the Son of God. Through the lens of the culture into which He came and the affect His life has had since then, Mr Yancy paints a moving portrait. This is not one of his more contraversial books, but it is one of his best. ****
Reviewed by Amanda Killgore.
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Summary: Meeting God Incarnate
Review: A century ago, a German theologian advised a friend to sell all he had and buy the works of the great British Baptist preacher Charles Spurgeon. While that is still excellent advice, there is another writer whose works you would do well to passionately collect.Philip Yancey's goal in this book was a simple one. He wanted to meet God's Son as He really was, not as this or that theologian or church interpreted Him. Yancey wanted to walk the paths of Israel with Jesus, to get to know Him, to listen to His words, to see how the people of that time reacted to Him and to wonder how he himself might have reacted to the life and teachings of Jesus. Yancey succeeds wonderfully. This book is filled with pithy and profound observations that will have you meditating very hard. I don't agree with all of his conclusions but I think Yancey has done as good a job of introducing the reader to Jesus Christ as any modern writer I've ever read, certainly far more meaningfully than celebrated religious skeptics, some of them claiming to be Christian, who presume to believe they know what Jesus "really said" or "really meant." And Yancey is a wonderful writer. I tend to jump around when I read, now reading this book and now that one, depending on my interests of the moment. But this book held my undivided attention for two days straight. I made a point of making time to read this, something I rarely ever do. Buy this right now.
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Summary: The Quest for the Pseudo-Historical Jesus
Review: As promised by the book title, the author tried to deliver something "insightful" about Jesus to anybody who might even had read the whole New Testament several times. In my opinion, he did the job very well, no matter whether one agrees with his relatively liberal perspective manifest in his later and more well known book "What's so amazing about grace?" or not. Though I think "What's" is even better, I do recommend this to any christian who wants to know more about Christ our Savior. Below please find some copy and paste for your reference. Hope you like them. The temptation in the desert reveals a profound difference between God's power and Satan's power. Satan has the power to coerce, to dazzle, to force obedience, to destroy....God's power, in contrast, is internal and noncoercive....As every parent and every lover knows, love can be rendered powerless if the beloved chooses to spurn it. pg76 Jesus did not mechanically follow a list of "Things I gotta do today,", and I doubt he would have appreciated our modern emphasis on punctuality and precise scheduling. He attended wedding feasts that lasted for days. He let himself get distracted by nobody he came across...Two of his most impressive miracles (raising of Lazarus and Jairus's daughter) took place because he arrived too late...Jesus was "the man for others,..He kept himself free - free for the other person. pg 89 As a child, I saw the miracles as guarantees of personal safety.....According to tradition, the eleven disciples who sruvived Judas all died martyrs' deaths...Faith is not an insurance policy...but rather give a secure base from which to face their consequences. pg 181 Jesus' healings are not supernatura miracles in a natural world. They are the only truly natural things in a world that is unnatural, demonized and wounded. pg 183 When I ask a stranger, "What is an evangelical Christian?" I get an answer something like this, " Some who supports family values and opposes homosexual rights and abortion." This trend troubles me because the gospel of Jesus was not primarily a political platform....Jesus did not say, "All men will know you are my disciples ..if you just pass laws, suppress immorality, and restore decency to family and government," but rather "...if you love one another." pg 247
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Summary: Phillip Yancey's Masterpiece
Review: I began this book with some hope of finding some new writing on the life of Jesus. I was not disappointed. While I thought the book was going to be a bit slow, as Yancey gets to the sermon on the mount, and in particular, the beatitudes, his writing and analysis become positively brilliant. His passion for Christ is elevated and his writing becomes inspired. From that point to the end of the book and the Ascension, his writing is a page turner. I could not put it down and left with a new understanding of things that I had not received from any other writer since William Barclay (Daily Study Bible). Yancey has a masterpiece here. It belongs on every Christian's shelf.
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Summary: Excellent Reading
Review: I grew up Roman Catholic and loved Jesus very much. I grew apart from my religion in my early 20s because of the intense dogma associated with all main stream religions. I was hoping to find a in-depth look at Jesus from reading this book, but I came across the usual blind faith from people who believe in the Bible literally. It put me off main stream religions for good. I'd rather find my own spiritually through my self via meditation and being a good person, then believing words from patriarchal religious leaders with their own agenda. Wouldn't it be great if there was an old, unaltered text about the true Jesus Christ?
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Summary: A Great and Useful Read for Many Christians
Review: Phillip Yancey's strength in his books is always in his ability to convey concepts and ideas, as well as historical places and people, to contemporary readers minds and taking to task both liberal, mainstream, and conservative notions about Jesus and Christianity. In "The Jesus I Never Knew" Yancey does a great job in putting Christ in a 'modern' context so our today's reader can relationally understand and 'feel' Jesus. Yancey tries to remove the Jesus many of us grew up with: The "lifeless flannelboard' Jesus we observed as children in Sunday school (p. 85) His book is a challenege to Christian liberals who tend to view Jesus only as a social and political revolutionary and it is a challenge to many Evangelicals and all fundamentalists who tend view 'Chrsitological' doctrine in a cultural, and often American vacumm (Yancey's use of Dostoevsky and Tolstoy is very telling in his ability to draw from Eastern Chrsitians and make their life's revelat to Western Readers). One recent reviewer suggests this book is somewhat shallow, and sugests reading Marcus Borg's "Meeting Jesus Agian for the First Time." First, this book, though maybe not theologically extensive as other books, it does do what the author intended, to show Jesus for who he is, man and God. I have a couple of places where I question Yancey's statements, but overall he has done a great job for presenting an authentic Christ. Yancey is primarily a journalists telling the message and is probably more effective than most theologians and is much more so than Borg. Secondly, Borg's book is even more shallow and less meaningful. Further, Borg cannot allow his naturalistic worldview to alow for a high Christology. Borg's Jesus looks very much like Borg. Yancey's view of Jesus is much closer to the truth. A great alternative to both these books is 'Living Jesus' by Luke T. Johnson.
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Summary: "Human History Hung in the Balance"-Philip Yancey
Review: That statement is found in the fourth chapter entitled Temptation: Showdown in the Desert.
I read this book many years ago, and this chapter has stuck in my mind all those years. I loved how Yancey treats those few verses found in the gospels about Christ's temptation in the Judean desert which is just south of Jerusalem. He mentions that John Milton, in a sequel to Paradise Lost, saw the temptation rather than the crucifixion as Christ's most pivotal moment. As a christian myself, I think it is extremely critical to understand G_d's nature as opposed to satan's because it is written in 2 Corinthians 11:14 no wonder, for even satan disguises himself as an angel of light. The differences between satan and G_d are seen most clearly in the brief exchanges that occur between them found in Matthew 4:3-11, Mark 1:13, Luke 4:1-13. It's something to think about; Christ, the Creator of all created, would turn down fame (although He is pretty famous today), would turn down power, would turn down showmanship. Yancey phrases Christ's actions this way, borrowing Dostoyevsky's words from the Grand Inquisitor in Brothers Karamazov, He turned down "miracle, mystery, and authority."
And anyway, I've often reflected, why should G_d work miracles in front of people who won't believe, even if they are razzled and dazzled???
I personally prefer this book over What's So Amazing About Grace, maybe because I've heard so much on the subject of grace, that not much is new to me. Also, it's always a good exercise to reflect on who Jesus really is, to reflect on His teachings, His life.
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Summary: Thousands Have A Priceless Gift But Will Never Discover It
Review: The renowned Christian book author, Philip Yancey, deserves "five gold stars" for his thought-provoking book, The Jesus I Never Knew. Yancey's training and experience as a journalist is evident in his exploration and historical detailed life analysis of the human being we call "Jesus." His book tells the story of this great Man who changed history, but that's not why he wrote it. As explained in Part One, "Who He Was," Jesus was the dividing point in Yancey's life. Although Jesus lived over 2,000 years ago, Yancey and Jesus have a very personal relationship. He states: "Nothing, not even the murder of God's own Son-can end the relationship between God and human beings." Yancey reminds us "too easily we forget what it cost Jesus to win for us all-ordinary people, not just priests-immediate access to God's presence. How important is that? Yancey states, "According to Jesus, what I think about Him and how I respond will determine my destiny for all eternity." I'd say it's the most important decision you could ever make. As I read his book, I began to wonder, should this be a Wiley Publishing, Jesus For Dummies book? The Jesus we learned about while growing up, the typical Sunday school stereotype is a humble, soft-spoken, longhaired, modest Man. This is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords of all creation? This is the man that battled Satan? This is the man that hung on the cross by nails pounded into his flesh? Through extensive use of biblical references, Yancey explains how our preconceived ideas about Jesus' personality and looks may be misconceptions. Yancey also explains that Jesus purposefully walked through life and was comfortable meeting folks from every walk of life. Would you be comfortable associating with prostitutes, leprosy victims, and thieves? Jesus was, and still is. Yancey reminds us: "In God's kingdom there are no undesirables." Yancey's work opens our eyes to the circumstances encompassing the birth of Jesus. He asks, "If Jesus came to reveal God to us, then what do I learn about God from that first Christmas?" How about a God that is a humble, approachable, courageous underdog? Yancey's questions regarding the birth cause us to ponder why God would send His Son to earth as a tiny infant human being. God could have sent Jesus to earth in a fire engulfed chariot surrounded by legions of angels, but He didn't. Yancey further explores the Jewish connection and how "Jesus failed to meet the expectations of Messiah the Jews were awaiting." Reading the book helps you to discover why God chose the Virgin Mary, and the challenging circumstances surrounding the birth of the Messiah. Although, it wasn't clear to me why God chose that time and place for the birth of Jesus. Does Yancey create a paradigm shift in thinking? Yes. In the chapter, Mission: A Revolution of Grace, he asks: "Why do so few of the millions of prayers for physical healing get answered?" Humans afflicted with mental and physical woes daily ask, "Why me God?" When tragedy strikes my life, I ask God, "Why?" Yancey's response is simply, "I don't know." Yancey refers to a bible passage when Jesus is asked a similar question. Jesus responded, "...this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his [recipient's] life." In my youth, when something bad happened to my mom or dad, I would promise Jesus I would "be good" and "never do ever again. I knew God was punishing me for my bad deeds. I would pray extra hard, maybe even kneel by the side of the bed. I never heard God tell me everything was going to be ok. I prayed and prayed for miracles but the angels never came down to help me. How can I believe in God if he doesn't help me when I need it? Yancey illustrates that: "Although faith may produce miracles, miracles do not necessarily produce faith." Why did Jesus perform only a few miracles? They "give us a glimpse of what the world was meant to be and instill hope that one day God will right its wrongs." Yancey's book will open your eyes and mind to a new way of thinking. He will challenge your stereotypes and expose you to uncomfortable views. He supports his observations with evidence and builds his case like Lieutenant Columbo; except, Yancey doesn't bumble through the bible. Yancey is an expert communicator and articulates well his beliefs. I think you will find this book to be a good investment, monetarily and eternally. Reviewer's note: The title for this book review is officially listed in The Top 100 Greatest Headlines Ever Written. I thought it was applicable to this review since Yancey helps readers to discover the gift they already have, the unconditional love of Jesus Christ.
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Summary: The Best Book That I Have Ever Read
Review: This is the best book that I have ever read in my life. Period. A truly, phenomenal effort. The book is so well-written that it almost reads itself. One critic called it the best book written about Jesus in the 20th Century. Probably true. An agnostic that I know called it an impartial examination into the person Jesus.
I'll be honest, I haven't liked all of Yancey's books. A few of his books have seemed forced, whereas a few others are well written. As for this book, it is so far above anything Yancey (or anybody else, for that matter) has written. Read it and pass it on. I have lended my copy to so many people that I have had to buy extra copies.
This book makes you feel good about being a Christian. Plain and simple.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Book That I Have Ever Read
Review: This is the best book that I have ever read in my life. Period. A truly, phenomenal effort. The book is so well-written that it almost reads itself. One critic called it the best book written about Jesus in the 20th Century. Probably true. An agnostic that I know called it an impartial examination into the person Jesus.
I'll be honest, I haven't liked all of Yancey's books. A few of his books have seemed forced, whereas a few others are well written. As for this book, it is so far above anything Yancey (or anybody else, for that matter) has written. Read it and pass it on. I have lended my copy to so many people that I have had to buy extra copies.
This book makes you feel good about being a Christian. Plain and simple.
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