Books on Jesus

Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time : The Historical Jesus & the Heart of Contemporary Faith
by Marcus J. Borg
The complete title of Borg's work, Meeting Jesus Again For the First Time: The Historical Jesus And the Heart of Contemporary Faith, should be enough to cause one to read this book! Combine that with Publisher's Weekly review that states: "Borg directs his readers away from confessed doctrines about Jesus (what the Gospels and the Churches say about Him) and toward a relationship with the Spirit of God" and you are compelled to read the book!!
Personally, I moved from anger (at my lack of intellect to challenge him early in the book) to joy (when I read, "Believing in Jesus in the sense of giving one's heart to Jesus is the movement from secondhand religion to firsthand religion..... Jesus is not simply a figure of the past but a figure of the present)!!!
I still struggle with the concept of the Pre-Easter Event Jesus and the Post-Easter Event Jesus. It is a struggle that I had never thought possible and I am indebted to Borg for leading me into the fray.
Finally, this is a book that I recommend highly for those searching for a spiritual place to stand in these troubled times.
Review by: Vince McMenamy

Jesus : A Revolutionary Biography
by John Dominic Crossan
Trying to find the historical Jesus, using all of the available resources, even those outside the canon of the church, is the task of this work.
In clear and startling terms, it defines Jesus, his place and rank in the society of his times and how significant the seemingly trivial things he did impacted that society and continue to do so today. Jesus is captured with having a sense of power and a sense of God's immediacy that shatters social restraints. Jesus is portrayed as having great warmth yet an unwavering directness.
Crossan demands that to understand Jesus you must understand the demands of the time in which he lived and by implication, you must understand the church by its attempts to live in society, today!
Finally, a difficult book to read and digest but one that must be read if you truly want to understand the New Testament and the life of Jesus.
Review by: Vince McMenamy

Jesus I Never Knew, The
by Philip Yancey
In a direct, no-nonsense approach, the author attempts to share a journey from a limited view of Jesus to a broad, rich experience of Jesus. In clearly evangelical language, he managed to lead this reader into a deeper appreciation of Jesus... A Jesus I have known for so long but only in a limited way!!!
Yancey manages, in this book, to make the search and its results very personal. While not diminishing it's academic grounding, it was, in a very creative way, live and vital.
There are parts of the book that I am still struggling with and in honesty, some parts I probably will never fully accept but having said that, I must confess that I've reread it three times!!!! There is "something" there speaking to me!
I would recommend this book to a group of seekers who are willing to risk, share and grow.
Review by: Vince McMenamy

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