Jesus Books - Page 3

What Jesus Meant

Garry Wills

Amazon Price: $6.99 List Price: $24.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Viking Adult Amazon Marketplace: 18 new & used starting at $3.49

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Religion & Spirituality -> Christianity -> Theology -> Christology

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 69 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

As the religious rhetoric of the culture wars escalates, New York Times bestselling author and eminent scholar Garry Wills explores the meaning of Jesus’s teachings

In what are billed as “culture wars,” people on the political right and the political left cite Jesus as endorsing their views. Garry Wills argues that Jesus subscribed to no political program. He was far more radical than that. In a fresh reading of the gospels, Wills explores the meaning of the “reign of heaven” Jesus not only promised for the future but brought with him into this life. It is only by dodges and evasions that people misrepresent what Jesus plainly had to say against power, the wealthy, and religion itself. Jesus came from the lower class, the working class, and he spoke to and for that class. This is a book that will challenge the assumptions of almost everyone who brings religion into politics—“Christian socialists” as well as biblical theocrats.

But Wills is just as critical of those who would make Jesus a mere ethical teacher, ignoring or playing down his divinity. Jesus without the Resurrection is simply not the Jesus of the gospels. Wills calls his book a profession of faith in the risen Lord, the Son of the Father, who leads us to the Father. He argues that this does not make people embrace an otherworldliness that ignores the poor or the problems of our time.

What Jesus Meant will no doubt spark debate about our understanding of Jesus and the Scriptures, especially as we head into midterm elections that will certainly prompt many heated discussions on the role of religion in our society.

Lead Like Jesus: Lessons from the Greatest Leadership Role Model of All Time

Ken Blanchard, Phil Hodges

List Price: $24.99 By: Thomas Nelson Amazon Marketplace: 18 new & used starting at $8.42

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Religion & Spirituality -> Christianity -> Theology -> Christology

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 16 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Jesus as the Model of Leadership 3 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Ken Blanchard's book, Lead Like Jesus, was like a good meal to me: a meat, two vegetables, satisfying but not noteworthy. Certainly there is nothing particularly harmful in the book (it is not like fast-food), but the "a-ha" moments were virtually non-existent for me. Now this is not necessarily a bad thing. In a world where much Christian literature is positively harmful for its lack of Scriptural faithfulness, a solid book like this that reminds us of core values is worth our attention.

Lead Like Jesus 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Great book that is easy to read and well organized. Deals with the fundementals such as motive and perspective, and is very effective.

Good incorporation of scriptural basis for leading the right way 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

The servant leader has always been the only approach that makes sense, and Ken Blanchard wrote many books about this before he got saved. Now, he understands the ultimate model for his philosophy - Jesus Christ - and has become an effective advocate for Jesus' modeling of servant leadership. I am going to teach from this book beginning in September 2008, and I believe my students will benefit immensely from the material here.

Editorial Review:

back in print from Terry Meeuwsen

The Resurrection of the Son of God (Christian Origins and the Question of God, Vol. 3)

N. T. Wright

Amazon Price: $26.40 List Price: $40.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Augsburg Fortress Publishers Amazon Marketplace: 39 new & used starting at $21.11

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Religion & Spirituality -> Authors, A-Z -> ( W ) -> Wright, N.T.
Subjects -> Religion & Spirituality -> Christianity -> Bibles -> New Testament
Subjects -> Religion & Spirituality -> Christianity -> Reference -> New Testament -> Study

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 33 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Why did Christianity begin, and why did it take the shape it did? To answer this question – which any historian must face – renowned New Testament scholar N.T. Wright focuses on the key points: what precisely happened at Easter? What did the early Christians mean when they said that Jesus of Nazareth had been raised from the dead? What can be said today about his belief?

This book, third is Wright’s series Christian Origins and the Question of God, sketches a map of ancient beliefs about life after death, in both the Greco-Roman and Jewish worlds. It then highlights the fact that the early Christians’ belief about the afterlife belonged firmly on the Jewish spectrum, while introducing several new mutations and sharper definitions. This, together with other features of early Christianity, forces the historian to read the Easter narratives in the gospels, not simply as late rationalizations of early Christian spirituality, but as accounts of two actual events: the empty tomb of Jesus and his "appearances."

How do we explain these phenomena? The early Christians’ answer was that Jesus had indeed been bodily raised from the dead; that was why they hailed him as the messianic "son of God." No modern historian has come up with a more convincing explanation. Facing this question, we are confronted to this day with the most central issues of the Christian worldview and theology.

The quest of the Christ of faith: Reflections on the Bultmann era

William Baird

By: Word Books Amazon Marketplace: 5 new & used starting at $3.98

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Religion & Spirituality -> Christianity -> Jesus -> General
Subjects -> Religion & Spirituality -> Christianity -> Jesus -> General AAS
Subjects -> Religion & Spirituality -> Religious Studies -> Theology -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 32 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

"Sweet spot." Golfers understand the term. So do tennis players. Ever swung a baseball bat or paddled a Ping-Pong ball? If so, you know the oh-so-nice feel of the sweet spot. Life in the sweet spot rolls like the downhill side of a downwind bike ride. But you don't have to swing a bat or a club to know this. What engineers give sports equipment, God gave you.A zone, a region, a life precinct in which you were made to dwell. He tailored the curves of your life to fit an empty space in his jigsaw puzzle. And life makes sweet sense when you find your spot.

But if you're like 87 percent of workers, you haven't found it. You don't find meaning in your work--or you're one of the 80 percent who don't believe their talents are used. What can you do? You're suffering from the common life, and you desperately need a cure.

Best-selling author Max Lucado has found it. In Cure for the Common Life he offers practical tools for exploring and identifying your own uniqueness, motivation to put your strengths to work, and the perfect prescription for finding and living in your sweet spot for the rest of your life.

The Gospel According to Jesus: What Is Authentic Faith?

John MacArthur

Amazon Price: $13.59 List Price: $19.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Zondervan Amazon Marketplace: 39 new & used starting at $10.74

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Religion & Spirituality -> Christianity -> Bibles -> New Testament
Subjects -> Religion & Spirituality -> Christianity -> Christian Living -> Faith
Subjects -> Religion & Spirituality -> Christianity -> Reference -> Commentaries -> New Testament

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 91 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

One of the most important books in the past 20 years 5 out of 5 stars.
13 of 14 people found this review helpful.

I first read this book when it was published in 1988. It countered the easy believism, self-delusional evangelism pervasive in my then-independent Baptist circles and confirmed the serious gospel of God's grace. I read several of the one-star reviews, and they typically represent a gross misunderstanding of grace that provides comfort to Christians whose children made decisions and then departed from the faith in adulthood.

The Bible commands us to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and speaks much about the pursuit of obedience as evidence of true faith. Obedience does not save, but the truly converted person will seek, however imperfectly, to obey his Lord. There is no salvation, only delusion, in a "gospel" which divorces obedience from faith. As the book of James aptly states, "Faith without works is dead."

Those who denounce MacArthur as mixing works with grace misrepresent the author. This is a serious book for those serious about following Christ. I would give it ten stars if that were an option.

Editorial Review:

What does Jesus mean when he says, “Follow me”?

Twenty years ago, pastor-teacher and bestselling author John MacArthur tackled that seemingly simple question—and wrote a book that has since taken its place among Christianity’s classics. This 20th Anniversary edition of MacArthur’s provocative book has been revised and contains one new chapter.

Jesus Among Other Gods (Participant's Guide)

Ravi K. Zacharias

List Price: $12.99 By: Thomas Nelson Amazon Marketplace: 6 new & used starting at $4.72

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Religion & Spirituality -> Christianity -> Christian Living -> General
Subjects -> Religion & Spirituality -> Christianity -> Christian Living -> General AAS
Subjects -> Religion & Spirituality -> Christianity -> Theology -> Apologetics

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 69 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Overall an interesting approach 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

"Jesus Among Other Gods" is a book that is bound to be controversial. I say this first in my review because while most people may understand their religious differences with Ravi, they may not be aware of epistemological differences. Ravi, assuming that absolute truth is within human grasp, directly undercuts that relativistic tendency of modern religious thought. So when you read this book, please take note of this important detail.

A good summary paragraph of this book is "The route I have followed is to present a clear difference between Jesus and any other claimant to divinity or prophetic status. I have taken six questions that Jesus answered in a way that none other would have answered." (ix of intro)

The six questions which Ravi sees through the eyes of Jesus are: 1) Addressing a heavenly home 2) The anatomy of faith and the quest for reason 3) A Taste for the Soul 4) Is God the source of my suffering?
5) When God was silent 6) Is there a gardener (resurrection and life issues) Through these issues he tries to establish that Christianity is a faith with unique answers. Page 7 is the definitve push toward this thesis and path the book takes.

And here I think any true student of religion will be hard pressed to deny that the major world faiths sustain some significantly different truth claims. Some examples in the book that illustrate this well are:

Kharma and reincarnation are indispensable beliefs to the people of the East, Hindus and Buddhists. Compare this to Muslims, Christians, Jews, and agnostics/atheists who overwhelmingly believe that we live once.

Even within the ranks of similar religions there are disagreements. Though both Muslims and Christians are monotheists,a Muslim's view of Allah and the trinitarian view of Christianity are very different.

I have to agree with the idea that the religions of the world have some fundamentally different philosophical assumptions and ultimate life goals for their respective adherents.

Meanwhile, this book is written less in a formulaic and logical hardliner format. It is a personal book. Ravi recounts experiences in his own life. It's less a philosophical treatise and more of an essay. At times I think Ravi could have kept his thoughts more tidily, but his personal style is very endearing.

Also, do not make the assumption that just because he believes Christianity is true that he does not respect other thought systems: "I have walked through temples, mosques, and other religious sites. I have spoken to students at universities in which the predominant religion is not Christian. In the course of this, I have met some very fine and gracious people." (ix, intro) I believe he is sincere when saying this.

I highly recommend this for the more casual philosopher and seeker. I also recommend it for the Christian reader.

Editorial Review:

In a world with so many religions - why Jesus? In his most important work to date, apologetics scholar and popular speaker Ravi Zacharias shows how the blueprint for life and death itself is found in a true understanding of Jesus. With a simple yet penetrating style, Zacharias uses rich illustrations to celebrate the power of Jesus Christ to transform lives. Jesus Among Other Gods contrasts the truth of Jesus with founders of Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism, strengthening believers and compelling them to share their faith with our post-modern world. Taken from the book of John.

God and Empire: Jesus Against Rome, Then and Now

John Dominic Crossan

Amazon Price: $6.49 List Price: $22.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: HarperOne Amazon Marketplace: 19 new & used starting at $6.00

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Religion & Spirituality -> Christianity -> Jesus -> Historical Jesus

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 18 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

At the heart of the Bible is a moral and ethical call to fight unjust superpowers, whether they are Babylon, Rome, or even America.

From the divine punishment and promise found in Genesis through the revolutionary messages of Jesus and Paul, John Dominic Crossan reveals what the Bible has to say about land and economy, violence and retribution, justice and peace, and, ultimately, redemption. In contrast to the oppressive Roman military occupation of the first century, he examines the meaning of the non-violent Kingdom of God prophesized by Jesus and the equality advocated by Paul to the early Christian churches. Crossan contrasts these messages of peace with the misinterpreted apocalyptic vision from the Book of Revelation, which has been misrepresented by modern right-wing theologians and televangelists to justify U.S. military actions in the Middle East.

In God and Empire Crossan surveys the Bible from Genesis to Apocalypse, or the Book of Revelation, and discovers a hopeful message that cannot be ignored in these turbulent times. The first-century Pax Romana, Crossan points out, was in fact a "peace" won through violent military action. Jesus preached a different kind of peace—a peace that surpasses all understanding—and a kingdom not of Caesar but of God.

The Romans executed Jesus because he preached this Kingdom of God, a kingdom based on peace and justice, over the empire of Rome, which ruled by violence and force. For Jesus and Paul, Crossan explains, peace cannot be won the Roman way, through military victory, but only through justice and fair and equal treatment of all people.

Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time: The Historical Jesus and the Heart of Contemporary Faith

Marcus J. Borg

Amazon Price: $10.92 List Price: $14.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: HarperOne Amazon Marketplace: 156 new & used starting at $1.25

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Religion & Spirituality -> Authors, A-Z -> ( B ) -> Borg, Marcus
Subjects -> Religion & Spirituality -> Christianity -> Jesus -> Historical Jesus
Subjects -> Religion & Spirituality -> Christianity -> Theology -> Christology

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 88 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Of the many recent books on the historical Jesus, none has explored what the latest biblical scholarship means for personal faith. Now, in Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time, Marcus Borg addresses the yearnings of those who want a fully contemporary faith that welcomes rather than oppresses our critical intelligence and openness to the best of historical scholarship. Borg shows how a rigorous examination of historical findings can lead to a new faith in Christ, one that is critical and, at the same time, sustaining.

"Believing in Jesus does not mean believing doctrines about him," Borg writes. "Rather, it means to give one's heart, one's self at its deepest level, to . . . the living Lord."

Drawing on his own journey from a naive, unquestioning belief in Christ through collegiate skepticism to a mature and contemporary Christian faith, Borg illustrates how an understanding of the historical Jesus can actually lead to a more authentic Christian life--one not rooted in creeds or dogma, but in a life of spiritual challenge, compassion, and community.

In straightforward, accessible prose, Borg looks at the major findings of modern Jesus scholarship from the perspective of faith, bringing alive the many levels of Jesus' character: spirit person, teacher of alternative wisdom, social prophet, and movement founder. He also reexamines the major stories of the Old Testament vital to an authentic understanding of Jesus, showing how an enriched understanding of these stories can uncover new truths and new pathways to faith.

For questioning believers, doubters, and reluctant unbelievers alike, Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time frees our understanding of Jesus' life and message from popular misconceptions and outlines the way to a sound and contemporary faith: "For ultimately, Jesus is not simply a figure of the past, but a figure of the present. Meeting that Jesus--the living one who comes to us even now--will be like meeting Jesus again for the first time."

Great Lives: Jesus: The Greatest Life of All (Great Lives from Godæs Word)

Charles R. Swindoll

Amazon Price: $16.49 List Price: $24.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Thomas Nelson Amazon Marketplace: 67 new & used starting at $3.94

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> General
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> General AAS
Subjects -> Religion & Spirituality -> Authors, A-Z -> ( S ) -> Swindoll, Charles

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Amazing insight! 5 out of 5 stars.
6 of 8 people found this review helpful.

The insight into the life of Jesus in this book is amazing. You can tell that Mr. Swindoll was writing with the blessing of God. I highly reccommend it and can't wait to read others in the series.

Editorial Review:

This next release in the Great Lives series unveils the life of Jesus and inspires readers with insight, teaching, and historical information.

In Great Lives: Jesus, pastor and Bible teacher Charles R. Swindoll dives into the life of the Savior. The book's message presents theologically rich content and a straightforward, honest, and chronological journey that appeals to readers' hearts as well as their minds. Along the way, Dr. Swindoll's trademark warmth and insight offer up life application for the reader drawn straight from the words and works of Jesus. As Dr. Swindoll writes, "The power of His resurrection is a quiet, transforming force that results in the steady growth of hope and life within the believer." Encountering the great life of Jesus is all a believer needs to truly experience that power.

The Misunderstood Jew: The Church and the Scandal of the Jewish Jesus

Amy-jill Levine

Amazon Price: $11.86 List Price: $13.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: HarperOne Amazon Marketplace: 56 new & used starting at $6.11

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Religion & Spirituality -> Christianity -> Church History -> General
Subjects -> Religion & Spirituality -> Christianity -> Church History -> General AAS
Subjects -> Religion & Spirituality -> Christianity -> Reference -> Criticism & Interpretation -> New Testament

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 25 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Jesus is Jewish! 5 out of 5 stars.
7 of 8 people found this review helpful.

This is the best book available today about the Jewishness of Jesus. Amy Jill Levine points out that many of the Gospel stories would hit home with more of us if we read the New Testament with the eyes of a first century Jewish person. She points out the Jewishness of each line of the Lord's Prayer and its similarities with the Mourner's Kaddish in Judaism. She also shows that the parable of the Good Samaritan will be more powerful when we realize that the role model of the story is the enemy of the Jews.

Similarly, the parable of the tax collector and the self-righteous Pharisee praying in the temple has a bigger punch when we remember how despised tax collectors were and how unlikely it would seem that a sinful, self-centered tax collector would repent and turn to the Jewish God.

There is also an important chapter about anti-Judaism in the New Testament. Levine feels that the issue of whether or not there is anti-Judaism in the NT cannot be decided by the historian, but by the individual. Some will see it in the text, some won't.

I wanted to argue at this point. I wanted to say "What about authorial intent? Can't we study the salient passages in their contexts to see if the authors intended an anti-Jewish polemic?"

But Levine would rightfully note that we all have different reactions to what we read. Even though she rejects this notion, I still see it as a family disagreement.

There is also an important chapter about the dangers of stereotyping Judaism. Levine notes that when we preach the gospels, we talk about the harsh legalism of the Pharisees, the strain of women under the law of Moses, the idea that the Jewish people rejected Jesus because he wasn't a warrior messiah, the idea that the Jewish people were obsessed with the idea of keeping pure from outsiders, and the impossibility of keeping the law of Moses. Levine points out that these are stereotypes, this is NOT the way the Jewish people looked at their lives.

Levine also calls for true interfaith dialogue. This means avoiding statements like "All Jews think ..." or "All Christians think ...." It also means recognizing that both Jewish and Christian traditions have texts that might rub the other dialogue partner the wrong way. Levine counsels us to speak out when someone makes a derogatory comment about Jewish people or Christian people. There is no room for hate at the table of faith. I agree.

And yet there is a clear message in the New Testament that Jesus Christ is superior to the institutions of Judaism, especially in the book of Hebrews and in certain texts from Galatians and the gospels. I think this is an important message. The Jewish writers of the New Testament were transformed by their faith in Jesus Christ. They felt so passionately about their Messiah that they even stated that faith in Him was superior to anything else Judaism could offer. As a Jewish believer in Jesus as Messiah, I wholeheartedly concur.

Nevertheless, Ben Witherington is surely right when he calls this book the best book written on the Jewishness of Jesus. I personally need to be careful in the future about making sure I don't stereotype Judaism in my treatment of the Gospels.

Editorial Review:

In the The Misunderstood Jew, scholar Amy-Jill Levine helps Christians and Jews understand the "Jewishness" of Jesus so that their appreciation of him deepens and a greater interfaith dialogue can take place. Levine's humor and informed truth-telling provokes honest conversation and debate about how Christians and Jews should understand Jesus, the New Testament, and each other.