THE GREATEST MAN WHO EVER LIVED
REVIEW
I liked this book. It was okay. I think I would prefer the Diatessaron for a truly quality literary depiction of Jesus' life. I may read that soon; I have to obtain a copy, first.
First of all, the quality of the print and graphics in this book is pretty good. What I was after was a fairly strict reiteration of the life of Jesus. Believer or nonbeliever, I am just after what is largely considered 'indisputable' when it comes to Jesus' life. The historical 'facts,' as far as these can be determined. I will not deny that I am also a sucker for poetic religious language. However I was not coming to this book to be proselytized. Nor was I.
This book did a pretty good job of presenting some of the more moral side of Christianity. Themes like forgiveness, humility and mercy show up at least in the table of contents, however the book stayed pretty close to a straight reiteration of the 'facts' as I described them without a lot of commentary. Although there is some. Some would dispute the 'factual' nature of the scriptures themselves even when describing supposedly cut-and-dry historical occurrences, so I suppose when I say factual, I mean inline with scripture. I do not intend to defend either side of the question as to the veracity of the scriptures, but I was just here to review the 'generally accepted' story, as I hope I made clear, earlier. I am just trying to get familiar with the generally accepted scriptural story, to put this in the simplest terms possible. If I came away inspired by the example provided by Jesus, that's just par for the course.
I was impressed by how often the man would incorporate economic principles into his parables: the master who lent some of his servants some money to see who would and how much they would capitalize on it; the man who used his position to lend favors to friends and thus in essence buy influence; and of course the woman who gave all the she could into the temple's coffers as compared with the rich men who gave objectively more, but whose gift meant much less in the eyes of God. Real, tangible, measurable value is often likened to spiritual value. It's a reminder that the physical plane is an imperfect representation of the spiritual plane. When Jesus dies, the curtain in the temple which veils the Holy Of Holies is rent from top to bottom, meaning that the way from the material to the spiritual world is made by Jesus' death. When Jesus ascends to heaven (this book claims), his body 'dematerializes.' When Jesus revisits the apostles in their home in his fifth appearance since his execution and resurrection, he somehow makes his way into the chambers despite the doors being locked. Is he real? Is he an apparition? In another book I read ('Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography), John Dominic Crossan suggests that Jesus' resurrection was nothing more than a vision, a dream, if you will, collectively experienced by his closest peers. There is the question with which the Sadducees try to stump Jesus concerning the 7 brothers who were all successively married to the same wife, and then the wife too, died. Who, they ask, gets to marry her in heaven? Jesus' answer is that heaven and earth cannot be likened to each other thus, and that instead, in heaven, the men and their wife will be like angels, divine, purely nonphysical, and it is for this reason that I wish to here question Jesus' own understanding of the divine versus the temporal. Where is the boundary between the heavenly realm and what we all know of
Jesus' remorselessness for the victims of societal purging is remarkable to me: the complete destruction of those who were 'bad'; the former salt of the earth which has lost its flavor, fit to be discarded; the killing of the fig tree that won't produce fruit. There's a lot of wailing and gnashing of
My favorite quote out of the book was found in the chapter entitled Preparing His Apostles For Departure, where the author states 'A person must come to know [the Father and Son] intimately, developing an understanding friendship with them. One must feel as they do about matters and see things through their eyes. And above all, one must strive to imitate their matchless qualities in dealing with others.' Despite my claim that I read this mostly for its 'factual' concordance, it's still nice to encounter ethical nuggets like this.
—Slade
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