Jesus

Jesus

With such bestselling books as Modern Times, A History of the American People and A History of Christianity, Paul Johnson has earned a reputation as a historian whose writing is not only incisive and erudite but accessible and conversational as well. He returns to religious subject matter with Jesus: A 21st Century Biography. Neither a bloodless attempt to chronicle the life of the “historical” Jesus, nor a survey of the many “biographical” texts that have survived from the ancient world, this work analyzes the Gospels (King James version) to construct a striking portrait of “Jesus of Nazareth, his life, death, resurrection, and ascent into heaven, as simply and factually as possible.”

Accepting the historical fact of Jesus’ existence as given, including his divinity as asserted in the New Testament, the author provides a wealth of detail about the Roman world as a backdrop to Jesus’ life. He weaves the complementary accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John into an integrated chronicle—a base upon which he adds his own informed speculations and deductions about Jesus’ education, his acculturation, and his whereabouts and activities during the 18 “missing” years of his life. In the absence of contemporaneous accounts of Jesus’ physical appearance, Johnson uncovers clues within the texts. The historian’s facility for finding the humanizing detail parallels the habit of penetrating observation that he attributes to Jesus: “He missed nothing. ...His all-seeing eyes were, almost certainly, the first thing that struck people about him.” The author’s perception extends even to the Messiah’s personal affinities: for example, his predilection for high elevations during momentous events.

Inevitably, the bulk of the narrative spans the final three years of Jesus’ life, after he had established his ministry and chosen his first apostles. Regardless of any reader’s personal beliefs, he is certain to find intellectual delight in contemplating Johnson’s nearly playful analysis of “the inconveniences of miracles.”

The most absorbing chapter of this biography, and perhaps the section most relevant to 21st-century sensibilities, addresses the new morality ushered in by the carpenter-turned-fisherman-turned fisher of men: “What Jesus taught, and why.” Jesus’ revolutionary innovation was to replace the legalism of ancient Judaism with “an affair of the heart and an adventure of the spirit.”

Few figures have had a more powerful impact on history as did Jesus. His teachings have inspired controversy, arguments, even war—yet few have held forth as movingly on peace, forgiveness and mercy. Paul Johnson offers readers a lively biography of the man who inspired one of the world’s great religions and whose lessons continue to guide the lives of millions.

Hardcover: 208 pages

Publisher: Viking Penguin/Div Of Penguin Putna ( March 04, 2010 )

Item #: 93-3920

ISBN: 9780670021598

Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 8.25 x 0.61 inches

Product Weight: 10.0 ounces