Jesus I Never Knew, The

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Summary: Painting an undistorted picture of the Messiah
Review: "The Jesus I Never Knew" challenged me to take a hard and unbiased look at Jesus. Not many books do this. It challenged my own perceptions (and misconceptions) of Christ so that I could not hold on to them without a strong reason to. Philip Yancey did not paint a picture of Jesus for me, but lead me to what he has discovered about Him. I appreciated that. As a result, Jesus is more human to me now than ever. He is more God, too. He is more real. This book is a must read for anyone who is not afraid to face Jesus and let Him be who He really is -- the true and holy Son of God who wants to know and love each one of us.

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Summary: This book explains how to love as Christ wants us to love!
Review: Find out the Scripture where the only physical description of Jesus resides! Explore the Jewishness of Jesus. Explore the "androgenous" Jesus. Learn Jesus' views on "Free Will". This is an excellent book if you want to know Christ Jesus more. After reading this book, you will be closer to Christ. This book deserves more than 5 stars.

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Summary: awesome insight into Jesus during his time
Review: Yancey does a great job of looking at the life of Jesus in his own time. Many times as Christians, we lose sight of exactly how revolutionary the teachings of Jesus were to those he came in contact with every day. Philip Yancey does a great job of introducing these revolutionary ideas, showing how people of that time would react, and then sharing how the teachings of Jesus are to be applied practically today. One of my favorite parts of the book was when he looked at the meaning of the cross both then and now. Then, it symbolized death and fear. Now, it symbolizes life and hope. Five Stars for Philip Yancey!!

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Summary: This is a book to read slowly, and thoroughly!
Review: My one comment in regards to flannelgraph would be to say that although it seems dated and less than moving - in truth all children's workers use it to great effect. I have had the opportunity of asking middle age people who no longer attend church, but indicate a memory of flannelgraph stories in Sunday School as a child if it is a positive memory. With a moment of reflection they have to the person answered that yes, it was a positive memory. This leads me to praying that this simple yet obviously enjoyed childhood experience will somehow in their adulthood bring them to further searching and thus enjoyment of the "story" as adults. I am thankful for the various medium used to relay the power of the gospel story. Phillip Yancey certainly does it very well, with the written word!

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Summary: An explanation of what God looks like, Jesus
Review: Philip Yancey describes Jesus in an easy to understand non-theological way. He does not try to impress with his brillance only the radiance of Jesus Christ. He states the facts as any good journalist should. He presents the "sinners'" view of Jesus. I particularly enjoyed him stating plainly that if we want to see how God would react to a situation then see how Jesus reacted to a situation. The way Jesus reacted to an individual is the same way God himself would react. He healed the sick and enjoyed the company of sinners. I believe that church leaders should read this book and take a hard look at themselves. Do we display the love of Christ and the Grace of God to those who do not know Jesus Christ as Lord. I know my view of Jesus, religion and myself has changed by reading Yancey's view of Jesus Christ.

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Summary: Yancy helps us see Jesus as the Man who is also God
Review: Familiarity breeds contempt, and the first sign of encroaching contempt is....indifference. After hearing about other people's interpretations of who Jesus was and their take on the meaning of what he did, we can forget that the Gospel accounts are blazingly alive and reveal their truths with great simplicity. To me, this is Yancey's greatest gift as an author; he takes stuff we've gone over a hundred times until it's old hat and pulls it out and holds it before our eyes as he dusts it off. And we go, "Whoa...by golly, it DOES say that, doesn't it?! Jesus doesn't fit into anyone's box. Just when you think you've got him safely dissected and broken down into nice safe categories he breaks out with his laughter ringing in your ears and you're left to get off your high horse and follow Him again and see what He has to teach you now. By the way, it seems a little obtuse to me to see reviews from form critics and other 'higher critics' who sniff that they're dissapointed by Yancey's literal treatment of Jesus. I don't go to Spong or Wellhausen's books hoping to find a literal treatment of Jesus any more than I'd buy Billy Graham's latest book hoping to find a brilliant argument in favor of the historical Jesus being a ordinary guy who had some incredible things made up about him. Y'all are just looking in the wrong place.

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Summary: A joy and revelation to read
Review: The Yanceys have produced a wonderful and fresh reappraisal of Jesus the man. A well deserved award-winning work. With this and the awe inspiring "The Autobiography of Jesus of Nazareth and the Missing years" by Richard G. Patton, we as readers have had a vintage year. In reading both these books, you should check your preconceptions at the door. The entrance ticket will be more than justified.

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Summary: A Fresh Look at Jesus
Review: This book served as a natural prelude to the author's next book, WHAT'S SO AMAZING ABOUT GRACE, because Christ dealt with grace so frequently. Yancey has done his homework for this book, revealing the huge transformation that has occurred in his understanding of Christ over the years, from the flannelgraph and koolaid Christ of his childhood Sunday School classes to the awesome, demanding, enigmatic, yet graceful Christ one meets in the gospels. This book starts with the assumption that the gospel accounts are accurate, discussing the picture of Christ that emerges from them. As such, this book is not intended to be a work of literary, form, or redaction criticism. Yancey is aware of these issues and the disagreements scholars have on these fronts, but these matters fall outside the purview of this book. I found this book a stimulating and informative reading experience.

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Summary: Fantastic perspective of Christ
Review: This book is a fresh and thoughtful perspective on the Life of Jesus. It takes the Bible literally and uses the original dialect to portray Jesus in a way, as at once human and supernatural that is easy to relate to these days. If you are fed up with "TV preachers" who only want your money, and organized worship services that are little more than rote, try this. When you finish it you will be drawn much closer to GOD, and you will never be the same!

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Summary: NOt so enlightening
Review: It appears that the author never gave a thought to the idea that the Jesus of modern day Christians was, in fact, a Jewish person, and not "the first Christian." That being said, the author's critical analysis leaves a lot to be desired. First of all the author is a Biblical Literalist and assumes every word to be a historical fact. That is unfortunate because he lacks the vision to see how the early church editorialized the life of this first century Jewish person into the "mystical, magical, offspring of God" character that we learn about in flannel-graph presentations in Sunday School. The person seriously looking into the life of the Jewish Person of Christ would be better served by reading The Rt. Rev. John S. Spong's book This Hebrew Lord. With the "millennium" on our doorstep it is likely that more books of this type will be published. For some it will be a revelation for others, like me, a not so terrific attempt to popularize what is already well known to many people.