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Summary: The many faces of Jesus
Review: A tremendously insightful, beautifully crafted study of the many ways that Jesus has, over 2000 years, been defined and redefined through the eye of the beholder, and to suit the beliefs of the beholder. Tremendous research here, yet Prothero manages to make the book not only an easy read, but does so joyfully. An engrossing, well crafted book. A must read!
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Summary: The Quest for the Cultural Jesus
Review: Early in "The American Jesus," Prothero usefully distinguishing his purpose from those of others writing for the last century and half, looking for either the Jesus of history or the Jesus of faith (or sometimes trying to find both together). His purpose is to find the Jesus reflected in American culture. And this Jesus has varied widely over time and in different subcultures. While Prothero is in the Dept. of Religion, I found his approach more that of a historian of religion than that of a theologian--he may BE a hisorian of religion, judging by his other book titles.
Certainly he is fascinated by the wide variety of ways in which people have viewed Jesus, and for the most part, he is not particularly judgemental about that variety. Every reader will have their favorite parts, whether it be Jefferson's removal of the supernatural from his Bible, or the Jesus so feminized that men left the late-Victorian church in droves, or Jesus the macho boxer, or the Jesus-freaks of the seventies. I love the history of hymns, so that was one of my favorite parts.
The writing is lively, and whether you are any kind of Christian, from evangelical to Unitarian, or have never darkened the door of a church, or if you are a Muslim or Hindu or Sikh who would like to know a little about the historical quirks of how Christianity has manifested itself in America, this book would be an interesting, non-threatening place to start. There are even some photographs, though not enough, of images of Jesus, to help illustrate important points. Highly recommended.
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Summary: Celebrity Jesus
Review: I have to confess I'm a Jesus book junkie. Read dozens of books on the "real" or "historical" Jesus. But I've never seen one with this interesting angle: Jesus not as he really was but how he has been imagined over time by Americans. If you can just set aside for a while your OWN views, you can't help but get into Jesus the Black Moses, Jesus the feminist, Jesus the macho warrior, Jesus the Superstar. Amazing how inventive Americans have been from Thomas Jefferson forward when it comes to remaking this guy in their own image. And how effective this author is in setting it all down--without revealing HIS own views in the least. One of the best books I've read on religion in a LONG time.
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Summary: A Great Read
Review: I loved this book! It is thorough, interesting, and a fun read. Prothero has a great writing style - informal and informative. Anyone interested in American religious or cultural history will find it fascinating. Check it out!
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Summary: Fascinating trip through American history
Review: In "American Jesus: How the Son of God Became a National Icon", Boston University historian Stephen Prothero examines how Jesus has moved from being a divine Savior to a folk icon. No matter what his or her religious inclination, or lack thereof, nearly everyone in America has embraced Jesus in one form or another. For some it is a religious understanding, for others a recognition of Him as the great teacher, for others a recognition of the political benefits of being associated with Jesus, and to still others He is the ultimate sales tool or the ultimate appeal to a higher authority in support of their particular beliefs.This is a fascinating trip through American history as Prothero discusses the progressive change of the American view of Jesus from the Puritanical lawgiver to a tender, caring and effeminate Jesus, to a strong, muscular Jesus and finally to our current state where images of Him are likely to appear on a refrigerator magnet, rock music poster, or a bumper sticker. During this trip he examines incident after incident of how this transformation slowly took place. In addition to discussing these various changes he explains how the various societal factors of the time influenced them.
One of the most interesting points on the relationship of Americans with Jesus is that while His popularity as a celebrity or bumper sticker continues to grow, Bible study has continued to decline. What are the factors that have allowed the average person to so effectively separate Jesus from the religious trappings that have always been associated with Him in the past? How have these small changes allowed us to come to a point where He is truly a celebrity figure with only minimal traits of divinity? These are some of the questions that Stephen Prothero looks at and what makes "American Jesus" an interesting and highly recommended read.
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Summary: The Rohrschach, object-in-the-clouds Jesus
Review: In addition to many valid comments made by other Amazon reviews here, let me feature perhaps the central underlying concept of Prothero's book: the general concept that divinity, like beauty, etc., exists in the eye of the beholder. Jesus has been like a Rohrschach ink-splotch exercise: "What do you see here?" Different viewers of the same ink splotch see varied kinds of faces and objects. Prothero has revealed the history of Americans' "thing-in-the-clouds" Jesus, analogous to children who look at the same cloud and see no recognizable shape, or a dog, or a flower, or their uncle Henry's shoe. Prothero's book, that is, doesn't focus on the question of WHAT, or even IF, Jesus was or is. Prothero lets us see that the Jesus concept is principally that, a concept, one that lets individual minds see a reflection of what occurs cognitively and emotionally in his/her own head and heart. Each Christian denomination, then, merely presents a particular view, which attracts a particular kind of convert who mistakes that particular view as "reality." Each denomination then presents arguments for their own view, eager to convince other religious "viewers" that their doggie in the clouds is the real doggie, and that the viewers who don't see this doggie lack sufficient faith, or righteousness, or status as one of the chosen who recognize the "truth." Jesus, that is, serves as an anchor of private and personal limitations, and then provides motivation hopefully to grow beyond those limitations. The realist will expend no effort on deciding whether the cloud or the Rohrschach splotch IS a dog or person, etc. The realist will recognize that the cloud is a cloud, and the splotch is a splotch. Anything else is but a mental projection superimposed onto that reality, leaving people to argue over which mental image has more validity. Prothero does a magnificent job of laying out the American history of this cognitive/emotional syndrome.
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Summary: An Enlightening Look at America's Image of Jesus
Review: Jesus has effected and transformed America since its inception to our post-modern culture, and America has continually transformed its image of Jesus since the Puritans brought their image of a stern, authoritative God to its shores and Thomas Jefferson cut and pasted his own version of Jesus. This is the claim that historian Stephen Prothero explores in his remarkable new book American Jesus: How the Son of God Became a National Icon. Prothero, Chairman of the religious department at Boston University, takes an historian's approach to the dynamic relationship between Americans and Jesus during the past three centuries. Prothero writes, "Jesus may be 'the same yesterday and today and forever' (Heb 13:8), but American depictions of him have varied widely from age to age and community to community." He takes the reader through the stages of Americans' transforming view of Jesus--not the "historical Jesus" or "living Christ" but the Jesus of American culture. Prothero offers an enlightening and encyclopedic tale of how Americans' image of Jesus has been effected by popular writings, artwork, preachers, church movements and even political figures. There is much fodder for Prothero to dissect as he notes the Library of Congress holds 17,000 books about Jesus, twice as much as the second most popular subject (Shakespeare). He artfully shows how generations of devoted Christians have emphasized different character attributes of Jesus such as his role as ultimate judge, his feminine, motherly qualities, his manliness, love or friendliness. Prothero focuses on several books and artworks of the 20th century that emphasized Jesus' manly qualities in response to the ubiquitous feminine likenesses of Jesus from the preceding century. These rugged representations of Jesus led to the view of him as a "man's man" who could excel in church, business and war. The popular cultural image of Jesus then evolved into the "hippie Jesus" of the Jesus freaks who took Jesus with them as they hitchhiked and sang across the country during the sixties and seventies. Prothero discusses how in the late seventies, Ralph Kozak's Jesus Laughing portrait spread the image of a joyful savior for the first time and opened the doors to a seeker-friendly church environment void of the gloom and doom messages of sin and hell. The history lesson illustrates that not just Christians have related to Jesus in America and influenced this cultural icon. Prothero closely examines the images of Jesus among Jews, Hindus, Buddhists and black leaders of the civil rights era. Prothero's writing reveals the tension among American Jewish leaders regarding Jesus' Jewish heritage and how Hindu leaders have reverenced Jesus over the last century. American Jesus also follows the history of the Mormon Church as it has progressed from the eastern shores through the Midwest and to Utah before expanding throughout the country. Prothero offers an educational assessment of how Mormon leaders have also transformed their view of Jesus since its inception, so that now they see themselves as being a church of Jesus that has disavowed many of its controversial peculiarities from a century ago. This book shows how people allow their own needs and personalities, as well as popular culture, to inform their perceptions of Jesus. Prothero tells us that in this country the sacred and the secular are inextricably intertwined and religious people continually try to find the balance between the two. Readers will find that American Jesus is a well-researched, provocative account of Jesus' place in America. Prothero closes by anticipating a new American debate about Jesus as Mel Gibson's movie The Passion promises to raise new awareness of Jesus. By Prothero's account, it will not create the first American controversy generated from images of Jesus in popular art and culture.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting Bathroom Read
Review: Prof. Prothero specializes in Asian religions - he is a professor of religion. Furthermore, this book is nothing more than a study and analysis of American social history through religion. I took a similar course of social history through American sports. Prothero presents some interesting "evidence" and observations, but falls under the same trap in trying to trim his evidence to support HIS views. The truth of Jesus has not changed, and the faith of American Christians have not changed over the centuries. The approach to Jesus and the Gospels has changed as social values and attitudes changed, but that is a result of adapting to the audience in order to spread the Gospels. That special-interest groups and non-believers use Jesus to try to validate their agendas is an afront to Jesus and his ministry. Jesus is the son of God, the one way to God and he is our Lord and Savior - Jesus claimed so. C.S. Lewis said that based on Jesus's claims, one can either believe him, or deny him - but that there is no in-between. To insist that Jesus is simply an American national icon is to marginalize him and place him "in-between." This book is interesting if you keep an open mind and only view it as a study in social history - but by no means, let it affect your views of Jesus as Lord, lunatic, or liar - but no in-between.
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Summary: American Jesus: How the Son of God Became a National Icon
Review: Prothero (religion, Boston Univ.; The White Buddhist, etc.) eschews American theology in favor of its art, music, literature, and film to answer the intriguing question, "How did the Son of God become a national icon beloved by Jerry Falwell and the Dalai Lama alike?" The author has chosen to capitalize on Jesus the man and universal Christ while largely ignoring the nature and function of a dogmatic Christ as messiah. Objective and dispassionate throughout, the author confidently assures the reader that Jesus really matters-that he serves as a common cultural coin in a country divided by race, ethnicity, gender, class, and religion. Salty and savory quotes (including Langston Hughes's 1932 incendiary poetry describing a black Jesus) season the chapters well and flavor the author's underlying belief that there is a huge difference between authentic Christianity and organized "churchianity." A detailed time line and bibliography accentuate the value of this popular and scholarly survey of the "American" Son of God. It is a witty, entertaining, and eye-opening romp through American cultural history-as exciting as William Manchester's 1974 The Glory and the Dream. Highly recommended for both public and academic libraries
Rating:
Summary: American Jesus: How the Son of God Became a National Icon
Review: Prothero (religion, Boston Univ.; The White Buddhist, etc.) eschews American theology in favor of its art, music, literature, and film to answer the intriguing question, "How did the Son of God become a national icon beloved by Jerry Falwell and the Dalai Lama alike?" The author has chosen to capitalize on Jesus the man and universal Christ while largely ignoring the nature and function of a dogmatic Christ as messiah. Objective and dispassionate throughout, the author confidently assures the reader that Jesus really matters-that he serves as a common cultural coin in a country divided by race, ethnicity, gender, class, and religion. Salty and savory quotes (including Langston Hughes's 1932 incendiary poetry describing a black Jesus) season the chapters well and flavor the author's underlying belief that there is a huge difference between authentic Christianity and organized "churchianity." A detailed time line and bibliography accentuate the value of this popular and scholarly survey of the "American" Son of God. It is a witty, entertaining, and eye-opening romp through American cultural history-as exciting as William Manchester's 1974 The Glory and the Dream. Highly recommended for both public and academic libraries
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