A Serious Way of Wondering

Rating:
Summary: Jesus Lite
Review: Despite describing himself as an "outlaw" Christian, Price makes it clear from the outset that his views are of the conventional variety when he describes the Resurrection as "a firmly attested fact." (p. 28) Miracles are part of the fabric of his beliefs, there being no doubt in his mind that Jesus was the Son of God who had miraculous powers. Many other thinking Christians would consider that fact, whether true or not, irrelevant.

He then goes on to describe, in the WWJD [What Would Jesus Do] mold, how he thinks Jesus would have dealt with three sticky moral and ethical issues -- homosexuality (he would have been tolerant of it, if not a participant), suicide (he would allow it in appropriate circumstances), and the role of women in a male-dominated society (no real answer here). The stories in which he deals with these issues are well-written (Price is a professional writer who teaches English at Duke), but offer little insight into these issues, and little in the way of scriptural or historical support for his views.

The most useful thing in the book is an appendix entitled "Further Reading," but that doesn't justify the cost.

Rating:
Summary: Poignant with No Ideological Axe to Grind!
Review: Imagining what God or Jesus might say or do in any given situation is not new. Serious speculation of such is. Our nation's roadways are littered with signs bearing cutesy quotes attributed to "--God." Televangelists continue to tell us what God told them in private. Pop Christianity's commercialized 'What Would Jesus Do' (WWJD) movement conjures a moralistic/legalistic Jesus obsessed with strict application of select aspects of Jewish law (a Jesus who bears little resemblance to the iconoclastic figure captured in the New Testament gospels). In all these forms, however, there is little imaginination and an abundance of agenda. The sponsors of the God billboards want you to go to church. The televangelists want you to send in more money. The WWJD crowd wants to sell a few more wrist bands and t-shirts (and perhaps help you abstain from pre-marital sex too while they're at it). None, however, are serious in their wondering. None are actually grappling with the often difficult application of Jesus' ethic of unconditional love. Reynolds Price shows us a serious way of wondering. His "speculations" are timely, thoughtful, and thoroughly substantiated (Price provides more background than speculation). And his Jesus is just as surprising as the one we witness in the gospel narratives. You might expect Reynolds Price to push his own sexual/political agenda here, but he doesn't. You might expect Reynold's Jesus to bend the old law to bring himself into it. He doesn't. Rather, Price gives us an encounter with a Jesus who explodes our conception of love and confounds our assumptions, our tendencies to judge, and our often desperate defenses of patriarchy and tribal prejudice. What can love mean? Indeed!

Rating:
Summary: Thought provoking... in the extreme.
Review: Reynolds Price provides a wealth of imagination and speculation in this physically small but intellectually expansive book. Writing as a self-described "outlaw Christian", he attempts to address Jesus' role or philosophy with regard to topics given relatively short shrift by the Gospels -- homosexuality, suicide and the role of women in the Church.

Taking a thought from the "What Would Jesus Do?" (WWJD)fad, Price speculates on how the ethics of Jesus might have led him to react had he been faced with the romantic affections of another man, or the immiment suicide of a follower. More appealingly, Price never claims to be presenting new theology, only to be offering the basis for continuing consideration of Christ's timeless message.

I'm usually quick to reject much of the WWJD speculation for the simple reason that Jesus would likely never have put himself in the position of flirting with more modern temptations such as drug use or fathering a child out of wedlock, but the three scenarios offered by Price are much more plausible.

People of faith, who welcome theologic speculation and reverent debate will enjoy this work, as Mr. Price never allows doubt on the divinity of Jesus. You might agree with his imaginings, or you might believe that he's off base. But either way, once you've finished this book, you'll be thinking more about Christ and his teachings. It's not meant to be either a repudiation or augmentation of the Gospels, but it does shine a very interesting light on them.