I think this might be my first ever book review " authors tend to avoid reviewing other products for fear of mixed motives. But I cannot resist shouting from the roof tops about The Essential Jesus.
I guess I should first declare my interests: the publisher, Matthias Media, was once my publisher and, yes, I even had something to do with the translation of Luke's Gospel found here (it was used in the Simply Christianity course). But, frankly, that's ancient history and the translation itself has been thoroughly reworked by a team of very clever people including Peter Bolt and Darrell Bock. In other words, I feel sufficiently far removed from the product to offer my straight opinion.
It's brilliant. Firstly, the idea itself is superb: let the Gospel (according to Luke) tell the gospel. This isn't rocket science, of course. The first four books of the New Testament were called "Gospels' for a reason. The early Christians thought they told the gospel better than any other portion of Scripture. Actually, the fourth century chronicler of the early church, Eusebius, tells us that evangelists of the early second century saw it as their duty
"to preach to all who had not yet heard the word of the faith, and to transmit the writing of the divine Gospels" (Ecclesiastical History 3.37.2).
The Essential Jesus carries on this fine ancient evangelistic tradition. Apart from a very short introduction and the Two Ways to Live appendix, it basically lets the Gospel of Luke speak for itself in fresh, readable and accurate English. I am thrilled.
Secondly, the product looks nice. It has a clear typeface on pretty cool recycled paper, and the overall design is simple and clear. That's important if you want to give it to friends and family. Somehow Matthias Media is offering the book for just $1.95 or $1.00 for bulk. That's my third reason for loving it. It's cheap " the perfect giveaway product.
The fourth thing I really like about it " and I can't believe I'm saying this " is the inclusion of Two Ways to Live. I groaned when I first opened The Essential Jesus and saw that it ended with this omnipresent "gospel' presentation: they just couldn't let the Gospel tell the gospel, I thought; they just had to help Luke get the gospel right! But then I read it in context, and it makes perfect sense. Two Ways to Live has been slightly tweaked here so that readers can see how the story told by Luke " the gospel " fits into the broader story of the whole Bible. The gospel, in other words, is neatly placed within a broader biblical theological framework, and it really works.
I don't mind admitting that I have long been hesitant about Two Ways to Live as a stand-alone explanation of the gospel. It can easily, if unintentionally, present Jesus in a vacuum, as if he just popped up (who knows when, where or how?) as the resolution to the problem of our rebellion. And if we're not careful, we can end up calling on people to place their trust in the concept of a Lord rather than in a particular Lord whose words and deeds ought to be known. But perhaps The Essential Jesus shows us how the Jesus of Two Ways to Live was always meant to be portrayed: not as the pop-up King of a biblical theology but as the living, breathing, teaching, healing, dying, rising and returning Lord. Whatever the case, the combination of the Gospel of Luke and Two Ways to Live provides the dream evangelistic product.
At the Centre for Public Christianity we intend to buy The Essential Jesus by the truck load, so you had better get your order in!
Dr. John Dickson is Director of the Centre for Public Christianity and the host of the forthcoming documentary Life of Jesus.
