Mind and Media Review: Jesus: An Intimate Portrait of the Man, His Land, and His People

(Book provided by publisher)

This is a review for Mind and Media.

Jesus: An Intimate Portrait of the Man, His Land, and His People by Leith Anderson is a book I've been waiting for, for a long time. As a Christian I've always wanted to see the 4 Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) all combined into a complete chronological story and now I have it. The 4 Gospels are written by 4 different authors with 4 different points of view. This book not only attempts to accomplish this task but it also tries to add in some more historical context; the political situations, the culture, the environment.

Now the question is were those goals accomplished? The book reads like a standard biography. If you are expecting the Bible, that's not what you are going to get. It does follow the Bible quite well but is written in a different style. It reads kind of in a contemporary fashion so you aren't going to run into any King James English. I found that modern English (not much slang) just doesn't feel right to me, especially when Christ is speaking.

Where the book is strongest is all the non-biblical historical information. Anderson really has gone the extra mile to bring the modern day reader back into a different time and different context. I've learned a lot and will read it again. If you are interested in learning about the times of Jesus Christ, the people around Him, the culture He grew up in and the political landscape then this is a book for you. It can be read by the believer or unbeliever and knowledge will be acquired.

Posted by Tim at June 21, 2005 08:40 PM