An old adage says, "God created man in His own image and man has been returning the favor ever since." Philip Yancey realized that despite a lifetime attending Sunday school topped off by a Bible college education, he really had no idea who Jesus was. In fact, he found himself further and further removed from the person of Jesus, distracted instead by flannel-graph figures and intellectual inspection. He determined to use his journalistic talents to approach Jesus, in the context of time, within the framework of history.

In The Jesus I Never Knew, Yancey explores the life of Jesus, as he explains, "'from below,' to grasp as best I can what it must have been like to observe in person the extraordinary events unfolding in Galilee and Judea" as Jesus traveled and taught. Yancey examines three fundamental questions: who Jesus was, why he came, and what he left behind. Step by step, scene by scene, Yancey probes the culture into which Jesus was born and grew to adulthood; his character and mission; his teachings and miracles; his legacy--not just as history has told it, but as he himself intended it to be.

Yancey is not alone in his examination of the "real" Jesus. Publishing today is replete with writers committed to setting the story "straight,quot; joining countless others who, over the past 2,000 years, have determined to discover the truth about Jesus. But where others would deconstruct and discount, Yancey disarms and discloses. We become colleagues with him as he examines the accounts of the life of Jesus. And among the things that we discover is that Jesus himself leaves us few options: either he was who he said he was or he was nuts.

The Jesus I Never Knew

Yancey is a phenominal thinker. He is truly gifted at seperating how modern America depicts Christ from the true Christ described in the Bible. He challenges the reader to search their hearts, stop judging Jesus by the actions of religious churches, and ask the deeper questions relating to who is the true Jesus and what does that mean to me. I've read most of Yancey's books and I am a true fan. The real Jesus is even more personal and more challenging than the numerous mistakes of religious churches, but most importantly, Yancey opens the readers eyes to the true path of healing and peace that Jesus has paived.

Reminisce and learn from Jesus...

I have to admit that i have not read with so much attention the gospels on Jesus' life since I was a little child. But to understand Yancey's point of view is to re-imagine how was Jesus' stay on Earth and at the same time think of him in a human manner. By doind that, you can identify a whole lot more with him, and even try to be like him (as crazy as it may sound). Definitely worthy to have....

Phillip Yancey's Masterpiece

I began this book with some hope of finding some new writing on the life of Jesus. I was not disappointed. While I thought the book was going to be a bit slow, as Yancey gets to the sermon on the mount, and in particular, the beatitudes, his writing and analysis become positively brilliant. His passion for Christ is elevated and his writing becomes inspired. From that point to the end of the book and the Ascension, his writing is a page turner. I could not put it down and left with a new understanding of things that I had not received from any other writer since William Barclay (Daily Study Bible). Yancey has a masterpiece here. It belongs on every Christian's shelf.