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ReJesus asks the following questions: * What ongoing role does Jesus the Messiah play in shaping the ethos and self understanding of the movement that originated in him? * How is the Christian religion informed and shaped by the Jesus that we meet in the Gospels? * How do we assess the continuity required between the life and example of Jesus and the subsequent religion called Christianity? * In how many ways do we domesticate the radical Revolutionary in order to sustain our religion and religiosity? * How can a rediscovery of Jesus renew our discipleship, the Christian community, and the ongoing mission of the church? These questions take us to the core of what the church is all about. Rather than reformation, the authors call their task re-founding the church because it raises the issue of the Church's true Founder or Foundation. This theme is of particular importance at the dawn of the twenty-first century as many attempt to address Christianity's endemic and long trended decline in the West. The authors feel that a spiritual, theological, missional, and existential crisis looms in the West.… (more)
User reviews
It’s THAT kind of book.
Not that the book is boring like a text book – it just reads like a text book. The authors made the reading very linear and very weighted, so it’s not an easy read; certainly not devotional material. I would assume that the “famous Christians” inserts, the cover and perhaps even the chapter titles were all “add ons” later by the publishing house in an attempt to make the book appeal to a younger audience. I don’t know if “A wild messiah for a missional church” is the best sub-title either, certainly the book touches on those things, but it’s not the crux of the book.
Oh, you want to know if I liked the book? Yea, I did, but it’s a hard book to recommend. I would almost say the Jesus Manifesto by Sweet and Viola is an easier read or Christianish by Mark Steele. Not that you need an easier read… I’m just saying there are options.
Re-Jesus is certainly not like any book I have ever read on the subject, there is a lot in there to devour and it would certainly preach well with the right amount of delivery. There is a great chapter in there on Jesus in art, and the last chapter on the church is probably the best in the entire book.
I think what I will do for the next seven or so entries is give you a break down of each chapter, pulling out select quotes and thoughts to give you what I think was the “main idea.”
Hopefully these next posts will bring light to the “…discontinuity between Jesus and the religion that bears his name..” (page 5) Until then, consider these questions…
1. what ongoing role does Jesus play in shaping the ethos of the movement that began from him?
2. How is Christianity still shaped by the gospel texts?
3. how do we “domesticate” Jesus in order to sustain our religion?
4. how can a discovery of Jesus and his message lead to a renewal of our discipleship journey?