The Gospel According to Jesus: A New Translation and Guide to His Essential Teachings for Believers and Unbelievers

Mitchell did well in general, but his mistranslation of "mamzer" irked me, especially considering that it was an easily corrected error. The closest English equivilent is "bastard," yes, that's true, but it's not exact, it's an approximation. Mamzer is, however, more specific, and only applied in

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cases of a child concieved out of incest or adultery.

Still, his consolidation of Jesus' teachings was very good, and his introduction (longer than the rest of the book) was also, generally, well thought out.

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An inspiring scholarly look at the four synoptic gospels. The author succeeds in separating genuine Jesus accounts from the artificial "Jesus" stories inserted in the 400 years after his death by the early church. He notes the roots of institutionalized anti-Semitism added long ago, and the

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judgmental, condemnatory words that Jesus would not have uttered. Most poignant was his observation that people "believe" because they have not had the experience. Jesus had the experience of being one with God and tried to convey to others what he had felt. He taught the basic laws of the Torah: love for God and love for one's neighbor. The story of the good Samaritan was to illustrate that all are our neighbors. Much interwoven dialogue with Buddhist, Taoist, and Christian scholars make this a delight.

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attempts to remove all the parts of the gospels with which Jesus would not agree; what is left is actually quite powerful

I like his way of integrating Buddha, Tao, history, and biblical interpretations. It seems an updated version of Leo Tolstoy's The Gospel According to Jesus -- or that of Thomas Jefferson. I read parts each night for about two months and mulled over the concepts as I slept.