![]() ![]() This is not terribly surprising since one of his previous books was titled Jesus, His Life and Teachings: As Recorded by His Friends Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John ” (Doubleday, New York, 2000.) It is hard to tell if he is unaware of the textual issues involved (admittedly difficult to imagine) or simply chooses to ignore them in order to get on with the story and his interpretation. Girzone runs the gospels together in one long, chronological narrative, failing to distinguish between the different theologies and understandings of Jesus put forth by the four evangelists. A secondary problem is what John Reumann, late New Testament professor at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, called a “homogenized Jesus” (personal notes on a public lecture in Columbia, SC). While I understand that such attempts to “enter into” the life of a Biblical character are a vital part of many people’s devotional life and are rooted in The Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius, I find such musings, indiscriminately placed in the text and treated as fact, to be disconcerting. He also treats extensively of Jesus as a man, combining basic descriptions of life in first century Palestine with speculative and pious imaginings about what Jesus and others must have felt or thought. What Girzone lays out here is a very traditional Jesus, with angel voices and the virgin birth, the miracles and healings, the death and resurrection firmly in place. ![]() I am not certain what audience would find Girzone’s understanding of the life and teachings of Jesus “new.” I suspect it would be people who have been treated to a lifetime of high Christology with very little reading, teaching or preaching on the humanity of Jesus. It is unfortunate that they are so difficult to find because of the format and the writing. There are many things of value in this book. Girzone has failed to recognize that a style that communicates well in person is not often a style that communicates well on the page and vice versa. ![]() The book is often plodding and digressive at the same time, frequently going off on anecdotal rabbit trails that are intended to illumine but mostly serve to confuse. What may have been insightful and exciting as reflections and public lectures has not translated well into good writing. While these reflections are formatted into chapters, they were originally delivered as a series of talks on Jesus’ life” (p.viii). an attempt to enter into Jesus’ mind and heart as he lived those scenes. In that sense it is exactly what Girzone says it is in the preface, “. There is no bibliography, and very few sources other than the Gospels themselves are noted in the text. After his novels became popular, with sales in the millions, Girzone created the Joshua Foundation, “an organization dedicated to making Jesus better known throughout the world” (back cover). It is not surprising that the Jesus presented in this book bears a striking resemblance to Joshua the carpenter. Girzone’s Joshua was a combination gentle friend to all and mysterious, mystical presence whose touch healed and whose presence seemed continually graced by inexplicable coincidence and miracle. The difference is the main character is Jesus in modern incarnation instead of an angel on a mission to earth. The books always reminded me of two television shows from the same era: Highway to Heaven and Touched by an Angel. Joseph Girzone first came to the public’s attention as the writer of simple, allegorical novels about a modern day itinerant carpenter named Joshua living in upstate New York. ![]()
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