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Salt & Light; The Complete Jesus
Salt & Light: The Complete Jesus is an illuminating scholarly work on the authentic Jesus and his teachings. Dean lays out three important questions in the beginning of his book about Jesus, his existence, his teachings and what he offered to humanity; all delivered through a critical lens. Dean sets out on a daunting journey of finding the ‘authentic’ Jesus without any bias and only sticking to available evidence.
The beginning of this informative book contains information on different sources the author used and then the book dives into the Gospels, Jesus’ disciples and other topics, to make his case.
Each chapter has an intriguing question at the beginning, which is then followed by compelling arguments. Readers are not made to take sides on those arguments, but are allowed to critically think and decide for themselves.
The simple use of language throughout this book ensures that the information being conveyed is easily understood by anyone, and I think the text is much more powerful because of it. Photographs and other pieces of historical evidence are provided in this book which breaks up the long pieces of text. They are great visual additions that make this book much more engaging.
While I am spiritual, I certainly don’t have the level of knowledge of Christianity that the author does, and I had a bit of trepidation going into this book because of that. But the author provides readers with all the necessary information they need in order to understand the book. I feel like I walked away from this book with a lot more information on the subject, which will allow me to confidently partake in a discourse on this topic with other people.
I was mesmerized by the cover of this book because I felt like you are playing a word puzzle and finding Jesus in the scramble; which I think is a metaphor for this book, or maybe life too. While I think the book contained easy to understand language and the chapters fully covered a topic before moving on, I feel like this book is not something you finish in one sitting. There is a lot of thought-provoking information in this book that takes time to absorb. Going through the book, there were several ‘aha’ moments for me about Jesus and his teachings.
Salt & Light: The Complete Jesus by Jonathan Geoffrey Dean takes on a controversial topic in a way that is comprehensive and impartial. This is an enlightening book that provides the reader with the critical information they need to unravel the mystery of Jesus.
Pages: 211 | ISBN: 978-1-03-913143-9
www.saltandlight.ca
Salt & Light
There have been numerous competing perspectives regarding Jesus, whether he is a “heavenly Messiah,” “a magician,” “a demon-possessed man,” or a mere person, due to differing concepts or irreconcilable viewpoints. So with the authenticity of Jesus, his being, doing, and teaching, always being a source of skepticism, and the many conflicting and derailing speculations on Jesus’ identity. The author Jonathan Geoffrey Dean presents his ambitious research on the historical reality of Jesus in Salt and Light: The Complete Jesus. In his analysis of the ‘authenticity’ of Jesus, the author provides a comprehensive and reflective analysis from three perspectives – what did Jesus do, what did Jesus say, and who was Jesus?
Divided into thirty-one succinct and to-the-point chapters, the reader gets a full view of the entire research process, the author’s thoughtful choices of various methodologies, and his meticulous preparation of a ‘Source List.’ Until chapter number twenty-three, the emphasis is on constructing and compiling a reasonable and plausible list of sources. Then, despite a limited pool of references, it strives to weed out invalid and non-credible sources of information and “come with sources as “close” to Jesus as possible.” This is accomplished by applying certain principles to various religious and pagan sources and gospels, such as dating, credible facts, repetition, and custody rules.
Part two focuses on the book’s goal: answering the three questions about Jesus. Beginning with the origins and early life of Jesus of Nazareth and his familial and educational background, the various itineraries of activities surrounding his life are dated from his birth to his death, burial, and after-effects. The following chapters focus on establishing Jesus’ sayings and teachings and his persona, again in the most authentic form, filtering out the information and sources based on the rules mentioned previously.
There is no questioning the author’s precision and meticulousness in his approach to doing the research study. Not being intolerant and openly dismissing the opposing hypothesis on Jesus’ identity, he ingeniously evaluates and validates sources before keeping them for future investigation or dismissing them. In addition, the traditional and archaic pictures of art items and information charts captivate the reader just as much as the highly authentic and appealing information.
Salt and Light: The Complete Jesus presents the image of Jesus as a man who spread and affirmed the message of choice to humanity and of love of God and was equally prone to making mistakes. Additionally, it provides other viewpoints that may not be acceptable to everyone based on their beliefs. As a result, reading the book necessitates a broad mindset and a readiness to examine things in light of contextual information.
Pages: 212 | ISBN : 978-1-03-913144-6
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