Customer Reviews

The Autobiography of Jesus of Nazareth and the Missing Years

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

I have never previously believed in the human figure of Jesus as portrayed by the New Testament. After reading this wonderful novel I truly believe ALL human beings can raise their consciousness to the level of the Christ Consciousness. This book has impacted my life life no other. Spirit is now something I trust is with me on a daily basis. Thank you Richard Patton for crafting this empowering work! For those that have not come across it yet, this is really a NewAge book in biblical clothing - awesome!

It's not often that a book comes along and radically changes your outlook on life. "THE Autobiography" does just that. It is certainly not a religious text by any means. The word 'spiritual' is too often used, but in this novel we are challenged to view the world through the eyes of a great spiritual being that believes his life's mission has been a failure. Besides being one of the most riveting reads I have had in many years, it is probably the most challenging I have ever read. Here we don't see the historical Jesus we have all come to know and accept. Patton presents us with a comprehensive and contemporary figure that undergoes extensive and dangerous training - a training that would test even today's Indiana Jones. Rarely does an author succeed in bringing to life historical figures in a way that is convincing and relevant to today's readership. This novel succeeds on many levels. Firstly, it is intensely readable whatever your belief system; Secondly, it answers many of the questions that have been unanswered for almost two millennia. Thirdly, it calls into question our beliefs of everyday spirituality as opposed to Religious Doctrine. If, as Patton claims, this novel is true, then I think we will all be able to face the future will eager optimism. If only for that, I'd highly recommend this book.

This book gave a much more human view of the man Jesus of Nazareth. He became a real person with real trials that you can relate to. The Bible does not give a full picture of the story. The Bible goes from baby to 12 yr old boy to 30 yr old man. What happened in between? This book fills in some of the blanks. The true tale is in the journey not just the end result. We should not be offended by a different telling of the tale. Do not be shocked by my words. Be open to the possibilities the truths this book brings. This book is truly a revelation.

If you only buy one book a year, you're in luck - this is the book. I have just finished it and can't recommend it highly enough. Where "Celestine Prophecies" set the standard for popular spirituality, this novel picks up the ball and scores THE touchdown! Personally I don't subscribe to Reincarnation, but Patton writes with such convincing atmosphere and detail that I may have to review my beliefs. There are few books in my life that I have read cover to cover in one sitting, "THE Autobiography" has just become one of them! Like Castenada's Don Juan, I believe Patton's Jesus will live beyond the printed page.

I only received this book 2 days ago but have devoured it cover-to-cover! This is a wonderful and timely work that could have been written EXACTLY FOR these troubled times. This is not the usual portrayal of Jesus we have all heard from the pulpit. This book is ENTIRELY believable and the messages it contains ironically seem to address our present worldwide fears of terrorism and warfare. This is exactly the kind of epic material that would make a great movie like Spartacus or Lawrence of Arabia. If you're interested in Spiritual matters but don't want the dogma associated with religion, this is the book to get. Loved it!

This book is an incredible revelation and completly relevant to today's troubled world . I have always wanted to believe in a REAL person behind the religious Icon of Christianity. Now I can! I found this book incredibly moving and enlightening. I simply hope that someone has the courage you make this into a movie. This is absolutely NOT the doe-eyed figure of Jesus of Nazareth that I have seen portrayed before. This is a believable and passionate man around who I CAN believe a 2000 year old faith could be founded. Thank you so much Richard Patton for bringing me closer to the Light.

This book made the life of Jesus seem more personal, more real for me than the Bible ever did. Jesus was a man like all of us ..... searching for the truth, a higher level of conciousness and thought. Whether this Autobiography is true or not makes no difference, what matters is the feeling and the willingness to open your mind to the Holy Spirit as Jesus did. This little book helped me realize that it is possible for us ALL.

This is the most uproariously funny book I've read in a decade. Absolutely mind-blowing hash of an India travel brochure and a London-based Indian eatery menu. Rarely does one find such a potboiler of anachronism and ignorance. Let me describe some gems here.

Jesus attempts to learn his "Hindi" [p24] (a language that was developed in the later half of the 2nd millennium CE in India) and likes his "Bindi Baji" [p20] (sic. Bhindi bhaji: fried okra; modern Indian eatery menu) that the Jains in India cook for him as much as he loves his cuppa "piping hot Chai" [p46] (Chai: milky tea; English beverage popularized in India in 19th c.). India is renowned for scores of ancient languages with several classical ones, but the author is remarkably ignorant.

Jesus is addressed as a colonial "sahib" [p72] (a Hindi call meant for 19th c. British colonial rulers) by the "Hari-jans" [p59] (first defined by MK Gandhi in 20th c.) who were, we learn, even poorer than the boys "pulling rickshaws they could never hope to own" [p59] (rickshaw: a Chinese contraption introduced in India in 19th c.). Absurdly funny (you can compare Jesus being called a "sahib" to the Dalai Lama being called a "dude")!

The Islamic invaders entered India in the beginning of the 2nd millennium CE, yet Jesus meets Muslim characters (with Arabic names) aplenty in India - from prince Gohar [p25] to "Ali the driver" [p79]. His most significant meeting with a spiritual leader happens to be with a lady from Allahabad [p63], which is, in reality, a town founded by the 16th c. Mughal ruler Akbar and named after Allah!

The author has absolutely not a shred of an idea what he is writing about (e.g. 'Jagannath' the chief deity of Orissa turns out to be a place in India [p22] visited by Jesus); in particular about any scholarly term, e.g., 'Hindu law' [p25] (according to which it was - as the author muddles up with Islamic law - considered "kindness" to remove a man's offending hand!). Such profound gems of ignorance make this book absolutely hilarious and invaluable!

It is quite likely that several core teachings of Christ might have been colored by the Indic (both Hindu & Buddhist) schools of thought whose strong influences could be traced up to the ancient Middle East/Mesopotamia, irrespective of whether Jesus himself had visited India or not. Check out the momentous `The Second Coming of Christ: The Resurrection of the Christ Within You' by Paramahansa Yogananda in this respect.

In contrast, the author has a prominent agenda of bashing the Indian caste system with images of infliction and gore that falls flat in the face of modern history research (e.g., `Castes of Mind: Colonialism and the Making of Modern India' by the eminent Columbia Univ. professor Nicholas Dirks) that shows how the colonial rulers and the Christian missionaries got together to construe the "demon" of a system as we know it in the West today in order to justify their colonial rule and proselytization (`caste' comes from the Portuguese word `casta'; the Portuguese were the first colonizers in India).

Extending such harmful "Orientalist" stereotypes of exoticization, real and imagined exotica abounds everywhere in this book - like "women... kissed the Baba's (sage's) flaccid penis" [p36]. With lepers and rickshaws thrown in, the India connection can read like a cross between Mother Teresa type propaganda and Spielberg's nonsensical depiction in 'Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom'. Of course, this doesn't take you any closer to truth; sensational, may be yes.

The book carries a Money-back guarantee; but never even think about returning it. Holy crap doesn't get better than this!

I now see why there has been the vitriol against this novel! I suspect that the 'learned' early reviewers came to this book with traditional expectations. Being a generally logical person, I loved the thread of truth that undoubtedly runs throughout this revelatory text (written in novel form) and had many of my life-long questions answered about the veracity of the edited texts that have reached us in the present form of the New Testament. Patton's book breaks all the rules of conventional knowledge and yet weaves a compellingly believable account of the man we call Jesus. I highly recommend this to anyone who wants a more gut-felt experience of knowing the man behind the Icon on the Cross.

Wow!!! Now I can see why the opinions on this novel are so divided. Personally I loved it and the hope it holds out for our future - but can well understand the traditional response of others. Love it or hate it, you won't forget it!