Customer Reviews

The Christ Commission

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Even though this is a work of fiction, Og Mandino has done a wonderful job assembling a cohesive story around the six years following Jesus' death and resurrection.
While appearing on the Tonight Show to discuss his recent book, Mystery writer Matt Lawrence is asked by Johnny Carson if there is a mystery out there Lawrence would like to explore further. Lawrence states he's always been intrigued with the death of Jesus and would like to put the resurrection to the test. This would be done by forming a commission to explore the event and interview the key characters. By insinuating that the resurrection was possibly a hoax, Lawrence angers the crowd and, while at a bar after the show, is knocked unconscious after a fight.

Lawrence wakes up in first century Jerusalem, in the home of Joseph of Aramathia, six years after the death of Jesus. With Joseph as his guide, Lawrence has been given the opportunity to take on the role of his fictional Christ commission and interview Ciaphas, Matthew, Mark, John, Peter, Pilate, Mary Magdelane, and Nicodemus among others who had been involved with Jesus. Mandino takes creative liberties with the interviews, but does an excellent job of tying everything together for a satisfactory ending.

I'm now reading this for the second time and have enjoyed this book almost as much as the first time I read it. After being bombarded with negative news from the papers, television, and radio, reading something inspirational like this was just the ticket. And Mandino does a great job of providing this inspirational message without being overbearing, and that adds to the beauty of this book.

I read this novel several years ago. Even with all the hype of The LaHaye-Jenkins series (which is worthy), this single novel stands out as a lighthouse in Christian Fiction. In fact, CF writers today would do good to read this and learn something.

The novel begins with the protagonist appearing on the Johnny Carson show. When asked if there was ever a mystery novel he never finished, he replies that he once began writing a novel about a commission of investigators who proved that Christ rose from the dead, just as the Scriptures say. However, while doing his research, he came to the conclusion that Christ's body was only stolen from the tomb and, if he could go back and interview eyewitnesses, he could prove it!

Later that night, he is in a pub watching his Johnny Carson appearance. The remarks offend people there, and one of them gives him a punch which sends him 2000 years back in time.

What follows is a riveting character study with some good action, and the most interesting ending of a novel this reviewer has ever read.

My advice again is read this novel and see how well a Christian novel can avoid the pifalls of blatant didactycism.

This story weaves an excellent, informative telling of the evidence of Christ's Resurrection. It's told from a skeptic's point-of-view and draws you in with its narrative style. For such an informative book, it truly is a page-turner! I recommend it to believers and seekers alike.

An incredible journey, back to the time when Christ was crucified, and the events surrounding his death and ressurection. All the questions you ask yourself after reading the account in the Bible are answered here in story form, and actual "interviews" are placed with the disciples of old. The book puts you right there, and lets you feel the fear and anxiety of being one of the chosen, and how your faith can be put to the test.

This book changed my life! It made me look more deeply at the story of Christ's death and the events occuring around it. It tied together all of the information of the gospels to make it seem much more real to me than it had ever been before.

Although this book is fiction it is written with a great deal of Bible history and facts with new insights of what's not recorded in Bible. The book has a moving story line about a man's journey from non-belief to finding out the truth about the Man Jesus Christ and what happened to him, and/so finding God. The author gives a remarkable look at early Jerusalem and a personal look at the disciples of Jesus as the the character wakes up mysteriuosly from a fight to the time just after the resurrection of Jesus; with the intent to try and prove what happened to the body of Jesus after his burial. The Book is Very entertaining and uplifting. A Keeper! :-)

This is a great book that sets the scene of what the lives of Jesus' followers were like the days and years after Jesus' life here on earth. Og Mandino brought to life the characters and even the countryside. This is a must read for anyone who serves Jesus Christ and enjoys a good work of fiction.

I found this book to be a wonderful perspective of Christ's life and death. I highly recommend this to believers as well as non-believers as it asks the question... How in the world could this story of Christ be true??? And the narrator sets out to find out how Christ's body could have come to be gone from the tomb.

This was my first Og Mandino book to read... definately not the last.

It is an amazing story that leaves you wondering if what you just read is fact or fiction. Deals with the Resurrection of Jesus Christ in a scientific and factual way; reaffirms your faith if you are a Christian. Incredible.

A great book dealing with the Christ resurrection. Excellently written, the dialogues and characters are so vivid, it's like everything is happening before your eyes.
The author masterly used the vast information he had gathered from the Bible and other sources to construct his case, never getting into contradiction with the biblical authors. It is true he left out some small facts, e.g. Mary Magdalene's vision of Jesus at the tomb, but this doesn't undermine the final conclusion.
All in all, a must for those interested in Jesus, Christians and non-Christians alike.