Conversations of Jesus, The: Learning from His Encounters [Paperback]

Simon J. Kistemaker (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2004

Through Scripture and spoken word, Jesus continues to attract millions of followers today. In many ways, those who seek Christ now differ little from those whose stories we learn in the Gospels: Peter, Nicodemus, Mary, the Samaritan leper, even Judas. Professor Simon J. Kistemaker has spent his professional life studying the words and actions of those who spent time with Jesus. In The Conversations of Jesus he offers a glimpse into the lives of those who were touched by encounters with Jesus Christ. Readers will find much in common with these first-century people, including their feelings of inadequacy, confusion, and joy at meeting the Savior. Ideal for laypersons and pastors, The Conversations of Jesus helps readers strengthen their walks with Christ as they learn about others who have walked this path before.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Listen in During his earthly ministry, Jesus encountered a wide variety of people, paying attention to each and every one. The Conversations of Jesus is an accessible yet in-depth portrayal of these key interactions, related with keen observations by acclaimed scholar Simon J. Kistemaker. As we listen to these poignant conversations, we gain insight into how his words are relevant to us. "The genius of this book is the conception itself. The result: an ever-expanding picture of Jesus and the people with whom he interacted."-Leland Ryken, Clyde S. Kilby Professor of English, Wheaton College "Discerning readers will find in Kistemaker's thoughtful book not only useful background information to illumine Jesus' conversations but also helpful application for our lives today."-Ronald Youngblood, professor of Old Testament, International College and Graduate School "We cannot come away from The Conversations of Jesus without the feeling that we were there, eavesdropping on the inspiring, instructive, and challenging words of the greatest of all teachers."-Eugene Merrill, distinguished professor of Old Testament studies, Dallas Theological Seminary "This is a concise, informative, and down-to-earth account of the people in the New Testament whose lives were touched by Jesus. Enriching."-Richard V. Pierard, scholar in residence, Gordon College Simon J. Kistemaker is professor of New Testament at Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, Florida.

About the Author

Simon J. Kistemaker is professor of New Testament at Reformed Theological Seminary. He is the author of numerous studies and commentaries, including several volumes of the New Testament Commentary series.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Baker Books (November 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0801064902
• ISBN-13: 978-0801064906
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,158,474 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars not a bad beginner's devotional, but not as useful for study, April 23, 2005

By 

Albert Cerussi (Lake Forest, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Conversations of Jesus, The: Learning from His Encounters (Paperback)

Professor Kistemaker provides a summary of many of the conversations of the Messiah. The conversations are classified into categories such as those whose faith Messiah praised, those who Messiah healed, and those who opposed Messiah. Each section gives appropriate Scripture references, flowing narrative, and short applications. The book is pretty light reading, with each conversation not more than a few pages.

The conversations of the Messiah make for an interesting study but this book falls a bit short, in my opinion. The author gives the origins of each of the important names in the conversations, something which I found helpful. But some of the comments in the application section left me wondering, such as "Yeshua (Jesus) continues to heal through medicine etc." Now does he man that God only or sometimes heals through modern medicine? I couldn't tell. In some ways, the application section should have been built up more.

Personally I found the book to be somewhat useful as a devotional. The outline of the book (i.e. looking at all of the people Messiah healed, etc) makes for a useful jumping point in a Bible study, but I think the Bible itself would be a better choice than the conversation summaries.

The analysis of the conversations is often grossly oversimplified. It was nice for the author to try to make the conversations "more real" by adding some comments to fill in the text. But many of the added comments are many times either not obvious or gross assumptions. I frequently found myself asking "now why does he think that?" It detracted me from the flow of the book.

Thus if you are new to the gospel, and are seeking a devotional-style look at the conversations of the Messiah, this is a good book and I would give it 4 stars. But for someone who has studied the gospels, this book won't add much and I would give it 3 stars.