Customer Reviews

The Gospel of Gabriel

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4 star:		(1)
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This book was wonderful! Ed Hays has done an excellent job of creating new images of how Jesus could have done things. What is most remarkable to me personally is how this image of Christ was all inclusive. There was a sense of unconditional love throughout Hays' descriptions of events as they coulod have happened. Of particular interest to me was the interpretation of Mary and Martha. Jesus actually got up and helped Martha cook the meal, much to the chagrin of the rest of the disciples, and Martha! The book itself reveals much about how I thought of Jesus and the stories of his life. It showed me how restricted my views were and opened up the door to understanding situations in a new light. This book is a gift to me and has become a gift I give many others. I HIGHLY recommend this to anyone interested in listening to the life of Jesus in a new and wonderful light.

Ed Hays is simply incredible! He roots the foundations of this book in the massive footnotes, which were extraordinarily researched. Then he simply lets the text of the book float ever so lightly on top.

The book is a fascinating combination of prose, poetry, and meoldies that engage and challenge the reader to look upon the life of Jesus with new eyes. You keep reading wondering how Hays will make the next parable come alive and dance across the page.

The Jesus that he creates in these pages is one that you are sure to identify with.

Let this book be the one that refreshes how you read the Gospel stories. It is sure to send you on a spiritual journey unlike any other.

This is without a doubt one of the finest pieces of Christian Literature ever written. It is simply fantastic. It will change your life. It shows Jesus in a new light. A life lived in compassion but fully human. Edward Hays has written the Ultimate Spiritual Book. A New Gospel for today based off of modern historical research. Reads Well. A must read for the modern Christian.

****

"This wild, wise, mystical, and imaginative Jesus romances us with glad tidings about love "as free as the wind and as fenceless as the horizon." (Frederic & Mary Ann Brussat)



Why four Gospels?
Arthur W. Pink, asked this obviously logical question, in his answer he says; "While the four Evangelists have much in common, each has much that is peculiar to himself, and it is in noting their variations that we are brought to see their true meaning and scope and to appreciate their perfections. In carefully reading through the four Gospels it soon becomes apparent to any reflecting mind that in none of them, nor in the four together, do we have anything approaching a complete biography of our Savior's earthly ministry. There are great gaps in His life which none of the Evangelists profess to fill in. Even when we come to the accounts of His public ministry it is clear that the records are but fragmentary; the Evangelists select only portions of His teachings and describe in detail but a few of His miracles. John gives us some idea when he says, "And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written" (John 21:25)."

Why four Gospels?
The four Gospels are so many books, each complete in itself, written with a distinctive design, and that which is included in its pages, and all that is left out, is strictly subordinated to that design, according to a principle of selection. In other words, nothing whatever is brought into any one of the Gospels save that which was strictly relevant and pertinent to its peculiar theme and subject, and all that was irrelevant and failed to illustrate and exemplify its theme was excluded. The same plan of selection is noticeable in every section of the Holy Scriptures. (...)

Hays' Bimillennium Diatessaron:
An important principle has been established re 'Diatessaronic-type' gospel harmonies by a number of scholars, such as Petersen, Quispel, and Boismard, viz., these harmonies often preserve ancient readings. The best-known harmony is Tatian's Diatessaron. It is believed to have been created ca 175, although many questions remain to what extent it was a new work, and what exactly Tatian's own contribution was. It is clear that Tatian was relying on a previous harmony, may be that of his Master, Jerome, so perhaps his own contribution was quite minor. After two thousand years of the mission of the son of man, in the Y2K hyperspace era, Edward hays specifies how, and why the Gabriel inspired version of his book, 'A Life of Jesus the Christ', "As with the writings of the Gospel of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, the good news according to Gabriel has 'selected certain things' out of the four Gospels; 'synthesized' other accounts and teachings, 'with an eye ' or two open toward today's spiritual landscape."

Hays Sanctifying Fiction:
A watershed work on Jesus that is poignant and practical, concludes Frederic & Mary Ann Brussat in their review of Hays celebrated fiction of Gospel narrative. "This is a poetic, passionate, and deeply spiritual portrait of the man from Nazareth and his guardian angel messenger. In a wilderness encounter with his ancestors, Jesus learns that "by being full of God, you will be full of an inner beauty that will seduce many to fall madly in love with God." The prophet-poet on these pages is led by "the Spirit Wind" to proclaim God's time in action, thought, word, and deed. He squares off with his shadow; builds bridges between people; includes women in his "little family"; learns from pain; helps others to see themselves as God sees them; celebrates the mystery of life; travels lightly; affirms dancing, sex, and creativity; enables his disciples to create great memories; feasts on love; and is transformed after death into the Risen Jesus - the New Adam."

The Fifth Evangelist:
John Pilch, Professor at Georgetown University, a biblical scholar, and author of 'The cultural World of Jesus,' declares, "The Gospel of Gabriel qualifies Ed Hays, America's best theological storywriter, to become the fifth evangelist."
This poetic prose composed by Fr. Hays is beautiful but imaginative, inspired by Gabriel at the approach of the 21st century, has created his own new Gospel, as the 'Very Good News'

This book uses imagination based on true scholarship of the original Hebrew scriptures. It tells more of the stories of the gospel of Jesus as it probably happened.