The Hidden Jesus: A New Life [Paperback]

Donald Spoto (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 13, 1999

The Hidden Jesus presents us with a fascinating vision of a Jesus Christ hidden from his contemporaries and from most of us today. Donald Spoto, who trained as a monk and as a theologian, returns to his roots in this illuminating, spiritually enriching biography.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Celebrity biographer and former monk Donald Spoto (author of Diana: The Last Year) applies his impressive research skills to the life of Jesus. From the get go, Spoto makes it clear that he's willing to upend many of the dominant beliefs about Jesus. For example, Spoto asserts that Jesus was born in Nazareth, not the little town of Bethlehem. (Matthew and Luke apparently placed their accounts of the birth in Bethlehem, the home of King David, in order to substantiate the belief that Jesus descended from the line of David.) And so it goes, with Spoto stating that the virginal conception should not be literally interpreted, that there is no evidence of an unusually bright star around the time of Jesus' birth, and that Jesus was not an only child, but in fact the eldest of seven.

Fortunately, Spoto maintains a respectful and pensive tone throughout--a welcome departure from the tawdry details of some of his celebrity biographies. Spoto uses his investigative talents to reveal the meaning as much as the historical facts of Jesus' life and afterlife. At its core, The Hidden Life of Jesus is a Christian's personal quest and resulting theory into the ultimate meaning and enduring impact of Jesus of Nazareth. --Gail Hudson --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Spoto, author of Diana: The Last Year, turns his considerable storytelling skills to the life of the one person who can clearly claim greater celebrity than the departed princess: Jesus. Calling Jesus the "man nobody knows," Spoto offers a chronicle that moves from Jesus's birth to his death and resurrection. Although Spoto relies on the chronology of the Gospels for the structure of his book, he cannily weaves literary criticism, historical research and theological scholarship into his story of the life and work of one of history's most enduring figures. Along the way, Spoto contends that the Gospel writers were great propagandists more concerned with using Jesus's life to assert their own agendas than with revealing the historical details of that life in order to hide the real Jesus from his followers (e.g., Spoto reads Matthew's story of Jesus's birth in Bethlehem as an effort to connect Jesus with King David in the minds of his audience). Spoto also argues that the virgin birth of Jesus can't be understood literally, that though anti-Semitism pervades the New Testament it is not part of God's revealed truth and that "Jesus was viewed both during and after his lifetime as an exorcist and a healer... not merely a teacher of ethical maxims or a preacher of religious truths." Spoto's biography, written with impressive clarity and pace, is as much a record of the his own spiritual search to find the hidden Jesus of his own life as it is a search for the hidden Jesus of Christianity.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; 1st edition (September 13, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312243332
• ISBN-13: 978-0312243333
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,061,418 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Through a glass darkly, September 3, 2003

By 

Dr. Tom Mote (San Antonio, Texas USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Hidden Jesus: A New Life (Paperback)

As a Southern Baptist who has spent [1] the last 36 years as a professor in a Roman Catholic university and [2] the 69 years since his conversion wondering why he had never been able to experience the blinding, "born again" feeling of the Apostle Paul or Jimmy Carter or many other sincere Southern Baptists, I am delighted to report that the several hours I have just spent in absorbing much of Donald Spoto's wisdom have been very instructive. At this point, let me make one constructive criticism. Many of his sentences, like my first one in this review, are so long and complex that I had to re-read them before becoming comfortable with the content. On balance, however, this is a book that I will read again and again and will recommend it to my family and friends.

18 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful book about Christ and His meaning for modern man, January 15, 2001

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Hidden Jesus: A New Life (Paperback)

What a fascinating and exciting book! It's fascinating because at least in my some 16 years of Catholic education throughout grade school to high school and college an in-depth analysis of Jesus' life really wasn't part of the religious education; this book details enormously interesting details of the life of Christ. It's exciting because of the emphasis given and arguments for the presence of the risen Christ in our midst today, not just 2000 years ago. Do I disagree or have doubts about some of Spoto's assertions (was Christ really born in Bethlehem, did He have brothers and sisters, did He know He was God, did his parents know He was God, can one beleive in capital punishment and still be a Christian)? Clearly, yes, I disagree with some of his points. But there are no critical or essential points of the Christian faith(or Catholic faith for that matter) that are disputed by him. I do not for a second doubt the author's love and belief in the risen Christ "that the gospels proclaim". The greatest asset of this book is in it's elucidation of God's ever present love and compassion for us and how we find the "hidden Jesus" in our lives. This truly is a wonderful book that strengthens one's faith and love in Jesus Christ, our risen lord. Highly recommended!

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An fresh biblical view of Jesus as man and God, March 4, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Hidden Jesus: A New Life (Hardcover)

This book can't be approached with the view of our childhood. The reader must either be knowledgable and comfortable with current biblical scholarship or allow Spoto's perspective to open their minds and faith.

It is a beautiful poem and a wonderful homily that can open the reader to fuller expressions of what Jesus means for each of us and the world. His biblical exegesis is fresh and powerful. Not the quaint interpretations that have been repeated to us for centuries like a mantra. Spoto's interpretation is scholarly and refreshing. And, for those who realize that theology is the expression of life's meaning for us and is not just found in old interpretations, it offers new and rich horizons.