Jesus Today: A Spirituality of Radical Freedom [Paperback]

Albert Nolan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2006

The spirituality of Jesus, its relevance today, and how these lessons might promote a greater communion with God.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 220 pages
• Publisher: Orbis Books; annotated edition edition (September 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1570756724
• ISBN-13: 978-1570756726
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #88,210 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

55 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A guide to the spiritual lost,, May 12, 2007

By 

Dr. John Laughlin (Glenn Dale, MD) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Jesus Today: A Spirituality of Radical Freedom (Paperback)

Albert Nolan was born in 1934 in Cape Town a 4th generation South African who rose to international acclaim with the publication of his first book, Jesus Before Christianity, was recently reissued on its 25th anniversary. Jesus Before Christ, translated into nine languages, was described by theologian Harvey Cox as "the most accurate and balanced short reconstruction of the life of the historical Jesus."

In 2003, the South African government awarded him the Order of Luthuli in recognition of "his lifelong dedication to the struggle for democracy, human rights and justice and for challenging the religious dogma including theological justification of apartheid." The award is named after Chief Albert Luthuli, South Africa's first Nobel Peace Prize winner.

In this long-awaited sequel, Nolan describes the modern signs that underlay our spiritual hunger: the crisis of individualism, ecological breakdowns, the global divide between rich and poor, our unprecedented skepticism and a disconnect with our past and our failing efforts to reconnect through fundamentalism and Neo-conservatism.

Besides spiritual hunger we face the crisis of individualism that is ending up in a cultist worship of the ego and the erosion of community. People have fewer friends than they did 20 years ago and this rising disconnect can be seen in the growing prevalence of anger and anxiety. The hunger for spirituality is a hunger for freedom from materials, self-indulgence, postmodernism, oppression, and individualism. It is a freedom from self-sufficiency, independence, and separation that have brought us to the edge of chaos.

When Nolan discusses the contributions of a new science beginning with Einstein a new and more hopeful world paradigm emerges: science as an ally with faith in the discovery of new mysteries of the universe: "Light, for example, is neither a wave nor a particle: it is something beyond our mind and imagination . . . it is a mystery." (P. 36). The world is filled with puzzles yet unsolved and possibly never solved like how the writing out of a tiny strand of DNA instructions would fill a thousand books each 600 pages long or Niels Bohr's quantum leap where particles in orbit may jump from one orbit to another without passing through the space between them--another mystery.

His reflections on mysticism's essentially incommunicable insights into God and reality are particularly good. Christian mystical writing form two paths: Apophatic (Via Negativa) and Kataphatic (Via Positiva). Nolan presents Apophatic mysticism without over complicating it with too much information. Christianity was, after all, a mystical sect that grew out of Judaism as Gnosticism grew out of Christianity. In the Apophatic tradition we can know only what God is not. God is not an object that can be compared to other objects, nor is God a mystery, one mystery among others, but the mystery. This is the language of paradox that, like a Zen kaon, puts into words what cannot be described but must be experienced as Moses experienced a hidden God in the burning bush.

Nolan proceeds to describe the elements of Jesus' spirituality: a way of healing that combines prophecy and mysticism with profound love. And love itself is a mystery since, if one is allowed one descriptor of God, it is Love, a term that belies a galaxy of words but is understood instantly in its experience:

"The way my mother loved was a mighty force. And she loved me so much sometimes it scared me. I knew by the way her eyes were almost backlit with affection when she saw me coming up the stairs and the way her voice was raised an octave when she heard my voice on the other end of a call to her. There was nothing she would not have done for me all my life."
-- Dorothea Benton Frank, The Land of Mango Sunsets.

41 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars albert does it again, September 25, 2006

By 

jon grife (maryland) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Jesus Today: A Spirituality of Radical Freedom (Paperback)

albert is a brilliant theologian who is strongly in touch with the spirit of god. his message is truth, love and personal and global transformation. he knows that the kingdom is already here if we choose to see it. if you are on a path to greater mystical and spiritual awareness this book will help you. all his other books are excellent also. they are easy to read. god bless you on the road...

24 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent, March 21, 2007

By 

Sister June Mouat (United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Jesus Today: A Spirituality of Radical Freedom (Paperback)

Albert Nolan embodies, in a rare combination, the qualities of deep Spirituality, theology of the New Testament and the ability to engage the reader in their own contextual situations.

Albert has a unique style - easy reading and yet very profound thoughts that reach the heart of the reader.