Jesus: Why the World Is Still Fascinated by Him (Hardcover)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Jesus. Love Him or hate Him, He’s everywhere. On our T-shirts, bumper stickers, and even the covers of leading news magazines, year after year. We see Him on the silver screen, in the headline crawl on the TV news, and on the homemade signs held up at ball games. Hotly debated, He remains the most conspicuous figure of all time, even twenty centuries after His inglorious death. Best-selling author Tim LaHaye and coauthor David Minasian look back through history and peer into the prophetic future to show us why the world’s “Jesus fascination” should come as no surprise; every generation since Christ has grappled with the question: Who was He? What does He mean to us here, today? After reading about Jesus’ life, legacy, and pervasive influence, you may find yourself connecting the dots of your own spiritual journey and answering the timeless question that came from the lips of Jesus Himself: Who do you say that I am?

--This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

About the Author

Author, speaker, and minister Dr. Tim LaHaye has written or coauthored more than sixty books, including the New York Times best-selling Left Behind series. A pastor for thirty-nine years, there’s nothing Dr. LaHaye likes to talk about more than Jesus. Dr. LaHaye and his wife, Beverly, reside in Southern California. You can learn more about Dr. LaHaye and his work at TimLaHaye.com.

David Minasian is a motion-picture writer, producer, and director with twenty-five years of experience in the film industry. Since 2002, he has worked closely with Tim LaHaye as a cowriter and researcher. David lives with his wife, Erin, and their children in Southern California.

--This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: David C. Cook; New edition (August 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 143476625X
• ISBN-13: 978-1434766250
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #466,591 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Jesus doesn't need a P.R. man, June 18, 2009

By	Shannon Freeman "discerning spirit" (Tennessee) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

(What's this?)

Tim LeHay, author of the well known "Left Behind" series, brings with him a bit of baggage. While I can only speak for myself, I like to think that a writer is open to listening to other points of view, perspectives which may inform his/her writing. Tim LeHay is not that guy, a fact we know before page one is turned.

As a Christian I appreciate any reflection on the continued "popularity" of Jesus. However, any REAL spiritual pursuit is not defined as a popularity contest. Rather, it is a sincere exploration of spiritual principles, with a well versed understanding of the "top" messangers in one's studies. Jesus is definitely Christianity's lead model, which by virtue of the role, excludes any references to "popularity."

Mr. LeHay writes in a manner that leaves the reader no room for interpretation; his leading questions are a sure-fire tip as to what his personal views are. He discredits opposing views by attacking their scholarly merit, a technique used to great effect by those who might challenge his positions. It works so far as to answer his critics; however, it lacks any real foundation for adopting his creed. Indeed, he doesn't properly use this method, for if he did he would provide some concrete, scholar based proof to support his argument. He fails to do this.

I'm a believer, so I'm not Mr. LeHay's target audience. I'm afaid, though, that those he might speak to, the uncommitted, would not find his arguments very persuasive. One of the biggest criticisms we face as Christians is our lack of rigor in formulating and supporting our beliefs. Mr. LeHay attempts to remedy this, yet falls incredibly short.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not What I'd Hoped For -- Misleading Title, June 18, 2009

By	SandyCB "sandycb" (Urbana, IL) - See all my reviews

(What's this?)

I ordered this book based on the title, which sounded like the sort of program aired on the History Channel. Imagine my shock when the book arrived, and it turned out to be written for people who believe that the Left Behind series is a docudrama.

The book is an extremely quick read. Unfortunately it achieves this by avoiding a well-rounded examination of anything and adopting a fascination with the passive voice. Subjects slide by so much faster when you can just declare that things were done and not spend any time on the pesky point of who did them. The authors discuss how the Bible "came together", and they manage to do this without mentioning the Roman Catholic Church once. No councils, no monks copying texts, no reformation -- nothing. The closest they come to addressing this issue is one line saying that the final decision to canonize the New Testament was made in Carthage in 397 A.D. Not a word on who made the decision, and they cite an article in USA Today concerning the Da Vinci Code lawsuit to support their statement. They don't even point out that the Catholic and Protestant Bibles contain different books (or why this is so).

The authors relentlessly ignore complexities for the sake of furthering their arguments. For example, they include Edgar Cayce as a sorcerer in a discussion of phrophecy, but never mention that he was a religious man who taught Sunday school and went into trances to diagnose the sick. They count Mark Twain as sympathetic to Jesus but ignore his Letters from the Earth. They discuss the Founding Fathers as religious but ignore their emphasis on the importance of the separation of church and state. They mention big philosophical movements and ideas in passing, but none get a comprehensive, fair treatment.

Other chapters include: a long discussion of Gnosticism that reads like a belated response to the Da Vinci Code; an argument that Jesus can turn homosexuals into heterosexuals; a discussion of how Jesus elevated women's role in society by comparing his treatment of women with some other religions/societies and quoting "husbands love your wives" from Ephesians, while ignoring the preceding line, which famously insists that wives should be subordinate to their husbands in everything.

That this book masquerades as a work of scholarship is maddening. The authors use copious footnotes, but a careful examination reveals that many of them are to Wikipedia and media web sites or to books written by other people with the same religious agenda as the authors. Term papers have been written with better documentation. This book is more of a tool to rally like-minded believers to defend their faith against the media, professors, liberals, and any other Enemy of the Truth than a complex, well-researched look at the influence Jesus has had on society. It's too bad, as I really was looking forward to reading this other book, not the one I received.

8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Predictable pop theology that probably will be Left Behind, May 27, 2009

By	Stephen Richmond "Librarian/Teacher/Reader an... (Newton, Massachusetts) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

(What's this?)

Of the plethora of pop theology books these days, this is by no means one of the worse. After the highly popular and hugely successful LEFT BEHIND series and the less so BABYLON RISING series, Dr. LaHaye writes in a very pleasant and entertaining style. For the most, this current work is generally an enjoyable experience. My concern is that many will view this work by someone they've come to trust (Dr. LaHaye has been a pastor at one of the country's mega-churches in San Diego for many years) as absolutely unquestionable biblical scholarship. Unfortunately, a closer look, particularly at his resource notes raises the more discerning brow.
Dr. LaHaye should know better with his degree from Western Theological Seminary. WIKIPEDIA, while a highly useful finding tool, is not all that a reliable secondary source. But LaHaye is a bit cagey with his scholarship as well in his inclusion of such time-honored, even venerable biblical scholars such as Helmut Koester and Elaine Pagels, who gets bashed pretty thoroughly here. Dr. LaHaye and his cohort never seem to tire of the same inflammatory arguments over the same texts and concepts. What a pleasant change 'twould be to stop the fussing and sincerely share a prayer for a direly needy world. But as stated above, this is certainly not the worst book of its ilk and Dr. Tim writes very well. If this work piques your interest, give Elaine Pagels or Bart Ehrman or even Francois Bovon a try as well. They too write well and with a clarity that belies their scholarly credentials.