Living Jesus: Learning the Heart of the Gospel [Paperback]

Luke Timothy Johnson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 5, 2000

Who is the real Jesus? How can we experience the mystery, compelxity, and richness of his spirituality and teachings in our lives today? In this gently instructive and inspiring guide, Luke Timothy Johnson leads us to a deeper understanding and practice of classic Christian spirituality and faith. Translating his biblical scholarship into simple, elegant language, he offers a compelling and wise reflection on the real Jesus--not the reconstructed historical figure but the resurrected Christ, a living savior we can encounter every day.

Living Jesus elucidates the mystery of Jesus' resurrection and its central role in the Christian experience. It explores the diversity and fullness of the New Testament views of Christ, revealing how each book's perspective can deepen our understanding of Jesus. Profoundly insightful, Living Jesus offers valuable lessons on how we can accept the Gospels' powerful invitation to an authenic Christian spirituality.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The Real Jesus made Luke Timothy Johnson famous as the leading debunker of the historical-Jesus movement. In Living Jesus: Learning the Heart of the Gospel, Johnson makes a more constructive presentation--a meditative and scriptural explanation of his understanding of the real Jesus. "The most important question concerning Jesus," according to Johnson, is "Do we think he is dead or alive?" The book begins offering its own answer to that question with an enthusiastic essay on the resurrection, which culminates with another question: "How does Jesus now find continuing embodiment as life-giving Spirit? As all-powerful Lord, in any fashion he chooses!" Johnson describes a Jesus who is living all around us, in the canon, creed, sacraments, lives of the saints, and elsewhere. Johnson then provides readings of each gospel, Acts, Paul's epistles, and Revelation to give his arguments scriptural mooring. The Real Jesus rambles a bit--at times, it reads suspiciously like class lecture notes--but it's got a good heart. The book's goal is to wake readers up so they can live in the truth, "so that we might become living texts speaking Jesus in the world--saints from whom others also might learn Jesus." --Michael Joseph Gross --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Johnson (The Real Jesus), the Jesus Seminar's thorn in the flesh, presents the rich spirituality of the Gospels. Johnson argues that, according to his reading of the Gospels, Jesus is not a dead, historical figure but a living character in believers' lives. He asserts that the true purpose of the New Testament is to show Christians how to model their lives on Jesus' life. Johnson's book is divided into two complementary parts. In part one, Johnson contends that to be a Christian means to claim that Jesus is life-giving Spirit, to live according to Jesus' words and works and to bear witness, as Jesus did, to the reality of God. Part two engages in a close reading of the Gospels, noting that each Gospel's specific way of shaping its community's memories of Jesus is affected by the author's perceptions of his readers' situation. Although each Gospel provides a different perspective on Jesus, Johnson says, the same living figure is recognizable in the varied portraits. Refusing to be taken in by what he perceives as the deadening effects of the historical criticism of the Gospels, Johnson offers a spiritual reading that, in his mind, gives the only true access to the Jesus of authentic Christian faith.
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: 224 pages
• Publisher: HarperOne (January 5, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060642831
• ISBN-13: 978-0060642839
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #178,082 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

56 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Makes sense of the Resurrection., May 11, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Living Jesus (Hardcover)

I read this book, appropriately enough, over Easter weekend. Like Paul on the road to Damascus, I had an epiphany. After ten years of reading book after book on Christian apologetics (from C.S. Lewis to Josh McDowell), this is THE book that finally allowed me to grasp the concept of, and to believe in, the Resurrection. I now state the Nicene creed in church with conviction, and have found geniune faith in Christ as Living Lord. I cannot recommend this book enough.

41 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars EXCELLENT AND CONCISE, August 12, 2000

By 

Charles E. Meadows (Milton, WV United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Living Jesus: Learning the Heart of the Gospel (Paperback)

lt johnson is a moderately conservative catholic (in fact an ex-monk) who has written extensively on nt studies. this 203 page book can be read in a few hours and is not bogged down with scholarly jargon. essentially he is putting into perspective the value of historical Jesus studies. lt states that if Jesus is today alive for Christians, how then can we get a reliable picture of Him by using the means by which we study dead people! he has been gently criticised by some including ben witherington and raymond brown for separating the Jesus of history from the Jesus we worship - but i don't think that is the focus of johnson's argument. i think lt is simply pointing out (quite validly) that historical critical studies can give only a limited picture of Jesus. he uses as an interesting example adolf hitler. if we were to perform a study in "historical hitlerology" (attempting to construct a portait using what hitler thought of himself as well as the thoughts of his closest associates), we would indeed come up with a picture of hitler that would be quite different than what we know to be true. i would agree that this comparison is a little oblique, but johnson makes a good point. the first few chapters may seem a little fluffy to some but they move quickly into the meat of the work. all in all, this is a very readable work. not everyone will agree with johnson but all those interested in Jesus studies need to be exposed to his point of view!

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Learning About Jesus, August 3, 2000

By 

K.H. - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Living Jesus (Hardcover)

Luke Timothy Johnson does a masterful job at creating a book that engages the reader's mind and heart. Though this book is written from an ex-priest and still retains much Catholic tradition, the Protestant reader can also enjoy and gain insight from this well written text.

This book is not written for the skeptic or the Christian revisionist, like his previous book "The Real Jesus." Instead this material will penetrate the heart of the believer. As he wonderfully points out, "To be a Christian means to assert that Jesus is alive, is indeed life-giving Spirit." This book reminds the Christian that we should be learning from a living Jesus. To often, we look at Jesus as a piece of history. This is a wake-up call to Christians everywhere.

We are to learn from Jesus from great Christians, the church, and the New Testament. I find Dr. Johnson's book to be honest and forthright and appreciated his candor about the church and himself. This is a must read!