The Lost Religion of Jesus: Simple Living and Nonviolence in Early Christianity [Paperback]

Keith Akers (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Lantern Books; 1 edition (November 21, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1930051263
• ISBN-13: 978-1930051263
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #301,724 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

My web site and blog can be found at http://compassionatespirit.com. I've written two books:

"A Vegetarian Sourcebook: The Nutrition, Ecology, and Ethics of a Natural Foods Diet." Originally published by Putnam's, 1983, then by Vegetarian Press, 1993.

"The Lost Religion of Jesus: Simple Living and Nonviolence in Early Christianity." Lantern Books, 2000.

My mailing address is P. O. Box 11240, Englewood, Colorado 80151, U. S. A.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars So...you already know all there is to know about Jesus?, March 9, 2001

By 

Jim Catano (Provo, UT USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Lost Religion of Jesus: Simple Living and Nonviolence in Early Christianity (Paperback)

What DID Jesus really teach? Most people try to answer that question by referring exclusively to the New Testament. According to Keith Akers, that's where the problem starts. He shows how early Christians divided into factions almost from the beginning with strong doctrinal differences separating them. His book examines those differences under the light of the many writings from the first four centuries (both Christian and non-Christian) that are NOT part of today's New Testament canons. Akers thus attempts to discover what Jesus really lived and died for and finds answers that may be new or even shocking to many. "The Lost Religion of Jesus" is a well-researched, well-written and worthwhile read for anyone with a spiritual or academic interest in Jesus of Nazareth.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting and helpful, April 28, 2005

By 

Christian daddy (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Lost Religion of Jesus: Simple Living and Nonviolence in Early Christianity (Paperback)

I enjoyed this book. It was a very refreshing look at Jesus, and early Christianity. The early Christians were quite different from the face of Christianity today. How often it is neglected and forgotten that Jesus spoke strongly for non-violence. Was he really a vegetarian? This is hard to prove or disprove. Maybe he eschewed red meat but not fish. Anyway, the vegetarian aspect of the book was interesting. Overall a very good read.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fewer vegies, more non-violence please, December 27, 2002

By 

Gregory Gordon "Born in the '60s" (Madison, WI United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Lost Religion of Jesus: Simple Living and Nonviolence in Early Christianity (Paperback)

This is a well-researched, straightforward history about the beliefs and practices of the earliest Jewish Christians. The book is a quick and thought-provoking read, especially when dealing with the origins of the New Testament gospels and the motivations of competing groups and individuals to edit or rewrite the texts. There is, for my taste, an overemphasis on vegetarianism as one of the differences between the Jewish Christian groups and the Gentile Christian church established by Paul and others (The back cover lists a Vegetarian Sourcebook as this author's other credit), but this is not a book that strains to prove Jesus was a vegetarian. The author speculates often, but is careful to point out where the historical record is thin and clearly labels fact from hypothesis. Worth a look if you want to start learning what they didn't teach you in Sunday school.