Customer Reviews

The Words of Jesus: A Gospel of the Sayings of Our Lord with Reflections by Phyllis Tickle

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We've heard them from the pulpit, scanned the red-letter words in our Bibles and quoted them in scripture memorization. But when we listen --- really listen --- to the words of Jesus, they may change us irrevocably. So says renowned religion writer Phyllis Tickle in THE WORDS OF JESUS, which offers a new way of looking and listening to familiar passages.

The book began with a simple question from a colleague who asked Tickle, "Did you ever wonder what you would really find if you took out the duplications and triplications and connective tissue of the Gospels and stripped it all down again to just His words?" The question stunned her, and she admits, "I had never wondered such a thing...I was also fascinated by the potency of the Sayings format and drawn to the intellectual game and pleasure of trying to tease out just how and why that format works so well."

The "Sayings" format is indeed unique. All of the words of Jesus from the four gospels and the first chapter of Acts are compiled and arranged into five different "books" and then organized by topic. In each book, Jesus' personality is "shaded and shaped by the particularity of either his audience --- public, private, or intimate --- or an activity --- healing." Rather than relying on a particular translation, Tickle brings her own scholarship and the texts of several translations to bear to recreate Jesus' words.

Tickle suggests that the reader begin with Book Two, Christ's words of private instruction to His followers. Here, He is "most self-revelatory and open to us." Bits and pieces of Jesus' words reach out and pull the reader in. "Be careful that you do not look down on one who seems small or unimportant and trivial...," Jesus says in one passage. In another, "Sit down in the humblest place." And, "Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour." Each saying in each "book" is grouped under a topical header.

Tickle divides the other four books of Jesus' Sayings into The Words of Public Teaching, The Words of Healing Dialogue, The Words of Intimate Conversation and The Words of Post-Resurrection Encounters. The 21 Sayings under "healing" are interesting, Tickle points out, as most of them have little or nothing to do with the healing itself: "Rather, they read now as if much of the time the act of healing becomes a platform for teaching health of more than just the body." Good food for thought.

One of Tickle's passages that resonates particularly well is the idea that the brain and the heart are both organs of perceiving and being. "We must assume that there is in the human being a means of knowing other than that of the brain." Her surprise, she said, was that the Sayings of Jesus "entered prayerfully" are first heard somewhere other than the mind. "The heart, it would seem, has its own consciousness and knowledge and ways that can be experienced just as the brain's consciousness and knowledge and ways are experienced. They are just not as scientifically measurable at the moment, and may never be."

Tickle, who has worked with other sacred writings before (The Divine Hours series), has a delightful blend of humbleness and confidence in her reflections on the Sayings. As she began compiling the "words" of Jesus through the past two years, Tickle said she wrestled with new perceptions about what it is to be a Christian, as well as to be herself.

So reader be warned. If, as Tickle says, "It is the correct and proper business of followers to try to discern the meaning of God's words," then THE WORDS OF JESUS is a good place to be about our business. But readers will encounter the sayings of Jesus through this book in new ways --- and may come away changed.

--- Reviewed by Cindy Crosby

This is a dangerous book.

But these are dangerous words. They always have been, but we have forgotten and let them become comfortable through the centuries. Too comfortable.

Like The Sayings of Chairman Mao and the words of Confucius, the concentrated wisdom the Eastern mind works best undiluted and unexplained.

Jesus spoke just words, they didn't come from His mouth wrapped in narrative explanation. The words of Jesus were real conversations with real people. People close and intimate who shared the dusty roads with him, and also people who hung at the edge of curious crowds listening with skeptical ears.

The naked words ripped from the cocoon of expectations hit us the same way they hit the first ears that heard them. Intimate and corporate they work beyond reason to disturb the heart. Familiar words now new, shocking like unexpected words from a long known lover or spouse who changes your world with a word.

This is not a book to enter unwarned and unprepared. Expect to be shocked and angered and touched and changed. That is always what he intended. These are dangerous words.

Finally ... the true Jesus, in his own words. It's no wonder, after domesticating Jesus like an obedient poodle wearing pink nail polish and a tiara, that this book is so shocking to us. Jesus said a lot of things that even today would get him locked up, blacklisted, wiretapped, put on the no-fly list, and sent to Gitmo with a black bag over his head. Think hard before you read this book. Wouldn't you rather be happy with your illusions than know the truth and be disappointed? It's the real Jesus all right. But it's not the Jesus you and I have been hearing about almost from the moment of birth. This guy had a lot of strange, revolutionary ideas. He was scary then, and still is. So why can't we seem to turn away ...

This isn't the kind of book that you sit and read for hours. If you do, you're ignoring something.

I started reading this way and found myself totally thrown off. I put the book down for a season, and then picked it back up with the intention of reading it in very very small portions - similar to a devotional or daily reading.

The words of Jesus are powerful and haunting and - like everything of powerful substance - seem to be best digested in small portions.

Tickle has sectioned off Jesus' words by the size of group he was speaking to. For me, these distinctions here new and fresh and proved to help me gain more clarity as to who Jesus was.

I seemed to re-meet him.

Which - in my estimation - is invaluable.

This is an excellent resource, especially if you don't already have a "sayings gospel" in your library. This book was the loving effort of 2 years of Phyllis' life, so rest assured, this isn't some haphazard "lifting" of the "red letters" from the rest of the bible.

This book has carefully grouped the sayings of Jesus into 5 distinct categories and then within those categorizes,grouped like sayings together [it's like having them chain referenced on the same page] but then the verse and chapters are removed, so you are not distracted about WHERE they are in the bible.

[don't freak out, the references are in the back if they bring you comfort]

For me, this makes a better devotional or study aid than a typical "book" to read straight through. But if this even sounds slightly interesting, trust that you won't be disappointed.

I loved this book. It is easy to read and quite different. Just reading the words Jesus spoke it a flowing story format, changes my whole outlook and understanding. It is good A must read for anyone.

The Words of Jesus by Phyllis Tickle is exactly what the title states. It is the sayings of Jesus presented starkly, without context. They are segregated according to the audience to whom the sayings are addressed. This reworking of the order in which the sayings are presented is both enlightening and shocking. We are able to see the humanity of Jesus shining through as we identify a very human trait - the words are addressed to different audiences in different ways.

The message of the words remains consistent, but the tone changes dramatically depending on which audience is addressed. To the general public, the tone is often rather harsh and confrontational. This would have grabbed the audience's attention and stimulated conversation. Interesting, the majority of the sayings fall into this category. In contrast, we see in the sayings when Jesus is addressing individuals or small groups, a much kinder and more compassionate Jesus.

Arranging the sayings in this way forces the reader to revisit exactly what message Jesus was putting forth and allows us to hear His words in new and meaningful ways.

It is often difficult for this reader to stick to his intended Bible reading, due to the wealth of wisdom in the Book, no matter the translation edition (this reader owns 8 individual translations, and each has its merits). This book is a very welcome distillation of just the words of Jesus and the context in which the words were spoken. This book is more than just a "red letter" compilation - the long introduction to the book proper is a testament to the difficulties of a careful, close reader of the Testaments of the Bible. Worth looking into, even (especially?) for long-time readers of the Bible.

When I was a teenager I wanted to take a pair of scissors to the bible and eliminate all the superflous stuff that came with the text itself. No notes, no footnotes, no helpful guides at the bottom or the back. Just the words themselves. I felt that reading it this way helped the reader understand the purity of the words. I'm not an extremist fundamentalist or anything like that...I just enjoyed the purity of it this way.

Phyllis Tickle takes it a step further, creating a blend of my idea, a harmony of the gospels, and a red letter edition without any of the black letters. The result is a challenging book that seems to change the character of Jesus (in a good way) without losing any of the strength of the gospel (also in a good way). Really enjoyed this as a change of pace to my normal reading. And I encourage others to take a look as well.

On the Acknowledgements p.196 the author admits that she uses a multitude of Bible versions, reinterpretations in my opinion, and creates her very own interpretation. People considering this book may need to first study the great differences in meaning produced by the newer Bible versions/reinterpretations.

As Edward Hendrie states in his book, "Solving the Mysteries of Babylon the Great" Solving the Mystery of BABYLON THE GREAT, the Bible is the most important legal document in history. However, I do disagree with him that even the authorized King James Version can be accepted as completely tested with the due dilligence the books deserve and more work needs to be done in this area especially in the Old Testament. "Esther" never mentions God, while Jesus is all about glorifying and obeying His Father.

The Words of Jesus Christ in the KJV are clear, presented under scrutiny of His harshest and eternally condemned critics, and cut to soul of man without equivocation even when recorded by different Apostles. The book by expert attorney Greenleaf of the 19th century provides a great look at the evidence supporting the Gospels An Examination of the Testimony of the Four Evangelists By the Rules of Evidence Administered in Courts of Justice. It is also available on Amazon.