The Man Nobody Knows (Mass Market Paperback)

by Bruce Barton (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"No man can read it without being impressed by [its] power and sweep... With keen and penetrating insight the author interprets the personal relationships of Jesus and their psychology." -- Princeton Literary Observer

"This book had a major impact on my life! I read it at a crucial time, a time of extreme intellectual and spiritual struggle Since that day, I have read The Man Nobody Knows every year. I have given copies to hundreds of people and recommended it to thousands. I recommend it to you!" -- James L. S. Collins, President, C.O.O. Chick-fil-A Inc.

Product Description
The example portrayed by Jesus Christ is clarified in this book. From its pages, learn the keys to success, the secrets of leadership, and the path to genuine happiness.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback
• Publisher: GA Publishing (October 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0965289419
• ISBN-13: 978-0965289412
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,865,427 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Man Nobody Knows, December 19, 2001

By	Seth Zajac (Provo, Utah United States) - See all my reviews

In his second major work, The Man Nobody Knows, author Bruce Barton portrays Jesus Christ as a salesman--not an ordinary salesman, but the world's greatest salesman--and exhorts
readers to profit by his example. Additionally, the story of the carpenter from Nazareth, Barton argues, is "the story of the founder of modern business (12).
Throughout the book, Barton paints Christ in a positive color. He disavows the "wicked falsehood that [Christ] never laughed" (23), from inference of the New Testament--the men who
became his disciples never would have been attracted to a man who demonstrated Miltonian characteristics. Further, Barton comments on Christ's leadership, as "only strong magnetic men
inspire great enthusiasm and build strong orginizations. Yet Jesus built the greatest orginization of all...He picked up twelve men from the bottom ranks of business and forged them into an orginization that conquered the world" (35-36). This act could have only been done by a supreme business executive, a man who knew how to persuade others, and was so passionate in his
rhetoric that men would be willing to give their lives for his cause. Hence, Christ was the greatest salesman of all.
Finally, through the use of scripture, Barton demonstrates Christ's ultimate leadership qualities during Christ's cruxifiction. As Christ was hanging on the cross, one of the thieves painfully asked that Christ remember him when Jesus returns to his kingdom. Barton believes this was Christ's greatest act of leadership, as "there have been leaders who could call forth enthusiasm when their fortunes ran high. But [Christ], when his enemies had done their worst, so bore himself that a crucifed felon looked into his dying eyes and saluted him as king" (220).
Written in 1925, The Man Nobody Knows was an immesensely popular book. With the post-World war I production levels becoming so high that consumers were unable to buy all the
products that industry produced, new markets had to be created. It was out of this climate that the advertising industry came of age. Barton, chairman of the board of the New York advertising
agency Batten, Barton, Durstine and Osborne, saw Christ as the ultimate master of salesmanship. He hoped that his readers, in an age of wealth and extravagence, would reflect back upon Jesus, not as weak man, but a man of such strong physical and emotional characteristics that readers would "exclaim [Jesus] is a man nobody knows" (vii).
Bruce Barton's The Man Nobody Knows, is written in beautiful, sincere prose. Throughout the novel, Barton maintains a high quality of reverence for Christ, and his teachings.
Although Barton's primary audience are salesmen and businessmen, the book appeals to any reader, religious or atheist, businessman or farmer.
The Man Nobody Knows is a wonderful tool for examining Christ's life as a smiling, divine businessman. As the wheel of big business turns and men spend their lives striving to
make millions of dollars, Barton reminds us of one businessman who gave his life in comforting millions of souls.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Consider reading the pre-Y2K version, August 15, 2007

By	PLC (Houston TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Man Nobody Knows (Paperback)

I've read my very old copy of this book so many times that I decided to order a new copy. But looking at the reviews on this site, I was really puzzled and disappointed by the reviews comparing Jesus to a businessman and insurance salesman, and so much emphasis on business. I had never gotten that message from the text.

Then I saw the subtitle on the year 2000 printing of the book -"The Classic Account of Jesus as Business Entrepreneur." Huh? The original book doesn't have a subtitle. Even the chapter headings have been changed: Retitled from "The Leader" to "The Executive"; from "His Work and Words" to "His Advertisements"; from "His Way in Our World" to "The Founder of Modern Business." From the exerpt on the website, it looks like the text is the same, but the context has been changed. The publishers have reframed it. sad to say.

The original book describes the Jesus of the Bible as a man. An extraordinary man. A man people would follow. A man people would die for. And Barton's book tells us why.

Barton's book will enrich your life -- maybe even change it. And if you're a worshipper, your prayers and songs will take on new meaning.

I give the 5-star rating to Barton's original book, and a 1 to whoever decided to reframe it for the watercooler.

36 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Astonishing this chestnut is still around, April 10, 2005

By	Mick McAllister - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Man Nobody Knows (Paperback)

The notion that Jesus' values were those of corporate America and his "charisma" of the sort that makes insurance salemen is so laughably a fantasy that I hope the other reviews are meant as jokes. Portraying Jesus as a "booster," a kind of successful Willy Loman, is about as ludicrous as picturing Mother Teresa as a fashion model and Gandhi as a comic book superhero. The Jesus of the New Testament would have observed the conspicuous consumption of corporate America, the cultural gluttony of the Western World, with sadness and disgust.

Jesus may be the ultimate Rorschach. We look at him: Nazis see a blue-eyed Aryan beset by Jews and look for somebody to beat up; gays see their lifestyle affirmed in the friendhip with John; chickenhawk warriors somehow see endorsement of the hateful causes they want others to die for; the tenderhearted and compassionate see him surrounded by happy children; feminists see the women by his side; lying hypocrites see... God knows what.

The hardest thing for humans to do is to comprehend that their heroes are not just big versions of themselves. A hero should be something to push against, not a self-endorsement. Jesus told the rich to give away their money. He told his followers not to gather up treasures in the world. He said wealth is a burden that will keep the rich out of Heaven. He scourged the moneylenders. He was a freeloader. He is bad for business.

Today, as the most affluent country on the planet, we hear the Christian message as unhappily as the young wealthy Hebrew who asked Jesus what he must do to be saved. His answer was NOT "get an MBA." But instead of walking away, we invent new myths of a Jesus more suitable, one able to see past his silly prejudice against money grubbers, to see that it is possible to be rich and really nice.

Barton's book is a bizarre anachronism; a last survivor of the Babbitt years of pious Philistinism and Pharisaic self-approval just before the Depression turned our complacent cultural narcissism upside down. How sad, that it's coming back into fashion. Read Jim Wallis' *God's Politics* for a theology less absorbed with self-justification.