The Jesus Way: A Conversation on the Ways that Jesus is the Way by Eugene Peterson, Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company (March 15, 2007), ISBN-10: 080282949X
Rating: 5 of 5 STARS
Source: 2009 Christian Non-Fiction TBR
This is the third or fourth book by Eugene Peterson, author of the popular Bible translation The Message, I've read. I used A Long Obedience in the Same Direction to kick off a women's Bible study a couple of years ago. Also, his book Reversed Thunder: The Revelation of John and the Praying Imagination was excellent. The Jesus Way is the third volume in a spiritual/theological conversation Peterson began with Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places.
From the book jacket: Peterson....considers all the ways that Jesus is the Way compared to the distorted ways the modern American church has chosen to follow. Arguing that the way Jesus leads and the way we follow are symbiotic, Peterson begins with a study of how the ways of those who came before Christ -- Abraham, Moses, David, Elijah, Isaiah of Jerusalem, and Isaiah of the Exile -- revealed and prepared the "way of the Lord" that became complete in Jesus. He then challenges the ways of the contemporary American church, showing in stark relief how what we have chosen to focus on -- consumerism, celebrity, charisma, and so forth -- obliterates what is unique in the Jesus way.
As the description above states, Peterson take a long, deep look at six Old Testament Bible characters and links their "ways" with Christ's message for us in the New Testament:
Abraham -the way of Faith
Moses - the way of Words
David - the way of Imperfection
Elijah - the way of Margins
Isaiah of Jerusalem - the way of Holiness
Isaiah of the Exile - the way of Beauty
These all were simply fantastic chapters. The book finished up with examples of ways that were not of Christ: Herod and the Pharisees, Caiaphas and the Essenes, and Josephus and the Zealots.
Peterson's writing for some reason tends to bog me down. I really have to pay attention to what I'm reading or I find myself reading and rereading passages trying to understand what he's saying. I feel like that's a fault of my mind, though, not of his writing style. So, for that reason, I read this book very slowly, mostly like a devotional...a little here, and a little there.
There were lots of passages that spoke to me, many I've shared with you on this blog. But here are a couple more:
Teaching tells us what we need to know and do; it is about us. Preaching tells us who God is and what he does; it is about God.
The great, great grandaddy of all sins is the denial of sin, the refusal to admit sin. Such refusal is odd because, as G.K. Chesterton once observed, sin is the only empirically verifiable item in the entire Christian/Jewish belief system. No one has seen God at any time, but we see sin with our own eyes all the time. And yet denial is commonplace.
Highly recommend this book!
Rating: 5 of 5 STARS
Source: 2009 Christian Non-Fiction TBR
This is the third or fourth book by Eugene Peterson, author of the popular Bible translation The Message, I've read. I used A Long Obedience in the Same Direction to kick off a women's Bible study a couple of years ago. Also, his book Reversed Thunder: The Revelation of John and the Praying Imagination was excellent. The Jesus Way is the third volume in a spiritual/theological conversation Peterson began with Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places.
From the book jacket: Peterson....considers all the ways that Jesus is the Way compared to the distorted ways the modern American church has chosen to follow. Arguing that the way Jesus leads and the way we follow are symbiotic, Peterson begins with a study of how the ways of those who came before Christ -- Abraham, Moses, David, Elijah, Isaiah of Jerusalem, and Isaiah of the Exile -- revealed and prepared the "way of the Lord" that became complete in Jesus. He then challenges the ways of the contemporary American church, showing in stark relief how what we have chosen to focus on -- consumerism, celebrity, charisma, and so forth -- obliterates what is unique in the Jesus way.
As the description above states, Peterson take a long, deep look at six Old Testament Bible characters and links their "ways" with Christ's message for us in the New Testament:
Abraham -the way of Faith
Moses - the way of Words
David - the way of Imperfection
Elijah - the way of Margins
Isaiah of Jerusalem - the way of Holiness
Isaiah of the Exile - the way of Beauty
These all were simply fantastic chapters. The book finished up with examples of ways that were not of Christ: Herod and the Pharisees, Caiaphas and the Essenes, and Josephus and the Zealots.
Peterson's writing for some reason tends to bog me down. I really have to pay attention to what I'm reading or I find myself reading and rereading passages trying to understand what he's saying. I feel like that's a fault of my mind, though, not of his writing style. So, for that reason, I read this book very slowly, mostly like a devotional...a little here, and a little there.
There were lots of passages that spoke to me, many I've shared with you on this blog. But here are a couple more:
Teaching tells us what we need to know and do; it is about us. Preaching tells us who God is and what he does; it is about God.
The great, great grandaddy of all sins is the denial of sin, the refusal to admit sin. Such refusal is odd because, as G.K. Chesterton once observed, sin is the only empirically verifiable item in the entire Christian/Jewish belief system. No one has seen God at any time, but we see sin with our own eyes all the time. And yet denial is commonplace.
Highly recommend this book!
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