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As the religious rhetoric of the culture wars escalates, New York Times bestselling author and eminent scholar Garry Wills explores the meaning of Jesus's teachings
Viking
March 2006
176 pages ISBN: 0670034967 Hardcover
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Non-Fiction Religion
In what are billed as "culture wars," people on the
political right and the political left cite Jesus as
endorsing their views. Garry Wills argues that Jesus
subscribed to no political program. He was far more radical
than that. In a fresh reading of the gospels, Wills explores
the meaning of the "reign of heaven" Jesus not only
promised for the future but brought with him into this life.
It is only by dodges and evasions that people misrepresent
what Jesus plainly had to say against power, the wealthy,
and religion itself. Jesus came from the lower class, the
working class, and he spoke to and for that class. This is
a book that will challenge the assumptions of almost
everyone who brings religion into politics--"Christian
socialists" as well as biblical theocrats. But Wills is
just as critical of those who would make Jesus a mere
ethical teacher, ignoring or playing down his divinity.
Jesus without the Resurrection is simply not the Jesus of
the gospels. Wills calls his book a profession of faith in
the risen Lord, the Son of the Father, who leads us to the
Father. He argues that this does not make people embrace an
otherworldliness that ignores the poor or the problems of
our time. What Jesus Meant will no doubt
spark debate about our understanding of Jesus and the
Scriptures, especially as we head into midterm elections
that will certainly prompt many heated discussions on the
role of religion in our society.
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