The best book on Jesus I've read.

And I've read a lot of books on Jesus (theology degree). A minor corrective to the excellent review below is that Wills is not really after "the historical Jesus" as it is usually meant. "The historical Jesus," as he explains in the book, connotes the quest for a Jesus of history (in our contemporary sense of "what actually happened") behind the narratives in the Bible. Some biblical scholars work out a number of tests to determine what Jesus actually said and then report that as history. Wills is right to challenge a lot of this way of thinking, though these approaches are certainly valuable. Indeed, anyone with experience in the language and culture of the text will likely be familiar with many of Wills' readings, which are often drawn from scholars who rely on methods from the search for the historical Jesus (Raymond Brown, for instance).

Wills' innovation is to change the terms of the debate from "history" and "faith" to "meaning," which is a brilliant move. What makes this book so powerful is that it actually takes Jesus' words for what they meant (imagine that...). The teachings on non-violence really mean absolute non-violence. The teachings on poverty and against wealth really mean that. Jesus is egalitarian, non-hierarchical, did not come to found a church or a priesthood, and would be saddened by the condition of Christianity today, especially its division and thirst for worldly power. God's love and forgiveness are absolute, and Jesus was an unconditional friend of the outcast, women, and the unclean. He radically changed the codes of cleanness, by shifting their meaning to the heart (not to things like sex, per se), and declared his Father's reign, which was "not of this world." He sent a "Champion" in the Holy Spirit. Later interpretations of atonement theology are a radical misreading of what actually took place. The sections on Judas, who stands for all of us, are moving and well-written.

One objection might be that Wills minimizes the political impact of Jesus' message. A frequent theme is that Jesus did not come "to found a politics," but announce God's "reign," to be fulfilled at the end of time. This idea might rely a little too much on a modern understanding of a separation between religion and politics, which would have been foreign to Jesus' context. The terms of Jesus' message are political, he placed God's reign against the Roman Empire of the time, and he was killed for political reasons. Living out his message as Wills sees it obviously has political implications today. It might be interesting to contrast these assertions with John Howard Yoder's excellent book, The Politics of Jesus. In any case, a minor point of debate. Another might be that the book is pretty hard on the concept of priests, but, as Wills says elsewhere in books like -Why I Am a Catholic-, he's been inspired by priests too. Finally, Augustine comes up a lot as a positive touchstone, but, paradoxically, he helped introduce many of the things Wills most objects to (the fall, atonement theology, sexual purity fixations, hell, war, etc.). There's a tension there. (See his book on Augustine, by the way).

Wills reads the work himself and does an excellent job. A book to share, inspire, and return to.

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6 people found this helpful

Author as narrator.

Having heard the book as spoken ny the author offers a closer understand of the words and meaning due to his pauses, emphasis, and soft spoken tones. I loved hearing the book by the author.

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LOVE All of Wills’ What Jesus, Paul, and Bible Meant books

BUT I DO WISH he would read 🥰Why Priests🥰 and 🥰Papal Sin🥰 for audible.com listeners. I have macular degeneration and it is becoming increasingly hard to read - even on back-lit kindle books.

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Confused about New Testament Contradictions

I love this book and listen to it at least once a year.
If you try to read the bible and resolve disputes and contradictions about the text, as I do, Read WHAT JESUS MEANT.
Gary Wills explains how the New Testament came to be. He explains how Jesus lived among "the least of us". The book presents a loving, yet realistic view of Jesus, in the context of modern theology, without lots of footnotes to slow down the narrative. I'm a footnote loving scientist, and when I wanted more in depth details or opposing views, I was easily able to Google that information.

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Original theology by Gary Wills

A book that vastly grows your understanding of Jesus, a real treasure of a book. It will help Jesus become part of your life.

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A Search for the Historical Jesus

Gary Wills in "What Jesus Meant" sets out to place Jesus and his teachings in historical context. People of faith and those who are sceptics all have a lot to learn from Wills' easy style, thorough scholarhip, and careful writing.

Wills has several other books written, I suppose, to explain his faith, following the same pattern ("What the Gospels Meant:, What Paul Meant). Each is also beneficial in its own way.

The writing is good and the reading excellent. One may, however, prefer reading the texts in written form or having the hard copy for future reference and study.

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4 people found this helpful

I'm a non-catholic who values Garry Wills books.

Any lover of Christ will enjoy this book. It is informative, historical, easy to understand and digest. A book I enjoy revisiting.

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Thought provoking

Often I find that writers seldom make good narrators, but the author's writing and speaking stle worked well together.

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Watch out for this one!

All Catholic and orthodox christians{including othodox Christian Mystics} beware of this clever writer.He clames to be a Catholic and begins by knocking down all secular leftist Bible interpreters[jesus seminar,ect. Then goes on to portray a Jesus so one sidedly radical one is left with a total pacifist,SPIRITUAL communist,TOTAL anti public worship radical..Jesus was a radical Not as narow or One sided as this..I decided to check out a little of this writers bio.and found clear evidence of his folly.He may be a catholic on the outside but uses that to attack all that is both Catholic and orthodox Christian in ALL acual substace..All I ask of you is to take a few minuts and check him out for yourself before buying his books...Good luck..

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3 people found this helpful