I wasn't going to take out another book from the library, well, that's what I promised myself. Then I saw this hardback book by the Jesuit Priest James Martin facing me from the 'new book' section. I thought I'd just have a flick through it but I was done for. It was pristine, no one had taken it out before. But did I want a 460 odd page hardback to read right now? As I read the inside cover it began to dawn on me that I would be taking this home. The first person in the library to read it. I'd christen it!
Over a year ago I took a course about monastic orders, travelling with others around London visiting several. It was fascinating. The Jesuits were one group we visited. They run a centre for refugees and the Priest spoke about the Jesuits and St Ignatius who founded them. I find them an interesting bunch!.
This book is about James Martin's trip to the Holy Land to visit the places where Jesus was born and grew up, where he preached, where the miracles happened, where he died and his appearances after the resurrection.
I've never been to the Holy Land (on my list) but obviously I've seen programmes about it and heard from others about their trips (a friend of mine is going there later this year.....if it doesn't get cancelled due to all the current unrest). But this book came at the right time for me. Often I am searching for something to read about faith and Jesus and for a while I haven't found quite the right thing. Now here it was. Martin looks at Jesus through his humanity and divinity and what appealed to me was the multi-layered approach using historical and archaeological evidence and comparing them with the gospels, looking at each gospel (the way it was written, by whom, to whom and why) and looking at language (Aramaic, Greek). Basically Martin uses all his knowledge from Jesuit study (they are an academic lot) to pull together everything he could about Jesus.
I found the book made me think, reconsider, agree, disagree but above all I learnt a lot, not only about Jesus but surprisingly about me! Martin compares Jesus teaching with real life instances in peoples lives and this made the book quite personal. There are twenty-five chapters featuring different passages from the Gospels and he visits the places where these things happened. Some were speculative, some were be 100% right. Martin adds his personal feelings about these visits, sometimes moved to tears, at others he was left unmoved - these things are different for everyone. He also adds some very funny anecdotes. His travelling companion is a fellow Jesuit called George and it was good to read what passed between then, that those in the 'religious life' are just like you and me, with the same weird ideas, feelings and humour and doubts.
Often we see Jesus as just holy. We forget, as Martin says, that he experienced everything we do. He would have had boyhood friends, fallen out and made up like kids do, got ill, puked, used the toilet (probably a whole in the ground - there were open sewers where Jesus lived), worked with Joseph and would have been fit and well muscled due to the hard work. He had brothers and sisters and an extended family, including John (the Baptiser). Martin also looked at individuals like Peter and the other fisherman-disciples. Mark's Gospel just says that when Jesus asked them to follow him they just 'downed tools' and left but Martin looks further into that.....the fishing business, their thoughts. It probably didn't happen as immediately as that but Mark's Gospel is like that, fast, urgent, basic and was the very first Gospel to be written some forty years after Jesus death. (For those who want to know Acts was the first Book to be written and plenty of people would have still been around who had known Jesus so the facts are fresher. That along with Psalms is my favourite book).
If you want to find the real Jesus, I'd suggest this book is a very good place to start. It isn't 'over your head' stuff, it is down to earth, amusing, touching and thought provoking and for me it came at the right time.
Over a year ago I took a course about monastic orders, travelling with others around London visiting several. It was fascinating. The Jesuits were one group we visited. They run a centre for refugees and the Priest spoke about the Jesuits and St Ignatius who founded them. I find them an interesting bunch!.
This book is about James Martin's trip to the Holy Land to visit the places where Jesus was born and grew up, where he preached, where the miracles happened, where he died and his appearances after the resurrection.
I've never been to the Holy Land (on my list) but obviously I've seen programmes about it and heard from others about their trips (a friend of mine is going there later this year.....if it doesn't get cancelled due to all the current unrest). But this book came at the right time for me. Often I am searching for something to read about faith and Jesus and for a while I haven't found quite the right thing. Now here it was. Martin looks at Jesus through his humanity and divinity and what appealed to me was the multi-layered approach using historical and archaeological evidence and comparing them with the gospels, looking at each gospel (the way it was written, by whom, to whom and why) and looking at language (Aramaic, Greek). Basically Martin uses all his knowledge from Jesuit study (they are an academic lot) to pull together everything he could about Jesus.
I found the book made me think, reconsider, agree, disagree but above all I learnt a lot, not only about Jesus but surprisingly about me! Martin compares Jesus teaching with real life instances in peoples lives and this made the book quite personal. There are twenty-five chapters featuring different passages from the Gospels and he visits the places where these things happened. Some were speculative, some were be 100% right. Martin adds his personal feelings about these visits, sometimes moved to tears, at others he was left unmoved - these things are different for everyone. He also adds some very funny anecdotes. His travelling companion is a fellow Jesuit called George and it was good to read what passed between then, that those in the 'religious life' are just like you and me, with the same weird ideas, feelings and humour and doubts.
Often we see Jesus as just holy. We forget, as Martin says, that he experienced everything we do. He would have had boyhood friends, fallen out and made up like kids do, got ill, puked, used the toilet (probably a whole in the ground - there were open sewers where Jesus lived), worked with Joseph and would have been fit and well muscled due to the hard work. He had brothers and sisters and an extended family, including John (the Baptiser). Martin also looked at individuals like Peter and the other fisherman-disciples. Mark's Gospel just says that when Jesus asked them to follow him they just 'downed tools' and left but Martin looks further into that.....the fishing business, their thoughts. It probably didn't happen as immediately as that but Mark's Gospel is like that, fast, urgent, basic and was the very first Gospel to be written some forty years after Jesus death. (For those who want to know Acts was the first Book to be written and plenty of people would have still been around who had known Jesus so the facts are fresher. That along with Psalms is my favourite book).
If you want to find the real Jesus, I'd suggest this book is a very good place to start. It isn't 'over your head' stuff, it is down to earth, amusing, touching and thought provoking and for me it came at the right time.
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