Now this is a book that simply leaves you speechless. Its deep, clear, inspired message disarms you, and pulls away any sort of misconception you may have over The One who claims to be The Son of God. I just feel that my words to describe this book would somehow harm what this book really is, so one must read it in order to have a correct perception over it. Not once, but so often, did I have to close it and stare at the walls, while the shockingly simple things I got to understand, stirred an a...

I really did like this book, so why only three stars? It was good, but I didn't really walk away with anything new or profound, which I suppose is a good and comforting thing. I enjoyed studying who Christ was on Earth, getting to know how he acted and talked with other people. I loved his references to other authors like Tolstoy, CS Lewis, Flannery O'Connor, Dostoevsky, Kierkegaard, and others.Perhaps the thing I enjoyed the most, which is odd, is how honest Yancey is about his thoughts and wha...

A deep read. Every sentence was powerful. Highly suggest reading this book. We studied over several sessions with a small study group.

Favorite quotes from the book:"Although power can force obedience, only love can summon a response of love,...""Dependence, humility, simplicity, cooperation, and a sense of abandon are qualities greatly prized in the spiritual life, but exremely elusive for people who live in comfort. In the Great Reversal of God's kingdom, prosperous saints are very rare.""The real goal, King (Martin Luther King Jr.) used to say, was not to defeat the white man, but "to awaken a sense of shame within the oppre...

Every now and then, a book comes along that rightfully lays claim to the feat of changing your life. And this one most certainly did. More specifically, it changed my devotional life, such that my bible reading experience has been richer ever since.You see, I've been reading the Bible since before I even learned to read properly. So while I was very familiar with the facts of the gospel story by the time I'd read this book in 1997, I'd also grown into some very hardened preconceptions.An example...

A very fresh look at Jesus - that is, no sign of all the preconceptions we usually have. Informative historical context, insightful commentary on our culture's interaction with the Jesus of the gospels and quite a humble writing style - Yancey seems willing to let Jesus speak to himself, and thus to his readers. So many efforts are made to reinvent Jesus, but Jesus cannot & need not be reinvented - we just need to make the effort to come to grips with him.

I’ve just finished THE JESUS I NEVER KNEW by Philip Yancey. I do not read many religious books. I cannot really answer why that is. I did read SEEKING ALLAH, FINDING JESUS recently, and I enjoyed that. In that book I read that the author after extensive research and receiving visions, became a Christian. I found it interesting that he told of how Muslims around the world are receiving visions of Jesus.THE JESUS I NEVER KNEW educated me about a lot that is in the New Testament. But of course, I a...

It has taken me a long time to review this book because I had a hard time stomaching it - I could only read so much before I had to put it down so I could calm down - and because I wanted to let my thoughts and feelings settle a while, reconsider them, and be careful that what I am saying is truthful and not just an emotional reaction. This review is rather long, but since it's serious and pointed, I thought it appropriate to give facts and not simply level accusations. First I'll give some bull...

I've been reading Philip Yancey since I thought of him and Stephen Lawhead as my wise older brothers or youth leaders when they wrote for Campus Life magazine in the 1970s. Yancey's work on prayer has been an occasional dip-in-and-contemplate book in my nightstand, and I love his friendly style and devotional approach to the things he writes about. He's solid on the fundamentals of the faith but openly curious beyond that.This title fulfilled all my hopes and I enjoyed a couple of months of bedt...

Throughout my time reading this book, I was overjoyed to finally see a Christian author talk about Christ. For too often I found Christian authors talk about "God," but make him whatever they want him to be. The Jesus of the Gospels, however, proves very hard to limit or fit into our agendas. And he's very different from the Jesus people see from hypocritical Christians.Jesus is amazing.However, as much as I enjoyed this book and was about to give it 5 stars, one chapter startled me and left me

This book is a must read. I have attended church my entire life and this book completely changed the way I view Jesus, in a good way. It made me realize how much more amazing Jesus is. It took me a long time to finish the book because I kept going back and re-reading the chapters because it was just that good. I highly recommend this book.

I really enjoy Philip Yancey's writing. There was nothing here that was particularly revealing or new information about Jesus, but the author seems to have a way of writing that gets your mind engaged and thinking about the topic in different ways. I'd definitely recommend this one.

Book that seeks to discover Jesus in time and history--to observe him as he traveled and taught and ask: who Jesus was, why he came, and what he left behind complete with dusty details and descriptions that bite into what it was like to experience pursuit of God and pain, friendship and a fan-following in Galilee.Following are my lessons learnedWhy God does not force belief or display His power--Goodness cannot be imposed externally, but most grow internally, bottom up. God’s power is internal,

When it come to nonfiction, I love honest authors that are willing to spill their doubts & questions & seek the answers from every angle instead of echoing pat answers that have no personal meaning for them. This book did just that.

Simply the best book about Jesus I have ever read

This is an outstanding book. Philip Yancey reflects on our preconceived inklings of Jesus and how his own perception of jesus changed through his life. It made me reflect on my own understanding. One of my top favorite christian books. My favorite quote (well, one of them) :"Why am I a Christian? I sometimes ask myself, and to be perfectly honest the reasons reduce to two: (1) the lack of good alternatives, (2) Jesus. Brilliant, untamed, tender, creative, slippery, irreducible, paradoxically hum...

a few weeks ago, i had a dream that profoundly impacted my book reading. without going into details, i was left with a desire to read about Jesus, a desire to know Jesus better. i had this book on my bookshelf already; i picked it up at a thrift store for a dollar, since i'll buy pretty much any book that looks half decent at a thrift store. i hadnt read anything about Phillip Yancey. i knew very little about him, other than his name is huge in the Christian book market. so i picked up the book....

“In the midst of such confusion, how do we answer the simple question, ‘Who was Jesus?”“Between the cross and the empty tomb hovers the promise of history: hope for the world, and hope for each one of us who lives in it.”“No one who meets Jesus ever stays the same.”I really enjoyed this book! I started reading it a little before Easter which was perfect timing. This is a great book not only for new believers but also for those who grew up in the church. It sets aside what we think we know about

Once again I enjoyed Yancey's thorough journalistic style combined with his ability to clearly communicate his opinion. However, I felt Yancey was talking above my knowledge on this one. My understanding and awareness of Jesus-including familiarity with Biblical history-remains at an elementary level, so many of the events and passages Yancey refers to are not crystal clear to me. In response to this I know that I need to read and study the Gospels soon. Even though I found myself tripping over

This book was Book of the Year when it was released 20 years ago, and I can see why. It promises a fresh look at the life of Jesus without pretense, and it delivers. Certain chapters, such as chapter 13 on the Kingdom of God, are just as relevant today as in 1995. I don't agree with Yancey on everything, but I do like the honest, human way in which he approaches the Bible and the Lord. I highly recommend this book.