The Gospel According to Jesus: A New Translation and Guide to His Essential Teachings for Believers and Unbelievers

by Stephen Mitchell

Book Overview

From Stephen Mitchell comes an interpretation of the Gospels that peels away the distortions regarding the character and teachings of Jesus that have accumulated over timeThis translation of the life... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 006016641X
• ISBN13: 9780060166410
• Release Date: January 1991
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Length: 310 Pages
• Weight: 1.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.2" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Grateful for this gift from Mitchell

I spent a good 15 years of my life trying to make peace with Christianity. I've struggled to appreciate the avid Christians' ability to embrace the Bible as a literal transcription of God's word. I've struggled to forgive those who applied peer pressure to me as a young teen to "accept Jesus as my personal savior." I've pondered with bewilderment the idea that God would create us with inquisitive, questioning minds but then require us to engage in blind acceptance of Jesus' teachings. Finally, I was pushed over the edge by an evangelical Christian housemate who wouldn't shut up, and I picked up Mitchell's book in the hope of developing my gentle art of verbal self-defense. What an expected blessing this book has been! I was touched deeply and permanently by Mitchell's focus on forgiveness, and the many ways in which the teachings of Jesus the man are relevant to finding the Kingdom of Heaven within myself every day. Mitchell's book has helped me make peace with Christianity and Christians, and that is no small gift.

It's the message, not the man

A wonderful, enlightening book. Stephen Mitchell has succeeded in distilling what is valid and relevant from what is invalid and irrelevant in the New Testament. Growing up Catholic, I never understood the significance my religion placed on the crucifixtion. It just didn't made any sense to me that I should be joyful that an innocent man was tortured and died for my sins. Why would God be pleased with that or require that for me to be forgiven? But, like Mr. Mitchell, upon reflection I don't believe that was ever the reason Jesus died or that his death was the essence of his gift. His teachings were his gift. And when we focus on those teachings, we learn who this man truly was. And then we have cause to be joyful, as I am every time I read this book.

Mitchell has restored my interest in the gospels.

Many thanks to Mitchell for restoring my interest and faith in the gospels. His comprehensive introduction and commentary following his rendition of the good news was very helpful to making up my own mind as to what message God was sending us in the person of Jesus. I recognize the love God was communicating in Mitchell's book. A must read for all truth seekers!

This book will expand your understanding of Jesus' life.

Stephen Mitchell exposes the essence of the life of Jesus in a way that makes him irresistable. What if he were just a man? What if he were no more akin to God than you or I? His teachings suddenly have a magnitude of insight, brilliance, and commitment that are absolutely astounding. Since 1995, I have read this book cover to cover more times than I can count. Each reading is rewarded with a clearer, deeper understanding of Jesus the man.

I dare say a must read for the spiritual

Do you think Jesus acts schitzophrenic in the Biblical gospels? Humble and loving one moment, Hell and Damnation the next? Buddhist Mitchell culls away two millenia of popular myth to reveal a Jesus that is a universal and benevolent Jewish sage, and a real, accessible human being.This book affected me deeply, helping me to clean the dirt off the mirror, and realize things Lao Tzu would say I already knew.