THE CHRIST COMMISSION

by Og Mandino ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 9, 1980

Just the sort of religious novel you'd expect from the president of Success Unlimited magazine. Popular mystery writer Matt Lawrence pooh-poohs the Resurrection on the Johnny Carson show, is later knocked unconscious by an angry, muscular Christian. . . and is then miraculously sent flying back to Jerusalem in the year 36 A.D. Lawrence's fondest dream has come true: as the oneman Christ Commission, he can now interview Jesus' surviving friends (and enemies) and clear up all the confusion. Hard-bitten, logical Lawrence, who has been conveniently supplied with fluency in Aramaic, Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, works his way through the list of witnesses, from Martha and Mary to Caiaphas and Pontius Pilate. And after a busy, dangerous week (Pilate smells something fishy) he is forced against his will to recognize the incontrovertible truth--IT WAS ALL TRUE! You'd agree too, if you found that all the evidence tallied perfectly with the Gospels, and if you heard Christians quoting verbatim huge chunks of the New Testament which wouldn't be written down for another generation at least. The only major point the Evangelists evidently fooled us about was the Virgin Birth--Mandino makes it clear that Jesus' ""brothers and sisters"" were just that. Anyhow, after a week of tedious conversation, relieved by bits of Hollywoodish Middle Eastern color, newly converted Lawrence wakes up in his hotel room. But the whole thing was not a dream because he still has a Christian medallion around his neck which he'd gotten from his good friend, Joseph of Arimathea. . . . Vulgar, unimaginative, sure to affront both believers and unbelievers--and to bore the people in between.

Pub Date: May 9, 1980

ISBN: 0553277421

Page Count: -

Publisher: Lippincott & Crowell

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1980

Categories: FICTION