An engaging novel of a Jesus who’s very much man as well as God.
A novelized synthesis of Jesus’ story in the New Testament.
Whitworth’s debut takes the four Gospels and reworks them into an I, Claudius–style historical novel, told from the viewpoint of the Apostle John. Readers first meet John as a teenager living in the Galilean fishing town of Capernaum, and the story follows a straightforward chronological line as he describes events that will be familiar to readers of the Bible. He meets a charismatic itinerant preacher named Jesus and follows him, along with a steadily increasing number of others, including such famous figures as Matthew, Peter, and Judas. They and their master experience such events as Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, his walking on water, the feeding of the multitudes, prophetic teachings, the entry into Jerusalem, the Crucifixion, and the Resurrection. Through it all, Jesus himself is alternately very direct (“God’s kingdom is no longer coming; it is here now, standing right in front of you”) and steadfastly aloof—hence the book’s title, referencing Jesus’ remark that “Nobody knows the son.” But readers conversant in the New Testament will find John’s (and Whitworth’s) Jesus to be significantly more approachable than the one in Scripture. This version tells his Apostles, “You are shocked by what I said about my family yesterday, and you deserve an explanation”—and then actually gives a straightforward explanation, free of cryptic parables. This Jesus even clarifies some of his more baffling comments, as when he flatly declares that nothing a man takes into his mouth can defile his body, and then offers an elaboration found nowhere in the Gospels. Whitworth’s reconfiguration can cause problems regarding fidelity to the source material, but it does show a thoroughly human Messiah and provides a rich portrait of his friendships with his Apostles. Readers of Christian historical fiction will find it thought-provoking and immensely enjoyable.
An engaging novel of a Jesus who’s very much man as well as God.Pub Date: May 6, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-5127-3994-7
Page Count: 358
Publisher: Westbow Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
These letters from some important executive Down Below, to one of the junior devils here on earth, whose job is to corrupt mortals, are witty and written in a breezy style seldom found in religious literature. The author quotes Luther, who said: "The best way to drive out the devil, if he will not yield to texts of Scripture, is to jeer and flout him, for he cannot bear scorn." This the author does most successfully, for by presenting some of our modern and not-so-modern beliefs as emanating from the devil's headquarters, he succeeds in making his reader feel like an ass for ever having believed in such ideas. This kind of presentation gives the author a tremendous advantage over the reader, however, for the more timid reader may feel a sense of guilt after putting down this book. It is a clever book, and for the clever reader, rather than the too-earnest soul.
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1942
ISBN: 0060652934
Page Count: 53
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 17, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1943
Deep schmaltz in the Bible Belt.
Christian-fiction writer Martin (The Dead Don’t Dance, not reviewed) chronicles the personal tragedy of a Georgia heart surgeon.
Five years ago in Atlanta, Reese could not save his beloved wife Emma from heart failure, even though the Harvard-trained surgeon became a physician so that he could find a way to fix his childhood sweetheart’s congenitally faulty ticker. He renounced practicing medicine after her death and now lives in quiet anonymity as a boat mechanic on Lake Burton. Across the lake is Emma’s brother Charlie, who was rendered blind on the same desperate night that Reese fought to revive his wife on their kitchen floor. When Reese helps save the life of a seven-year-old local girl named Annie, who turns out to have irreparable heart damage, he is compassionately drawn into her case. He also grows close to Annie’s attractive Aunt Cindy and gradually comes to recognize that the family needs his expertise as a transplant surgeon. Martin displays some impressive knowledge about medical practice and the workings of the heart, but his Christian message is not exactly subtle. “If anything in this universe reflects the fingerprint of God, it is the human heart,” Reese notes of his medical studies. Emma’s letters (kept in a bank vault) quote Bible verse; Charlie elucidates stories of Jesus’ miracles for young Annie; even the napkins at the local bar, The Well, carry passages from the Gospel of John for the benefit of the biker clientele. Moreover, Martin relentlessly hammers home his sentimentality with nature-specific metaphors involving mating cardinals and crying crickets. (Annie sells crickets as well as lemonade to raise money for her heart surgery.) Reese’s habitual muttering of worldly slogans from Milton and Shakespeare (“I am ashes where once I was fire”) doesn’t much cut the cloying piety, and an over-the-top surgical save leaves the reader feeling positively bruised.
Deep schmaltz in the Bible Belt.Pub Date: April 4, 2006
ISBN: 1-5955-4054-7
Page Count: 320
Publisher: WestBow/Thomas Nelson
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2006
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