The Gospel According to Jesus

The Gospel According to Jesus

Those who are drawn to him have a hunger for the real; the closer they approach, the more they can feel the purity of his heart. What is purity of heart? If we compare God to sunlight, we can say that the heart is like a window. Cravings, aversions, fixed judgments, concepts, beliefs—all forms of selfishness or self-protection—are, when we cling to them, like dirt on the windowpane. The thicker the dirt, the more opaque the window. When there is no dirt, the window is by its own nature perfectly transparent, and the light can stream through it without hindrance.

Or we can compare a pure heart to a spacious, light-filled room. People or possibilities open the door and walk in; the room will receive them, however many they are, for as long as they want to stay, and will let them leave when they want to. Whereas a corrupted heart is like a room cluttered with valuable possessions, in which the owner sits behind a locked door, with a loaded gun. One last comparison, from the viewpoint of spiritual practice.

To grow in purity of heart is to grow like a tree. It needs both ground and sunlight, and knows the direction of each. Only because it digs into the dark earth with its roots is it able to hold its leaves out to receive the sunlight. For every teacher who lives in this way, the word of God has become flesh, and there is no longer a separation between body and spirit. Everything he or she does proclaims the kingdom of God. There is a deep sense of peace in his presence, and a sense of respect for him that far exceeds what they have felt for any other human being.

Even his silence is eloquent. He is immediately recognizable by the quality of his aliveness, by his disinterestedness and compassion. He is like a mirror for us all, showing us who we essentially are. There are no pre-conditions for it, nothing we need to do first, nothing we have to believe. When we are ready to receive it, it is there. And the more we live in its presence, the more effortlessly it flows through us, until we find that we no longer need external rules or Bibles or Messiahs. For this teaching which I give you today is not hidden from you, and is not far away.

He wants to tell everyone about the great freedom: In each person he meets he can see the image of God in which they were created. They are all perfect, when he looks at them from the Sabbath mind. From another, complementary, viewpoint, they are all imperfect, even the most righteous of them, even he himself, because nothing is perfect but the One. When we acknowledge this in all humility, without wanting anything else, we can forgive ourselves, and we can begin correcting our mistakes. And once we forgive ourselves, we can forgive anyone. He has no ideas to teach, only presence. He has no doctrines to give, only the gift of his own freedom.

Tolerant like the sky, all-pervading like sunlight, firm like a mountain, supple like a branch in the wind, he has no destination in view and makes use of anything life happens to bring his way. Nothing is impossible for him. Stephen Mitchell restores the lovely, fiery, utterly brave and unique voice of Jesus to us — and the result is a real gift, a blessing, even one dares think a moment of grace. Properly read, which is unlikely, the book would give Christendom a well-deserved spiritual earthquake.

The book is a masterpiece of immense power and permanence. Even more than his meticulous scholarship, his farsighted commentary and elegant translation, the greatest contribution Mitchell has to make is his generosity of spirit. If there is such a thing as spiritual entertainment, that is exactly what Mitchell has given us. Countless authors have written about Jesus, but few have plucked such a resonant chord with readers. Mitchell has culled through the synoptic writings and given us brisk and accurate renderings, paired with his fascinating reflections on them and some apt comparisons to other philosophers, Zen masters, visionaries, and poets.

This approach succeeds brilliantly. Thank God for Stephen Mitchell. The introduction alone offers enough fresh and disturbing ideas to be worth the price of the book… The center of the book is a new translation from the Greek of the sayings of Jesus and commentary on the same. By using the best of modern scholarship, Mitchell strips the gospel to its essence, omitting all passages that were added by the early church.

In the hands of this sculptor of words, the reflections on the text are masterpieces. Very provocative and very thoughtful — a remarkable book. To John Adams, January 24, We must reduce our volume to the simple Evangelists; select, even from them, the very words only of Jesus, paring off the amphibologisms into which they have been led by forgetting often, or not understanding, what had fallen from him, by giving their own misconceptions as his dicta, and expressing unintelligibly for others what they had not understood themselves.

To William Short, April 13, Once the sectarian passages are left out, we can recognize that Jesus speaks in harmony with the supreme teachings of all the great religions: The image of the Master: Instead, he says that faith is good, but it will be known to be genuine, saving faith if a changed life is the result.

Such a change can only be effected by the Holy Spirit, a doctrine which no one doubts. I therefore highly recommend this book as a good kick-in-the-pants for the spiritually lazy. It sure did for me. Dec 10, Robert Luff rated it really liked it. Excellent treatment of genuine repentant belief.

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I found myself shouting "Amen," a lot at the beginning. Our contemporary church culture has been heading into dangerous antinomian waters for a long time, and this book articulated what has been troubling my heart, and demonstarted powerfully that true saving faith, according to Scripture, is always a repentant faith. A person must turn to God faith from sin repentance in order to be saved, and he or she will always show evidence later on of t Excellent treatment of genuine repentant belief. A person must turn to God faith from sin repentance in order to be saved, and he or she will always show evidence later on of this salvation by growing in holiness.

The only thing that kept me from giving this book 5 stars realistically, I'd give it a 4. Repetition can be powerful -- and it was necessary here to an extent -- but I think he could have cut a few chapters out without harming the book.

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I myself did not read every chapter for this reason. MacArthur fights valiantly for the truth of the gospel in this book. He seeks to push back antinomianism in today's churches that push an "easy beliefism" in replacement of following Christ and repenting from sin. It's loaded with scripture.

The book reads more of a sermon than a structured book. It can be tough to hang on towards the second half. I would recommend this topic to anyone, but maybe there's a shorter read on this out there?

Regardless, this book and more importantly God's word has very much affected my views on soteriology. Throughout the book, MacArthur arrogantly claims to be the only "true" expert on interpreting Scripture. He even goes so far as to blatantly discredit and call out by name other theologians. His description of the gospel fails to include God's grace and love. Instead, MacArthur encourages a judgmental and "holier than thou" attitude that is evident in every book and sermon he gives. Life changing I would recommend this book to anyone who is truly open to understanding the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

I was reading through the Gospel books again as I read this book, and I found absolutely nothing in conflict with the Bible, specifically the words of Jesus Christ. It is meticulously referenced. I believe this book will become one of my favorites and have a lasting impact on my faith.

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Having come out of the easy-believism movement, I found this book to be extremely helpful in my understanding of the lordship controversy that is so prevalent in the church. Christ cannot be your Savior if he is not your Lord - the two are inseparable. To have one without the other is a fool's errand. I personally believe that every Christian should read this book. Sep 28, Brandon Vaughan rated it it was amazing Shelves: This is without a doubt one of the best books that I have ever read.

It provides clarity to the gospel of Jesus Christ in a postmodern world. MacArthur absolutely nails down the fact that if one does not submit to Jesus as Lord, they cannot have Him as Savior. Whether you are a pastor, Lay Christian or skeptic this book needs to be at the top of your reading list. Several good points, several good points. Quite a fine book, really. There's no reason that I can see why you shouldn't read it. Of course, I'm not exactly snooping around in the essential facets of your existence, so maybe that's why. Great theology and exegesis!

Without a doubt, this is one of the best books I have ever read. Everyone should read this and go war with the false understandings they may hold personally in reference to salvation. Dec 19, Christian Barrett rated it really liked it. This is arguably the best book I have read when it comes to breaking down the parables that Jesus presented throughout the gospels. Nov 16, Njaka Tsiori rated it it was amazing. Nov 21, Njaka Tsiori rated it it was amazing. Jesus is the only Way to know the sens of life!!!

Very informative and easy to understand. The true gospel as the Bible presents it and should be required reading for any new Christian. Feb 28, Melvin G rated it it was amazing. Awesome book for any person! I would particularly recommend it for any newly born again Christian. MacArthur is one of the chief proponents of the the modern Lordship movement within western evangelicalism today.

This book in particular is considered by many to have been the opening salvo that opened the modern debate. It has led to a great deal of discussion and debate on the issue, particularly with Chuck Swindoll, who is one of the proponents on the "only Grace" side. In a nutshell, the argument is that "Cheap-Grace" has pervaded modern Christianity with an "easy-believism" that in effect teaches that one can pray a prayer, appropriate Grace positionally and then effectively continue to live their life as before and still be a saved Christian.

MacArthur takes issue with this and argues in effect that genuine faith must have tangible results or else the experience is suspect. The Church is remiss in holding out false hope to those who have not genuinely repented. While many may be tempted to look at this book and the debate that has ensued as a new development it is hardly that.

Antinomianism grace apart from the requirement of the law has been around from the earliest Christian days and there have always been pendulum swings that go back and forth. The bottom line is that there is an element of mystery to Christology study of the person and work of Christ and Soteriology study of salvation that relies completely upon Christ grace alone and if it is genuine must effect some change of heart and action Faith leads to works.

This is a valuable book to help place this age old argument into western evangelicalism. After you've read it, you will want to read "Grace Awakening" by Chuck Swindoll to see the other side. You'll be well equipped then to understand the debate, process the arguments and teaching and digest them for a practical response in your own life and faith.

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It certainly is an important question for Christians and churches to wrestle with and on that hopefully will result in sober thinking and living of one's life and faith in Christ. Beware the proponents on either side who become so caught up in the argument and winning that they are not able to concede a need to see the other side and maintain some humility. Jan 16, Michael rated it it was ok Shelves: After three chapters, I sense a disconnect in MacArthur's understanding of justification and sanctification.

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I also sense a double standard in his hermeneutic of the gospel account. Certainly he is right to fight against a false gospel of easy believism, but the pendulum swing, at least so far has been too dramatic. The next thing I have noticed is that at times he seems to buy completely into the Calvinist understanding of God's sovereign election. But at others he appears to embrace a prevenie After three chapters, I sense a disconnect in MacArthur's understanding of justification and sanctification. But at others he appears to embrace a prevenient grace—a two part salvation of God's work in our heart but then our choosing to surrender.

Finally, I see a tendency to speculate too much about biblical character's emotion, past lives, motivation, and other characteristics in the biblical text. That and each chapter's opening salvo against easy believism that is often over-generalization and lumping all who don't follow his view together. I am struggling to finish as the chapters are all starting to sound the same: This book is really helpful for context in comparing Christianity with other systems, especially Eastern ones. OK, generally I really like Mitchell. And to really do a decent job critiquing this, I'd have to go back and figure out exactly what his editing of the canon actually is.

He has a tendency here to say, regarding his own selection and translation, "Well what Jesus really means here is this," and this drives me nuts. Why not either re-edit to eliminate the supposedly problematic passages, or simply engage in dialogue? And the idea of a f OK, generally I really like Mitchell. And the idea of a fundamental conflict with his birth family is overworked some.

Aug 11, Ryan Haczynski rated it it was amazing. Excellent book chock full of exquisite scholarship. The edition I read is the full version, not the shorter one listed here on GoodReads. As a Religious Studies major who has always been fascinated with Formative Christianity, I found Mitchell's work to be informative and in line with many of my own thoughts on the subject. Additionally, the cross-cultural comparisons to other wisdom literature was enlightening and truly illustrate that Christianity's spiritual wisdom is not so different from ot Excellent book chock full of exquisite scholarship.

Aug 02, Phil Reed rated it really liked it Shelves: Its reassuring to realise that I'm not alone in thinking how inconsistant and confusing the gospels are - and how much easier it would be if we knew for sure what the historical Jesus actually said and did, rather than having to wade through others' embellishments.

Well, Stephen Mitchell certainly makes headway for me, with this fascinating book - where I actually wanty to read every footnote. His writing has managed to bring back my childhood love of many of the stories and parables; cutting thr Its reassuring to realise that I'm not alone in thinking how inconsistant and confusing the gospels are - and how much easier it would be if we knew for sure what the historical Jesus actually said and did, rather than having to wade through others' embellishments.

His writing has managed to bring back my childhood love of many of the stories and parables; cutting through the heavy dogma of religion. Mar 10, Hugh rated it it was amazing. With the benefit of years of additional biblical scholarship Stephen Mitchel recapitulates an experiment that Thomas Jefferson began while president and finished shortly thereafter - the result was known in the Jefferson family as "The Jefferson Bible. Mitchell is a bible scholar of note, and translates from the Greek and Hebrew texts, to create his own 'Jefferson Bible' so to speak.

Nor will anyone be able to say, 'It is here' or 'It is there. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to suffering, and those who go through it are many. But the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to true life, and those who find it are few. Feb 08, Jim rated it it was amazing. This is brilliant, fearless book, that makes sense of the often contradictory verbage appearing in the Gospels, clearing away the garbage left by evangelists with an angenda, to reveal the shining truth of Jesus' ministry.

Jesus was probably the first person on this planet to "get it" that the spirit of God lives within us. All you need is love - "good news" indeed! One of the most insightful and profound looks into Jesus anywhere. The footnotes are just as interesting as the text. This is not a look at some historical Jesus in some long-ago past, but at a living, breathing believable human being.

The Gospel According to Jesus – Stephen Mitchell

You'll find as much of yourself in this book as you will of Jesus. Sep 26, MGMaudlin rated it really liked it Shelves: This is really a fresh and insightful essay about Jesus coupled with a short translation of what Stephen Mitchell considers the core or authentic teachings of Jesus. I wish in the essay Mitchell would have spent more time saying positively what he saw as the foundation of Jesus's teaching.

Still, his grappling with Jesus's family background--his illegitimacy, his tension with his mother and brothers--were enlightening, as were the other topics he covered. This book is well worth perusing. Jan 30, Edgar Trevizo rated it it was amazing. Oh, this is such a beautiful book! A precious jewel both for believers and unbelievers, and perhaps much more beautiful for the latter. It is full of poetry, enlightment, joy and hope, here on Earth.

I higly recommend it to everyone, especially to non believer seekers of truth. Mar 12, Madi Eerung rated it it was ok. Weird Freudian psychoanalysis of Jesus and Mitchell's airing of his personal drama. Did anyone else deduce from this book that his wife cheated on him? Also semi-related, did y'all know Stephen Mitchell doesn't actually know Chinese?