The Gospels: Jesus Christ

Most people have a copy of the gospels in one form or another. Get this for Terry Eagleton's perceptive and illuminating introduction where he concludes after x number of pages that Christ was both "more and less" of a revolutionary than Lenin and Trotsky. As a left-leaning Christian I enjoy Eagleton's perspective. I also recommend Eagleton's "Marxism and Literary Criticism" and "After Theory".

"Jesus Christ: The Gospels" is an unique book that combines a thoughtful, thirty-page introduction written by Terry Eagleton followed by the complete text of the New Revised Standard Edition of the gospels written by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, including ten pages of footnotes with additional insight and analysis. This short but provocative book succeeds in positioning the historic Jesus as a social revolutionary who was persecuted for his perceived threat to the imperial social order. Mr. Eagleton's astute reading of history leads him to contend that Jesus' radicalism was more implicit than explicit. Jesus' inspirational words and actions constituted a break from doctrinaire religious practices inasmuch as he espoused a community of absolute equality. Interestingly, Mr. Eagleton suspects that Jesus probably viewed himself as being in the avant-garde of a poor people's movement whose righteousness would be imminently recognized by God, thereby rendering hostile militancy against the Roman empire both undesirable and unnecessary (although ironically, his growing celebrity status led to betrayal by his fellow Jews who sought to preempt the possibility of imperial retribution). With this valuable perspective, we gain deep insight into the meaning of the gospels and the relevancy of Jesus' life and work to us today. Along with this book, I also highly recommend John Dominic Crossan's Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography for readers who wish to better understand the struggles of the socially-inclusive, historic Jesus and the world for which he aspired.