Commentary of Greg Garrett´s The Other Jesus

“The other Jesus”; a book that reveals the true meaning of being a Christian and gives another view on the characteristics on Jesus, Garrett shows the beauty of the Gospel and how it differs from other religions views on Jesus. In studying the Christianity of the American society he gives his own personal rendition of how this chase for the true meaning of Jesus started: “When, after twenty-five years of wondering, I came back to church, I finally encountered the Other Jesus. I discovered an authentic message of love and acceptance, the one that the Other Jesus seems to be exemplifying in the Christian Testament….I discovered believers who were trying to live lives that reflected the change this Other Jesus had wrought in them. I discovered people who practiced faith as well as preached it.” (Garrett. 8)

Going against any orthodox Priests titling Jesus’ image as the, “The Spiteful Jesus”, Garrett affirms that “this way of following Christ is not concerned with an array of commandments or simply with holding the right beliefs….it is centred on loving each other and loving God, what Augustine called the twofold commandment of love that is at the heart of Christian faith. This love is where the rubber meets the road, where faith meets the world”. (pg 9) By the way, I’ll forgive him the cliche!

Garrett’s concise treatment of an array of relevant questions is reflected in chapter titles like “Faith and Belief”, “The Bible and Theology”, “Sacramental Faith”, “Spiritual Practice”, “The Kingdom of God”, “The End of Things”, and “Friends or Rivals: Living in a Multifaith World”. Each chapter is a vivid explanation on how our life should be based on love, nothing else but the love of Christ, it contrasts the modern day depiction of God bein...

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...but not divine, some Christians, did not believe or accept the virgin birth, but honored Mary and believed in Jesus as a prophet of God. Some believed in both and Jesus was the son of God and the virgin birth. Some Christians went by and observed more the oral traditions, because many gospels were not written, till much later, century later, after Jesus and MANY PEOPLE, eye witness, were still alive, who walked with Jesus, and personally heard -orally- Jesus sermons themselves, which they continued to hand down, orally, from memory, to their children, children, and those Christians, did not observe written traditions, but yet all called themselves Christians and did so many centuries later, or years later 40-50 years later etc. Why today we have over 400 sects, divisions of different Christians, yet all holding reading from the ONE BOOK the Bible in the west also.