Leith Anderson Reviews

Added July 18, 2005

Jesus

An Intimate Portrait of the Man, His Land, and His People

Author: Leith Anderson
Publisher: Bethany House
Available At: Bookstores Everywhere
Publishing Date: February 2005
Genre: Nonfiction: Biography/Christian/Theology
Format: Hardback
Price: 0-7641-2479-4
ISBN: $19.99
Reviewer: Phillip Tomasso III

Leith Anderson, a pastor and well published author, has taken the four Gospels from the New Testament, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, and has combined them into one, more complete portrait chronicling the life of Jesus Christ. He uses an almost Eugene H. Peterson-style for his rendition of the Gospels-putting the story into easy-to-understand language and sentence format, and couples that element with a pastoral commentary view that provides additional ease toward understanding the message boldly proclaimed within the separate Gospels.

If you are familiar with the Bible, then you may know that the first four books of the New Testament are often referred to as the Gospels. They are accounts of the life of Jesus told by four distinct disciples of Christ, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Each book focuses on a specific purpose for why it has been written. In doing so, the authors chose different parts of Jesus' three-year ministry for inclusion. (This does not in any way suggest discrepancies. Clearly, even combined, the four books cannot tell, or reveal all that Jesus did during those three years. Like any biography, the author has to pick and chose what stories are best to relate to the readers. And since all of the books written, making up the Bible use words directly from God, one can easily see the revelation when the entire book is read from Genesis to Revelations-or after reading all 66 books of the Bible).

This is where Anderson's genius (or Godly inspiration) becomes apparent. By combining the four Gospels into one continues, chronological novel-like format, a reader can start with Christ's birth, and finish with His Ascension-and not miss any of the miracles and parables contained between.

Jesus: An Intimate Portrait of the Man, His Land, And His People is an enjoyable, easy read. It is well written, and insightful. Anderson has a clear, concise writing style that is both direct and tender, it is both descriptive and well-paced. I would love to see Anderson repeat this style of Biblical rendition with books from the Old Testament-combining the stories of the Prophets, Kings and Chronicles. (Not sure what I mean-pick up your Bible and read it from cover to cover...then you will.)

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