One earlier reviewer wrote that according to the author Albert Nolan, Jesus was only concerned about preaching repentance to the Jews, and if they refused, they would be destroyed. That makes it sound as though Jesus was awfully coercive. In fact, Jesus sounds kind of like the Mafia: giving the Jews "an offer they can't refuse." ("You gotta accept me as your Messiah and do as I say or be forever damned!!") Another reviewer wrote glowingly of this book that "anyone who reads it and denies the truth in it is just fooling themselves." That sounds pretty absolutist and heavy-handed as well.

In fact, the coercive tone of both these reviewers reflects the coercive tone of the book itself: Nolan doesn't present any actual historical data or facts independent of the Bible. He simply takes the Gospel stories as they are written and then interprets them in the light of his own political agenda, i.e. "liberation theology." This book is only one man's interpretation of Jesus. It is not the "absolute truth," as some reviewers appear to claim. If Jesus were a Martin Luther King Jr or another Gandhi, why don't we worship these other men as God too?

Writer Nolan also eagerly continues the seemingly never-ending tradition of blaming the Jews for the death of Jesus, arguing that Judaism is a stale old system that needs to be rebelled against and replaced with a "new, improved" version (namely his, of course). All I can say is: thank God (literally!!) for the fact that so many Catholics and other Christians today have gotten beyond that old blind and ignorant hatred.

Albert Nolan clarifies Christianity as it has needed clarification for centuries.
When "Christianity" became a religion, it lost its connection to Jesus.
Albert Nolan gives Jesus back to us; a Jesus we can identify with.
Reading this book saved me from leaving the ministry.
P.D.

Mr. Nolan has done a painstaking job reseaching the time period and the gospels. He has shown that Jesus was a man who stood up against the system and met the same fate as our modern day examples (Dr. Martin Luther King and Ghandi).

Anyone who reads this book and says they deny the truth in it is fooling themselves.

I would not be surprised if Mr. Nolan had not been killed for this book!