Jesus The Messiah, Biography Of The Word

PREMISE One worships God by recognizing that we cannot recognize God. We can only recognize what He does for us. We can recognize how He exists in the beauty of our world, how He opens our hearts with love for our fellow man, how He opens our minds to learn of Him and by His power we find meaning in our devotion to His will and purpose. ENDORSEMENT "As a professional educator in the field of religious studies, I have spent my life, both as a teacher and as a student, reading books about the Bible and the history of Christianity. I have already read a plethora of books about the historical Jesus and his life. The search for the historical Jesus has been a task taken up by many scholars during the last two thousand years and there is no sign that interest in this particular area of Biblical research is likely to wane anytime soon. The difficulty I have found is that professional Biblical scholars and theologians usually, consciously or unconsciously, have an agenda that they wish to promote. These items of agenda are fairly transparent and are easily recognizable. One can often guess the conclusions of their research long before reaching the end of the book. More often than not, these texts are really only revisions of similar books written not all that long ago. "It was with more than a fair amount of skepticism that I agreed to read John Mitchells manuscript, "Jesus the Messiah, Biography of the Word." I had only recently become acquainted with John when he informed me that he had been working on a book about the life of Jesus. Expecting little more than an amateur exegetes attempt to employ some kind of simplistic critical approach to the character of Jesus as foundin the New Testament, I was overwhelmed by the expertise demonstrated by his writing. A layman, with a background in mathematics and engineering, Johns approach to the task of describing the life of Jesus is as refreshing as it is comprehensive. I was challenged by his attention to detail and his exhaustive search for an accurate account of Jesus life and ministry. His precision humbled this professional scholar and college professor. I could not help but remember that Gods greatest revelation did not come as a priest, or scribe, but as a carpenters son from Galilee. Similarly, the first accounts of Jesus life came not from the established clergy, but from the laity. It is, therefore, well worth while, whether you are a professional scholar or just a curious Christian, to read my friend, John R. Mitchells, "Jesus the Messiah, Biography of the Word."" --Jon Carlock, Professor of Religion and Philosophy, Bethel College, McKenzie, Tennessee SUMMATION POINTS "Jesus the Messiah, Biography of the Word" is a simple, straightforward adaptation and correlation of the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John and other referencing material for research. An examination of the first three, known as the Synoptic Gospels, agrees mostly to content and order but follow a generalized chronology. The chronology for events in the creation of the "Biography" has been rendered to be a smooth flow between gospels. Events have been added or expanded to provide the detail that must surely have taken place over the span of Jesus' life. The "Gospel of John" seems to have been written independently of the other three although John as an eyewitness filled in the details that were needed forseveral events. Mark was not known to be a follower of Jesus during his ministry. And of course Luke never saw Jesus as he was a physician in a distant city and who became a follower of Paul. Paul, of course, was not a disciple of Jesus and it is not known if he ever saw Jesus. As Jesus life and ministry of events were in a chronological order, the "Biography" brings together the four gospels into one coh