Love of Jesus: The Heart of Christianity

If you would like to read many reasons for admiring and loving Jesus, then this is the book for you! If you admire and love Jesus but have difficulty identifying yourself as a Christian or have difficulty joining a church because of problems with this or that aspect of Christianity, then this is a book for you, too! Among other things, Love of Jesus points out that Jesus accepted and even encouraged doubters. Important as scholarship is, Love of Jesus is not a scholarly book. Rather, it reaches out to lay people, believers, and non-believers. It takes at face value a wide range of New Testament stories about Jesus and asks of them why we should admire and love the man who inspired them. Then, hoping it has inspired the reader to admire and love Jesus-or to admire and love him even more-Love of Jesus offers answers to the questions, "How should we follow him?" and "How should we relate to one another as Christians when we have different understandings of Christianity?"

"Dr. Creels makes the argument that, first and foremost, Christianity is not about Christological formulation nor historical certification, but about the love and admiration of Jesus, as Jesus is found in the four canonical gospels. This is, after all, the only Jesus that is known by most people who have grown up in the Christian Church. This book celebrates the personal qualities of that Jesus. Creel invites others to join in that celebration, by adding their own insights and reflections. This book is recommended for study and discussion by lay people and pastors alike."
--Allan W. Eickelmann
The University of Southern Mississippi

Richard Creel is an Emeritus Professor from the Department of Philosophy and Religion at Ithaca College (New York) . He is the author of Religion and Doubt (1991) , Divine Impassibility (1986) , and Thinking Philosophically (2001) . Read more Continue reading Read less