Analysis Of Philip Yancey's 'The Jesus I Never Knew'

The theory of Bildungsroman defines a genre that has been employed in several literature pieces albeit most novels have employed the framework partially. The Bildungsroman literary genre convention dwells on the growth of the protagonist from youth to adulthood morally and psychologically. Works that have employed the literary genre can also be referred to as coming of age genres. The novel by Viramontes entitled Under the Feet of Jesus gives an account of the plight of a family that lives as migrants. It has aspects that indicate similarities with the theories of the Bildungsroman. The essay evaluates how and to what extent the events of the novel fit the genre conventions in the Bildungsroman. Furthermore, the essay will delve into the justification behind the choice to use or not to use the genre conventions to enhance the theme of struggle as Estrella and her family experience hardships, focusing on migration and adolescence which characterize the life of the protagonist, Estrella, and her family.

A Christ figure represents the attributes of Christ in the way they live. Foster expands on this idea by arguing a list of characteristics regarding Jesus. As readers, he claims, “while we may not be all that versed in types and archetypes from the Bible, we generally recognize, whatever our religious affiliation, some of the features that make Christ who he is” (Foster 125). If Christ’s attributes reflect themselves in a character, readers can use their knowledge to assume the character is a Christ figure. Likewise, Kingsolver uses Nathan Price as an examples of a Christ figure. Nathan comes to the Congo to redeem an unworthy people, has disciples (his family), and wanders the

Words are strong; they can build, tear down, or repair; they have a purpose, much like tools in a tool chest. Using a distressed and then confident tone, the author of “Under the Feet of Jesus,” Viramontes, details the progression of Estrella’s character from a confused and hostile girl to an empowered and knowledgeable young lady through the use of repetition, an epiphany in the form of a potent simile and diction. The epiphany that words hold immense power and the key to success in life completely transforms Estrella’s character as she learns to grow stronger from her troubled childhood experience. Viramontes emphasizes how much power we give words when we use them to support or tear down each other and how we should carefully direct that power of words to give a voice to an underprivileged individual whose experience and potential in life would otherwise remain hidden and unknown.

In the book Simply Jesus, N.T. Wright makes three different claims throughout. N.T. Wright's first claim is about the “perfect storm”. The “perfect storm” takes up a large section of the first few chapters, and in those chapters N.T. Wright writes about that to enter the “perfect storm” you must step out of your own storm that is happening in your life, you must jump back into the “perfect storm” just as Jesus did in his own life. N.T. Wright fails to fully support the idea of the “perfect storm” throughout the book. Wright writes about the two myths that create the “storms”, the first is “… the high-pressure system of conservative Christianity” and the second is “... the new classic modernist myth…”. N.T. Wright loses his credibility to his claims by never giving evidence that disproves they myths. N.T. Wright states that the stories in the bible “...’really did happen’. And there the matter ends…. Facts or no facts”. N.T. Wrights claims are never fully

The foundation of the Christian faith is cradled within truth of the virgin birth, life, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. As diverse as the world-wide Christian culture is, the truth in the birth and life of Jesus stands without border and language limitations. Just as each individual life story can be adapted to be relevant for a variety of audiences, the birth story of the Messiah was also. The Gospels of Matthew and Luke are an example of the well-rounded and diverse narration of the birth story of Jesus—Matthew’s narration spoke to the history of the Jewish people and Luke presented to the citizen of Rome.

It is possible to write on the life of Jesus from the information gathered from the bible. I will be dividing my essay into three parts. In the first part of the paper, I will talk about the nature of the gospels, John’s views vs. the Synoptic, discuss if the authors of the gospels are eyewitnesses and how they used written sources. Also I will talk about the Q source. Then I will elaborate on the topic of how Matthew and Luke were similar. Then I will continue on by discussing how the Old Testament uses Moses, Samuel and Elijah to interpret Jesus, and finally whether or not the Sermon on the Mount happened. In the second part of my paper, I will talk about Jesus’s birth and childhood, his miracles, his resurrection, and what Jesus did to cure people, spirits and how they are interpreted to the prophet, magician and the mad man compared to Saul and Elijah. The final part of the paper I will talk about what Jesus talked about as regards to the Kingdom of God vs. the Kingdom of the Romans and what he intended by speaking of the end of the world. I will also speak of the reasons behind the Romans executing him. My sources for this paper will be the New Jerusalem Bible Readers edition as my primary source and lecture notes from Professor Trumbach.

Some scholars argue that evidence of Jesus of Nazareth 's existence can only be found within the writings of the New Testament. They believe that the New Testament is a biased and unreliable source for the existence of Jesus. They therefore claim that Jesus did not exist. The historical existence of Jesus is necessary to demonstrate the truth of Christianity. While Christian scholars do not discount the reliability of the New Testament as a historical document, they are also able to point to other historical documents and consider non-Christian writings which support the existence of Jesus. In this paper I will argue that Jesus the Nazarene was an actual, historical person and that this can be demonstrated through extra-Biblical resources.

One of the many things that puzzle people even today; is how Jesus was portrayed and how he became a part of history throughout the centuries. Fortunately, within the book Jesus Through the Centuries, written by Jaroslav Pelikan, readers are able to get a sense of what societies viewed Jesus as and how he was/is important to many aspects of the world such as; the political, social, and cultural impact he had left. As Pelikan discusses this very topic and theme in his book, we see how there’s a connection between his audience in this book and Jesus’s are closely similar. When he got his motivation to write about Jesus through the Centuries, Jaroslav had an open audience, which was intended for anyone of all ages, races, and beliefs to read

Author of the book, Denis Johnson, generates themes within Jesus’ Son, such as loveless promiscuity, the abuse of drugs and alcohol, and the traumatic effects of neglect. The stories do not follow a specific chronological order but contain interesting situations that the main character goes through in order to develop revealing insights about his life. But the book’s odd structure also interferes our ability to recognize whether those insights are real or merely a fragment of his imagination. Although with the abuse of drugs, some situations are not legitimate, ultimately we can see that his epiphanies are real and

The greatest area of his work lies and is found in the way he was able to show how Jesus started the revolution toward the pursuit of humility in a time when the honor-shame society was at its height. He attributes the success of Jesus in the area not to Jesus’ persona exactly, but rather his execution. Crucifixion was the ancient world’s ultimate punishment and Jesus suffered a death that was reserved for slaves and political rebels. This death Dickson describes as the turning point because Christians came to see the death of Jesus not as the evidence of Jesus’ humiliation, but proof that greatness can be seen in times of immense suffering. Jesus called Himself a king yet he suffered the death of a common slave. Dickson’s work is great in this area because he is able to show that Jesus showed humility while perfectly modeling and persuading toward humility over self-enlargement.

There are many aspects of Jesus’ birth and life that lay hidden within the folds of time, most of these tend to bring about theories that to some degree cannot be proven or disproven. This vagueness around the life of Jesus is offset by the works of the gospels in the

The people told Jesus to perform a miracle if He wanted them to believe. They told Him that Moses gave the Israelites manna to eat, saying “The Scriptures say, ‘Moses gave them bread from heaven to eat.”

Yancey starts out with the image of Jesus. When he was young he had envisioned Jesus to have angelic features such as, young, handsome, and a compassionate face. It wasn’t until he entered into a Christian college, that he was introduced to the real image of Jesus. I had an immediate connection with Yancey. I too had an image of Christ in my head, which consisted of Hollywood portrayals and those in classical paintings. It wasn’t till I engaged myself at a Christian college, that I have now received a new and more accurate picture of Christ. His book, The Jesus I Never Knew, questions the reader with the thought, “How many Christians today are in the same position, not fully understanding

My paper deals with the passage of the apostle Luke regarding Jesus instruction to the disciples. He, Luke, addressed the issue of remembering and believing the promises that need to be fulfill by the Messiah. He reported it this way: “And He said to them, “O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory? Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.” (Luke 24: 25-27)(NASB) In the following paragraphs, I will consider the four senses of this passage, biblical typology, and the second narrative method of uncovering the whole story of the Bible.

The stage has been set. The main characters identified. The wardrobes are ready and the script is superbly written and ready for each prophetic line to be delivered. One last “shocking exile and restoration” (Wright, 2006, p. 86) and “It [will be] finished” (John 19:30, NASB). The One is almost here bringing with Him a “new creation, of justice, spirituality, relationship, and beauty” (p. 86). His physical life is due to our spiritual death. His physical death will provide mankind a spiritual life. In a fantastical story of rebellion and redemption God will finally say “Enough is enough” and “act within Israel and the world to bring to its climax (p. 88) the greatest story ever told.