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The Difficult Sayings of Jesus
The Difficult Sayings of Jesus neil
127 pages, Paperback
Published June 1, 1977
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 8, 2021
This book was written by one of Scotland's best-known Bible teachers who explain some of the most misunderstood remarks of Jesus'. He explains the words of Jesus so that we get a different perspective on His words. I really enjoyed reading this book.
June 5, 2022
Most of the author's explanations are fairly good and within the pale of Christian orthodoxy. Though, there are some things to be careful of. Like with any book, as they say, "chew the meat, and spit out the bones."
There were times when reading a passage I wondered whether he was a Unitarian in disguise rather than a Trinitarian. As if he denied the deity of Christ, the incarnation, and Christ's knowledge of the divine plan. Yet, near the end of the book [chapter 33 of 34] he seems to approvingly cite the Nicene Creed. But then comments on it in a way that could be interpreted either in a Trinitarian OR Unitarian way. Almost as if he were reinterpreting the words of the Creed by inserting his own meanings into them. All the while trying to veil his real beliefs. But I could be wrong. At the very least, he's not sufficiently clear on who he thinks Jesus was and is. For example:
On pages 52-53 (ch. 17) in my copy he write:
//He [i.e. Jesus] was accosted by a stranger, who is described by Matthew as a young man, and by Luke as a member of the ruling class. Running up to him the man knelt respectfully and, calling Jesus "good Master," asked the searching question, "What must I do to win eternal life?" Brushing aside the title of "good Master" as pointless flattery and with a sharp reminder that only God should be called good, Jesus went on to answer the man's question....//
There were also times when I got the sense of an anti-supernatural bias. A kind of deistic-like understanding of God's providence rather than one in which God can sometimes directly intervene. For example, the author rightly mentions the reality of some illnesses being psychosomatic in origin. He uses that to explain some of Jesus' healings. But he doesn't go on to explicitly say that some of Jesus' other cures and healings were truly supernatural. Meaning, divine interventions that went beyond ordinary providence and the laws of nature. To be fair, he doesn't explicitly deny direct interventions either. He also apparently denies the reality of evil spirits being personal entities. Despite the Gospels portraying Jesus as Himself believing in a personal Devil with demonic cohorts. The author also seems to deny the bodily resurrection of Christians at the eschaton contrary to the clear teaching of the New Testament and the Apostles' Creed. He's also overly ecumenical and naïve regarding the dangers of communism.
On page 65 (ch. 21) he writes:
//Jesus never pretended that the world we live in is all sweetness and light. On the contrary he saw his own ministry as a constant battle against evil–personified as Satan–and called on his disciples to take part with him in this ceaseless warfare.//
On page 86 (ch. 28) he writes:
//In the thought of the times the man had been possessed by a demon or devil, and Jesus' exorcism of this evil spirit had restored the man's speech.//
On page 35 (ch. 11) he writes:
//One of them is our recent understanding of the importance of psychosomatic medicine–depending on the interaction of mind and body. We are just at the beginning of this. How can the mind influence the body and vice-versa? //
On page 60 (ch. 19) he writes:
//Jesus shares the view of the Pharisees, as opposed to the Sadducees, that life after death is a reality, but he does not share the crude Pharisaic belief in some kind of physical resurrection of the body at the Last Judgment. He takes his stand rather with the Psalmists who were not satisfied that all that lay beyond death was a ghostly existence in the underworld (Sheol) beyond contact with God.//
On page 42 (ch. 13) he writes:
//But he does ask us to be open-minded, to overcome our prejudices and to be ready to acknowledge the presence of the spirit of Christ in those whose beliefs we may feel to be unorthodox, or who may not call themselves Christians at all. In this sense we can honor and respect those who would label themselves humanists, Communists, or whatever, provided they are honestly seeking to promote the betterment of society, the relief of suffering, and a fairer deal for the underprivileged. What matters is not their labels, but their care and compassion.//
The book also has some interesting quotes. For example:
"Faith consists in a man's lying constantly out upon the deep and with 70,000 fathoms of water under him." - Søren Kierkegaard
"THE CHURCH knows nothing of a sacredness of war. The Church which prays the 'Our Father' asks God only for peace."- Dietrich Bonhoeffer
There were times when reading a passage I wondered whether he was a Unitarian in disguise rather than a Trinitarian. As if he denied the deity of Christ, the incarnation, and Christ's knowledge of the divine plan. Yet, near the end of the book [chapter 33 of 34] he seems to approvingly cite the Nicene Creed. But then comments on it in a way that could be interpreted either in a Trinitarian OR Unitarian way. Almost as if he were reinterpreting the words of the Creed by inserting his own meanings into them. All the while trying to veil his real beliefs. But I could be wrong. At the very least, he's not sufficiently clear on who he thinks Jesus was and is. For example:
On pages 52-53 (ch. 17) in my copy he write:
//He [i.e. Jesus] was accosted by a stranger, who is described by Matthew as a young man, and by Luke as a member of the ruling class. Running up to him the man knelt respectfully and, calling Jesus "good Master," asked the searching question, "What must I do to win eternal life?" Brushing aside the title of "good Master" as pointless flattery and with a sharp reminder that only God should be called good, Jesus went on to answer the man's question....//
There were also times when I got the sense of an anti-supernatural bias. A kind of deistic-like understanding of God's providence rather than one in which God can sometimes directly intervene. For example, the author rightly mentions the reality of some illnesses being psychosomatic in origin. He uses that to explain some of Jesus' healings. But he doesn't go on to explicitly say that some of Jesus' other cures and healings were truly supernatural. Meaning, divine interventions that went beyond ordinary providence and the laws of nature. To be fair, he doesn't explicitly deny direct interventions either. He also apparently denies the reality of evil spirits being personal entities. Despite the Gospels portraying Jesus as Himself believing in a personal Devil with demonic cohorts. The author also seems to deny the bodily resurrection of Christians at the eschaton contrary to the clear teaching of the New Testament and the Apostles' Creed. He's also overly ecumenical and naïve regarding the dangers of communism.
On page 65 (ch. 21) he writes:
//Jesus never pretended that the world we live in is all sweetness and light. On the contrary he saw his own ministry as a constant battle against evil–personified as Satan–and called on his disciples to take part with him in this ceaseless warfare.//
On page 86 (ch. 28) he writes:
//In the thought of the times the man had been possessed by a demon or devil, and Jesus' exorcism of this evil spirit had restored the man's speech.//
On page 35 (ch. 11) he writes:
//One of them is our recent understanding of the importance of psychosomatic medicine–depending on the interaction of mind and body. We are just at the beginning of this. How can the mind influence the body and vice-versa? //
On page 60 (ch. 19) he writes:
//Jesus shares the view of the Pharisees, as opposed to the Sadducees, that life after death is a reality, but he does not share the crude Pharisaic belief in some kind of physical resurrection of the body at the Last Judgment. He takes his stand rather with the Psalmists who were not satisfied that all that lay beyond death was a ghostly existence in the underworld (Sheol) beyond contact with God.//
On page 42 (ch. 13) he writes:
//But he does ask us to be open-minded, to overcome our prejudices and to be ready to acknowledge the presence of the spirit of Christ in those whose beliefs we may feel to be unorthodox, or who may not call themselves Christians at all. In this sense we can honor and respect those who would label themselves humanists, Communists, or whatever, provided they are honestly seeking to promote the betterment of society, the relief of suffering, and a fairer deal for the underprivileged. What matters is not their labels, but their care and compassion.//
The book also has some interesting quotes. For example:
"Faith consists in a man's lying constantly out upon the deep and with 70,000 fathoms of water under him." - Søren Kierkegaard
"THE CHURCH knows nothing of a sacredness of war. The Church which prays the 'Our Father' asks God only for peace."- Dietrich Bonhoeffer
February 6, 2015
Useful. Short insightful messages about some of Jesus' difficult (to us at least) sayings.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews