He Is Risen

by Colin Campbell

He Is Risen is a hilarious, not-quite-fictional story that’s unlike any Second Coming tale you’ve ever read before. When Jesus is mistaken as a man with mental illness and often misunderstood for a hobo on the streets, his good friend Lyle embarks on a journey to help Jesus fulfill God’s will and save the world’s true believers. But who and where are the true believers?

Traveling with Lyle, Jesus searches for his own identity. Is he more human than most are led to believe? Will he walk the earth confused and unable to save the world a second time? With the distractions of today –population, traffic, public transport, and technology –prove too much for an ol’timer in robes and rope sandals? People are living their lives in vain, and urge Jesus to live it up and take what you want because you only get one chance but, it’s Jesus’ second chance. How is he going to live his life the second time around?

Genres: Religion, Humor, Fiction

68 pages, Paperback

First published January 30, 2012

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Colin Campbell is professor emeritus at the University of York (UK). He has written on the sociology of religion and sociological theory in addition to the sociology of consumption

Reviews

[Stella Wilkinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have no idea why I got this book. It isnt in my usual style at all. I think I was just looking for something funny to read and this caught my eye.

It was suprisingly good. It started too slowly and I almost lost the will but then it has so many brilliant one liners and moments of depth that I kept going.

It is an unusual book, but I liked it enough to recommend it to you lot if you want something a bit off the wall that is humerous and interesting too.

Basically, Jesus comes back, but nobody is there waiting for him and he doesnt know how to proceed. Penniless and considered crazy he goes back to his roots and starts again. And why not I say?

[Coreen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Author does a great job of blending fact, opinion, and humor surrounding the contemporary 'second coming' of Jesus. I love that it is intuitive, serious, comical, AND thought provoking all in one read. Great Job!!
I suggest it to anyone with a sense of humor and some basic understanding of Christianity.

[April · Rating 3 out of 5]

What would happen if Jesus returned to earth today? Probably much the same as this book imagines. My one comment, it should be longer rather than lots of short books.

[Sancho · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book on a train (it is a short story) and I thought it was hillarious. I have myself wondered many times how would we recognize Jesus if he came, since pretty much everything he did sounds ridiculuous to most rational (and even many irrational) people. Even performing miracles would be difficult to swallow, since there are a lot of modern magicians and illusionists that can perhaps do more incredible things (not to mention modern technology). The church, would be the first to deny him, knowing what it would mean for them (like an auditor coming to see how disgusting your restaurant is). The rest, the sheep, just want to believe in the story, but they know how improbable the "second coming" is (not that there aren't many who claim or have claimed they are Jesus Christ and filled their pockets in the process).

In the story, Jesus comes for the second time and is taken for a crazy person and sent to an institution "just to make sure he does not represent danger to others," after offering to wash the feet of a prostitute. He meets Lyle, who helps him to escape. However, nobody seems to understand who this person in diapers is and what he wants. He is just one more weirdo in the streets. He performs some miracles, but is not taken too seriously.

In summary, a good story that, even if with a comedy tint, says a lot about this Christian nonsense and the profound contradictions found in that dogma.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Would we question Christ when he returns? This is what the first book by Campbell seeks to answer. Jesus has returned to do his Father's bidding once again but he is now considered by society as mentally ill. With help from a new apostle, Jesus searches once again to find the righteous people of the world. There are 3 more books in this series and I hope the language cleans up. No Jesus is not the one with the foul language but the other characters do use mild cuss words.

[Jennifer (wildling_manor) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Colin Campbell (this was a kindle freebie, weird- but good. I found it when I googled 'I liked LAMB- What should I read now?' this is NOTHING like LAMB by Christopher Moore except that the main character in both is Jesus, and if you are very religious, you'll probably be offended since both are kind of comical/fictious stories of him and his life. This book also has other parts, I'll read Creationfest next because I want to know the ending)

[Ragne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was not aware that this is book nr. 1 in a series. Very disappointing. However, it gave me quite a few chuckles on the bus to work waaay too early, so it saved my morning. I might even buy the next one to find out what happens!
This edition had many "typos", which I found distracting. Hope that will be edited.

[Jennifer Steinmetz · Rating 1 out of 5]

The idea behind this book is good but it lacks substance and style. This book is full of misspellings and poor punctuation. It is vulgar in places where "cleaner" dirty humor would have been more appropriate. I was bored and skimmed the whole of it. However, I still think someone could take this idea and, executed well, could have a very interesting story.

[Bob · Rating 1 out of 5]

not a very original idea and not executed all that well. it seemed to be without a point of view. no messages here. just a series of events that should have been more interesting than they were. i expect more of jesus.

[Michele Reise · Rating 2 out of 5]

It had a couple of funny parts but overall it wasn't that impressive. It is also book one in a series of books but that wasn't in the Amazon description. Thankfully it was free.

[Alison · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn't quite sure what to expect from this book. In the end I quite enjoyed it - although I'm pretty sure the second coming won't be like that!

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gr8 book

I gave the book a 4 because it is biblically accurate but I did not care 4 the fowl language that "Jesus" allowed Lyle 2 use

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was disappointed when I found out the rest of this series is no longer available for my Kindle. The rest of the series is available again :-)

[Shutupshabby · Rating 5 out of 5]

I came across this book completely by chance, and it is not my usual type of read, but I honestly loved it. Genuinely funny. Im glad I found it.