Vintage Jesus: Timeless Answers to Timely Questions

by Mark Driscoll, Gerry Breshears

Some two thousand years after he walked the earth, Jesus Christ is still a hot topic. And for all the ridiculous, twisted, Da Vinci Code-esque conspiracy theories and lies about Jesus that have permeated popular culture and even the academy over the years, the truth about his character, nature, and work has not changed. So what exactly is the truth about Jesus Christ?

That&'s the question the authors of Vintage Jesus seek to answer by breaking it down into a number of sub-questions about Jesus, including Is Jesus the only God? Why did Jesus come to earth? Did Jesus rise from death? Why should we worship Jesus? and others. Nonbelievers and new Christians looking to sit down and delve into the topic of Jesus, asking the toughest, most confounding questions they can think of, will find solid, biblical answers presented in a relevant, accessible way.

Genres: Theology, Christian, Christianity, Nonfiction, Christian Living, Faith, Religion

256 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Mark A. Driscoll is the founder and teaching pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Washington, as well as the co-founder of the Acts 29 Church Planting Network where he also served as President for a short period. Driscoll continues to serve on the board of Acts 29. He has contributed to the "Faith and Values" section of the Seattle Times and the "On Faith" section of the Washington Post.

Reviews

[Maree Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you for the Christmas present Philip xoxox
so sorry for not getting to it sooner.

It was really cool and gave me lots to think about! I especially liked his breakdown of Jesus earthy ministry as prophet, priest, and king and how an imbalanced understanding. Emphasis or not, leads to the different groups we have as fundamentalists, liberals, and evangelicals today. Makes sense!

I also realise that I probably have slanted view of Jesus towards his meek and humble human form instead of his holy and majestic position in heaven as God. Mark attributes this to a familiarity with the gospels paired with a neglect for the other material in the new testament which describe him in his ascended state. So yup definitely feel called out on that one and will continue to feel even worse for avoiding Revelation.

O and this part slapped.
“In conclusion, the reason that many people are prone to hold someone or something in glory above Jesus is that they believe the lie that Gods glory and our joy are in conflict, so that if we live for Gods glory it comes at the cost of our joy. Thus, people who want to live for the “pursuit of happiness” are prone to glorify and worship what they wrongly believe will give them joy. But tragically the result is misery. Because we were made to worship Jesus Christ the God of glory, it is only in being worshipers of Jesus that we can find joy. This glorious truth means that in worshipping Jesus, God is glorified and we are satisfied. The result, as Luther said is that if we do not break the first two commandments (which lovingly instruct us that there is only one God and we should worship only that God), we are satisfied to the degree that we do not need to break the other commandments chasing our joy in stuff, sex, or self-esteem.”

Sorry again Philip. That was the old Maree, the new Maree is much cooler. She reads books and writes reviews for her 5 friends to see. I will endeavour to be better.
Appreciate you a little bit i guess.

[Gerald Thomson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I struggled getting through this book, as it covers some pretty foundational areas of Christianity. However, every couple of chapters, Driscoll and Breshears would hit on a great idea that would stop me in my tracks. Their mathematical formulas of neglecting Jesus as our Prophet, Priest or King, are wonderful. They also have no problem taking a difficult stand. I applaud them for this. Driscoll’s own story of coming to know Christ is very effective also. Sometimes I think the book overreaches, but they generally do a good job of building a firm foundation to build your journey on.

[Philip Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Interestingly enough, the demons have some of the highest Christology in the gospels, though they themselves do not love Jesus or receive the gift of salvation from him. The demons have a higher Christology than most present day cults and world religions, which is, to say the least, tragic."

Solid book introducing key tenets of Christian beliefs around Jesus Christ. As always with Driscoll, the strength of it lies in the fact that he knows how to communicate well and he knows the culture and ideology of secular twenty-somethings, and accordingly is able to frame what he says in a way that pushes hard in that direction. I pretty much read/listen to Driscoll to observe what cultural threads he pulls on to illustrate not only the truth, but the clear significance of Christianity to all people, even, or perhaps especially, today. In saying that, the theology in this is by and large really solid, and I would enthusiastically recommend it.

[Chase Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

Driscoll is trying to be culturally relevant but comes across as trying to dumb down the information. We can teach theology while explaining the terms and concepts without acting as if our readers/listeners are ignorant.

[Benjamin Thompson · Rating 2 out of 5]

if there’s one word I’d used to describe this book (and Mark Driscoll) it would be spunky. In Vintage Jesus Driscoll aims to lay out a basic Christology (doctrine of Christ) while simultaneously providing an apologetic for said Christology. Consequently apologetics is treated more like doctrine than an objective analysis. In addition, Driscoll really tries too hard to make this book readable to the average church goer. The questions and answers in this book are so dumbed down I feel like this book was written for third graders. Unfortunately I wouldn’t really recommend this book to a third grader as it has some less than appropriate content for that age group. Driscoll seems to discuss things like sex and drugs almost as much as he discusses theology. That being said, the theological discussion in the book can be engaging at times. For instance I didn’t know there was the view that when Christ died he actually went to the “paradise” side of Sheol where people waited to go to heaven. I would tend to reject such a view as I think it diminishes the saving and conquering aspects of Christ’s resurrection over not only physical but spiritual death. If Christ was never really separate from the Father nor really suffered such separation, then what did He do on the cross except put on a nice show?

My primary gripes about this book, however, come in regards to its often sloppy apologetics. This begins with Driscoll’s explication of the argument from prophecy. All he does to sum up the argument is quote a passages from Isaiah and elsewhere and give their New Testament counterparts where Jesus appears to fulfill this prophecy. But he does nothing to reference let alone deal with the numerous objections to this argument. Perhaps the gospels embellished the life of Jesus to include the fulfillment of these prophesies. There’s also numerous issues regarding typology and the New Testament use of the Old such as in Isaiah Chapter 7 and Matthew 1:21. Instead, Driscoll seems to think that what he presents provides more than sufficient evidence to convince an open minded seeker to the truth of Jesus being the Messiah (see p 68).

On page 115 Driscoll points toward a very valid question; “Some will protest that a loving God could not possibly pour out His wrath on Jesus.” This for many is a troubling question. How is it justice to punish an innocent man for another persons sins? Christians have given varied answers to this question such as that Jesus is not just any man but the very judge of man, as such a correct analogy would be a judge taking the punishment for a prisoners crime. This would seem to make at least a bit more sense. But instead of discussing these issues, Driscoll simply throws scripture at the problem, “Yet this is precisely what scripture states, 'Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief.’” I’ve heard pastors do this over and over again and it never ceases to drive me nuts. The people who will raise this question are not likely to be Christians and even if they are they are even more unlikely to find such a response very satisfying.

On page 140, in a chapter on defending the resurrection of Christ, Driscoll bizarely tries to use the infamous quote by Josephus to provide historical support for Jesus resurrection. This particular quote of Josephus is highly suspect because it calls Jesus the Christ and even claims that he did in fact rise from the dead, preformed miracles and fulfilled OT prophesy. But scholars sincerely doubt these affirmations were a part of Josephus actual writings because in all of Josephus other writings he affirms himself to be a Jew. But what cause would a self-professed Jew have affirming the resurrection of Jesus? It is far more likely that later Christian scribes whom we know copied the texts of Josephus added apologetic elements to the original account of Jesus in Josephus’ writings. This is why Christian scholars never argue from Josephus for the resurrection but rather against Christ-myth theories that Jesus never existed.

On page 210 makes a rather simplistic argument in response to atheist’s claim that religion causes wars. He points out that in the 20th century 170 million people have been killed. He argues that 130 million have died in direct result to atheistic ideologies. He cites the mass murder of Stalin (40 million), Hitler (18 million), and Mao (70 million). The idea that Hitler was an atheist is fairly naive, historians have long recognized both Christian and pagan elements in his ideology and these most certainly include a belief in a higher power. Even so, Hitlers viewpoint is so bizarre its difficult to call it a religion in any meaningful sense either. In the case of Mao I suspect the problem was more around his incompetence than his atheism, he was poorly educated and simply didn’t understand how to run a country, let alone one the size of China. Anyway to continue the argument Driscoll compares this high number to the roughly 17 million people killed in religious wars throughout the past 2 millennia. Well this argument is flawed in at least one major way; there were far fewer people during the crusades than there were during World War II and much less efficient ways of killing those people. As sad as it is, I suspect hundreds of millions of people would have died in those wars, had they had technologies like bombs and machine guns, not to mention 2 billion people as potential targets. Yet again, Driscoll blissfully ignores these potential objections and continues to treat apologetic mantra as gospel.

These were just a few examples of apologetic quackery I found in this book. Overall its a pretty bad introduction into the subject. If you are serious about theology, authors like Alister McGrath, William Lane Craig, D.A. Carson, and Michael Bird do a much more thorough job at presenting it than Driscoll does.

[Chelsea · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book. It not only solidified much of what I already believe but also brought about new questions for me. It enabled me to think and delve deeper into my own faith. Each chapter discusses answers to a specified question and ultimately discusses: the reason for Jesus, why he came the way he did, why he did what he did, and how this drastically changes us when we accept Jesus into our lives.

Whether you've already accepted Jesus into your life or you don't see him as having any place in your life, I'd encourage you to read this book and learn more about Him.

"I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet he shall live." - John 11:25

Rating: 3.5 stars

[Deeps George · Rating 4 out of 5]

There have been many theories and organizations that try to debunk the story and life of Jesus as a hoax and improbable and yet He still lives and exists in the lives of many. This book provides a practical understanding of who , why and how Jesus continues to remain and influence the world in many ways. This is in-spite politicians, leaders , academicians and even Christians have tried dilute the importance of who He is and what He has done.
The book is written around key questions people would ask about Jesus and it’s a great read for this time of the year for all who are trying to hold on to Him especially with the state of the world around us.

[Dr. Jon Pirtle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Picked this book up recently. Began it early one morning and completed it by bedtime the following day. A clear, biblical, coherent, timely, acerbic-to-the-unregenrate, quickening gut punch and theological wakeup.

Looking forward to reading Driscoll's latest, New Days, Old Demons, already a bestseller--after having been turned down by all the publishing companies.

One has to appreciate the irony.

[Naomi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very insightful and informative. Loved how it was slightly personal at times but still got the message across. Sound theology! Easy enough to read and understand.
The comparisons to other parts of society and the Christian religion were accurate and I enjoyed those parts a lot.
Overall a good book.

[Douglas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oscillated between four stars for thoughtful content and two stars for inane and occasionally demeaning humor.

[Joshua Reitano · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm about two years late to this book. It was a big seller when it first came out and it seemed that everyone in the blogosphere had a review of it. But as is often the case with me, I'm late to the game, so I just picked the book off my shelf as we are in the early chapters of a year-long series in my church on the Gospel of Mark.

This is Driscoll and Breshears' first book together. They are good friends, and the main chapters were written by Driscoll (adapted from his sermons), and edited by Breshears. Breshears also adds helpful Q&A sections at the end of each chapter, engaging in light apologetics aimed at the skeptic.

This is a book aimed at twenty and thirty-somethings, especially those unlikely to pick up any "classic work" of theology. I say that because the book (in substance) is really nothing new. And that's on purpose. As the subtitle suggests, they aim to convey "timeless answers to timely questions." And that's what they do - they present an orthodox evangelical understanding of the person and work of Jesus. The book is heavily footnoted, and rests squarely on explaining Jesus from a Biblical perspective. The newness of the book is in its colloquial language, pop culture references, and humor that Driscoll has become so well known for. The authors aim to present a biblical view of Jesus in culturally meaningful language, accessible to just about anyone. As they say, "this book will be readable, practical, and biblical, so that everyone from Seminary professors and pastors to non-Christians would benefit from our work."

The strength of the book, in my estimation, is the defense of the biblical view of Jesus over and against caricatures that have been adopted by cults, pop culture, feminism, and even groups within Christianity. This passage is typical of Driscoll's presentation:

"Jesus was a dude. Like my drywaller dad, he was a construction worker who swung a hammer for a living. Because Jesus worked in a day when there were no power tools, he likely had calluses on his hands and muscles on his frame, and did not look like so many of the drag-queen Jesus images that portray him with long, flowing, feathered hair, perfect teeth, and soft skin, draped in a comfortable dress accessorized by matching open-toed sandals and handbag. Jesus did not have Elton John or the Spice Girls on his iPod, "The View" on his TiVo, or a lemon-yellow Volkswagen Beetle in his garage. No, Jesus was not the kind of person who, if walking by you on the street, would require you to look for an Adam's apple to determine the gender."

I liked a lot of things about the book. I thought the format was excellent. Most every chapter begins with a discussion of how Jesus has been wrongly portrayed, then transitions into a Biblical presentation of Jesus, and concludes with Breshears' couple of pages of apologetic FAQs. I also like the idea of the book - a representation of classical doctrine in contemporary language. I think Driscoll has the right idea here, and I can imagine giving this book out to a several people in the context where we do ministry. However, the strength of the book is also its weakness. The pop culture laden language and examples will be out of date in 5 years, so the book has very little staying power. I supposed they could release a new edition edited by a younger and hipper pastor, pitching it as "The Second Edition: Complete With All New Jokes."

Speaking of jokes, I generally like Driscoll's humor, but there were several times in this book where the humor actually seemed to detract from the message. In other words, it seemed at times that Driscoll was reaching in order to make a joke, rather than to make a point. Small thing, but it got on my nerves as I was reading.

Overall, this is a book I would recommend (at least for the next five years). It is an especially good book to hand out to people looking into Jesus for the first time, or perhaps re-evaluating their view of Him.

[Charles Carter · Rating 5 out of 5]

A friend wanted to use this book as a basis for a Christology class, that ended up never happening, but it did urge me to read the book - and what a blessing that was! Indeed, I ended up incorporating elements of it into my own Soteriology class and curriculum. Driscoll does a good job of distilling certain arguments with concise clarity, particularly in relation to the Incarnation. Very good book.

[Bob Price · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mark Driscoll is a 'hipster' Calvinist pastor in Seattle. That may or may not be enough to describe this book.

Vintage Jesus is like a basic Jesus class. Driscoll does a good job at presenting some of the 'big' questions about Jesus: was he really born of a virgin, what did he do on the cross, etc. In that way, the book doesn't provide any 'new' information. After all, the point of calling the book vintage is to recognize that the positions taken would be the classical positions.

What is new...is the presentation and the clarity with which Driscoll speaks. If you have ever heard Pastor Driscoll teach in his church, then you know he can be...well...almost vulgar. He describes Jesus as the child of an unwed teenager, talks with conviction about the destiny of those who don't believe, and writes passionately about his interpretation of the gospels.

And that is the value of the book. I have read a great deal of books about Jesus, that say just about the same thing as Driscoll does. But Driscoll's presentation is what stands out and sets the book above the typical Jesus book.

The audience for this book is going to be varied. I guess that most people who read it are going to be church folk...those who are interested generally in religious matters. But non-believers...those who have no particular affinity nor affection to Jesus may find this book interesting to engage with as well.

The book is short, easy to read and very interesting. I recommend this to anyone who wants to take a closer look at Jesus, or a believer who wants to refresh their understanding of basic theology.

[Kristen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely LOVED this book! Read it alongside the Gospels and experience scripture, and Jesus, in a new way as well. Driscoll fills the pages with scriptural references that support or further explain his point in a way that makes you think about what you're ready and not just digest it and move on without question. As with any "Christian Living" book, it's always best to test it against scripture and the author makes it easy to do this with its many scriptural references.

I especially like the layout of the book. The chapters are organized in a sensible and simplistic way and are followed by an "Answers to Common Questions" section which answer any lingering questions and help to summarize what you've just read.

"Vintage Jesus" attempts to answer the question "What Would Jesus Do?" in the most non-clique way possible while reminding us that Jesus is as active and present in the world today as He always has been!

[Tom Bazan · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I started this book, I didn't think that I was going to like it. But it started to grow on me, and I would say that in the end I think the book has been helpful. It is a mini theology book, in that he covers many areas of theology--probably Christology, more accurately--and provides an overview each topic. Each topic can be (and is elsewhere) covered in much more detail, but this book brings a lot of the topics together.

As for the writing style, beware. He is loose with his words, it seems, to make a point. And while he makes his point, it gets frustrating as he overstates things and exaggerates quite a bit.

It is a good book for someone who doesn't know a whole lot about Jesus Christ or Christianity and is interested in looking at who he was and what Christians believe. If nothing else, it can be a good conversation starter--or several conversations.

[Chris Wagner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vintage Jesus is a book I recommend to all people who doesn't understand who Jesus is. Artwork, literature, music, churches, and even South Park can give a misunderstanding of who Jesus is, his purpose for coming, his place in history and why he is so important to have in our lives. Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears have done a fabulous job with Vintage Jesus, they explain Jesus humanity, deity, purpose, history, and so much more that is rooted in the Bible and compared to what celebrities, philosophers, atheists, and even porn stars have to say about Jesus. Let's face the facts, whether you like him or not, he will always be a the topic people talk about. You want to learn more about Jesus and how he is still effective and alive today on our culture, read Vintage Jesus.

[Blaze Hildebrand: · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vintage Jesus by Mark Driscoll is a very, very good read. The subtitle is very fitting when it says "Timeless Answers to Timley Questions". The book focuses on the parts of the Bible that have been subjects to many controversy and confusion to reveal a final, in depth answer that cannot be challenged. As an early Christian, I found it very beneficial to learn and understand the basis of what my relationship with Christ is founded on. I suprisingly found out that this book, while informative, is very humorous and attention grabbing. His comical inputs on his topics are very rich and tasteful, overall making the book hard to put down. I would recommend this book to any Christian, early or mature, who is looking to strengthen their walk with God and have an enormous ammount of fun doing so.

[Ben Adkison · Rating 5 out of 5]

I 19m honestly not even sure how to review this book. How do you a review a book this great? I have no complaints or disagreements; I have only praise. This is an amazingly good book. It 19s entertaining to read because Driscoll is adept at mixing pop culture references throughout the text so that the words come alive with relevance. It 19s deep because the theology presented in the book is thoroughly Biblical, beyond surface-level Christianity, and presented in a lively, understandable manner. And 26the book will strengthen your faith and conviction in Jesus and His glorious salvation. Even elderly saints will benefit from the depth of solid theology that this book offers. This is one of the most encouraging and inspiring books I 19ve read in a while. Everyone should read it.

[David Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Good:

Very good book overall with great reasoning, biblical evidence and appropriate slang lingo!

The Bad:
It didn't really answer two following quesitons:

1. What about people and cultures with no exposure to Christ, how is their Salvation handled?

2. Why would God make a law (IE the 10 Commandments) make them written in stone, include the Sabbath in them, and then change only the 4th of the 10 laws (For Example, it is not okay for the Christian to Lie or Kill but not Remembering the Sabbath seems to be okay???) which oddly says "Remember"?

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though I do not entirely agree with some of Mark Driscoll's doctrine (for example, though I do believe Jesus had a sense of humor that was mostly seen by those close to him, Driscoll's scripture examples don't back up his claims), and I do believe he could have been better about backing up his claims, overall it was fascinating read that makes you think more about Jesus, who He was, and His impact on history. This is a good read if you want to challenge the world-view of the passive, hippie Jesus.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having read a few books by Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears now I will say that this one is pretty punchy compared to others. It effectively and directly answers all of the big questions about Jesus, and it is definitely an asset to new believers like me when it comes to understanding a lot of the controversial attitudes surrounding Jesus as God and as a man. However, no nods are given to political correctness, which Driscoll does say is kind of the point, but just be prepared for some potentially unpopular views that are, nevertheless, insightful and informative.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Driscoll is a man's man, but he's not much of an author unfortunately. This work is theologically lightweight especially if you've touched any of Grudem's works, not to say that I didn't pick up anything though; for instance the method of His death was prophesied centuries before it was ever invented. All in all, I do appreciate Dricoll's whit and clever jokes, his heart in painting a biblical Jesus but you'll be hard pressed to have your theological appetite satisfied with this work.

[Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

My small group at church read this book. I am a "fan" of Mark Driscoll's preaching; so reading this book felt very familiar to me. It is accompanied by an excellent DVD series.

The book is very challenging; each week asks a challenging question about the Lord Jesus and then relates that question back to our own lives. I believe this book would be beneficial for anyone to read, particularly new Christians.

[Jake · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was a good theological summary of Christology. The tone of the book is a little sarcastic, and, although kind of humorous at times, is a little pedantic.

I did however enjoy chapter nine "Why Should We Worship Jesus?" I would recommend to anyone reading this particular chapter, moreover I would recommend this book to anyone interested in a solid summary of Christology without the lengthiness and sheer boringness of a systematic approach to theology.

[Jordan Barr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book on the foundations of who the Bible says Jesus is. Mark Driscoll writes in a way that is straight forward and easy to understand. I truly enjoyed how he would say something about Jesus as "this is how it is and if you don't believe that, here's where you actually stand." If you want to know Jesus better this a great place to start. Every note Driscoll makes is cited for you so you can check the good book and back it up. Do read this book.

[Carrie Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoy Mark Driscoll's writing style. It's not for everyone, he can be pretty crass sometimes to point out a truth. At the same time, it makes me laugh out loud at some points. This book definately helps to look at the life of Jesus through a new lense. A great read for someone curious about who Jesus is, but also great for us who have known Jesus most of our lives. This book answers many of the common questions we all ask regarding Jesus and his life.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

The best part of this book was that it stayed true to its title. It was in fact all about Jesus and misconceptions or theories that are out there today concerning him. This book would be great for a new believer or to be used more as reference book concerning different parts of Jesus' life. I did enjoy the book event though a large majority of its content was relatively simple, it could prove to be a useful tool.

[Lou · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book for someone interested in what Christianity is really about. So much is made of organized religion these days that it's good to see a writer/pastor emphasize Jesus as the basis for all Christian thinking, motivation, and character. A great book for believers and non-believers alike.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

My oldest son sent this to me for mothers day & I felt compelled to read it for some reason. I was going to read another Dean Koontz book but decided to wait a bit on that.

I'm not sure if I'll like this book because I scanned it when I received it & I'm not sure I'm going to agree with these two authors' opinions.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Vintage jesus was an amusing, simple question-and-answer book, and I enjoyed Driscoll and Breshears. I appreciated their dedication - to anyone who takes Jesus seriously, but not themselves :)

The best conversation that came out of reading this book, so far:
Mother: What are you reading?
Me: 'Vintage Jesus'.
Mother: What's it about?
Me: Jesus.