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Jesus Human: Primer for a Common Humanity
“What is human” is one of the contentious topics in the world today. We no longer know what a human is. Where once humans made machines, now machines make humans. And the machines humans do make are becoming our most preferred relationships.In this pathbreaking and provocative book, Leonard Sweet contends it is our sacred duty to be human. Human identity is not who we have become but who we are created to be. Jesus Human explores how Jesus, in showing us the way to God, shows us the way to ourselves and the way to be human. All that it means to be human is here, in one Jesus, the greatest human, the most alive human, who ever lived. Learning to be a disciple of Jesus is learning to be a human being in a world that has been humaimed—our true identity has been amputated or disfigured.In scintillating prose and from a vast panorama of reading, Sweet demonstrates how the Jesus story is about “being” human and “human” being—both of which follow from following Jesus. Jesus gives back to us our full humanity as part of the redemption of all creation. Jesus doesn’t help us rise above our humanity but enter our humanity. In short, discipleship formation or spiritual formation is really Christ formation or human formation.Sweet insists you can’t be human without the divine, which makes the process of becoming human, or humanation, part of the Trinity’s ongoing incarnation as the Spirit brings Christ to life in each of us. There is no elixir that, when taken, transforms a person into a true human. But there is the Living Water of Life.
533 pages, Paperback
Published October 24, 2023
26 people are currently reading
20 people want to read
About the author
Leonard Sweet
158 books138 followersLeonard I. Sweet is an author, preacher, scholar, and ordained United Methodist clergyman currently serving as the E. Stanley Jones Professor of Evangelism at Drew Theological School, in Madison, New Jersey; and a Visiting Distinguished Professor at George Fox University in Portland, Oregon.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 5, 2023
“Everything Jesus did he did as a human. Everything.”
These words from Metropolitan Mar Chrysostom to Leonard Sweet summarize Len’s newest book, Jesus Human: A Primer for a Common Humanity. Len seeks to move away from language like “spiritual formation” to the more holistic (and biblical!) “new humanity.” In other words, Jesus doesn’t make us more spiritual; he makes us more human.
Of course, this theology did not originate with Sweet. Paul calls Jesus “The Second Adam” (1 Corinthians 15:42–49). Just as we have born the image of the man of dust (Adam), so also we must bear the image of the man of heaven (Jesus; 1 Corinthians 15:49 ESV). Jesus isn’t just fully divine; he’s fully human and becoming like him is becoming truly human—human like we were intended to be human.
This view of theosis has implications for the mission of the church. Other religions offer views of “the true humanity,” some of which intersect with Christian thought. Sweet presents an “abecedarium” of what a Jesus human looks like, borrowing concepts from science, philosophy, and the world religions. He writes:
“Christianity’s chief concern and apologetic agenda in the twenty-first century may lie more with the flourishing of the defiantly humane, than with what it means to be Christian.” (Leonard Sweet, Jesus Human, 30)
Jesus Human is Len at his best. Like always, his finger is on the pulse of the culture and he prescribes remedies the church has long possessed but recently neglected. He is the people’s church historian.
I typically grimace at attempts to harmonize Christianity with other faiths. To me, theology starts with Jesus’s question, “Who do you say that I am?” From there all roads diverge to dead ends. But Len is careful and unapologetically Christocentric. After all, you can’t be a “Jesus human” apart from Jesus. There are intersections between biblical wisdom and that of other faiths and “all truth is God’s truth.”
I agree with Len that the world is looking for a beautiful way to be human. That vision is only realized in Jesus. May we all become Jesus humans.
These words from Metropolitan Mar Chrysostom to Leonard Sweet summarize Len’s newest book, Jesus Human: A Primer for a Common Humanity. Len seeks to move away from language like “spiritual formation” to the more holistic (and biblical!) “new humanity.” In other words, Jesus doesn’t make us more spiritual; he makes us more human.
Of course, this theology did not originate with Sweet. Paul calls Jesus “The Second Adam” (1 Corinthians 15:42–49). Just as we have born the image of the man of dust (Adam), so also we must bear the image of the man of heaven (Jesus; 1 Corinthians 15:49 ESV). Jesus isn’t just fully divine; he’s fully human and becoming like him is becoming truly human—human like we were intended to be human.
This view of theosis has implications for the mission of the church. Other religions offer views of “the true humanity,” some of which intersect with Christian thought. Sweet presents an “abecedarium” of what a Jesus human looks like, borrowing concepts from science, philosophy, and the world religions. He writes:
“Christianity’s chief concern and apologetic agenda in the twenty-first century may lie more with the flourishing of the defiantly humane, than with what it means to be Christian.” (Leonard Sweet, Jesus Human, 30)
Jesus Human is Len at his best. Like always, his finger is on the pulse of the culture and he prescribes remedies the church has long possessed but recently neglected. He is the people’s church historian.
I typically grimace at attempts to harmonize Christianity with other faiths. To me, theology starts with Jesus’s question, “Who do you say that I am?” From there all roads diverge to dead ends. But Len is careful and unapologetically Christocentric. After all, you can’t be a “Jesus human” apart from Jesus. There are intersections between biblical wisdom and that of other faiths and “all truth is God’s truth.”
I agree with Len that the world is looking for a beautiful way to be human. That vision is only realized in Jesus. May we all become Jesus humans.
August 24, 2024
I have a quote at the bottom of my emails from Samuel Clemens (aka Mark Twain) which says, "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime."
In his book, Jesus Human, Dr. Leonard Sweet offers a unique stay-at-home travelog that helps readers see and connect with the humanity of Jesus as revealed through global cultures. Through an abecedarium—a global glossary of terms that serve as metaphors for what it means to be truly human in the way of Jesus—Sweet broadens readers' perspectives and invites them to embrace a new, yet ancient way of living.
By introducing a vocabulary drawn from diverse languages, Sweet liberates readers from their own paradigms and opens the door to a global understanding. The book begins by challenging readers to choose to be like Jesus, who came to Earth to “transfigure us into a new human being- mind, body, spirit. Jesus died to save all of us.” (p. xvii) And He lived to demonstrate what it means to be fully human. The rest of the book presents a glossary featuring words from multiple languages which capture the diversity and essence of growing into our full humanity.
One of my favorite words from the glossary is “sobremesa” meaning “across the table.” Through this word, Sweet calls his readers to embrace mealtimes as points of connection and community. Or to recognize the holiness within the ordinary task of eating meals. I once preached a series called “Dinners with Jesus,” and I know that mealtime with Jesus was anything but ordinary.
I highly recommend Jesus Human to anyone seeking to deepen their walk with Christ. It is a transformative read that challenges people to expand their horizons and embrace the richness and diversity of humanity.
In his book, Jesus Human, Dr. Leonard Sweet offers a unique stay-at-home travelog that helps readers see and connect with the humanity of Jesus as revealed through global cultures. Through an abecedarium—a global glossary of terms that serve as metaphors for what it means to be truly human in the way of Jesus—Sweet broadens readers' perspectives and invites them to embrace a new, yet ancient way of living.
By introducing a vocabulary drawn from diverse languages, Sweet liberates readers from their own paradigms and opens the door to a global understanding. The book begins by challenging readers to choose to be like Jesus, who came to Earth to “transfigure us into a new human being- mind, body, spirit. Jesus died to save all of us.” (p. xvii) And He lived to demonstrate what it means to be fully human. The rest of the book presents a glossary featuring words from multiple languages which capture the diversity and essence of growing into our full humanity.
One of my favorite words from the glossary is “sobremesa” meaning “across the table.” Through this word, Sweet calls his readers to embrace mealtimes as points of connection and community. Or to recognize the holiness within the ordinary task of eating meals. I once preached a series called “Dinners with Jesus,” and I know that mealtime with Jesus was anything but ordinary.
I highly recommend Jesus Human to anyone seeking to deepen their walk with Christ. It is a transformative read that challenges people to expand their horizons and embrace the richness and diversity of humanity.
November 5, 2023
“What if, in showing us the way to God, Jesus shows us the way to ourselves and the way to be human?”
In A Jesus Human Dr. Leonard Sweet outlines a “true human” vision for all of us. The book contrasts the unhealthy paradigms and inhuman dreams we absorb through tradition and culture against God’s humane and holy aspirations for us as his children and image-bearers. Filled with rich insight and provocative semiotic reflection, this work will challenge you to think deeply about what it means to be—and to become—a human conformed to the likeness of Christ.
In A Jesus Human Dr. Leonard Sweet outlines a “true human” vision for all of us. The book contrasts the unhealthy paradigms and inhuman dreams we absorb through tradition and culture against God’s humane and holy aspirations for us as his children and image-bearers. Filled with rich insight and provocative semiotic reflection, this work will challenge you to think deeply about what it means to be—and to become—a human conformed to the likeness of Christ.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews