I was totally surprised at what a good read this was. By the look of the dust jacket and end papers, I expected a laughably Swedish Jesus Sunday school sermon. (Why'd I even pick it up, then? Even though it was one of those books that somehow ended up on the stack...was I looking to ridicule? hmm...pause for self-reflection...) But behold, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ, and I freely admit that I was impressed by Blythe's knowledge of culture and history, as well as his spiritual understanding. Granted, this is a work of fiction, and he took certain liberties for the sake of character development, and he clearly seeks to give logical explanation to the mysteries. All's forgiven. Known this was published in 1948, I couldn't help but be reminded of PBS's Saturday afternoon 'Matinée at the Bijou', and imagine what a wonderfully cheesy and enjoyable classic film this would be.
One of my favorite books that I pull off the shelf and re-read. I finished this last night and sighed, thinking, "I am never going to write this well." Yes, it is old style, but it is so beautiful in technique and wording. The story of one of the town lepers and Mary Magdalene told in a very unique way with many true historical characters woven in. You will never seen it in the same way again.
One of my uncles passed this book along to me, and, at first, I was quite skeptical. Although I knew it was fiction, many things that talk about my Lord Jesus Christ, other than the Bible, I am quite skeptical about. This book, however, surprised me. It's actually quite good, and I enjoyed it very much. With intriguing narrative and quite accurate paraphrases of what Jesus Christ really said, I recommend this book--with the reminder that it's fiction, not the Bible.
Great narrative but clearly denies the miracles of Christ. His description of Jesus walking on water? He tells it like Jesus “swam” out to the boat. And leaves out the part of Peter walking on water with Jesus. Just couldn’t stomach it.