Foundations

Jesus' Silent Years #1

by Vance Shepperson

Foundations, volume one, gives you a unique picture of Jesus, the teenager. He figures out how to leave home, make friends, manage moods, and deal with complex identity issues. He learns how to cope with the murder of his father. He falls in love, learning how to risk loving a beautiful woman from another culture and yet stay loyal to his felt destiny or calling.

Genres: Religion, Fiction

309 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 29, 2020

About the author

Dr Shepperson is a 3rd generation Presbyterian preacher’s son. He attended boarding schools and colleges in the UK, Switzerland, and the USA. He earned a doctoral degree in clinical psychology along the way, worked as an Air Force psychologist, and was on faculty at a doctoral program of psychology in California.

He’s owned a group psychotherapy practice in California. For the past decade or so he served as a missionary in southwest China, the UK, and New Zealand. Now he and his wife live and practice as licensed psychologists in Hawaii… but he mainly writes stuff.

His favorite walk? the Israel National Trail (israeltrail.net). 685 miles long.

Reviews

[Free · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story is interesting but I believe there could have been a different premised used. Adding to Jesus story is extremely controversial. Others have done it and it seems to be a popular thing but I think for me it distracted from the story also seems like they tried to make it more modern put it into our times instead of sticking strictly to that time. This is definitely a hard thing to read for some.

[Joelle Willis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this Kindle book free from Goodreads. A story of the early life of Jesus, with each chapter written by a different character, it's probably best categorized as historical fiction. And pretty heavy on the fiction. It's hard to say who the target audience is for this book. On one hand, it tells a good YA story with Jesus aka Jeez as a teenager subject to all the ups and downs of that age, such as pimples, confusion, and liking girls. He is trying to establish his identity as a man and savior, and has plenty of questions about how to get through life in a cruel world. Even though there's plenty of poop and snot references to entertain a younger crowd, there are also descriptions of rape and incest. Esoteric vocabulary is mixed with modern slang. So in tone it's all over the place, and its over-written style makes it a plodding read. For example, when Jeez's father Joseph dies in a construction accident, his dead body is referred to as "Joe's cooling earth wrapper." What does, "I turned up the heat on her dream altar a notch or two" even mean? Overall, I liked it, but it could use some judicious editing.

[Anastascia · Rating 1 out of 5]

Even at this moment I am struggling with this review. I am not sure what to think. I won a copy off Goodreads for an honest review. I honestly am having a hard time with this book.

The story is about Jesus and his life as a teenager. He goes through the same struggles most teenage boys his age go through. Girls. Zits. Body changes. Difference in right and wrong. I will never be able to imagine the struggles of Jesus the Son of God struggling the norms of a teenage boy.

The story is told from different views of different characters such as Jesus, Mary, Go, Leah, Claudia and Windy aka the Holy Spirit. However, the stories of Jesus are mixed up as well as the timeline. Events are made up and language is more modern than would have been in Jesus time.

I am just not really a fan of this type of book that seems to stretch the Bible to far.

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

An Interesting Read

At first I kept stopping and starting this book. It seemed almost sacreligious. But then I realized the author was just imagining the parts of Jesus' life that we don't know. I started to feel a little more comfortable with the idea. After all, we know Jesus felt and endured the same things we all have gone through. Knowing this helped me read on, but it still bothered me at times. This book was good at making me imagine what all Jesus endured as a teen. How difficult it must have been for him. That is why I finished this book, and why I'm still thinking about it - food for thought.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice read

[Theresa]

Not what I I expected. Read it and passed it on,

[Beverly Duckworth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review of Jesus's Silent Years: Foundations

I won this book from Goodreads after reading I am to review. I am not really sure about the book using Jesus as the character.

[Marsha Rafalski]

I am not entering a rating for this book. I received it as a Goodreads giveaway and made several attempts to finish reading, but each time I found myself moving away so I am formally abandoning.

[Donna Peake · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Author imagines what the early life of Jesus was like.