What do you think?
Rate this book
A Serious Way of Wondering: The Ethics of Jesus Imagined
When renowned novelist and poet Reynolds Price, one of Christianity's most eloquent outlaws, was invited to deliver the annual Peabody Lecture at Harvard University Memorial Church in 2001, he chose to explore a subject of fierce debate and timeless relevance: the ethics of Jesus.
In two succeeding lectures at the National Cathedral and at Auburn Seminary, Price continued to explore the apparently contradictory ethics that Jesus articulates in the Gospels and in a controversial act of artistic license, Price reimagined the historical Jesus. In A Serious Way of Wondering, Price expands these lectures to present Jesus with three problems of burning moral concern—suicide, homosexuality, and the plight of women in male-dominated cultures and faiths. A sweeping view of the inescapable implications of Jesus' merciful life and all-embracing thought—and of the benefits of enlarging our notions of humanity, community, and equality—A Serious Way of Wondering is a significant contribution to Price's penetrating works of religious inquiry.
In two succeeding lectures at the National Cathedral and at Auburn Seminary, Price continued to explore the apparently contradictory ethics that Jesus articulates in the Gospels and in a controversial act of artistic license, Price reimagined the historical Jesus. In A Serious Way of Wondering, Price expands these lectures to present Jesus with three problems of burning moral concern—suicide, homosexuality, and the plight of women in male-dominated cultures and faiths. A sweeping view of the inescapable implications of Jesus' merciful life and all-embracing thought—and of the benefits of enlarging our notions of humanity, community, and equality—A Serious Way of Wondering is a significant contribution to Price's penetrating works of religious inquiry.
160 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
4 people are currently reading
64 people want to read
About the author
Reynolds Price
215 books122 followersReynolds Price was born in Macon, North Carolina in 1933. Educated at Duke University and, as a Rhodes Scholar, at Merton College, Oxford University. He taught at Duke since 1958 and was James B. Duke Professor of English.
His first short stories, and many later ones, are published in his Collected Stories. A Long and Happy Life was published in 1962 and won the William Faulkner Award for a best first novel. Kate Vaiden was published in 1986 and won the National Book Critics Circle Award. The Good Priest's Son in 2005 was his fourteenth novel. Among his thirty-seven volumes are further collections of fiction, poetry, plays, essays, and translations. Price was a member of both the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and his work has been translated into seventeen languages.
Photo courtesy of Reynolds Price's author page on Amazon.com
His first short stories, and many later ones, are published in his Collected Stories. A Long and Happy Life was published in 1962 and won the William Faulkner Award for a best first novel. Kate Vaiden was published in 1986 and won the National Book Critics Circle Award. The Good Priest's Son in 2005 was his fourteenth novel. Among his thirty-seven volumes are further collections of fiction, poetry, plays, essays, and translations. Price was a member of both the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and his work has been translated into seventeen languages.
Photo courtesy of Reynolds Price's author page on Amazon.com
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
December 10, 2022
The first half of the book, with Price trying to figure out Jesus' ethics, was wholly interesting. But then, because Price is a writer of fiction, he can't avoid inserting three tiny short stories to nudge his suppositions along: what did Jesus think about homosexuality? Price imagines the risen Jesus finding Judas, who confesses that he has been in love with Jesus all along. And it turns out Jesus knew all along. He's fine with it, because while the Old Testament Law forbade homosexuality, Jesus' law is simply love. This story addresses the age-old question "What did Jesus smell like?" The answer turns out to be fresh sage. Then Judas goes off and hangs himself.
Next, Price wonders: what did Jesus think about suicide? We might expect that Jesus would forgive suicide. But in the second tiny story, the risen Jesus comes across Judas, who is throwing a rope over a tree branch so he can hang himself. "Need any help?" says the resurrected Lord. Judas accepts his help; Jesus says, "Sure, I'll lift you." He then stands by as Judas takes his last breaths.
The third story reimagines Jesus and the woman accused of adultery. As in the bible, Price's version has Jesus telling the Pharisees to cast the first stone if they are sinless; they melt away, and Jesus tells her "Go, don't sin again." Then the woman asks him why adultery is wrong, and he can't say. Why is it wrong, even when her husband beats her? Jesus invites her to join the women who travel with him, but given that everyone seems to understand Jesus is headed for death, and his disciples probably as well, this seems like a suicide mission. There don't seem to be any good options for this woman.
This book leaves me untempted to try more of Price's fiction, though I would consider some of his spiritual writings.
August 9, 2014
Reynolds Price is not best known for his writing on religion, but most people familiar with his fiction will recognize the importance of Christianity within it – an importance that looms just as large as it does in O’Connor, McCullers, or Faulkner. This very short volume is just one more that Price has dedicated to a several-decades-long quest to understanding what he believes to be the historical Jesus, and his continuing legacy in the tradition to which Jesus gave his name.
Price tetchily but accurately points out that today it seems like everyone (at least most Christians) fervently know what Christ would have done in any number of ethical dilemmas which we were not recounted in the Gospels. As he repeatedly reminds the reader here, he finds himself stuck between the rank theological illiteracy of the “What Would Jesus Do?” tribe (replete with their conspicuous, ubiquitous bracelets, almost always worn by people much too young to even understand how serious these questions are) and, on the other hand, the archliteracy of the Jesus Seminar, with whom Price has major methodological quibbles. Price’s lack of presumption is appreciated. As a Christian, though an admittedly unorthodox one, he begins here: that Jesus Christ really lived, and really rose from the dead. According to some scholars, because of this he has already gone too far. But we must all begin with axiomatic assumptions and if that’s where a self-professed Christian wants to begin, I wouldn’t necessarily begrudge the point.
Unfortunately, what follows is the worst of milquetoast ethics from the dregs of bland, uninspiring, twentieth-century Christianity: Jesus never would have condemned homosexuality and the essence of Christianity is “God loved us; we must love one another.” I wouldn’t necessarily disagree with either one of these assertions – except for the fact that Price happens to be a homosexual himself, and his own celerity to exonerate himself in the eyes of his Jesus smacks of the same Christian presumption which I mentioned above.
Price doesn’t contend to be a religious scholar or have any formal training in anything he’s talking about here. To his credit, quite the opposite is true. He’s just a passionate Christian trying to make sense out of his world. And who can hold this against him? If I’m going to subscribe to theological, it can’t be as toothless and lovey-dovey as this. You end up getting a Heaven that resembles something like “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” where everyone has a golden ticket. Universal grace and forgiveness rest at the heart of the most attractive kinds of Christianity. Yet just as central to the religion is a body of proscribed behaviors transgressions against which we must be punished for. Where does the stress fall? Now this is a question that can be taken up in one of hundreds of different denominations and, ultimately, only in the human heart.
Price’s attempt to provide answers will satisfy some readers (most likely those who identify as liberal Christians), but it was less appealing to me – an open-minded atheist with a longstanding interest in Christian history, ethics, and Christology.
Price tetchily but accurately points out that today it seems like everyone (at least most Christians) fervently know what Christ would have done in any number of ethical dilemmas which we were not recounted in the Gospels. As he repeatedly reminds the reader here, he finds himself stuck between the rank theological illiteracy of the “What Would Jesus Do?” tribe (replete with their conspicuous, ubiquitous bracelets, almost always worn by people much too young to even understand how serious these questions are) and, on the other hand, the archliteracy of the Jesus Seminar, with whom Price has major methodological quibbles. Price’s lack of presumption is appreciated. As a Christian, though an admittedly unorthodox one, he begins here: that Jesus Christ really lived, and really rose from the dead. According to some scholars, because of this he has already gone too far. But we must all begin with axiomatic assumptions and if that’s where a self-professed Christian wants to begin, I wouldn’t necessarily begrudge the point.
Unfortunately, what follows is the worst of milquetoast ethics from the dregs of bland, uninspiring, twentieth-century Christianity: Jesus never would have condemned homosexuality and the essence of Christianity is “God loved us; we must love one another.” I wouldn’t necessarily disagree with either one of these assertions – except for the fact that Price happens to be a homosexual himself, and his own celerity to exonerate himself in the eyes of his Jesus smacks of the same Christian presumption which I mentioned above.
Price doesn’t contend to be a religious scholar or have any formal training in anything he’s talking about here. To his credit, quite the opposite is true. He’s just a passionate Christian trying to make sense out of his world. And who can hold this against him? If I’m going to subscribe to theological, it can’t be as toothless and lovey-dovey as this. You end up getting a Heaven that resembles something like “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” where everyone has a golden ticket. Universal grace and forgiveness rest at the heart of the most attractive kinds of Christianity. Yet just as central to the religion is a body of proscribed behaviors transgressions against which we must be punished for. Where does the stress fall? Now this is a question that can be taken up in one of hundreds of different denominations and, ultimately, only in the human heart.
Price’s attempt to provide answers will satisfy some readers (most likely those who identify as liberal Christians), but it was less appealing to me – an open-minded atheist with a longstanding interest in Christian history, ethics, and Christology.
June 26, 2010
I got this book because it was at a discount, and because it's by a NC homosexual who is a prolific novelist and professor at Duke (we live about an hour south of Duke). I am also interested in understanding homosexuals, and how to minister to them, since I know a couple and care deeply about them.
Reynolds Price calls himself an "outlaw Christian." Although I reject his conclusions about the ethics of Jesus (for the most part), I respect his learning. He's obviously well-read in the area of Jesus scholarship. I also appreciated his impatience with both Christian fundamentalists and postmodern critics.
The book was mainly interesting to me because it showed a deep thinker wrestling with the Scriptures, while (in my opinion) rejecting some of its basic truths.
Price is definitely be one person I will be praying for--and I hope he won't resent that ...
Reynolds Price calls himself an "outlaw Christian." Although I reject his conclusions about the ethics of Jesus (for the most part), I respect his learning. He's obviously well-read in the area of Jesus scholarship. I also appreciated his impatience with both Christian fundamentalists and postmodern critics.
The book was mainly interesting to me because it showed a deep thinker wrestling with the Scriptures, while (in my opinion) rejecting some of its basic truths.
Price is definitely be one person I will be praying for--and I hope he won't resent that ...
January 19, 2014
Exploring the ethics of Jesus during his ministry. For me there was more value in reflecting in the questions the author brought up than maybe the answers he came up with, not that I disagreed with him, but the real value sometimes is seeing things in a different light.
March 10, 2020
I have great respect for Reynolds Price as a writer and a thinker. Have been reading spiritual literature and this added to my understanding of Price’s approach to mysticism, as well as Jesus’s ethics, both of which reinforce my own thoughts.
August 27, 2012
In this intriguing and troublesome little book, Reynolds Price imagines three encounters with Jesus dealing with homosexuality, suicide, and the role of women, issues that Jesus does not address in the gospels. It is for Price a deeply personal book, borne out of a love (albeit idiosyncratic) of Jesus (as a man? as God?), a love complemented by his dissatisfaction with the Church as an institution. As a sort of ethical experiment this book is certainly suggestive - Price does in fact present a "serious way of wondering". To my mind, however, that's not enough. The human imagination is a rich and creative thing, yet it creates from the created. Despite protestations throughout that he has attempted to steer clear of self-affirmation, there is enough personal exposition in the book to recognize that the ethics of Christ Price presents are not necessarily the ethics of THE Christ; they are the ethics of Price's Christ. A way of wondering may be serious, it may spring from humanity's most erudite and creative imagination, it may even be helpful, but its ethical possibilities are limited to the possibilities of the human mind. Is that enough for a human god? perhaps. Is that enough for an incarnate God? I doubt it. It is in the divine imagination, which creates out of its very self, and is in itself the ground of all being, that the ethics of Jesus must be seated.
August 9, 2011
Fantastic read.
Openly gay, liberal, and self-described devout Christian Reynolds Price, after a long explanatory, 'wonders' what Christ might have said or done when confronted with homosexuality, suicide, and the plight of women in a male-dominated religion.
Here's an excerpt of formal introduction:
"In two succeeding lectures at the National Cathedral and at Auburn Seminary, Price continued to explore the apparently contradictory ethics that Jesus articulates in the Gospels; and in a controversial act of artistic license, Price reimagined the historical Jesus. In A Serious Way of Wondering, Price expands these lectures to present Jesus with three problems of burning moral concern -- suicide, homosexuality, and the plight of women in male-dominated cultures and faiths. A sweeping view of the inescapable implications of Jesus' merciful life and all-embracing thought -- and of the benefits of enlarging our notions of humanity, community, and equality -- A Serious Way of Wondering is a significant contribution to Price's penetrating works of religious inquiry."
Kind of like C.S. Lewis...but, gay.
Openly gay, liberal, and self-described devout Christian Reynolds Price, after a long explanatory, 'wonders' what Christ might have said or done when confronted with homosexuality, suicide, and the plight of women in a male-dominated religion.
Here's an excerpt of formal introduction:
"In two succeeding lectures at the National Cathedral and at Auburn Seminary, Price continued to explore the apparently contradictory ethics that Jesus articulates in the Gospels; and in a controversial act of artistic license, Price reimagined the historical Jesus. In A Serious Way of Wondering, Price expands these lectures to present Jesus with three problems of burning moral concern -- suicide, homosexuality, and the plight of women in male-dominated cultures and faiths. A sweeping view of the inescapable implications of Jesus' merciful life and all-embracing thought -- and of the benefits of enlarging our notions of humanity, community, and equality -- A Serious Way of Wondering is a significant contribution to Price's penetrating works of religious inquiry."
Kind of like C.S. Lewis...but, gay.
August 7, 2007
Very odd, very interesting, imagined ethics of Jesus. How would Jesus deal with a gay person? Or even better, a gay disciple? Even better, Judas, who turned him in in a jealous rage, because he was in love with Jesus? How would he deal with a woman who had had an abortion? What would he have said to the adultress after he saved her from being stoned? This guy isn't called a "Renegade Christian" for nothing. He is a walking challenge to the Christian Right's judgmental "values." The book is written in a heavy, odd prose, so I couldn't quite give it five stars, but whoa! I've never read anything quite like this before.
March 24, 2007
A brief analysis of the biblical cannon as well as an interpretation of what the gospals would have said if Jesus had encountered homosexuality, abortion, and suicide.
January 1, 2008
In one ear and out another orifice.
November 8, 2008
Like much of Price's work, a little disconcerting but very good at moving your perspective around to show you a subject from a new point of view.
November 27, 2010
How Jesus would have dealt with contemporary issues.
October 22, 2013
Quite interesting and quite profound. "Jesus was not a Christian."
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews