Temptations of Jesus

by Howard Thurman

In Tempations of Jesus, Howard Thurman takes us to the wilderness. With Jesus, we face the Tempter's challenges. We rejoice in the choices Jesus makes, in his insistence on doing God's will, and we pray for his guidance as we face the dilemmas of our own lives.

Genres: Christian, Spirituality, Religion

64 pages, Paperback

First published July 30, 1978

About the author

Howard Washington Thurman was an author, philosopher, theologian, educator, and civil rights leader. As a prominent religious figure, he played a leading role in many social justice movements and organizations of the twentieth century.

Reviews

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book of Thurman's sermons.

"When Jesus was baptised of John, a very extraordinary thing happened to him. It seemed to him that the heavens opened and that the living Spirit of the living God descended upon him like a dove and in the midst of this experience, he heard a Voice . . . and the Voice said, “You are my Son, in whom I am well pleased.” And then he left; shaken to his core."

Imagine Jesus: —"What shall I do with my life if I am going to be true to the tremendous experience of God which I have had?"

Temptation: If you are the son of God, jump. We experience this in our own time. E.g. "I have offered my thanksgiving to God for all of the manifestations of graces by which he has surrounded and sustained my life, if I have an inner sense of harmony and peace with His Spirit—then this ought to give me certain pragmatic advantages in life. I ought to be privileged to be an exception to the rules that bind people who have not been acting this way. Have you ever felt that way?"

"Jesus resolved the dilemma by saying that man’s central loyalty must always be to God and anything that conflicts with that is against God."

"This is so hard, isn’t it? I think that here Jesus is dealing with the most difficult thing in religious commitment: To be able to give up the initiative over your own life; to yield at the core of one’s self, the nerve center of one’s consent to God; and to trust the act itself."

[Chris Theule · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great short book from 5 sermons of Thurmans.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Howard Thurman takes us to the wilderness, the crossroads, the garden. With Jesus, we face the challenges: Bread. Privilege. Power. Crossroads. Death. A powerful series of five sermons, with readings and meditations, from a teacher, poet, mystic, scholar and theologian who helped to shape the active and courageous nonviolence of the civil rights movement.