Life of Christ
by Fulton J. Sheen
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Book Summary Information
Author: Fulton J. SheenBrand: Random House
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1977-09-16
ISBN: 0385132204
Number of pages: 688
Publisher: Image
Book Reviews of Life of Christ
Book Review: Wonderful, Profound, and Potentially Life-Changing
Summary: 5 Stars
Fulton J. Sheen's Life of Christ is, simply put, an incredible work and the best Christian non-fiction book that I have read to date. It is a book in which you sense the author's sweat, blood, tears, and joy on almost every page, and there's good reason for this. According to the introduction, Sheen experienced a "dark night of the soul" over a period of several years that threatened to overwhelm him. Instead of falling into despair or unbelief, however, he threw himself into Christ's embrace and used the time to study and draw strength from the life of his master, savior, and lord. The result is astonishing: He left behind a rich, deep, and profoundly moving work that has the potential to draw any Christian, whether Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, or Protestant, into a much deeper relationship with Christ.
Sheen takes the Gospel according to John as his launching point and main source; this gospel provides the broad outlines of Jesus' life as covered by Sheen. The synoptic gospels are used to flesh out the story with additional material not found in John's gospel, but even so, Sheen has not provided us with a complete recounting of Jesus' life that could be derived from the four gospels. Sheen evidently intentionally passes over much of Jesus' teaching; he neither discusses the parables, nor does he provide a full examination of the sermon on the mount. Instead, he places his emphasis on events in Jesus' life of great spiritual significance.
And it is in such emphases that Sheen really shines. Even if you've been a Christian for many decades, you may well be stunned, as I was, at the connections that Sheen makes between different events in the life of Christ, or between events in the life of Christ and events from the Old Testament. You may be awestruck, as I was, at Sheen's deep mining that unearths truths that you never dreamed of in a million years.
Does this sound like an intellectual tour de force? Think again. This book is as much or more heart as head, as much or more feeling as thinking in orientation. Sheen, out of his travails, produces lyrical, poetical passages that leave you heartbroken or overwhelmed with joy. Only someone who faced a great darkness and intentionally if painfully carried his cross into the light of Christ could produce passages such as those found in this book. Some of the writing found here is among the most wonderful you will find in any book.
In effect, through this book, Sheen becomes a spiritual director leading other Christians on a journey of love and pain through the life of Christ, showing them just how much their lord did for them and how much he loves them and the church. This journey is a hard one: Sheen over and over again emphasizes how Christ came to die for us, not to live and be a great teacher. While there is much repetition on this point, you can sense just how much Sheen himself learned this experientially through these dark years. And in this book he invites all of us to travel down the same road, one in which we take up our cross to follow Christ wherever he may lead, even "through many dangers, toils, and snares" ("Amazing Grace").
This journey took me two years; I just finished it a few days before I wrote this review. Life interruptions caused me to put down this book at different periods of time. Still, I'm very glad I did not rush through it. Your journey with this book may well be a quicker one than mine was, but take it slowly and attentively. Sheen packs more meaning into one phrase or clause than many writers do into an entire book, and his emotional passages are worth much rereading so as to let them sink into your soul.
This book seems timeless except for Sheen's repeated references to communism. Those sections keep reminding you that the author wrote this book in the middle of the last century, but, overall, they do nothing to detract from the power of the work.
If you're a Christian, you should read this book for spiritual nourishment and, particularly, to love your savior and lord more deeply. It's hard to imagine your love for Christ not increasing as you read this book, even if you're a Protestant who disagrees with some of Sheen's theology.
If you're not a Christian, know that this book is very traditional and theologically orthodox in its perspective. Sheen apparently had very little respect for the liberal theology of his day. Furthermore, some of his arguments are similar to those made by C.S. Lewis. If your heart is open, you might find this book profoundly moving and even life-changing.
As for me, it'll be a long time before I can forget much of Sheen's wonderful prose and imagery: the ox and the ass present to worship at the birth of Christ in repentance for how men had worshipped them throughout the ages; Jesus ascending the pulpit of the cross to deliver his greatest sermon; the beginning of Jesus taking on the sins of the world not on the cross, but in the garden of Gethsemane; the marked contrasts between Peter and John in their reactions to their resurrected Lord; and many other passages too numerous to mention. This book is one of my top three "desert island" books: I would always want to have it on hand as spiritual sustenance. (The other two books, for the record, are the Bible and The Lord of the Rings.) It has been a life-changing book for me, and it may be for you as well.
Summary of Life of Christ
Filled with compassion and brilliant scholarship, Fulton Sheen's recounting of the Birth, Life, Crucifixion, and Resurrection of Christ is as dramatic and moving as the subject Himself.Jesus Books
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