Jesus - Then and Now [antikvár]

Introduction HIS ACTIVE WORK lasted for less than three years. He held no position in public life. He had almost no money and few possessions. He never wrote a book. He never used force. He was hated by the authorities, arrested, condemned, tortured and executed. An yet His teaching was, and is, of enormous relevance. If true, we have profound answers to the greatest questions that have taxed philosophers down the centuries: issues of hfe and death, God and humanity. His character summed up what all of us would most like to be in our best moments. Hie dath, beyond any question of dispute, was the most famous death in human history. No other death has aroused a fraction of such intense feeling over so many hundreds of years. His resurrection was either the most outstanding event of all time, or else a monstrous hoax. And today, nearly 2,000 years afterwards, over 1,400 million people throughout the world profess to follow him: about a third of the world's population. Few can be passive about Jesus. No other human being has been so loved and so hated, so adored and so despised, so proclaimed and so opposed. In our present world, two facts seem to be obvious. First, there is increasing interest in the person of Jesus. In the 1960s the common cry seemed to be: 'Glory to main the highest, For man is the master of things.' But if man is the master of things, he is certainly not the master of himself. It is tragically easier to fly to the moon than it is to make peace on the earth. Through staggering scientific and technological advances (which can eliminate us all many times over) we have discovered the bankruptcy of materiaUsm. Human hearts are still crying out for meaning, love, forgivenes, freedom, peace, reconciUation, hope and God. If nothing else, Jesus is supremely relevant to all these basic needs. Second, in spite of the Bible repeatedly being the world's top bestseller, there is widespread ignorance of the facts about Jesus. When it comes to the significance of his claims, the content of his teaching, the purpose of his death, the evidence for his resurrection or the hope of his return, there is much confusion. Yet, if the records about Jesus are true, then unquestionably there is no greater truth to be found anywhere in the universe. For these two reasons alone, apart from many others, I was delighted to have a part in the making of the series of video programmes and of this book that goes with them. Not only has Jesus changed the entire course of my life, in ways I could not possibly have imagined when I first came to know him at the age of twenty-one, but also I have become increasingly convinced over the years of the integrity of the evidence surrounding him. For me, there could be no greater good news in the world. And, in the hostile uncertainties of today, it is surely worthwhile investigating that good news for oneself. Jesiis Then and Now is designed for that purpose.