Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola work together to bring this
volume on the life of Jesus, perhaps the first of its kind. What makes this
piece unique from biographies of the life of Jesus is that Sweet and Viola
highlight their way from Genesis through Revelation identifying Jesus
throughout the pages of Scripture. In considering the reason this
differentiates it from other works, they point out that those writing such
biographies are usually by individuals pursuing the question of the “historical
Jesus” and they rarely regard the entire canon for their purposes (though I
certainly would not accuse them of not reading it). Those who do look to bring
the whole Bible into a unified work are often tracing the metanarrative and
are not focused simply on Jesus. Yet, these men set out to do just that. And
why? As they point out, because Jesus Himself did so (xiii). Among other
justifications for this hermeneutic, they note the Emmaus Road pericope at the
end of Luke’s Gospel where, “beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He
explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures” (Luke
24:27). So that is precisely where these men head.
Beginning in eternity past, they note the pre-existence of
Jesus, the second Person of the Trinity. Following this are two chapters on
creation where they parallel the days of creation with epochs of Jesus’ life in
the first and regard specific details of creation noting parallels in Christ’s
life in the second. The bulk of the book are taken up with chapters that do
work through different segments of Jesus’ earthly existence but with a heavy
look back to the First Testament (Sweet and Viola’s term for the Old Testament,
meant to reveal the two parts of the Bible not as separate and distinct
writings but as the continuation of one story). They round out their work with
a look to the “Return of the King” in Revelation.
It is a well-crafted book. It is easy to read and has some
interesting appendices and notes for further study. The authors define their
audience early and well. They admit whole-heartedly that they are writing to
the general Christian population. This book is not overly academic and it does
not spend much time defending a Christian worldview. Those are discussions for
a different time.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
