Book Review: Jesus: A Theography by Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola

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.

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