Son of God by Angela Tilby, 0340785780, Lowest Book Price Finder

Customer Reviews:

Good read

This is a good read - I have been trying to find a copy for a number of years and at last have one!

There is not much of a link with the TV series which I was surprised about, good colour plates from the series can be found in the book. But little else.

On a personal note I have found this book to be able to answer a number of questions. For the first time have seen the historical context that Jesus lived in.

Well worth obtaining a copy!

Magnificent!

This book was a revelation! As an RE teacher it was very helpful in teaching the subject of Jesus and his background. Personally, it made some issues which had previously been unclear far more understandable. Rather then being vague histocial figures, Jesus, and other such religious figures, are shown to have been affected by the social conditions of their upbringing, and the information in this book on extra-scriptural resoures into his background shed a new light on this; the issue of 'who is your neighbour' was particuarly interesting. Previously, it had always seemed that the Pharisee's were concerned with upholding the Jewish law, whereas in this book it became apparent that their preoccupation with ritual cleanliness was not just an incidental action, it was an obsession! Other interesting points include the specific references to Jesus's birth relating to Mary's virginity and the star of David. Without giving away more of the book(!) the combination of theology, archeology, science and many other academic desciplines, coupled with Tilby's emminently readable style make this a highly commendable book.

A good text to start with on Jesus the man

I wanted to read Son of God because of the tie-in with the BBC televised programme of the same name. Surprisingly, the book was not to be found in my local BBC shops or bookshops at the time the programme aired...

Having secured the book, I was disappointed that the link between it and the programme was so weak. So, don't purchase this book if this is your expectation. (However, the two sets of colour plate illustrations are taken from the programme.)

How about the book itself? The 182 pages are easy enough to read, with large font size and generalist-style prose. Indeed, the book is to be recommended as a starter guide to the human (but not divine) life of Jesus. In this context, it is a good read. Presenting the historical knowledge of surely the most significant human of existence in an easy-to-read format could not be a simple task, and Angela Tilby does well.

The compromise of this approach is to have to omit background knowledge of certain events. Tilby does her best efforts here, but the treatment of historical contextualisation reads like an insider's knowledge: if you already know the political history at the time of Jesus' life, then what is presented suffices; if you don't you just carry on, paying attention to the detail on Jesus. To make curious ignoramuses like me happier, a more comprehensive reading list at the end would have been appreciated: not just on the history of the life of Jesus, but to learn more on the 'wretched and undistinguished career' of Pilate, for example.

Overall, Son of God is a satisfactory book. It deflated my raised expectations after watching the very interesting television programme. But the book is a good text to start with, to learn the history of Jesus the man.

No depth to research at all - very poor

This book is like the series ,very poorly researched re science,theology and merely dismissed numerous issues of sacred scripture.He dismisses diabolical possession as mental illness which it certainly is not. Tell that to the many exorcists who work secretly and constantly today. Pope John Paul 11 has carried out 3 exorcisms during his office - NOT ON MENTALLY ILL PEOPLE...

A fascinating read, couldnt put it down.

I found that I tended to see Jesus more as an ordinary man who was seeking his way and his purpose/role in life rather than the Messiah. I t gave a fresh insight into the Bible and I found it gave me food for thought and discussion.

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