The Jesus Sayings: The Quest for His Authentic Message

by Rex Weyler

Is it possible to reconcile Jesus, the Prince of Peace, with religious violence? From the Inquisition to the burning of women healers to modern pedophilia scandals, spiritual leaders and followers are deeply divided about how to reconcile the teachings of Jesus with the atrocities of church history. How did his message get misinterpreted, and what relevance does that message have in the 21st century? Here, critically acclaimed author and social historian Rex Weyler explores the mystery surrounding the historical Jesus, whose voice and words have been distorted by centuries of revision. By examining the research of international Bible scholars and some 200 ancient sources, including the recently discovered Gospels of Thomas and Mary, Weyler recreates the life of Jesus and his legacy, from the Roman Empire to the present day. Combining popular history with modern scholarship, The Jesus Sayings is a revelatory and highly readable work that entertains, inspires, and enlightens.

408 pages, Paperback

First published March 18, 2008

Reviews

[jcg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully written book that strips away the virgin birth, the sacrifice for our sins, the resurrection and all the other trappings of mainstream Christianity to get back to the original teachings of Jesus.

Jesus' basic message was that the kingdom of God is revealed in how we act towards our neighbours rather than what we believe or what rituals we perform. The light of the kingdom is within us, waiting to be revealed. Rex Weyler's detective work shows an exhaustive study of ancient manuscripts and sources as well as of contemporary scholarship.

The only place Rex Weyler goes off the rails is when he falls into the role of debunker, explaining away the miracle of feeding the multitude with the loaves and fishes as an example of everyone sharing the food they had brought with them, and when he trots out statistics on the placebo effect to explain away Jesus' healing miracles.

I am glad this book was written. When I first read the new testament when I was thirteen, I could see at once that there was a lot of doctrine and extraneous material pasted onto the figure of Jesus. I lacked the resources to separate the wheat from the chaff and I am grateful to Rex Weyler for this attempt to do it for me.

[TheTyee.ca]

In his knockout book The Jesus Sayings: The Quest for His Authentic Message, Vancouver author Rex Weyler deconstructs one of the most highly constructed figures in the Western world. By the end Jesus appears as a wise and humble teacher, advocating self-awareness and social compassion. He challenged the conventional thinking of his time, replacing blind ritual with informed action.

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