A great many books have been written about Jesus, the Christ. While they help us to understand the church's theology, they do little to help us relate to the human side of Jesus, the carpenter from Galilee. Until we can see ourselves as partners with him in the human race, his divine nature seems out of reach and somewhat irrelevant to our daily life.
The Rev. Doyle Snyder's book, This Is My Beloved Son: Jesus, the Man, attempts to address this fact. Drawing on his pastoral experience and his years of Bible study and teaching, Rev. Snyder examines the life and ministry of Jesus from the perspective of his struggles as a human being attempting to share with other humans the mysteries and glory of the Kingdom of God. Soundly based in the basic tenets of the Christian faith, this work still invites the reader to examine those tenets for himself, and to decide whether these parts of the scripture are literal fact or whether they were intended to be metaphorical. Whether you are investigating these truths for the first time or are an experienced student of Bible study, you will find something new and stimulating in these pages.
Among the chapter titles in his book are the following: Amazing Surprises, Not a Fairy Tale, The History of Jesus' People, The Social and Political Climate, The Teaching of Jesus, The Challenge of the Bible, Discovering Jesus in the Gospels, Why Was Jesus Crucified?, Women in the Church, Christians and Miracles, Was Jesus Right?
About the Author:
The Rev. Doyle Herbert Snyder (1927-2014) was a graduate of Western Theological and Pittsburgh Theological Seminaries. Ordained to the Presbyterian ministry at Mt. Pleasant, PA in 1957, he served as pastor at three other churches in western Pennsylvania, and was later interim pastor to seven churches in the Pittsburgh, PA area and two in the Cincinnati, Ohio area.
