Synopses & Reviews
[Griffith] is a thorough independent scholar, and his concise writing makes historical facts engaging and relevant. His most important take-home message: it is not verboten for people of faith to ask why beliefs and practices developed in a specific way. In fact, it could even be considered an obligation for healthy, committed believers to do so.” Publishers Weekly
I love Brian Griffith for having the heart to try to scrape away the barnacles of ideology and prejudice that keep attaching themselves to those four, frail little gospel boats. Part of this book will break your heart as he describes how little compromises and strategic emphases grow into huge errors and disasters.” FRANK COTTRELL BOYCE, author of Millions, a Carnegie Medal award-winning book adapted into a feature film directed by Danny Boyle
In Correcting Jesus, Brian Griffith patiently and clearly untangles the many strands of the story of Christianity, and the many changes made over the centuries to the original story of Jesus and his message. If youve ever wondered, Where did that rule come from?” and Was it always this way?” this book will provide enlightenment.
Brian Griffith grew up in Texas, studied history at the University of Alberta, and now lives just outside of Toronto, Ontario. He is an independent historian who examines how cultural history influences our lives, and how collective experience offers insights for our future.
Review
As a child in Sunday school, Brian Griffith noticed a contrast between what Jesus said in the Bible and the way his community worshipped. . . . In Correcting Jesus: 2000 Years of Changing the Story Griffith notes howstarting with the disciples themselvesJesus has been second-guessed.” Oregonian
Brian Griffiths Correcting Jesus is a fiercely moral, highly learned, and very welcome entry into public conversations about Christianity and social life. Focusing on the way in which Christian interpreterseven as early as the apostles themselveshave corrected” and adjusted Jesus words and ministry to suit their needs, Griffith chronicles this sleight of hand whereby the hard sayings” of justice and charity are forsaken . . . Where all too many books get sucked into juvenile rants against theism as such, or retreat into the safety of methodological foxholes, Griffiths book is the real deal.” JASON C. BIVINS, author of Religion of Fear
The Christ of today is not the Jesus of history. The manalong with his messagebecame radically altered along the way. In this readable and insightful book that spans the centuries, Brian Griffith carefully documents how Jesus teachings became changed to suit the predilections and fads of later audiences. This book is an excellent read for anyone concerned with moving beyond popular preaching to what the Jesus of Nazareth really taught.” BARRIE A. WILSON, PhD, author of How Jesus Became Christian
Synopsis
In Correcting Jesus, Brian Griffith patiently and clearly untangles the many strands of the story of Christianity, and the many changes made over the centuries to the original story of Jesus and his message. For any reader who’s wondered, “Where did that rule come from?” and “Was it always this way?” Brian’s book is the one you’ve waited for. He’s always passionate but direct in his thesis that the original words of Jesus were meant as a basis for a society based on partnership and equity, not the one of domination and hierarchy they’re used so often to justify.
By the early 20th century, it was generally accepted that all creatures (and communities) were inescapably rivals in life’s battle for supremacy. It was the law of life that only victors had a future. And by this logic, which led straight to World Wars I and II, Jesus was simply irrelevant to reality. . . . In this context, the old imperative of Christian jihad against infidels was confirmed by scientific realism. Somebody had to come out on top.
Brian Griffith, an independent historian, is interested in the whole world’s “culture wars.” His two previous books are The Gardens of Their Dreams: Desertification and Culture in World History and Different Visions of Love: Partnership and Dominator Values in Christian History, with a foreword by Riane Eisler. He’s married and lives near Toronto.
Synopsis
What have they done to a great idea? And why?
About the Author
Brian Griffith grew up in Texas, studied history at the University of Alberta, and now lives just outside of Toronto, Ontario. He is an independent historian who examines how cultural history influences our lives, and how collective experience offers insights for our future. He is the author of The Gardens of Their Dreams: Desertification and Culture in World History, Different Visions of Love: Partnership and Dominator Values in Christian History,
Correcting Jesus: 2000 Years of Changing the Story, and
A Galaxy of Immortal Women: The Yin Side of Chinese Civilization.