Description
Book SynopsisHow exactly does one explain Jesus? That is the central question of this book. But the taskof explaining Jesus is complicated. For many nonbelievers, skeptics, or practitioners of non-Jesus-based religions or spiritualities, it can be very strange to refer to a particular man wholived in the first century CE as someone who is still living. Even for some believers, this ideacan be a difficult thing to understandeven given the teachings of their faith. Thus, whetherbeliever or nonbeliever or somewhere in-between, for the intellectually curious, there is needfor an explanation. Explaining Jesus explores the possibilities of a secular, interdisciplinary, science-based explanation for the phenomenon of Jesus.
Trade ReviewIf for an answer we should turn to Jesus, what is the question? How to understand the emotional and spiritual meaning of a ‘personal relationship with Jesus’? In his interesting and well-developed book, Explaining Jesus, Benjamin Bennett-Carpenter addresses this topic, drawing on theology and the humanities as well as on behavioral and natural sciences. For those who understand themselves as standing in an intimate relationship with Jesus, reading this book will be a challenging—but not necessarily negative—exercise in self-understanding. For those who don’t see themselves, or Jesus, in that way, it is worth the effort to read it, to understand fellow humans in ways they might not have thought of before. -- Willem B. Drees, Tilburg University
Explaining Jesus is a complex and sophisticated attempt by someone raised evangelical, but now a secular humanist, to explain the phenomenon that people experience: Jesus as a living person. The author’s response is neither reductive nor dismissive, and readers will learn much from following him on his remarkable intellectual journey. This is a book that speaks to Christians and non-Christians alike. -- T.M. Luhrmann, Professor of Anthropology and Psychology, Stanford University, author of When God Talks Back
Table of ContentsPreface: A Problem-Driven Life Acknowledgments Introduction: The Problem of Explaining Jesus Part I Chapter 1: Philosophies of Being a Person Like Jesus: Metaphysicalist, Dualist, Physicalist Chapter 2: Discourse About Jesus: From the Vernacular to the Scholarly and Scientific Chapter 3: Discourse About Jesus in Historical Scholarship Part II Chapter 4: A Turn to the Sciences: An Evolutionary, Physicalist Context for Explaining Jesus Chapter 5: “Jesus” as a “Person” with Special Features: Cognitive Psychological Applications Toward Explaining Jesus Chapter 6: Experiencing “Jesus” as Cultivated Social Practice: Behavioral Aspects of the Phenomenon Chapter 7: Toward Explaining a “Personal Relationship with Jesus”: Isolating and Studying a Phrase Part III Chapter 8: as a Sign in Complex Systems Chapter 9: as Glocal Sign of the People Chapter 10: Critiqued and Appropriated Chapter 11: The Hope of Resurrection: Beliefs, Fantasies, Misconceptions, Present-day Science, Speculation, Science Fiction, and Delusion Chapter 12: Lessons Learned, Including All That Is Not Explained, and Final Remarks References About the Author
