What difference does it make to identify Mark's gospel as an ancient biography? Reading the gospels as ancient biographies makes a profound difference to the way that we interpret them. Biography immortalizes the memory of the subject, creating a literary monument to the person's life and teaching. Yet it is also a bid to legitimize a specific view of that figure and to position an author and his audience as appropriate "gatekeepers" of that memory. Biography was well suited to the articulation of shared values and commitments, the formation of group identity, and the binding together of a past story, present concerns, and future hopes. Helen Bond argues that Mark's author used the genre of biography to extend the gospel from an earlier narrow focus on the death and resurrection of Jesus so that it included the way of life of its founding figure. Situating Jesus at the heart of a biography was a bold step in outlining a radical form of Christian discipleship patterned on the life - and death - of Jesus.

How often have you heard the Gospel at Sunday Mass and wondered, "What happens next?" Often, our only experience of the Gospels is of those isolated segments taken out of context, like unassembled pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, rather than the story of our Savior's life. The Life of Jesus Christ: Understanding the Story of the Gospels aims to change that experience. Author Russell Shaw weaves together the events of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John's narratives in chronological order to capture a true and rounded picture of Jesus’ life. The Life of Jesus Christ is the scriptural companion you've been searching for. Together, the four Gospels reveal Jesus Christ, God Incarnate, as a man of complexity and depth — compassionate but stern, who knew how to laugh and how to cry, a charismatic leader uninterested in worldly power, a subtle thinker who drew sublime messages from ordinary life. With Shaw guiding you, you'll truly get to know the Son of God in a new way. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Russell Shaw is an author and journalist who has written more than twenty books. For eighteen years, he was secretary for public affairs for the National Conference of Catholic Bishops/United States Catholic Conference. He later oversaw media relations for the Knights of Columbus for ten years.

For two centuries, Jesus has connected the Latter-day Saints to broader currents of Christianity, even while particular Mormon beliefs have been points of differentiation. From the author of the definitive life of Brigham Young comes a biography of the Mormon Jesus that enriches our understanding of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Jesus Christ is arguably the most famous man who ever lived. His image adorns countless churches, icons, and paintings. He is the subject of millions of statues, sculptures, devotional objects and works of art. Everyone can conjure an image of Jesus: usually as a handsome, white man with flowing locks and pristine linen robes. But what did Jesus really look like? Is our popular image of Jesus overly westernized and untrue to historical reality? This question continues to fascinate. Leading Christian Origins scholar Joan E. Taylor surveys the historical evidence, and the prevalent image of Jesus in art and culture, to suggest an entirely different vision of this most famous of men. He may even have had short hair.

Reproduction of the original.