Setting Jesus Free [Paperback]

Setting Jesus Free - Review by Mark Townsend [January 2010]

I've just finished Setting Jesus Free by John Churcher. What a treat! It is passionate, refreshing, inspiring and stimulating.

I remember the occasion of devouring a book of similar impact: Free to Believe by Bishop David Jenkins. Back then (some 20 years ago) I'd not read any `Liberal' Christian books at all. I decided on Jenkins's new work because I was a disillusioned (and disgruntled) fundamentalist and thought the time had come to see what all the fuss was about. I soon discovered that this infamous Bishop was a passionate and inspiring follower of the God `who is as he is in Jesus.' Deep faith (intellectual, tested, struggling and powerful faith) oozed from every single page. I was converted (again)!

John Churcher's book had the same effect. I love books that help continue the process of conversion, for conversion is not a once off `I was in darkness, now I am in light' experience, but a gradual loosing of the grip of the ego on what we think `God' is - a slow but constant erosion of our own idols.

So what made Setting Jesus Free so special, and important enough in my journey to equate it with the book that moved me from a conservative to a liberal form of Christianity 20 years ago? One word - relevance! I'm afraid that so many Liberal Christian books lack relevance because they lack passion and (dare I say) gospel zeal. Greyness is a colour often seen as synonymous with Liberalism and, as a proud liberal who had five years theological / ministerial training within two different Anglican liberal institutions, I have to say that the `grey' label does often stick. The problem is partly to do with translating the super academic / intellectual theories into a language that folk can easily grasp, and which can be moulded into passionate sermons. Here is where Churcher gives us a real gift for, while being thoroughly immersed in all the latest critical scholarship, he writes in such a way as to keep our attention and make it feel profoundly relevant - and so it is. It is written to be used.

The author clearly has a deep love and respect for the man Jesus and the people he (as a minister) is called to serve. On top of this, while being unashamedly critical of the biblical literalists and theological conservatives, the author is generous, respectful and loving towards them too.

I therefore urge you (whoever you are and whatever you believe) to get hold of this book. If you are a Christian believer who's always found biblical criticism too heady and dry it will surprise and delight you; if you are a non-Christian who would like to know more about the human radical who began this whole church thing, but without the ulterior motive of winning you for the church, then this is for you; if you are any sort of priest or minister, then please get a heap of them and use them for your 2010 lent groups or bible study classes.

I am confident that you will discover, within the pages of John Churcher's book, a Jesus who is exciting, refreshing, realistic and relevant; a real Jesus who will inspire and challenge you. For this Jesus has (within the book) now been taken down from the divine pedestals we've placed him on, and returned to his home country - a tiny slither of 1st Century Jewish soil under occupation of an alien force. This wandering radical was so loved up on `God Spirit' that he changed the lives of all he came in contact with; but not because he was a `God Incarnate' whom we must worship, but because he was a human mirror through which we can recognise our own divinity.

Order Setting Jesus Free and you may well yourself end up free indeed.

I had been aware that this book has a controversial element to it. The author questions age-old teachings/preachings and dogmatic messages from the Bible. It was this alone that made me want to read and learn from it.

Whether you are a deeply religious person, an aethiest, a sceptic or someone on the fringes of a formal religion, you will find this book an eye-opener and well worth the read. I liked the gentle, clear, writing style of the author and his deep passion for Jesus. His soft humour engaged me as a reader,especially when he suggests we put ourselves in the place of the disciples, when asked by Jesus to follow him,'Fine, no problem...let's go for it, no clothes, no food, ....rocky roads...let's Nike it, let's just do it.'

John Churcher takes us through the life of Jesus (based on Luke's gospel). He portrays to us, the real messages that Jesus gave and he invites us to look beyond the stories which were sometimes created by the evangalists. The gospels were written in turbulent times and not always based on fact. We are encouraged to go beyond basic attitudes just as Jesus did (at this point I have to admit it's ironic that both the author and Jesus share the same initials!). Do most religions get the point or want to get the point? History confirms that that has not always been the case. We are asked to look at the bigger circle and get the simple point of 'Perfect Love'; a message that repeats itself many times in the book.

Finally, to quote a line that might be called the essence of the book, 'What a differant world we would be living in if all people could put their hands to the plough to create the future, without looking back at their interpretations of history.' A great book and I hear there is another one to follow....

Setting Jesus Free
Liberating Jesus
Warning! You should read this passionate book only if you are prepared to have layers of blinkers removed from your eyes or if you have concluded that the prevalent message in many churches is out-dated and irrelevant. The author challenges both a literalist approach to the bible and a view of Christ which so spiritualises him as to obscure his essential humanity which seeks to reach out in unconditional love to all who are maginalised in any way. Many are the applications in the contemporary world. If you don't want to read the lengthy volumes of such Transatlantic `progressive theologians' as Jack Spong or Marcus Borg, then this book is for you.

The writer strongly believes that the length of time between Jesus's life and the writing of the new testament Gospels 30-70 years later throws into doubt the contexts and historical accuracy of the stories and sayings of Jesus. Many are in fact Jewish-style midrash in which a story (e.g. of a birth or a healing) is retold based upon earlier such narratives. The obvious examples in Luke and Matthew are the birth stories. Those stories the writers include have also been chosen, written up, or even in some cases possibly invented, as applying to situations faced at that later time e.g. the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple, the influx of the Gentiles, their expulsion from the Jewish synagogues and Roman persecution.

The Easter stories are similarly historically suspect but what they essentially demonstrate is a dynamic and liberating relationship with the spirit of Jesus, both for the first apostles and potentially for us.

The author's views are at times speculative, some might say fanciful, but never less than stimulating. The book majors on Luke and we are promised a further volume on Mark.

Albert Jewell