THE GREATEST STORY NEVER TOLD. In the history of religion there has never been another figure quite like Jesus of Nazareth. We know what propelled Moses, Mohammed and the Buddha into becoming great religious leaders. What transformed this obscure villager from Galilee into a charismatic prophet who would change the course of Western civilization? Becoming Jesus seeks to answer that question by examining in depth the central religious event in his life, his baptism by John the Baptist. Hiding in plain sight for two thousands years but obscured by Christianity’s emphasis on Jesus’ divinity, the conversion story embedded in the Gospels helps us to understand how Jesus came to have a unique vision of God. That vision shaped his mission and message, setting in motion a religious revolution.
Berens, a freelance writer, discusses the historical background and personal development of Jesus Christ in this enjoyable speculative biography. Beginning with the premise that Jesus would have had similar experiences to those of his contemporaries, Berens marshals archaeological evidence as well as historical and biblical scholarship to explore what Jesus’s everyday life was like as well as which events and influences may have led him to make his choices. Taking a strictly historical approach, Berens situates Jesus as a Galilean man among other Galilean men, experiencing the events of his lifetime—the hardships of life under Roman rule, the recent history of religious violence—just as his contemporaries (particularly John the Baptist) did. Berens’s approach is matter-of-fact and sticks close to the arc of Jesus’s life as known through the Bible, continually bringing the reader back to the everyday realities of first-century Palestine and the notion that the rationales for some decisions (particularly spiritual ones) are only known to the individual making them. Reaching no real conclusions, Berens’s rehashing of scholarship will appeal to those looking for a primer on Jesus’s life. (BookLife)
