"I would not have believed that Peter Gomes, a long-standing hero of mine, could top his The Good Book, but this one does. Of the hundreds of books on Jesus's teachings, [this book] is by far the best. Mincing no words, it drives home how radical Jesus' teachings really are." Huston Smith, author of The World's Religions and The Soul of Christianity

Jesus came preaching, but the church wound up preaching Jesus. Why does the church insist upon making Jesus the object of its attention rather than heeding his message? Esteemed Harvard minister Peter J. Gomes believes that excessive focus on the Bible and doctrines about Jesus have led the Christian church astray. "What did Jesus preach?" asks Gomes. To recover the transformative power of the gospel—"the good news"—Gomes says we must go beyond the Bible and rediscover how to live out Jesus' original revolutionary message of hope:

"Dietrich Bonhoeffer once warned against cheap grace, and I warn now against cheap hope. Hope is not merely the optimistic view that somehow everything will turn out all right in the end if everyone just does as we do. Hope is the more rugged, the more muscular view that even if things don't turn out all right and aren't all right, we endure through and beyond the times that disappoint or threaten to destroy us."

This gospel is offensive and always overturns the status quo, Gomes tells us. It's not good news for those who wish not to be disturbed, and today our churches resound with shrill speeches of fear and exclusivity or tepid retellings of a health-and-wealth gospel. With his unique blend of eloquence and insight, Gomes invites us to hear anew the radical nature of Jesus' message of hope and change. Using examples from ancient times as well as from modern pop culture, The Scandalous Gospel of Jesus shows us why the good news is every bit as relevant today as when it was first preached. ( )

Good, but not great. The ramblings of a liberal Christian. And, I don't say this in a negative way, for I myself am liberal in many views. Made for a good read, but I thought the book lost it's luster towards the end as it seemed to become rather repetitive on the same issues (oppression, racism, counter-culture, etc). Although there was some good insight into the teachings of Christ, I didn't think Gomes offered anything new and fresh. I thought there was an over abundance of quotes taken from old hymns that I simply couldn't understand much in the same way I cannot understand Old King James English.

Although liberal on many views I still remain conservative on the issue of homosexuality.... seemingly a highly emphasized issue throughout this book. While I agree wholeheartedly with Gomes that homosexuals should be included in the church, be allowed to serve, and even take on leadership positions, I still maintain that homosexuality is a sin. A sin, like all others that must be confessed, repented from, and dealt with. This does not mean it will be conquered, but action must be taken by the individual to fight it and strive towards victory to defeat it.

I applaud Gomes for his stand for pacifism and inclusiveness, and his stand against biblicism and religious fundamentalism. I also enjoyed his personal stories of meeting famous people throughout his lifetime. And, I appreciated his knowledge of early American religious history for which he frequently alluded to throughout this book. Here are a few quotes taken from "The Scandalous Gospel of Jesus" that resonated with me the most:

"That the image of martyrs, the suffering faithful, and oppressed witnesses to the truth does not seem to be the prevailing images of Christians in the world either in ancient or modern times serves to demonstrate the sad fact that conformity is a greater characteristic of the Christian community than nonconformity." (page 47)

"God is greater and more generous than the best of those who profess to know and serve him." (page 63)

"Perhaps the greatest tragedy of September 11th, 2001, and the life we have come to live in its aftermath, is that we have since been programmed to live by our fears and not by our hopes." (page 104)

"Quoting John Newton: When I get to heaven, I shall see three wonders there. the first wonder will be to see any people there whom I did not expect to see; the second wonder will be to miss many people whom I did expect to see; and the third and greatest wonder of all will be to find myself there." (page 153)

"The means that allows the winds of change to blow through the corridors of conformity is the powerful work of the Spirit, that third member of the trinity that makes the church a slave neither to history nor to the moment , but rather an agency of transformation." (page 204) ( )

The culmination of Gomes' trilogy which started with [book: The Good Book], this book was pretty much preaching to the choir as far as I was concerned, so of course I liked it. Also, Gomes uses hymns to make his point a lot of the time, which was great. As a gay, liberal Christian, chaplain at "Godless Harvard," and consistently rated as one of America's best preachers, Gomes has a lot to offer. I particularly liked his differentiating between optimism and hope. My one quibble would be that he has a little too gloomy a view of the state of mainline churches in the US. If you read [book: Christianity for the Rest of Us] or simply go out and look, you can find many vital churches preaching and living out "The Scandalous Gospel of Jesus" already. ( )

Peter's first book looked at the Bible. His second book looks at how we live it out emphasizing that the Bible is the beginning of the gospel. He fluidly highlights that Jesus' teaching isn't defined by the Left or Right, fundamentalist/liberal but had plenty to afflict and heal all. Then he moves to remind us that the gospel is both spiritual and social, a needed reminder for both sides that harp on one but forget the other.
My favorite paragraph was one reminding us if we are comfortable with the gospel we may not be listening.
for a more theological depth I might suggest 'You are Accepted' by Tillich or 'Shall the fundamentalist win' by Fosdick. ( )