Review of: "Who Is This Man?"
If you were to ask people, “who is the most significant and
influential person who has ever lived?” many would say, “Jesus.” Even people who are not Christians or people
who are not particularly religious would be inclined to say that Jesus is the
most influential person who has ever lived.
I would be quick to agree with that answer. But if you were to say to people, “give me
specific examples of how Jesus has impacted areas like the arts, or education,
or deeply ingrained attitudes about humility, or forgiveness, or the treatment
of children,” most of us would probably not be able to offer specific details.
In this book, “Who Is This Man?” by John Ortberg, the
specific details are provided.
I find the content of this book to be interesting,
compelling and, even, exciting—I should probably admit that as a Christian I
have a fairly strong bias in favor of Jesus.
But when a book is really good it also has to with the fact that the
author of the book is a wonderfully gifted communicator. Even with my bias in favor of Jesus, I have
read a number of books about him that were… um… well… a bit dull.
That is not the case with “Who Is This Man?” John knows how to tell stories, he knows how
to use humor well, he knows how to communicate in a way that resonates with a
reader (at least, he knows how to do it with this reader).
I read approximately 80 books every year. I can confidently tell you this is one of the
best books I’ve read in the past 4 to 6 weeks.
(I’m kidding… it’s one of the best books I’ve read this
year! Seriously, it is.)
Dan Marler
