About this title: Joshua, "A parable for today" is the story of a quiet man, whose benevolence and selfless work in the community prompts amazement as well as suspicions.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: MacMillan Publishing Company
Date Published: 1987
ISBN-13:9780020198901ISBN:0020198906
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 271 p. Audience: General/trade. Nice book with clean pages. Original store sticker on back. read more
"The premise (what if Jesus were alive today?) isn't something that would normally draw me in since I would be expecting a WWJD braclet theology come to life, but I read it based on a friend's recommendation and I'm so glad I did. I gave it 5 stars because I still think about this book fairly frequently even years after reading it.
It's a very simple book, placing Joshua in a small midwestern town, never saying that he's Jesus, but slowly mixing Jesus with all the modern denominations and the synagog, and because of the differences in setting, I saw the gospel story in a fresh way. And, any book that can make me see something so familiar in a new way is always endearing to me.
I'd be interested to hear what a theologian would say about it--how it hols up. I was smiling to myself even after I closed the last page though--I loved the whole experience."
"I have some mixed feelings about this book. Portraying Jesus in a modern setting is risky business. Sometimes I think there's a little too much of Fr. Girzone in Joshua, but I'm sure that there is also plenty of Jesus in Fr. Girzone. He has a good and thought-provoking message, one that is simply and clearly stated (if often too repetitive) so that many people will be able to understand it and think seriously about it. As an elaborate parable, the story conveys some important messages.
The modern-day Jesus (Joshua) is a great artist and skilled craftsman. His portrayals of Moses and St. Peter in wood carvings have a powerful effect on on those who behold them. But the author's skill in telling a story does not do justice to the subject. Almost all of the characters seem like caricatures and much of the dialog seems artificial. The book resorts to describing the personality of its characters more than realistically portraying them. The story has some wonderful features. Joshua is far more readily accepted by Jews on his second visit than by Christians. The book presents this as a very plausible scenario. Yet Joshua's dramatic effect on the lives of specific individuals is more described than dramatized. The book fails to draw the reader in very deeply here. The story mainly (and too obviously) serves as a vehicle for Joshua's brief discourses on the current state of religion and Christianity in particular.
In the book Fr. Girzone expresses his view, through Joshua, that art should have a definite message. Yet art itself is a message; an expression of God's image and creativity through human effort. If the message in a work of art is strong, the quality of the art must be much stronger still in order to avoid its being dominated by the message. Art that is completely dominated by its message is mere propaganda. Joshua is worth reading for the message it conveys, but the story is too dominated by the author's message to be considered an effective medium."
"The story of a man (Joshua) who comes to a contemporary small town in America, lives the simple life of an artist, & has a tremendous impact on the community. He is constantly critical of the Christian clergy for exerting too much authority over their flocks (which seems to me an odd judgment on contemporary mainstream Christianity) and comes into conflict with them. Meanwhile, the people in the Jewish synagogue receive him enthusiastically. Much of what happens has direct biblical parallels. Eventually, Joshua gets called to testify before the Congregation of the Faith in Rome. It's not a very good book (for one thing, it was often preachy--literally as well as generally), but it did make me want to argue with it."
"The part I like about this book is the beginning showing how Jesus would probably live a simple and modest life. The end focuses too heavily on a divided church and a relatively private conspiracy, which seems to downplay the widespread rejection of Christ (his own followers rejected Him) brought upon by the sins of a nation and, ultimately, the world, not just one particular shortcoming of mankind."
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