A Hitchhiker’s Guide to Jesus

A Hitchhiker’s Guide to Jesus

Bruce N. Fisk, Baker Academic

Bruce N. Fisk is a likeable New Testament scholar currently serving as the Professor of Religious Studies at Westmont College, Santa Barbara.

A Hitchhiker’s Guide to Jesus is a fictional account of a young theological student hitchhiking his way around Jerusalem and its surroundings in search of the true Jesus and the meaning of Christ’s life.

By comparing and contrasting the different gospels, and by embracing the differing and often heretical views on them, Fisk pieces together what was most likely meant by the writers in their context.

The strength in this book is the way that Fisk, while acknowledging there are numerous discrepancies in the gospels, shows that the first century gospel writers were more concerned with truth than historical accuracy.

This is a different way of thinking about things for me but Fisk graciously and humbly guides the reader to this “deeper truth” through conversations, journal entries, dialogues with the himself and through interactions with current day Israelis and Palestinians.

While not pretending to know everything, A Hitchhiker’s Guide to Jesus presents the most probable answers and transports the reader back to Jesus’ era very effectively.

Through descriptions of buildings and land formations as they are now and how they were described historically by scholars such as Josephus, the book creates a 360 degree understanding of what you are reading in the gospels and builds confidence in the reader’s understanding of Jesus.

When “very little about Jesus (is) straightforward and self-interpreting”, it is good that there are people like Bruce N. Fisk to guide us on our way to truth.

Callum Iles

Share

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top