Book Review: “Jesus, A Theography,” by Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola

In Jesus, A Theography, by Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola, the authors write about the life of Jesus from the perspective of both the New and Old Testaments, and add their own theological perspective. I have read other books by Leonard Sweet, with mixed reviews, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. In Jesus, Sweet and Viola tell the story of the life of Jesus, beginning not at his birth here on earth but at creation, and continue all the way beyond His resurrection to His next return.

The best thing about this book is the extensive research, yet it is also a negative for me. That negative is in regard to their extensive use of footnotes. Much of the information in the footnotes could have been included in the narrative of the book, instead of the footnotes. It is quite a chore to continually have to refer to the footnotes to follow the authors train of thought.

Sweet and Viola ask many questions and suggest some ideas that are different than mainstream theological thought. If you are looking for a book that pushes your thinking, whose writing style is simple and not at all academic (except the footnotes), and that focuses on how both the Old and New Testaments apply to the life of Jesus, then you will love this book.

On the flip side, the authors make a lot of assumptions and connections I am not sure are there. For example: In Chapters 2 and 3, it makes assumptions about the 7 days of creation in trying to parallel Christ with creation. The authors also state that when we accept Christ to come into our lives, we become virgin Mary’s. I am not sure where that comes from.

You should know that I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program in return for writing a review.