The Original Jesus

Trading the Myths We Create for the Savior Who Is

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"Who do you say that I am?"

From hit songs to bumper stickers to football eye-black, Jesus is trending high wherever you look. But at the end of the day, many "try Jesus" and come away disappointed in the experience. That's because the Jesus of popular culture looks much more like us than the God-man who appeared in the flesh two thousand years ago. We've developed plenty of imposter Jesuses that feed into our selfish desires--Guru Jesus, Braveheart Jesus, Dr. Phil Jesus, Free-Range Jesus. The problem is, they don't have the power to save us or transform us into new creations.

The Original Jesus calls us back to the Jesus who demands our worship--the potter who molds us, the clay. Seekers, skeptics, and sojourners in the way of faith will see Jesus for who he really is: God in the flesh, calling us to surrender our very lives that we may truly live.


"If you have questions, or even frustrations, about the person of Jesus Christ--this book is for you. It cuts through our society's confusing and contradictory opinions about Jesus to find the glorious, wonderful reality of him spread throughout the pages of Scripture."--Jim Daly, president, Focus on the Family

"This book will make some of you mad. Good! Hopefully God will use that to expose some areas of your life that need to be transformed and changed by his penetrating Word."--Daniel L. Akin, president, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Wake Forest, NC

"In a world of cheap imitations of the gospel and false portraits of the Savior, Dan Darling's work makes me yearn to know better the biblical Jesus--the Savior who demands we worship him for who he is, not what we want him to be."--Trevin Wax, managing editor, The Gospel Project; author of Counterfeit Gospels, Clear Winter Nights, and Gospel-Centered Teaching


Daniel Darling is the vice president of communications for the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention. A former pastor, Darling is the author of several books, as well as a speaker and blogger. He contributes to a weekly column for Leadership Journal, and his work has been featured in leading outlets such as the Washington Post, First Things, Focus on the Family, Christianity Today, Relevant, HomeLife, The Gospel Coalition, Crosswalk.com, and many more print and online publications. He lives with his wife and four children in Nashville, Tennessee. Learn more at www.danieldarling.com.


Endorsements

"If you have questions, or even frustrations, about the person of Jesus Christ--this book is for you. It cuts through our society's confusing and contradictory opinions about Jesus to find the glorious, wonderful reality of him spread throughout the pages of Scripture."

Jim Daly, president, Focus on the Family

"This is a good book. It is well written and, in fact, a delightful read. It is biblically and theologically rich. It is also insightful and convicting. It will make some of you mad. Good! Hopefully God will use that to expose some areas of your life that need to be transformed and changed by his penetrating Word."

Daniel L. Akin, president, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Wake Forest, NC

"In a world of cheap imitations of the gospel and false portraits of the Savior, Dan Darling's work makes me yearn to know better the biblical Jesus--the Savior who demands we worship him for who he is, not what we want him to be. And in that worship, we discover the true Jesus is even better than the false versions we construct. Read and be refreshed."

Trevin Wax, managing editor, The Gospel Project; author of Counterfeit Gospels, Clear Winter Nights, and Gospel-Centered Teaching

"Remaking Jesus in our own image has been a problem for two millennia, but the abundant varieties of '(fill in the blank) Jesus' are especially pronounced in today's postmodern iWorld. Dan Darling's The Original Jesus offers an excellent, needed corrective, dispelling prominent Jesus myths with biblical clarity and witty wisdom. Darling reminds us that the Jesus who is far exceeds any Jesus we might want or imagine."

Brett McCracken, author of Gray Matters and Hipster Christianity

"As fallen, finite people, we can't help but re-create Jesus according to our fallen, finite understandings. Yet, if we are to worship the Creator rather than the creation, we must strive to distinguish the Jesus of God's Word from the one cast in our own image. If you want to sort out the false Jesus of our culture from the true Jesus of the Bible, then you will want to read this book. The Original Jesus gathers up the fragments of our modern-day images of Jesus and begins--through faithful adherence to Scripture--to bond them back together."

Karen Swallow Prior, PhD, author of Booked: Literature in the Soul of Me and Fierce Convictions: The Extraordinary Life of Hannah More--Poet, Reformer, Abolitionist


The Author

  1. Daniel Darling

    Daniel Darling

    Daniel Darling is the vice president of communications for the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention. A former pastor, Darling is the author of several books, as well as a speaker and blogger. He contributes to a weekly...

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The Original Jesus