The Gospel According to Jesus

The Gospel According to Jesus, by eminent scholar and translator Stephen Mitchell, is a unique presentation of the life and teachings of Christ. In this book, Mitchell does for the Gospels what he did for the Tao Te Ching: he uncovers in a great spiritual classic a depth, clarity, and radiance which have until now been obscured. At the center of the book is a new translation of what might be called the Essential Gospel. Following the example of Thomas Jefferson’s The Jefferson Bible, and using the most up-to-date scholarship, Mr. Mitchell has retained only the authentic sayings and doings of Jesus, and has omitted the passages added by the early church. What is left is an immensely provocative and moving image of Jesus as a real person and a great spiritual teacher. The Gospel According to Jesus also features a meditation by the author on Jesus’s life and teaching, along with detailed commentary on the text. Stephen Mitchell was born in Brooklyn in 1943, educated at Amherst, the Sorbonne, and Yale, and de-educated through intensive Zen practice. His many books include the bestselling Tao Te Ching, Gilgamesh, and The Second Book of the Tao, as well as The Gospel According to Jesus, Bhagavad Gita, The Book of Job, and Meetings with the Archangel. “Even more than his meticulous scholarship, his farsighted commentary and elegant translation, the greatest contribution Mitchell has to make is his generosity of spirit.” - Boston Sunday Globe