I recently had the opportunity to review a new book by Tom Gilson about Jesus’ unique character called Too Good to be False: How Jesus’ Incomparable Character Reveals His Reality. I’m a regular reader of his websites Thinking Christian and the Stream so I was familiar with his writing style. However, when I read his new book I was blown away with how simple yet profound the points he makes about Jesus. Most of us overlook Jesus’ unique character because most of the Bible stories are not new to us. Tom points out how unique Jesus was that the only conclusion you can make after reading this book is that Jesus is exactly who he claimed to be.
Jesus was far more than a good man or a good teacher as some like to claim. Jesus (even as a child) knew more scripture than the Jewish leaders. While we don’t know a lot about his life prior to his ministry what we do know is that he was more than just a son of a carpenter. Jesus’ heart was for the Lord as we see early in Luke’s gospel when his parents left Jerusalem without him and after a few days they realized he wasn’t traveling with them. He was at the Temple and told his mother, “where else would I be but at my father’s house?” Even Mary did not comprehend how much he knew.
Without giving away too many details about the book I want to emphasize that this book about Jesus’ uniqueness is unlike any book you will read about Jesus. It’s a book I would recommend to any Christian or even a seeker of truth.