Jesus and the Quest for Secular Justice
Author: Pierre L’Abbé
Jesus and
the Quest for Secular Justice is intended for the
general reader, and its arguments overturn a number of widespread
misconceptions. The book surveys major contemporary writings
on the historical Jesus and traces the history of these
works through the nineteenth century up to the school of
writers associated with the Jesus Seminar in the US.
By mapping the positions Christian writers have taken on
the historical Jesus, L’Abbé shows that the
fundamentalist position moves full circle into the anti-theist
position, where both attempt to recreate Jesus in their
own image. L’Abbé takes an in-depth look at
the notion of belief and surveys major critical works and
Canadian and international treatments of the subject.
Only the picture of the human being found in the world’s
major religious literatures, L’Abbé argues,
gives a realistic image of human nature. Here human nature
is flawed, and consequently, the closest human society will
ever come to achieving a true international justice is by
pursuing the religious principles of compassion.
