Jesus Farted

The title intrigued me. I am not normally one to pick up a book on religion but I thought the premise of the book would be interesting. It is. It is also somewhat over the top, often funny and frequently quite rude.

It does make some interesting points with the argument that to make Jesus less than human, with all the human foibles and effluences would weaken his message. He makes some fascinating points about the way the scriptures have been sanitized from what was written originally in both the Old and New Testament. That Jesus had all the bodily inconveniences we all do allowed him to be closer to the real people that he wanted to touch. The poor, the downtrodden, the bottom of the heap who were so often marginalized or forgotten were his people. To lift him to an unattainable height loses the impact of his words.

The author says it is only in seeing him in the role of agitator, political and economic activist and general pain in the rump to those in power can the reader appreciate who the man truly was. I am no expert but I found his arguments persuasive and I am sure the book will lead to much heated discussion from various camps.

Four purrs and one paw up.

It piqued my curiosity: why does Simon Perry, a Biblical Scholar and Chaplain at the University of Cambridge, claim that if you cannot hear Jesus fart, you cannot hear his biblical voice?

Perry’s stated mission is to help us “rediscover Jesus in his native vulgarity”, because the farting of Christ might save the world from disintegration. His interpretation of the events from the life of Jesus, and from his own, are outrageously hilarious.

Is it going to unite us all and save the world? No, I don’t think so.

Is it a good read? Absolutely!!! I loved the I’ll-say-it-the-way-I-want attitude.

Five stars for a book about Jesus of Nazareth written by someone from the world of the portacabin!

While the book is weirdly fixated on all sorts of bodily functions, it still is a good and informative read regarding Christianity, and it feels like adding a hefty dose of humor makes it more relatable, easier to understand, more easily digestible (LOL YES).