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Joshua: A Parable for Today
Joseph F. Girzone

Simon & Schuster/Scribner, 1995 - 288 pages

average customer review:based on 193 reviews
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   highly recommended  highly recommended





Joshua: A Truly Beautiful Human Person

Joshua is a truly beautiful human person. To succeed in his portrayal, Joseph Girzone has accomplished what many great writers, including Dostoevsky have aspired to do. The Idiot is the great Russian novelist's attempt "to portray a completely beautiful human being." Prince Myshkin is like Joshua in some respects but suffers from epilepsy and is for this reason deemed "out of touch". Joshua is also deemed "out of touch" by certain religious functionaries, do gooders and know-it-alls, and yet he is not ill at all!

Joshua confirms my feeling that if Jesus were to return today he would be grossly misunderstood and only accepted by the afflicted, certain children and very few adults. My friend Pastor Paul placed this book in my hands enthusiastically encouraging me to read all about Joshua. I found the book to be well written and the author succeeds in phrasing some very profound thoughts in language that almost anyone can grasp. This is an amazing feat! As I said it took a master writer like Dostoevsky to attempt this feat.

Yes, there is something so beautiful in Jesus that like a small wildflower that is often overlooked, the important thing is how we come to see and hear and know him. Each individual comes to know this beautiful person in their own unique way. And this is what religion often militates against as it strives to depict a uniform 'hero' in monolithic terms. It attempts to coerce or seduce people into "loving God" but even if this misguided approach were to "win" in certain cases, the victory would be shortlived. No, true love does not flourish but where the soil of freedom nourishes and protects its seed. Isn't this after all what we mean when we say 'personal relationship'---the entire universe is aimed at one individual--- namely you! I am paraphrasing Walt Whitman who was paraphrasing Saint Augustine---yes, no one can see that little wildflower just as I do. And it is not going to work if I create a workshop called "the wildflower experience" aimed at getting others to see what I see and hear what I hear.

Pete Townshend's 'Pinball Wizard' expresses the dangers of forcing compliance from a religious audience even if the hero is beautiful and wise. It takes so much courage to let other people blossom and be themselves. All of our efforts to control their experiences may end in a shortlived "success" but ultimately the religion engineered around such an achievement is a mighty failure since the essential point is love freely given and the free receipt of God's love, not uniform creedal statements!

Writers like Girzone are like fresh breezes that blow inspiring us to remember the freedom of God's love and encouraging us to seriously question our denominational allegiances. Instead of division we are inspired to discover God as an inward experience that can be confirmed in any number of religious rituals or ceremonies; in chapels, cathedrals, mosques and synagogues---in madmen and in beautiful saints like Joshua.


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What If?

The most courageous question that we can ask ourselves in any situation is "what if..." A question that attempts to answer the impossible or improbable. Most people avoid asking these kinds of questions for valid reasons. It is almost like opening a can of worms we are not ready to deal with. However, at certain points asking the `what if' question clarifies events and brings hope into our lives. Joshua: A Parable for Today written by Joseph F. Girzone is an example of the latter.

What would happen if Jesus of Nazareth appeared on earth 2000 years later? Where would he live? What occupation would he have? How would he relate to people? How would people relate to him? How would he view the church he established 2000 years ago? How would his followers see him? What about his chosen people, the Jews? Would he still do miracles? Would he still heal people? Would he calm the sea? Would he feed the hungry? What would his standing in the society be like?

All of these questions and more are answered in the fictional rewrite of the life of Jesus Christ in our present world. This book is a quiet invitation to look at the life of Christ and a re-creation of how he was received in the world he came to save. The author Girzone cleverly arranges the characters, the events and the setting to reflect Christ's life. Although most people know how his life ended 2000 years ago, it will still be hard to wait till the end of the book to see what actually happens this time.

A must read for people who want to imagine the unimaginable.









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See the movie

I read the online reviews of the book and would like to encourage readers to view the movie version. I think that it was a great adaptation. In fact, the movie was so good, I purchased 4 copies as gifts for friends. I love the ecumenical message that is so lacking in our culture. The message of hope stirred me to tears.






A good read twenty years later

I first read Joshua nearly twenty years and carried good memories of it. Over the years I have heard others claim that it wasn't theologically sound or that it lacked a certain depth, so I picked it back up for a quick read. What I found was that Grizone's critics miss the entire point to the book. It was written to make us think, and it does just that if the reader is open-minded.


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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10



The Beloved Classic,

Now a Major Motion Picture

When Joshua moves to a small cabin on the edge of town, the local people are mystified by his presence. A quiet and simple man, Joshua appears to seek nothing for himself. He supports himself by working as a carpenter. He charges very little for his services, yet his craftsmanship is exquisite. The statue of Moses that he carves for the local synagogue prompts amazement as well as consternation.

What are the townsfolk to make of this enigmatic stranger? Some people report having seen him carry a huge cherry log on his shoulders effortlessly. Still others talk about the child in a poor part of town who was dreadfully ill but, after Joshua's visit, recovered completely.

Despite his benevolence and selfless work in the community, some remain suspicious. Finally, in an effort to address the community's doubts, the local religious leaders confront Joshua.


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