Beautiful Outlaw
(Experiencing the Playful Disruptive Extravagant Personality
of Jesus)
by John Eldredge
Reviewed by Pat Beaty
Reader, let me urge you to beg, borrow, or steal a copy of
this book. No, wait…I cannot encourage
you to commit a crime, much less a sin.
However, let me assure you: this book is impressive, and I would be remiss
if I failed to emphasize how much pleasure, as well as self-examination,
resulted from my reading it. In fact, the
Biblical word “meditation” comes to mind in this regard.
This well thought-out and warmly presented work can be
summed up in one of the author’s initial pronouncements: “To have Jesus, really
have him, is to have the greatest treasure in all the world.” Then, however, he spends much of this treatise
artfully expressing why we are being prevented, in many cases, from having an
intimate relationship with our Lord because of what he calls “religious fog.” If you really think about what this writer is
telling us, you will come to virtually the same feeling. Eldredge also makes a plausible
attempt to define the personality traits of our Savior and refers to various
events that occur in His time on earth in this regard.
It is not often, while reading Christian literature, that I
laugh out loud, but I did with this author. It is felt that you will also find
merriment in this delightful work by a New York Times best selling author.
The man who authored this book believes that Jesus, the
author and finisher of our faith, is the most human human-being who ever
lived. I challenge you to read this book
and see if you agree.
October 20, 2014
