Meet the Author
Patrick Henry Reardon is pastor of All Saints’ Orthodox Church (Chicago, IL) and a senior editor of Touchstone magazine. Father Reardon was educated at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (Louisville, KY), St. Anselm’s College (Rome), The Pontifical Biblical Institute (Rome), and St. Tikhon’s Orthodox Seminary (South Canaan, PA). He is a prolific writer who has published over a thousand articles, editorials, and reviews. Additionally he has written several books, including Christ in His Saints (2004) and Christ in the Psalms (2000).
Book Basics
Father Reardon’s The Jesus We Missed: The Surprising Truth About the Humanity of Christ surprised me with its lack of originality. One needs read no further than the introduction to learn of the author’s unambitious intent: “I truly hope to say nothing new!” (p. xvii). With that goal in mind, he crafts twelve chapters each considering an aspect of the life of Jesus (growing up, baptism, public ministry, etc.) through the lens of the New Testament with a special emphasis on the Gospels. More specifically, the author groups together verses that explain who Jesus was alongside his theologically conservative commentary that notes how the words illustrate Jesus’ humanity without denying his divinity.
So What?
I have yet to meet anyone who has participated in the life of a local Christian community of faith and/or studied the Bible at length who was unfamiliar with Jesus’ humanity. Rather than arguing for a position that tends to be a default position, I would rather ask “what does it mean for your journey of faith that Jesus was human?”
Patrick Henry Reardon. The Jesus We Missed: The Surprising Truth About the Humanity of Christ (Thomas Nelson, 2012). ISBN: 9781595553713.