11. My Imaginary Jesus (Matt Mikalatos)
Pleasure: 7/10 Stars
Utility: 7/10 Stars
Relevant magazine described this book as "Monty Python meets C.S. Lewis" and I've got to say that's a very apt description. It's been a while since I really laughed out loud at a book so I was quite surprised to find parts of this one busting my gut. Powerfully honest, humble and challenging, this book is an allegorical description of the author's struggle after realizing that he was following a Jesus that he had largely made up based on popular culture, ancient religious thought and his own personal impressions about who Jesus really was. The story follows his efforts to find out just what beliefs he was holding about Jesus that had absolutely no grounding in reality, destroy them and find out in the process who the historical, real-life Jesus was and what he actually did 2,000 years ago. The basic conclusion of the book is that every single one of us has radically flawed notions about who Jesus is and the most important quest a person can ever go on is to find out what false beliefs they have about the identity of Christ and get to the bottom of the issue. The story is told as the main character (Matt himself, the author) physically interacts with many, many different fake Jesuses. There's "My imaginary Jesus" (the Jesus that the author feels most comfortable with and can relate best to), legalist Jesus, libertine Jesus, diet Jesus(who promises long, happy life if his diet rules are followed), Buddhist Jesus, vegan Jesus, Portland Jesus (the author lives in Portland), Magic 8 Ball Jesus (who speaks nothing but the vague answers of the Magic 8 Ball), macho Jesus, homosexual-rights Jesus, repressive anti-gay Jesus, Perpetually Angry Jesus, and on and on and on! Just when the author thinks he's found the REAL Jesus someone points out a radically flawed mistake showing him to be just another imposter. Throughout the pages, the author relates a deeply personal, excruciatingly painful crisis in his life and one of the plot threads is him coming to terms with how the real Jesus can both be loving and all-powerful with suffering in the world.
Refreshingly honest, side-splittingly hilarious and deeply personal, My Imaginary Jesus will challenge your assumptions about who Jesus is and how well you truly know him. One thing's for sure, I don't know him as well as I thought I did! Certain parts of the book reminded me that he really is not a tame lion... He is good, but never tame.
