Introduction

I figured it might be helpful if I made each chapter a separate post. In the original post I will write a brief summary of the chapter. Dialogue can then begin in the comments: either directly related to the logical sequence or coherence of the argument or personal responses to what is being stated. If you are responding to someone else's comment, it is helpful to make brief reference to the comment (e.g., quote the relevant section) as these comments are likely to be extensive!

BM (unfortunate initials) begins by describing briefly his current state in life, namely, that he is 'seeking', that he is on a spiritual quest, and common responses from others who may hear of his or others' such quest. First response: such a quest is a waste of time since 'spiritual' = not real (materialists in the philosophical sense). Second: waste of time since we already have all the answers (I think he has in mind here many Christians who are satisfied with the status quo). Third: those like him who sense there is more to Jesus than what we are given on a Sunday morning or Wednesday night (as evidenced by the misguided interest in the historical debunked The Da Vinci Code, as well similar interests in The Gospel of Judas, or Mary Magdalene or whatever gnostic gospel of choice).

BM thinks he is on the brink of something, of finding a missing puzzle piece that makes the rest of the picture make so much more sense. He is writing this book to communicate where he is on his journey and what he has learned that he thinks is so important to our understanding of Jesus, and, particularly, Jesus' message. He envisions three groups of people in his audience: (1) 'spiritual but not religious'—Jesus is interesting but I'm not interested in Christianity. To them he insists that Jesus has an alternative to what is given in most of established religion. (2) those who have read some of his previous, preliminary and ground-clearing books (like A New Kind of Christian and related books). (3) those who have found his previous writings controversial or erroneous/dangerous.

And then, the concluding introductory paragraph: 

If we succeed in grasping even some fragment of Jesus' secret message, if we take it in and manage not only to look at it but also to learn to look though it, our world and our lives will look different to us at the end of our exploration. And if that happens deeply enough for enough of us, everything could change. (emphasis mine)