Jesus Through Pagan Eyes: Bridging Neopagan Perspectives with a Progressive Vision of Christ - Softcover

"Townsend uses Jesus to initiate dialogue, and he does so in way that is accepting and inclusive of many understandings and interpretations of Jesus, his purpose, and his relevance (or irrelevance) in the religious practices of contemporary Pagans."--Huffington Post "This work admirably promotes understanding between belief systems that have a sometimes uneasy relationship."--Publishers Weekly "Compelling and provocative...a major contribution to freeing Christianity to live in the world that is emerging."--John Shelby Spong, author of Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism "Whether Pagan, Jewish, Christian or other you will be amazed and inspired by this book."--Uri Gellar "A truly remarkable work...I found myself asking 'Why did I never see this before?'"--Rev. Roger McLellan, Co-founder & Moderator of the Progressive Christian Alliance "A must read for any Christian who is open to discovering the pagan mysteries that inform so much of the Christian myth."--Rev. Bruce Sanguin, author of If Darwin Prayed "This is a quite remarkable work, which reveals the figure of Jesus from most unusual and fascinating perspectives, and it is likely to have value to convinced Christians, Pagans, and agnostics alike."--Prof. Ronald Hutton, author of Triumph of the Moon "There are knowledge transmitters--and then there are knowledge makers who have the courage, skill, and experience to put things together in new and revelatory ways. Knowledge makers reconfigure our minds, our eyes, and our ears to receive bigger and better things. Mark Townsend is doing just that."--Fr. Richard Rohr, O.F.M., founding director of the Center for Action and Contemplation

Open your eyes to a portrait of Jesus Christ that has never been seen before - a compassionate, life-affirming, nature-inspired spiritual teacher, freed from the limiting ideology of the Church. Reverend Mark Townsend's remarkable book is truly unlike any other, a thoughtful and deeply moving collection of more than two dozen stories, essays, and interviews about Jesus from today's most respected Wiccan and Druidic leaders. Contributors such as Maxine Sanders, Christopher Penczak, Janet Farrar, Diana Paxson, Philip Carr-Gomm, Oberon Zell-Ravenheart, and Raven Grimassi explore the historical figure of Jesus in relation to witch craft, the tarot, goddess worship, and shamanism-while illustrating how this god of the Christian church blesses and inspires many who cannot or will not be part of his "official" family.