What if Jesus Had Never Been Born?

This book made it onto my shelf after I took a stack of books from my parent's "get rid of pile".  The title intrigued me, but beyond that I didn't know much about the book.

The basic premise is to do a review of much of history as well as the impact of that history in our world today and outline how that history has been affected by Christ and Christianity.  Of course you could probably argue that any significant event in history changes the course of future events.  The notable difference in this case is that Christ has changed the world in it's entirety, pervasive in culture, impact on social conventions, all in very positive ways.  In many cases things we take for granted can and should be attributed to Christ's impact on the world, and more specifically, the impact on those humans living in that world.

I have a mixed review on the book.  I still love the premise.  I've since given much of the author's conclusions more thought.  I've found myself in circumstances where I've consciously recognized Christ's impact on the world.  Where I think the book fell down is that there are many many underlying assumptions he never addresses.  The ideas are put out there as foregone conclusions without much real critical thought or analysis at how he arrived at the conclusion.  Although I personally believe much of what he presents in the book it is largely due to other presuppositions I have, not because of the apologetic provided in the book.  If you were questioning or critical at all you would likely walk away with many questions or challenges.  You would likely find it insightful but you would feel you were reading an editorial of a person's conclusions, but not much explanation on why the author arrived at those conclusions.  I wanted a little more analytical and fact based layout of the points.  I think much of the facts exist but this book chose to gloss over them and paint a broad generalized brush.  With all that critique out of the way however, as I said earlier, I did find the book interesting.  If nothing else it has led me down the path of thought that I wished the book had done on it's own.  It has actually served as a catalyst  of thought on this topic.  Maybe that was the author's ultimate intention?  If so, then I say "well done."

Overall, it was a good read but I wouldn't put it at the top of my list for recommendations.  If you already fall in line with the belief, as I do, that Christ has had an immeasurable impact on the world, then you will likely enjoy the book.  If you are a little more skeptical and hoped to read a book that outlines those details you may be disappointed.  Although it will certainly challenge you, which is a good thing, it will likely lead you to seek further answers elsewhere (which may not be a bad thing).

Great premise.  Poor overall execution.  Still a good book in the end.