{"id":1192,"date":"2010-09-07T10:06:09","date_gmt":"2010-09-07T10:06:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/bibleandculture\/2010\/09\/the-jesus-manifesto-an-interview-with-frank-viola.html"},"modified":"2010-09-07T10:06:09","modified_gmt":"2010-09-07T10:06:09","slug":"the-jesus-manifesto-an-interview-with-frank-viola","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/2010\/09\/the-jesus-manifesto-an-interview-with-frank-viola.html","title":{"rendered":"The Jesus Manifesto–an Interview with Frank Viola"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"man.jpg\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

N.B.  I have known Len Sweet for years, and though I have never met Frank Viola in person (unless we are talking about the one who used to pitch for the Red Sox), he and I have corresponded a lot over the years.  Though I have some disagreements with Frank which have already been discussed on this blog,  in this book the focus on the recovery of the centrality of Christ in Christian worship and church life is a much needed emphasis which this book rightly brings to the fore.   BW3<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n


<\/b><\/p>\n


<\/b><\/p>\n

Ben: Why did you and Leonard write the book? Give us the storyline
\nbehind it.<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Frank:<\/span><\/b>  <\/span><\/span>For years, Len and I have both
\nshared a burden and concern that Jesus has been getting short-changed. Right or
\nwrong, we have felt that He has all-too often been eclipsed by other “hot”
\ntopics and subjects. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

It’s rather easy for any of us to get excited about and
\nmajor in things that are related to <\/span><\/em>Jesus,
\nwhile Christ Himself gets left out in the cold. Jesus becomes a mere footnote,
\na slogan, a logo, or a stamp of approval to some other religious or spiritual
\npursuit. (Elsewhere<\/span><\/a> <\/span>I rehearse my own journey of
\nchasing spiritual “things” instead of the Lord Jesus Himself.) So we felt burdened
\nto do a project together that would not only give Christ His rightful place . .
\n. that would not only exalt Him beyond the stratosphere . . . but that would
\nalso unveil His breathtaking Person in ways that would re-introduce Him in a
\npowerfully fresh way, encouraging people to hunger and thirst for Him and Him
\nalone. We realized that this was a monumental task that was beyond our capacities,
\nbut we felt God put it on our hearts. The content of the book first appeared as
\na short 2,400-word online tract last year. It later developed into a 200-page
\nbook which released in June.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

In short, Jesus
\nManifesto<\/i> seeks to bring together the teachings of Jesus on the kingdom of
\nGod, the earthly ministry of Jesus, the atoning work of Jesus, and the Person
\nof Christ into one enormous whole in the context of knowing Christ today as our
\nindwelling Lord as Galatians 2, Colossians 1, and Romans 8 describe. The book
\nis not just a reminder that Jesus Christ is supreme and the very substance of
\nour faith, but it’s an attempt to re-present His stunning greatness in such way
\nthat our hearts are captured by Him, through Him, and to Him.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Myron Augsburger, the former president of Eastern
\nMennonite Seminary, once said:<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

“I believe in justice: but I am
\nnot a preacher of the gospel of justice, but the Gospel of Christ who calls us
\nto justice. I believe in love, but I am not a preacher of the gospel of
\nlove, but the Gospel of Christ who calls us to love. I am committed to
\npeace, but I am not a preacher of the gospel of peace, but the Gospel of Christ
\nwho calls us to peace. I believe in the value of the simple life, but I am
\nnot the preacher of the simple life, but of the Gospel of Christ that calls us
\nto the simple life. Let us beware of the ultimate plagiarism of borrowing
\nsome great concepts from Jesus then running off proclaiming these concepts and
\nnot sharing the Christ that empowers these concepts.”<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Those words sum up the message of the book pretty well.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Ben: What do you hope will be accomplished by it?<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Frank: <\/span><\/b> <\/span>Our hope is
\nthat t<\/span>he Spirit of
\nGod would take the message of the book and press it upon the hearts of every
\nreader, bringing us all to our faces in the presence of so great a Christ. That
\nwe would make Christ and Christ alone our chief pursuit, our chief love, our
\nchief passion, and our chief obsession. That God would heal us all of the “Jesus
\nDeficit Disorder” that plagues so many believers today. Len and I wept as we
\nwrote various parts of the book and read one another’s parts. So we desire for
\nothers to be touched the same way.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

In C.S. Lewis’ <\/span>Prince<\/span><\/em> <\/i><\/span>Caspian,<\/span><\/em> <\/i><\/span>Aslan
\ntells Lucy, “Every year you grow, you
\nwill find Me bigger.”<\/i> This was one of our aims in writing the book – to
\npresent to our hearts a greater view of Christ. Thus our words in the final
\npages:  <\/span>“It is with a burning heart for
\nJesus Christ and a guarded jealousy for His preeminence that we have written
\nthis book. We have written it for Him and to Him. We trust that it has been by
\nHim and through Him.” <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Ben: What
\nhave the reader reactions been so far?<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Frank:<\/span><\/b>  <\/span>The vast majority of people who have
\nwritten to us have said all-too kind things about it. Those interested can read
\nsome of the letters and reviews<\/span><\/a><\/span> <\/span>we’ve received from people who were touched and
\nhelped by it, as well as endorsements<\/span><\/a><\/span>
\n<\/span>by Christian leaders who resonated with the message. For us, they are
\nhugely humbling.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

The main criticism has come from those who felt we
\ndidn’t go into anything practical. There are no “how to steps” in the book.
\nThis is a valid criticism actually, because (right or wrong) we deliberately did not want the work to be a recipe book<\/span><\/a><\/span>.
\nSo we steered away from “add water and stir” language or steps. We felt that
\nthis would draw attention away from the very message we were seeking to communicate.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Antoine de
\nSaint-Exup\u00e9ry said it best when he wrote, “If
\nyou want to build a ship, don’t herd people together to collect wood and don’t
\nassign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless
\nimmensity of the sea.” <\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

These words
\nexplain quite well what we were attempting to do in the book. We wanted to
\npresent the Lord in such a way that readers would be smitten by the sight of
\nHis glory and long for Him. Or to put it in the words of two songs that we
\nquote in the book:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

What has stript the seeming beauty<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

From the idols of the earth?<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Not a sense of right or duty,<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

But the sight of peerless worth.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

The look that melted Peter<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

The face that Stephen saw<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

The heart that wept with Mary<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Can alone from idols draw<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

And
\n. . .<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Look full in His wonderful face,<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

And the things of earth will grow
\nstrangely dim,<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

In the light of His glory and grace.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Despite
\nour shortcomings and limitations, Len and I wrote Jesus Manifesto<\/i> to stir the hearts of God’s people with the sight
\nof peerless worth–the very sighting that has deeply moved our own hearts. We
\nbelieve that out of this will flow everything else.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

BW: What
\nwas it like writing this book with Len and who wrote which parts? <\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Frank:<\/span><\/b> <\/span> <\/span>While our writing styles are different, Len
\nand I have one thing in common that made the collaboration particularly enjoyable.
\nWe both make heavy use of metaphor in our writing. Among other things, Len is
\nlargely known for inventing new terms and using a single metaphor to describe a
\nparticular idea.<\/span><\/p>\n

My writing is often peppered
\nwith word pictures that are intended to create images in the reader’s mind. I
\nlike to paint with words. So both of us had fun smithing word images together. For
\nthis reason, each chapter of the book is built around a single metaphor that
\nserves as an image depicting some aspect of the glories of Christ.<\/span><\/p>\n

If I can use a music
\nmetaphor, writing the book was like composing an album together,
\nhammering out each of our tracks on the anvil of Scripture and the English
\nlanguage. As we edited each other’s chapters, we sought to enhance what the
\nother person was attempting to communicate. “Writing chemistry” was present,
\nand instead of dragging one another down, we helped bring out the best in one
\nanother’s writing.  <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Some have observed that
\nthe book falls into the literature <\/span><\/em>category,
\nsince it meshes escalating prose and poetic rhythms. It tries to communicate to
\nboth left and right brains simultaneously. But more, we seek to direct the
\nmessage to a person’s heart and spirit. We want people reading it to be stirred
\nin their hearts rather than just nodding with their heads. So it blends elements
\nof devotional literature, teaching, and challenge.<\/span><\/p>\n

As
\nto who wrote what, here’s the breakdown (I’m continuing the music metaphor):<\/span><\/p>\n

Introduction and Chapter 10: Len
\nsings one half and I sing the other half. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Chapters 1,2,3,8,9: I sing lead
\nand Len sings harmony; he also sings a few solo stanzas here and there.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Chapters 4,5,6,7: Len sings lead
\nand I sing harmony; I also sing a few solo stanzas here and there.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Afterword: Paul of Tarsus sings with some
\nminor tweaking to the lyrics.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Readers can
\nlearn more here, if they are interested: www.theJesusManifesto.com<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Thank you
\nfor this interview, Ben. I really appreciate your contribution to the body of
\nChrist.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

N.B.  I have known Len Sweet for years, and though I have never met Frank Viola in person (unless we are talking about the one who used to pitch for the Red Sox), he and I have corresponded a lot over the years.  Though I have some disagreements with Frank which have already been discussed…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":199,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1192","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Jesus Manifesto-an Interview with Frank Viola - The Bible and Culture<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/2010\/09\/the-jesus-manifesto-an-interview-with-frank-viola.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Jesus Manifesto-an Interview with Frank Viola - The Bible and Culture\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"N.B.  I have known Len Sweet for years, and though I have never met Frank Viola in person (unless we are talking about the one who used to pitch for the Red Sox), he and I have corresponded a lot over the years.  Though I have some disagreements with Frank which have already been discussed…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/2010\/09\/the-jesus-manifesto-an-interview-with-frank-viola.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Bible and Culture\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-09-07T10:06:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/bibleandculture\/files\/import\/assets_c\/2010\/09\/man-thumb-400x400-17725.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ben Witherington\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Jesus Manifesto-an Interview with Frank Viola - The Bible and Culture","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/2010\/09\/the-jesus-manifesto-an-interview-with-frank-viola.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Jesus Manifesto-an Interview with Frank Viola - The Bible and Culture","og_description":"N.B.  I have known Len Sweet for years, and though I have never met Frank Viola in person (unless we are talking about the one who used to pitch for the Red Sox), he and I have corresponded a lot over the years.  Though I have some disagreements with Frank which have already been discussed…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/2010\/09\/the-jesus-manifesto-an-interview-with-frank-viola.html","og_site_name":"The Bible and Culture","article_published_time":"2010-09-07T10:06:09+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/bibleandculture\/files\/import\/assets_c\/2010\/09\/man-thumb-400x400-17725.jpg"}],"author":"Ben Witherington","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/2010\/09\/the-jesus-manifesto-an-interview-with-frank-viola.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/2010\/09\/the-jesus-manifesto-an-interview-with-frank-viola.html","name":"The Jesus Manifesto-an Interview with Frank Viola - The Bible and Culture","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/2010\/09\/the-jesus-manifesto-an-interview-with-frank-viola.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/2010\/09\/the-jesus-manifesto-an-interview-with-frank-viola.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/bibleandculture\/files\/import\/assets_c\/2010\/09\/man-thumb-400x400-17725.jpg","datePublished":"2010-09-07T10:06:09+00:00","dateModified":"2010-09-07T10:06:09+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/d1fd6c7893819eabc624db38ecfd8426"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/2010\/09\/the-jesus-manifesto-an-interview-with-frank-viola.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/2010\/09\/the-jesus-manifesto-an-interview-with-frank-viola.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/2010\/09\/the-jesus-manifesto-an-interview-with-frank-viola.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/bibleandculture\/files\/import\/assets_c\/2010\/09\/man-thumb-400x400-17725.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/bibleandculture\/files\/import\/assets_c\/2010\/09\/man-thumb-400x400-17725.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/2010\/09\/the-jesus-manifesto-an-interview-with-frank-viola.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Jesus Manifesto–an Interview with Frank Viola"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/","name":"The Bible and Culture","description":"All Things Biblical and Christian","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/d1fd6c7893819eabc624db38ecfd8426","name":"Ben Witherington","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/75e\/75ec11e1916a2008bc4cc638a0a0de2fx96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/75e\/75ec11e1916a2008bc4cc638a0a0de2fx96.jpg","caption":"Ben Witherington"},"description":"Bible scholar Ben Witherington is Amos Professor of New Testament for Doctoral Studies at Asbury Theological Seminary and on the doctoral faculty at St. Andrews University in Scotland. A graduate of UNC, Chapel Hill, he went on to receive the M.Div. degree from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. from the University of Durham in England. He is now considered one of the top evangelical scholars in the world, and is an elected member of the prestigious SNTS, a society dedicated to New Testament studies. Witherington has also taught at Ashland Theological Seminary, Vanderbilt University, Duke Divinity School and Gordon-Conwell. A popular lecturer, Witherington has presented seminars for churches, colleges and biblical meetings not only in the United States but also in England, Estonia, Russia, Europe, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Australia. He has also led tours to Italy, Greece, Turkey, Israel, Jordan, and Egypt. Witherington has written over thirty books, including The Jesus Quest and The Paul Quest, both of which were selected as top biblical studies works by Christianity Today. He also writes for many church and scholarly publications, and is a frequent contributor to the Beliefnet website. Along with many interviews on radio networks across the country, Witherington has been seen on the History Channel, NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN, The Discovery Channel, A&E, and the PAX Network.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/author\/bwitherington"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1192","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/199"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1192"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1192\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}