In the Footsteps of Jesus: A Chronicle of His Life and the Origins of Christianity

This is a big, beautifully written book about the life and times of the Christ. Visually stunning, this well thought out and beautifully photographed book is a feast for the eyes and the senses. As a Christian, i keep searching for the things that help me grow in understanding about the time and the place where Jesus lived and died.The book begins by laying the background leading up to His birth. Jean-Pierre Isabout does an excellent job in creating a backdrop scene of the socio-political climate leading into the advent of Messiah. Through this we can then begin to grasp the complexities in the world surrounding the tiny realm of Israel. The forces brought to play against its very survival and the internal reality of life for the ordinary Jewish family. The great disparity in the lives of the common people and the elite is starkly depicted. By the time we enter into the Annunciation and birth of Christ, we are already far better to appreciate much we have been taught through Scripture.This is a book that will widen your scope of knowledge and help deepen your understanding of life in the earliest days of Christianity. It will make a lovely gift for people of all ages who want to learn more about Jesus Christ and the era He lived, ministered and died in. The photography and side notes alone, not to mention the clean concise writing make this tome well worth its price.

This book is definitely for the history buff - so much detail & information! It also comes with a huge wall sized map that I think we're going to make a built in frame for in our upstairs hallway. Did you know there was so much government corruption in Jesus' time? Pretty much socialist - over taxing & lots of control over land. Actually looks to border communism. I studied political science & am a real estate lawyer so this stuff is interesting to me. My honey is a history buff & I got this mainly for him as we've really delved into learning about religion since about December, attending church, prayer groups. Different religions and faiths too just for the fellowship & community & curiosity & therapeutic healing on a spiritual personal relational soul level. It's wonderful to get a context of what triggered this sequence of events that has changed the world's heart. The book was super affordable & it's very beautiful & we've shared it with our elders - I highly recommend if you have an open hearted curiosity about the man Jesus or about religion in general - especially if you have a hungry mind for lots of detail & information & a questioning brain - that you check out this beautiful text. It's perfect for a coffee table or bedside table.

If you want to take a trip to the Holy Land but can't afford it this is your book. It gives you a rare personal view of all of the important sites. It makes you feel like you are there touring the sites.The pictures in the book are excellent. They alone are worth the price of the book. They put you in the Holy Land. You can see the sights mentioned in the bible as they are today. That look through the pictures help makes the theology become reality for the reader. The second part of the book is the text. It is an excellent commentary on Jesus. The author combines the parts of all of the four gospels to tell the story. Few books seem to do that. It gives the readers a very comprehensive look at Jesus by doing that. The author uses pieces of each gospel to tell a deep story.The book doesn't end with the Jesus story. There is a short chapter on the tale of Paul complete with pictures. Then the book goes into the story of the church for the first 500 years or so. This history is really enlightening. It briefly tells an important story in a very interesting tale.Great book for all, no matter where you are on your faith walk.

I have not had a chance to read this book in detail yet, but I have glanced through it, and it is beautifully laid out and filled with well-researched information about the life and times of Jesus. I'm sure it will be very interesting, since some of the archaeological discoveries have been pretty recent. Anyone interested in Jesus would love this large, beautifully-illustrated book filled with well-written text and many photos. It would be perfect for a gift, as it is printed on nice, heavy paper and is nicely bound as well. It also comes with a large map of the present-day Holy Land.Also, although I bought it used, this issue really is in perfect condition. It only has a signature on the title page and the rest is just like new.

Interesting read, but all the various strange and unpronounciable names can really make it hard to stay in chronological order of the story. For me, I forget the names as some as I struggle through it, and this makes it hard to keep track of the story line. I know this is in part my own problem ( I have a hard time remembering more familiar names) so if you have the memory for it, you no doubt will get alot more out of it than I.

My judgment is shaped by my some forty years of teaching history @ NC State University and by figuring--outside the classroom-- in major ways in the writing of a number of student history textbooks. And that judgment is that, if this this volume offers little that will surprise Bible scholars, it should be welcomed by a broad range of lay-readers. The book as a whole has been carefully researched and brings together an impressive array of relevant data. It is a volume that I wish I'd had access to in my years prior to retirement.

Amazing photography and I learned so much for this book

Brilliant and beautiful. Informative for history buffs.

Great present

Very good book for believers who want to know more.

Beautiful coffee table book with high quality photos and print

Very good book. Marvellous photo's. Good to see beyond the spiritual life and get down to the nitty gritty of normal life.

This is beautifully presented and full of thoughtful facts and information putting into perspective my recent trip to the Holy Land