“Jesus of Nazareth” is already among the top 10 bestsellers on online retailer Amazon in the United States and FrancePope Benedict XVI has rejected the 1960s notion of Jesus as a “political revolutionary” in a new book that has won praise from Israel for saying the Jews were not responsible for Christ’s death, writes Catherine Joualt of AFP.
Jesus “does not come as a destroyer. He does not come bearing the sword of a revolutionary,” the pope — a well-known theologian in his own right — writes in the second volume of his biography of Christ released on Thursday last.
The book entitled “Jesus of Nazareth” is already among the top 10 bestsellers on online retailer Amazon in the United States and France.
The pope, who has made no secret of his conservative views and his opposition to leftist strands in Catholic thinking, said the image of the son of God as a political agitator had acquired “explosive force” in the 1960s.
“Since that time, there has been a noticeable reduction in the wave of theologies of revolution,” he wrote.
Jesus came to the world “with the gift of healing”, the 83-year-old head of the Roman Catholic Church writes, to reveal God’s power as “the power of love”.
“Violent revolution, killing others in God’s name, was not his way.”
The Vatican said 1.2 million copies of the book — “Jesus of Nazareth” — had already been published in seven languages: English, French, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese and Spanish.
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