Buy this book
The Man Nobody Knows (1925) is the second book by the American author and advertising executive Bruce Fairchild Barton. In it, Barton presents Jesus as "[t]he Founder of Modern Business," in an effort to make the Christian story accessible to businessmen of the time. When published in 1925, The Man Nobody Knows topped the nonfiction bestseller list, and was one of the best-selling non-fiction books of the 20th century.
In this book, Barton paints a picture of a strong Jesus, who worked with his hands, slept outdoors, and travelled on foot. This is very different from what he saw as the "Sunday School Jesus" — a physically weak, moralistic man, and the "lamb of God". Barton describes Jesus as "the world's greatest business executive", and according to one of the chapter headings, "The Founder of Modern Business", who created a world-conquering organization with a group of twelve men hand-picked from the bottom ranks of business. Having completed the book in 1924, Barton initially experienced difficulty getting his work published, as the material was considered to be controversial. It was simply seen by some as wrong to compare Jesus to ordinary men.
Since its publication, The Man Nobody Knows has divided readers. Some welcome the portrayal of Jesus as a strong character, whom no one dared oppose, and praise the use of familiar stereotypes to stimulate interest in religion, whilst others ridicule the suggestion that Jesus was a salesman. Critics have suggested that The Man Nobody Knows is a prime example of the materialism and "glorified Rotarianism" of the Protestant churches in the 1920s. It was suggested that the book was written as "an apology for big business"; however, in his 2005 biography of Barton, The Man Everybody Knew: Bruce Barton and the Making of Modern America, Richard M. Fried maintains that Barton was no apologist — his primary motive for writing was religion. Regardless of his motives for publication, Barton found himself the object of humour by some, and his book was lampooned by radio, magazines and in movies.
Buy this book
Previews available in: English
People
Jesus ChristPlaces
PalestineShowing 8 featured editions. View all 8 editions?
Edition | Availability |
---|---|
1
The man nobody knows: a discovery of the real Jesus
2000, I.R. Dee
in English
1566632943 9781566632942
|
zzzz
Libraries near you:
WorldCat
|
2
The Man Nobody Knows
1987, Collier Books
Paperback
in English
- 1st Collier Books ed.
0020836201 9780020836209
|
cccc
Libraries near you:
WorldCat
|
3 |
zzzz
|
4 |
aaaa
|
5 |
zzzz
|
6 |
zzzz
Libraries near you:
WorldCat
|
7 |
zzzz
|
8
The Man nobody knows: a discovery of the real Jesus.
1925, The Review of reviews corporation
in English
|
zzzz
|
Book Details
Edition Notes
Classifications
The Physical Object
ID Numbers
Community Reviews (0)
Feedback?History
- Created October 23, 2008
- 2 revisions
Wikipedia citation
×CloseCopy and paste this code into your Wikipedia page. Need help?
December 15, 2009 | Edited by WorkBot | link works |
October 23, 2008 | Created by ImportBot | Imported from University of Toronto MARC record |