My Review of "Jesus was an Airborne Ranger"

What Josh McDougall's Jesus Was an Airborne Ranger: Find Your Purpose Following the Warrior Christ claims to do is offer Christians a 21st century account of what Gustaf Aulen calls the "Christus Victor" theology in his 1931 book. So I was excited to give the book a read.

What I found, however, was a picture of Christ more akin to the 9th century's The Heliand. McDougall makes interesting claims about parallels between the life of Christ and the training and service of Airborne Rangers, since he is one he is definitely qualified to write this unique story. He promises you a warrior Christ and he certainly delivers magnificently.

McDougall's book has the tone of that of a military man -- clipped, concise, upbeat and certainly confrontational. The author has no problem getting to his point quickly in each chapter. There are some super funny lines including describing the "feminized Christ" that we've all grown up with as a "pale-faced, slack-jawed, pretty boy".

I found it funny. But as I laughed, I had to ask -- is it true?

And this is the point at which McDougall's book fails miserably. While McDougall attempts to weave together a narrative that re-reads Jesus' life story in a fresh way, what he ends up telling is the story of a Jesus who sounds more like the modern "military man" than the Prince of Peace whose nonviolence challenged both Roman power and Jewish institutional religion with the Power of crucified love.

If you're looking to find a Jesus who sounds more like our culture than any other Jesus, this is the book for you. But if you're looking for a Jesus who sounds like the Jesus of the Gospels, you'll be disappointed with Jesus Was an Airborne Ranger. I know I was.

I received a free copy of this book as part of the Blogging for Books program in exchange for my honest review here.

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