Home Page     Stolen Identity Book Reviews Sinclair Ferguson, Professor of Systematic Theology at Westminster in Dallas, a speaker in enormous demand in Christian circles. "Dr Peter Jones stands in the honorable tradition that runs from the great early Christian theologian-apologist Irenaeus of Lyons. Here is a New Testament scholar who understands what lies behind books like The Da Vinci Code, and who can clearly distinguish fact from fiction, truth from invention. Stolen Identity convincingly exposes false claims about early Christianity and clearly explains the significance of the Jesus of the four Gospels. It will be a sobering eye opener for anyone likely to be taken in by sensational page-turners, and, at the same time, an invaluable help to many Christians. We owe Peter Jones a considerable debt for having the courage to speak in a way that is deeply prophetic to the times in which we live." X X X John MacArthur, pastor of Grace Community Church, Sun City, CA, and Bible Teacher of the radio program, Grace to You. He writes: "No one has worked harder than Peter Jones to make Christians in our generation aware of the very real and present dangers of ancient Gnosticism. Stolen Identity reminds us that there is nothing new under the sun, even in the realm of heresy. By being aware of the struggle the church has waged throughout her history in defense of the one true Jesus, Christians today can more effectively understand and answer the postmodern confusion about the so-called 'historical' Jesus." X X X David F. Wells Andrew Mutch Distinguished Professor of Historical and Systematic Theology Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary "Two worldviews, two spiritualities, two views of Jesus, mirror images of one another and yet diametrically opposed to each other, historic Christianity and Gnosticism, one true and the other a fraud. Peter Jones has laid these out in a way that is clear, concise, and compelling with a conclusion as simple as it is decisive: choose this day whom you will serve!" X X X Donald A Carson New Testament Research Professor Trinity Evangelical Divinity School "The first problem with the approach of Dan Brown (and of others who follow him) is not theology, but history: Dan Brown is an incompetent historian before he is an incompetent theologian. Sadly, in an age when careful probing of historical documents is displaced by love of novelty, Dan Brown is cherished by many not so much as a novelist but as a prophet, someone who leads us to truth. Here Peter Jones provides a helpful remedy. Though he writes in a racy style, his own doctoral research was in Gnostic literature, and his antidote to the painful nonsense mushrooming around us is to let the ancient texts speak for themselves. This book deserves the widest circulation." X X X Alistair Begg Pastor, Parkside Church, Cleveland, Ohio, and host of the very popular radio program, Truth for Life "As a pastor I am always looking for books which help me to help my congregation understand and address challenges to the faith. Peter Jones has hit the nail on the head by tackling head-on attacks on the identity of Christ. Here is a well-documented, readable resource to add to your library and give to your flock." X X X Review of Peter Jones, Stolen Identity: The Conspiracy to Reinvent Jesus, Colorado: Victor, 2006. Peter Jones has written a simple book on a rather complicated subject. He begins by saying that the true Jesus is either Dan Brown's Vitruvian Man or the one in Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ. That might have been better phrased, but Dr Jones means that Jesus is either the historical Jesus of the biblical Gospels or the esoteric being of the Nag Hammadi library. Ultimately, the apparent dualism of the Gnostic writings dissolves into a kind of pantheistic monism. That sounds terminal - and it is - but this is a work that takes the reader step by step through the process of understanding what the Gnostic authors, Carl Jung, the Jesus Seminar, Shirley MacLaine, and Dan Brown have in common. In the Gnostic Gospel of Philip one is 'no longer a Christian: one is Christ'. In the Gospel of Mary, Peter asks Jesus: 'What is the sin of the world?' And Jesus replies: 'There is no sin.' In a strange and at first sight contradictory way, the physical world is repudiated, yet absorbed in some way. Hence the sexual act is seen as evil and yet deeply infused with powerful spirituality - which is the distorted and degraded message of Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code. The resurrection has already happened (cf. 2 Tim.2:18) because it is spiritual, not physical. One becomes one's own saviour, and, for that matter, one's own lover. V. Gene Robinson, the homosexual Episcopalian bishop of New Hampshire could thus tell a prayer breakfast for Planned Parenthood in 2005: 'What an unimaginative God it would be if God only put one meaning in any one verse of Scripture.' The trouble is that the God who is everything is, in the end, nothing; and the God who communicates everything communicates, in the end, nothing. Dr Jones deals with topics such the God of Jesus, the message of Jesus, the humanity of Jesus, spirituality, sexuality, morality, and the death and resurrection of Jesus, and finishes with powerful chapters on 'Your Choice' and 'My Choice'. We can be grateful that this book was written; it is a clear light shining in murky days. - Peter Barnes Back Dr. Peter Jones Director, truthXchange Adjunct Professor and Scholar-in-Residence, Westminster Seminary in California PO Box 416 Escondido, CA 92033 760 747 3668 www.cwipp.org Version: 26th January 2005 Home Page