My Imaginary Jesus by Matt Mikalatos

BOOK REVIEW

MY IMAGINARY JESUS
The Spiritual Adventures of One Man Searching for the Real God
By Matt Mikalatos
Published by BarnaBooks

I don’t tend to read a lot of fiction. Between seminary and the college ministry I lead, my nose can mostly be found in other places. My Imaginary Jesus caught my eye though. I did not realize what I was getting myself into prior to requesting this book from Tyndale, but turns out to be a very convicting read.

Matt Mikalatos has received praise from Relevant Magazine, Publishers Weekly, Josh McDowell, Tremper Longman, and Adam Sabados for what this book. To give you a better idea, Relevant Magazine says, “Think Monty Python meets C.S. Lewis…” Yeah. I agree.

You may be wondering, “How can a fiction book bring about conviction?” Quite simple. My Imaginary Jesus is about Mikalatos’ search for the real Jesus. Not in the same sense that Lee Strobel wrote in The Case for the Real Jesus, but it is just as moving.

There are too many kinds of Jesuses that Mikalatos describes to list here, or to even attempt to remember for that matter. However, if you read this book, you will certainly find a ton of them who you have believed in at one time if not now.

I was particularly impacted by the various kinds of “cool” Jesuses, the political Jesus, and the legalist Jesus. Often times we create our own version and if you are anything like the author then you likely have your own “Imaginary Jesus” who is nothing more than a lot of the variations combined. This is the kind of Jesus Mikalatos describes as complicated.

Toward the end of the book the author interacts with an atheist Bible study that is compelled to search for the real Jesus as well. By that I mean the Jesus of the Christian Bible, not the so called “historical Jesus” the Jesus Seminars has been concerned with, or the many imaginary Jesuses created by Christians. What he finds is that it took one atheist, Shane, to help him break down the Jesus he had created.

There are so many aspects of our Christian lives that resemble this. We sometimes need an outsider with neutral eyes to examine who and what we are worshipping. Mikalatos discovers that his Imaginary Jesus was himself. He had created a Jesus who represented everything he thought was right.

That’s not it though. Mikalatos was also very careful to examine some of the toughest challenges facing Christianity today. He interacts with Mormons in particular. While this is a work of fiction, it is full of truth. He doesn’t simply make up what he thinks Mormons believe. Rather, he accurately and fairly portrays their own doctrines; something all Christians need to be aware of as they and JWs are two of the fastest growing religious groups in the world.

Mikalatos piles as much truth into a fictional book as 258 page book will allow while also keeping the reader entertained with some extremely funny scenes throughout. This is a book to hand your church members, youth, and college students. It is a fascinating book that communicates truth through the entertainment of comedic fiction. Read this book.

This book has been provided to me for free by Tyndale. I was not required to give a positive review.