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American Jesus: How the Son of God Became a National Icon (2003) is a book by Stephen R. Prothero.

Abstract

"Stephen Prothero's American Jesus is a major new work of history: a vivid chronicle of the distinctive "images of Jesus" cherished by the American people, and an incisive account of Jesus' transformation, in Americans' hearts and minds, from crucified Lord to folk hero, from divinity to celebrity ... Jesus the Black Messiah; Jesus the Jew; Jesus the Hindu sage; Jesus the Haight-Asbury hippie: these Jesuses join the traditional figure of Jesus Christ in American Jesus, which was acclaimed upon publication in hardcover as an altogether fresh exploration of American history--and as the liveliest book about Jesus to appear in English in years ... Our nation's changing images of Jesus, Stephen Prothero contends, are a kind of looking class into the national character. Even as most Christian believers cleave to a traditional faith, other people give Jesus a leading role as folk hero, pitchman, and countercultural icon. And so it has been since the nation's founding--from Thomas Jefferson, who took scissors to his New Testament to sort out true from false Jesus material; to the Jews, Buddhists and Muslims who fit Jesus into their own traditions; to the people who adapt Jesus for stage and screen and the Holy Land theme park. American Jesus is "a lively, illuminating and accessible survey that takes us into unexpected corners of our shared religious heritage"--Publisher description.

Editions

Published in New York, NY: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2003.

Contents

Enlightened sage -- Sweet Savior -- Manly Redeemer -- Superstar -- Mormon Elder Brother -- Black Moses -- Rabbi -- Oriental Christ.

External links

• [ Google Books]