Training for the Marathon of Life

This dynamic book explores the key teaching of Jesus using 50 sayings chosen for their high level of authenticity by the Jesus Seminar, a Bible think tank. Jesus has a grass roots approach in his teaching about the Kingdom, as Jesus' parables show. If we want to belong to the good society that he claims is already in existence, we have to adopt the right attitudes and demonstrate the right personal qualities. There is coherence in the gospel texts that most people have not fully discovered. This is Jesus' training course to help us run the Marathon of our life successfully.
In the second part of the book, Jesus' teaching is compared with other utopias, and his way is shown, with examples, to be a practical and powerful blueprint for us to adopt in our own lives. This book is much more than a study of the teaching of Jesus: it is a handbook for personal success in making his teaching our own. The author is a graduate in theology at Cambridge University (UK) and a former minister of religion.

Peter Watson Jenkins, the son of a Methodist minister, was raised in Bath, England. After training to be a school teacher, he did National Service in a London hospital and, later trained for the Congregational ministry and read theology at Cambridge University. In 1963 he was ordained to minister in a parish in the North of England. In the course of 21 years he served six parishes in England and the USA. From 1966-9 he was minister in charge of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, a pacifist movement. He was active in community relations, broadcast ministry, and high school religious education. He became a Unitarian in 1959 and is now involved in his retirement in promoting the concept of reincarnation. He is married to Sonia Ness who is a musician and editor. He has two children and three grandchildren. The couple live in Elk Griove Village, Illinois, USA.