Author DeBruler takes a sage look at commonly held, often complex, Christian beliefs, comparing and contrasting biblical history with simple, easily grasped human perceptions and truths. The book explores the famous meeting between Jesus and Pontius Pilate. Pilate was pressured by local leadership to condemn the Nazarene standing before him, who, in Pilate’s view, had committed no crimes and was of no danger to others. As described by DeBruler, Pilate was a sinner yet capable of doing good, and Jesus loved him as Jesus loves “you and me.”
Throughout this well-conceived. plain-spoken case for a wider understanding of God’s place in human existence, DeBruler stresses that all believers create their own “image” of God. Going to church for an hour each week does not necessarily make one a Christian, just as being an atheist does not necessarily make one wicked. All are called upon equally to love others and act in positive ways, whether through personal situations or through a larger scope, such as politics. To develop these far-reaching themes, DeBruler looks at such diverse issues as climate change, war, marriage and divorce, taxation, artificial intelligence, and the possibility of Jesus returning in modern times as a female. He advises that, wherever found, Christ's followers must gather “to seek to do good.”
DeBruler is a retired school bus driver who, in his youth, was exposed to various forms of Christianity through family connections but who, in his late teens, identified as an atheist. Later, he would become a born-again Christian. The differences and similarities between these two significant stances have given him the resolve to compose this hearty array that will interest and engage both self-identified Christians and those outside that faith but wishing, perhaps, to find a means to absorb its possibilities.