They Call Me Carpenter
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4.3 • 11 Ratings
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Publisher Description
The story takes place in the fictional locale Western City. It begins with a man named Billy who is attacked by a mob outside a theater after watching a German film. Billy then stumbles into a church and is visited by Carpenter, that is Jesus, who walks out of a stained glass window. Carpenter is shocked and appalled by upper-class culture. The story then roughly follows the biblical account of the Ministry of Jesus. In the end, Carpenter decides to escape the corroded culture by jumping back into the stained glass window whence he came.
Customer Reviews
They call Me Carpenter
I started reading Upton Sinclair's "Jungle", and found it so disturbing that I could not finish it. This present book is a parable espousing the same ideals of social justice, and openly connecting it to Christian teaching. The message was equally disturbing, but made more palatable by the the Christian context.
Many early Christians were indeed unabashed communists ( with a small "c", motivated by Christian love, and voluntary, not imposed by a totalitarian, atheistic government). This way of life continues in monastic communities to this day.
Our present capitalistic system of unbridled consumerism contains the seeds of its own destruction, and we plainly see this in the economic recession of the past few years.
This book invites us to reassess our fundamental values and curb our greed.
Surprisingly Relevant Even Today
Sinclair has a knack for espousing the struggles of the working class in America. Using a critique of organized religion, the press, and the rich, he tells the story of Christ in a Kansas town. This book is a captivating read, and biblical parallels are frequent.
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