DEAR READER:
Will you set me right on one point about yourself?
I’m wondering if your idea of the Christ is like that of most people—a “Man of Sorrows,” sent to this earth to undergo certain sacrificial experiences, glad to get them over with, looking forward always to getting back to His heavenly home.
That is the idea of Jesus that most people have. That is the idea of Him that many teachers have fostered. But it is not the idea of Him that a careful reading of the Gospels will give you.
A physical weakling? Ascetic? Anaemic? Jesus was a successful carpenter in a day when tools were few and sheer strength took the place of winches and pulleys.
A “Man of Sorrows”? He made people happy wherever He went. The sick, the poor, the sorrowful—all flocked to Him and were sent away happy. Little children loved Him—and were joyous and happy with Him. He was the most popular dinner guest in Jerusalem!
A failure? Why, he was the founder of modern business! For what is the watchword of the successful business of today? What but Service?
And 2000 years ago Jesus preached on the shores of Galilee “Whosoever will be great among you shall be your minister. And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all.” Is there one word of that which does not apply to the well-run modern business? Yet most people think that this idea of giving more than you are paid for is a new idea! It is simply that the world is only now waking up to the practicability of Jesus’ teachings.
For years people have had the feeling that what a man did on week-days was somehow contaminating. That Church on Saturday or Sunday was to wipe out this stain so that he might make good in the hereafter. When the fact is that what really counts is not the things you profess on Saturdays or Sundays—but the things you practice on weekdays!
That is what modern business is coming to believe. That is the spirit that animated all of Jesus’ words and actions, as portrayed in the most interesting, the most talked about story of Jesus ever written—
“The Man Nobody Knows”
By Bruce Barton
With its companion volume—”The Book Nobody Knows”—it took the business world by storm when it was published and it still does.
It shows Jesus—NOT as a “Man of Sorrows,” not as a meek and lowly “Lamb of God” but as the greatest of all figures in History, as the Practical Ideal of the modern business man.
“I came that ye might have life and have it more abundantly.”
He differed from the Prophets. He differed from John the Baptist. He brought a new idea into the world—that changed the whole current of History. Would you know what that idea is? Then read this book.
Who was Bruce Barton?
In the early 1900’s everyone knew him (Bruce) then: Bruce Barton was a cultural icon. “Two-thirds of American history textbooks today cite him to illustrate the 1920s adoration of the business mentality that then dominated American culture. Historians quote from his enormous best-seller, The Man Nobody Knows, in which Barton called Jesus the “founder of modern business” who “picked up twelve men from the bottom ranks of business and forged them into an organization that conquered the world.” Most famously, he co-founded the advertising agency that became Batten, Barton, Durstine and Osborn and grew to symbolize “Madison Avenue.” He made GM and GE household initials. Barton’s religious writings, especially The Man Nobody Knows, epitomized modernist religious thought in the twenties—at one point he had two religious books on the best-seller list. As a political spin merchant, he advanced the careers of Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover; his agency scripted later campaigns for Republicans, notably Dwight Eisenhower. Barton himself was twice elected to Congress, ran for the U.S. Senate in 1940. If you are interested in this man’s work and thoughts, you must also read his biography, THE MAN EVERYBODY KNEW: Bruce Barton and the Making of Modern America by Richard M. Fried.
You may also be interested in reading “The Seven Lost Secrets of Success: Million Dollar Ideas of BRUCE BARTON, America’s Forgotten Genius.” by DR JOE VITALE.
Back to the “The Man Nobody Knows”
It tells you of the greatest thought ever conceived. And it is to further that thought, that we are offering a free summary of the book (77 pages) for download.
Click here to download the free ebook summary
