In His Steps

Jesus Is Here

Sheldon wrote a sequel to In His Steps titled Jesus Is Here, where Christ visits the characters of In His Steps, supposedly a few years later. The book is written in much the same language and style as In His Steps, with many of the same characters (and some added ones). This book's recurring phrase, used in the description of Jesus, is, "Like an average man. Only different."

Plot

Jesus appears quietly at first to one person and then to an expanding group of people in the small town of Raymond. He gradually draws more and more attention, including crowds. Jesus goes from Raymond to New York City and then Washington, D.C., at points making a public splash, including media attention. The non-stereotypical character of Jesus seems fully capable of supernatural power (not showing up in pictures, for example) but chooses a nondescript mode of presenting himself. He does not appear to do dramatic public acts such as healing, but instead speaks words of comfort or lends practical help. He has views but relays them with understatement. He wears ordinary business clothes, at times blends into a crowd, and is not memorable in appearance. He is humble, practical and personable. His impact upon lives is not through obvious miracles but through old-fashioned kindness, care, and encouragement.

Literary technique

Sheldon creates a Jesus who is especially gentle on the modern church of his day, speaking generous words of grace and favor. Sheldon offers a nice counterpoint through the skepticism of Raymond's lead editor, a non-Christian and non-churchgoer, who sets the storyline of the book. Sheldon also extends the mystery and realism of his fictional idea by effective omission—the use of third-person accounts, and the technique of delaying and limiting first-hand quotations for more than half of the book to onlookers' descriptions of what they saw. There is also a demure and rapid love story between two characters, blessed by Jesus.

This sequel has a slightly more contemporary feel than In His Steps, in that this cast includes characters who openly declare opposing aims and a mean-spirited skepticism of Christ. By playing its own devil's advocate, through voicing skepticism, and keeping the plot more uncertain, the book and its conflicts become more interesting. A Christian might read the story simply to find out how long the fiction of a fleshly Christ, even of the late 1800s / early 1900s, can be sustained. Issues do gradually emerge through the book that date it, however; the book embodies strong Prohibitionist and Temperance views on tobacco, alcohol, college fraternities, and other questions of the period that do not reflect prevailing contemporary approaches to those issues.

Controversy

Sheldon's sequel, Jesus is Here, was quite controversial in its day. The author's own foreword to the book alludes to some of the controversy. Possible conflicts by fellow Christian believers might include:

  • The book references the Holy Spirit 18 times as essential to walking in Christ's steps to make social reform, a requirement anti- and non-Christian reformists may object to.
  • The book makes no mention of the Antichrist, who the Bible mentions in the New Testament books of Revelation, 1 John, and 2 John. Other Christian books, notably Frank Peretti's The Visitation (1999), ponder through fiction what an anti-Christ type of visitation might look like on a smaller scale. In Jesus Is Here, a question emerges for the reader: "Who is this man?" and "Why wouldn't he be a fraud?"

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