The Man Nobody Knows by Bruce Barton
"The Man Nobody Knows" by Bruce Barton presents a modern interpretation of Jesus, aiming to portray him as a relatable and dynamic figure rather than the traditional, somber image often emphasized in religious contexts. Barton likens Jesus to a contemporary business executive, highlighting traits such as self-confidence and leadership skills through various interactions, including those with prominent figures like Nicodemus and the Roman centurion. He emphasizes Jesus' virility and sociability, illustrating these qualities through anecdotes from Jesus' life, including his labor as a carpenter and his presence at social events.
The book further explores the idea that Jesus' teachings can be aligned with principles of modern advertising and business practices, suggesting that his parables exemplify effective communication strategies. Barton’s perspective reflects the cultural milieu of the 1920s, a time marked by economic growth and a burgeoning interest in business as a moral endeavor. By positioning Jesus within this framework, Barton resonates with readers looking for a relevant and engaging interpretation of faith that aligns with contemporary values. Ultimately, the work serves as both a religious commentary and a reflection on the intersection of faith and modernity during its time, contributing to its significant popularity.
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The Man Nobody Knows by Bruce Barton
First published: Indianapolis, Ind.: Bobbs-Merrill, 1925
Genre(s): Nonfiction
Subgenre(s): Biography
Core issue(s): Capitalism; Jesus Christ
Overview
In the introduction, “How It Came to Be Written,” Bruce Barton states that his chief goal in writing The Man Nobody Knows was to create a more popular, virile, and modern depiction of Jesus. In line with this, in the first chapter, “The Executive,” he argues that Jesus demonstrated the self-confidence and forceful demeanor of a modern business executive. Jesus was audacious and self-assured, and his utterances commanded the attention of those who heard them. As examples of Jesus’ inherent leadership ability, Barton cites his interactions with Nicodemus, an older man of considerable prominence in Jerusalem; with the Roman centurion, a man used to giving orders and being in command of people; and with Matthew, the tax collector. He also draws parallels with the leadership style of President Abraham Lincoln to argue his case.
In the second chapter, “The Outdoor Man,” Jesus’ virility is highlighted. Jesus grew up doing manual labor in his father’s carpentry shop, enjoyed time spent in the “open air,” and was popular among women. He drove the moneychangers out of the temple, and his cures and healings were performed forcefully and with a high degree of certainty and self-confidence.
The third chapter, “The Sociable Man,” continues the process of correcting what the author sees as the theologians’ dour view of Jesus. Barton challenges the statement that “nobody has ever seen him laugh,” using a modernized retelling of the events at the wedding feast at Cana to demonstrate Jesus’ sociability and citing his attacks on “the narrow code of the Pharisees” to give evidence of his overall enjoyment of life. The author again makes a comparison to Abraham Lincoln.
The fourth chapter, “His Method,” begins with a highly simplified view of Jesus’ place in the evolution of religious thought. Barton states that the teachings of Moses brought knowledge of one God, the writings of the prophet Amos brought the idea of a just God, and the writings of Hosea brought the idea of a good God. To this Jesus added the idea of democracy, that all human beings are equal before God. From there the author moves to a discussion of Jesus’ “method” of getting his ideas across, primarily through simplicity, understatement, and the use of parables. Continuing to give his discussion a contemporary emphasis, Barton states, “Surely no one will consider us lacking in reverence if we say that every one of the ’principles of modern salesmanship’ on which business men so much pride themselves, are brilliantly exemplified in Jesus’ talk and work.”
The contemporary 1920’s business emphasis is given its strongest expression in the fifth and sixth chapters, entitled respectively “His Advertisements” and “The Founder of Modern Business.” Barton, a highly successful advertising executive and cofounder of the well-known Barton, Durstine & Osborn advertising agency, here views Jesus specifically through the lens of the advertising profession. In the first of these two chapters, he states, “Every advertising man ought to study the parables of Jesus” as examples of the basic principles of modern advertising, and then he proceeds to give numerous examples. He also provides modern, newspaper-type headlines, such as the following (taken from an imaginary Capernaum News), to demonstrate Jesus’ ability to gain “front page coverage” of his activities and ideas:
prominent tax collector joins Nazareth forces
Matthew abandons business to promote new cult
* * *
gives large luncheon
In “The Founder of Modern Business,” he continues this theme, using the biblical quotation (which also serves as the book’s epigraph): “Wist ye not that I must be about my father’s business?” (italics added by Barton). Key aspects of modern business, such as service, hard work, and vision, are stressed, and to reinforce his discussion, Barton gives examples from the lives of such prominent figures as George W. Perkins (of New York Life Insurance), Theodore N. Vail (founder of American Telephone and Telegraph), J. P. Morgan, Henry Ford, and Thomas Jefferson.
In the book’s final chapter, “The Master,” Barton offers a more conventional, popular summation of Jesus’ life, while still continuing to highlight the chief themes of the book set forth in the introduction. The work, overall, places Jesus within a highly modern, popular (especially 1920’s) context, and its popularity during the period (it was one of the top-selling books of both 1925 and 1926) makes it of considerable significance as a cultural artifact and reflection of prevailing religious attitudes.
Christian Themes
Barton, who grew up in Tennessee and in Oak Park, Illinois, and whose father was a Congregational minister, shows many of the characteristics of twentieth century liberal Protestantism. He unashamedly stresses the humanity of Jesus, stating at one point that “If . . . we are criticized for overemphasizing the human side of his character we shall have the satisfaction of knowing that our overemphasis tends a little to offset the very great overemphasis which has been exerted on the other side.” He likewise leaves the miracles of Jesus up to the choice of the reader. In regard to Jesus’ calming of the storm at sea, he says, “Call it a miracle or not—the fact remains that it is one of the finest examples of self-control in all human history.” This “human” interpretation of Jesus offers a sharp contrast to the literal, fundamentalist interpretation of the Bible expressed by William Jennings Bryan during the famous Scopes Trial in Dayton, Tennessee, the same year that Barton’s book was published.
Barton’s most unique Christian theme, of course, is his identification of Jesus with the twentieth century business executive. This seems to fit particularly well with the culture of the 1920’s and with the often quoted statement of President Calvin Coolidge, “The business of America is business.” In the midst of the economic boom of the decade and the prevailing faith in modern business, Barton’s theme clearly hit a responsive chord with readers. The book’s enormous popularity made him, along with evangelists Billy Sunday and Aimee Semple McPherson, one of the best-known religious figures of the era.
Coming at Barton (and his writings) from a somewhat different direction also serves to place him within the context of the American progressive generation as discussed, for example, in Robert M. Crunden’s Ministers of Reform: The Progressives’ Achievement in American Civilization, 1889-1920 (1982). Crunden characterizes this group—broadly speaking, Americans born between 1854 and 1894—as marked by a number of common elements. Among them: coming from a devout Protestant background (Barton’s father was a Congregational minister), adhering strongly to the Republican Party and admiring Abraham Lincoln (Barton was a lifelong Republican who served two terms in the U.S. Congress from 1937 to 1941, and the example of Lincoln appears numerous times in his book), and finding oneself in early life unable to pursue a religious calling and instead turning to a modern profession (in Barton’s case, advertising) and investing it with a high degree of moral purpose and idealism. Although his book came out a few years after the Progressive era in the United States ended, the attempt Barton makes to link the life and teachings of Jesus to the principles of modern advertising nevertheless offers an interesting reflection of the Progressive ethos and its connections to popular religious thought.
Sources for Further Study
Fried, Richard M. The Man Everybody Knew: Bruce Barton and the Making of Modern America. Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, 2005. A full, well-researched biography of Barton.
Lippy, Charles H. Do Real Men Pray? Images of the Christian Man and Male Spirituality in White Protestant America. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2005. The author offers a summary of Barton’s life and career as an example of one of the themes (“The Efficient Businessman”) that he develops in this study.
Marchand, Roland. Advertising the American Dream: Making Way for Modernity, 1920-1940. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1985. Offers a good summary of the development of modern advertising in which Barton played a prominent role.
Ribuffo, Leo P. “Jesus Christ as Business Statesman: Bruce Barton and the Selling of Corporate Capitalism.” American Quarterly 33, no. 2 (Summer, 1981): 206-231. Offers a solid overview of Barton’s life and career. Of particular interest is the influence of Barton’s father, William E. Barton, on his writing, as well as Barton’s own particular reflection of the progressive worldview.