Jesus 2.1

Every generation has reinvented Jesus to meet the needs of the times. This, Shepherd asserts, is a sign of a healthy, positive course of intellectual and spiritual growth. In an attempt to topple the culturally biased, often bigoted, images of Jesus, Dr. Tom takes a witty, yet solid, whack at more than a few of these human concepts. Recognizing Jesus as a focal point for a discussion about values--and with evident love and respect--Dr. Tom affirms that it's time for our generation to create a more interactive version of Christ.

Every generation throughout history has rethought, reshaped and reinvented Jesus to meet the needs of the times. This successive remaking of Jesus, Dr. Thomas Shepherd asserts, is a sign of a healthy, positive course of intellectual and spiritual growth critical to understanding Christian-based faith. In his sharply witty style, and founded on a decade of research, Dr. Tom takes a solid whack at more than a few human concepts of Jesus handed down through history in an attempt to topple culturally biased, often bigoted, images of the man behind the myth. Recognizing Jesus as an important meeting place for a discussion about values, and with evident love and respect, Dr. Tom affirms that it's time for our generation to reshape Jesus into a more interactive version. To put it in today's technological terms, the Jesus 2.1 upgrade will reinstall the Jesus Christ operating system, quarantine remnants of culturally induced viruses, and install a revised imago Dei, which will make it easier to toggle the image of God in the consciousness of all human beings.

The Rev. Dr. Thomas W. Shepherd is a retired U.S. Army Chaplain who has served religious communities around the world for more than 30 years in the clergy. Before studying for the ministry, he flew medical evacuation helicopters in Vietnam, earning two Distinguished Flying Crosses, Air Medal, Purple Heart, and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry. Shepherd holds a B.S.Ed. from the University of Idaho, Master of Divinity from Lancaster Theological Seminary, and Doctor of Ministry from Saint Paul School of Theology. He has served as assistant executive director of the Universal Foundation for Better Living and as senior minister of Unity churches in Georgia, South Carolina, and California. In 2005, Shepherd became de facto chair of the one-person Historical and Theological Studies Department at Unity Institute, located at Unity Village, Missouri. His Q&A column, "That's a Good Question," has been one of the most popular features in Unity Magazine since the 1990s. Dr. Shepherd is the author of three books on theology, church history and practical spirituality: Glimpses of Truth (UFBL Press, 2000), Friends in High Places (iUniverse, 2006, 3rd edition), and Good questions (Unity House, 2009); he also writes science fiction novels under the pen name Thomas Henry Quell. While living in California, Shepherd produced and moderated the critically acclaimed local acces TV program Coffee with the Clergy, a twice-weekly interfaith panel discussion, featuring interaction among religious leaders from diverse backgrounds on a wide range of topics which usually explored areas that were frankly controversial. Currently teaching at Unity Institute, Dr. Shepherd finds time to host Let's Talk About It, a weekly Internet radio program on Unity.FM, and is "plodding through" several book-length writing projects. Dr. Tom, as his students call him, has ordained ministerial standing with Unity Worldwide Ministies (formerly the Association of Unity Churches International), the Unitarian Universalist Association, and the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches. He lives in Lee's Summit, Missouri, with his wife Carol-Jean.