The Man Nobody Knows

The Man Nobody Knows: A Discovery of the Real Jesus, published in 1925, is the second book by Bruce Barton, an American advertising executive. A nonfiction bestseller in 1925, The Man Nobody Knows is a revisionist portrayal of Jesus as a kind of CEO who created a world-altering organization with a small group of carefully selected men. Barton’s book controversially refers to Jesus as an executive who created parables that were influential advertisements and used methods that salesmen should study. In a later 1956 edition of The Man Nobody Knows, the text was amended to appeal to a wider audience.

This guide is based upon the 1925 edition of the book published by Grosset & Dunlap, by arrangement with the Bobbs-Merrill Company.

Summary

As a boy attending Sunday school, Bruce Barton disliked the traditional depiction of Jesus as pale, weak, and sad. Jesus as the “lamb of God” sounded to the young Barton like “something for girls—sissified” (x). Barton admired masculine, physically strong fighters such as Daniel in the lion’s den or David defeating Goliath. As an adult, Barton decided to read only what those who had personally known Jesus said about him. Barton became convinced that many artists and writers had misrepresented Jesus.