In A Whole New Life (1994), acclaimed novelist Reynolds Price plumbed the emotional depths of his ten-year battle with spinal cancer and discussed his vision of Jesus at the Sea of Galilee as a source of strength in the far country of constant pain and suffering. In Letter to a Man in the Fire: Does God Exist and Does He Care? he shared his belief in a Creator and described four mystical demonstrations of divine love he has experienced. Price calls himself an "outlaw Christian" who doesn't attend church but who has read widely about the life and teachings of Jesus since he was a young boy. In this unusual but compelling volume, he expands three lectures given at Harvard University Memorial Church, the National Cathedral, and Auburn Seminary, all focusing on the ethics of Jesus.

Eighty-two percent of the American population declares itself to be Christian, i.e., followers of Jesus. The author is convinced that he was an ethical teacher who demonstrated "strong personal tolerance for sinners" and emphasized the "boundlessly loving nature of God." Yet on three controversial and thorny topics of great ethical import, the gospels are silent: homosexuality, suicide, and the subjugation of women in male-dominated societies. Price has created three narratives in which Jesus addresses these hard questions. Two involve encounters between the risen Jesus and Judas Iscariot and the other with the adulterous woman he rescues from stoning. This thought-provoking work challenges Christians to use their imaginations to seriously examine the most vexing issues and taboo topics of the day.