In the novel, A Life of Jesus, the author's identity is a guiding force in the approach to this book. Shusaku Endo was born in Tokyo in 1923. Endo's attraction to Christianity began after his parents divorced, and he and his mother moved in with his aunt. Due to encouragement from both his mother and his aunt, Endo was baptized at age eleven. He graduated with a degree in French literature and studied modern French Catholicism literature for three years at the University of Lyon. As a devout Christian, Endo's belief in Jesus had led him to strive to relate Jesus" life story in a context familiar to non-Christians of Japanese descent. .
As an individual of Japanese descent, Endo focused his works on the promotion of Christianity to specifically a Japanese non-Christian audience due to its failure to be nurtured on Japanese soil. However, this approach seemed to encompass non-Christian individuals from all backgrounds. Endo says, "I was determined to highlight the particular aspect of love in his personality precisely in order to make Jesus understandable in terms of the religious psychology of my non-Christian countrymen- Holding this ideal in mind, Endo presented Jesus not in the paternal-image that Christianity seems to promote, but in the compassionate maternal approach that parallels the affection that men hold in Japan for their mothers. .
A Life of Jesus highlights many of the significant aspects of Jesus" life. To begin with, Endo describes the environment of Nazareth that Jesus was raised in. Following the path of his father Joseph, Jesus also became a carpenter. However, upon hearing the calling of John the Baptist who denounced the Jewish establishment of the Pharisees and Sadducees, Jesus turned in his trade for a calling that appealed to his heart. Without knowledge of John serving as the precursor to Jesus becoming the Messiah, Jesus joined the religious community of John.
