Almost every Christian man wants others to think of them as a “man’s man,” a “real man.” Yet, most of the time, these same men would be hard-pressed to provide a clear, compelling, and biblically rooted definition for what it means to be a man. Between the toxic masculinity and gender confusion of our day, the Christian church needs to retrieve a balanced vision of what it means to be a man.

Instead of allowing cultural stereotypes to form our vision of masculinity, we need to return to the emotionally complex and paradoxically challenging example of Jesus’ own life and teaching. As the last Adam, the true Son of Abraham, Son of David, Jesus demonstrates how to live in conformity to God’s will as a man as He calls us to follow Him.

When Poets Were Warriors studies the person and work of Jesus as an example of what it means to be a Christian man. Casey knows that Jesus is more than an example of masculinity, though he is not less. He wants readers to walk away from his book not only with a greater understanding of what it means to be a man, but also with a greater love for Jesus Christ. After all, Jesus provides the greatest example of what it means to be a man while doing what only he could do: redeeming others from sin through His life, death, and resurrection.