Fr. James Martin, S.J., a New York Times bestselling author and editor of America magazine, spoke Wednesday evening in the Intercultural Center auditorium about encountering and forming a relationship with Jesus, which is the topic of his latest book, “Jesus: A Pilgrimage.”

During the event, attended by around 300 people, Martin drew on his life experiences to illustrate the importance of forming a personal relationship with Jesus and seeing Christ’s life through a variety of perspectives. He interspersed his commentary with jokes, utilizing the same sense of humor he has become famous for as the chaplain to “The Colbert Report.”

Martin focused a large part of his talk on the importance of approaching Jesus both through the lens of history and the lens of faith. Both mindsets offer different revelations about Jesus and his teachings, according to Martin.

“To fully meet Jesus Christ, the believer needs both to understand the Jesus of history, the man who walked the earth, and to encounter the Christ of faith, the one who rose from the dead,” Martin said.

Martin also talked about how important it is to acknowledge that Jesus was just as much a human being as he was a divine being. Seeing both sides of Jesus’ personhood is often a struggle, Martin said.

“If Jesus’ humanity is a stumbling block for a lot of people, his divinity is even more so. For a rational, modern mind, talk of the supernatural can be very disturbing, an embarrassment even,” Martin said.

Before opening up the floor to questions, Martin closed his talk by acknowledging the difficulty there is in coming to a complete understanding of Jesus’ identity. He said that in spite of this challenge, the journey to know Jesus is one worth embarking on.

“While Jesus’ identity as the fully human, fully divine son of God remains a mystery, it is a beautiful mystery, the most beautiful one I know and one that is well worth pondering,” Martin said.

During the question-and-answer portion of the event, Martin responded to more than half a dozen audience questions ranging from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to his presence on social media to how best to personally encounter Jesus.

Developing a one-on-one relationship with Jesus was a major theme throughout Martin’s responses to questions. He said that the closer we grow to Christ, the more we come to understand about his teachings and the more we learn about ourselves. Martin recognized, however, that often the call to grow closer to God can be met with resistance from society.

“I think when people hear the words ‘personal relationship with Jesus’ they freak out,” Martin said. “They think you’re hearing voices. So what do you do? … Just tell them your experience.”

After the talk, attendees participated in a book signing with Martin, whose book was available for purchase outside the auditorium.

Washington, D.C., resident Becky Moylan has been a long-time fan of Martin and attended the talk to hear him speak in person.

“It was really impactful to take some time away and to really think about what Jesus’ message is and how that influences each of us today,” Moylan said.

Kevin Sullivan (SFS ’14) said he attended the talk to hear Martin talk about his book and share his personal encounters with faith.

“I really learned just from the way he [Martin] speaks to others,” Sullivan said. “I really enjoyed hearing his tone in the way he delivers a message that is familiar to some, foreign to others. But the way he did it is just really personable, really relatable, especially to people our generation, our age.”