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Embracing Grace: A Gospel for All of Us
This fascinating book explains that the gospel is about the restoration of "cracked Eikons" (fallen humans) so that humans can be in union with God and in communion with the saints. In the candid and lucid style that has made McKnight's The Jesus Creed so appealing to thousands of pastors, lay leaders, and everyday people who are searching for a more authentic faith, he encourages all Christians to recognize the simple, yet potentially transforming truth of the gospel God seeks to restore us to wholeness not only to make us better individuals, but to form a community of Jesus, a society in which humans strive to be in union with God and in communion with others.
183 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2005
17 people are currently reading
139 people want to read
About the author
Scot McKnight
210 books542 followersScot McKnight is a recognized authority on the New Testament, early Christianity, and the historical Jesus. McKnight, author or editor of forty books, is the Professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary in Lombard, IL. Dr. McKnight has given interviews on radios across the nation, has appeared on television, and is regularly speaks at local churches, conferences, colleges, and seminaries in the USA and abroad. Dr. McKnight obtained his Ph.D. at the University of Nottingham (1986).
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
March 16, 2025
I think all Christian men in the 00’s were coached to write exactly the same way. Short quick sentences and drawn out analogies and stories. It felt jarring for him to sometimes drop in big Christian words but then also explain basic concepts, like he didn’t know who the book was for. That being said, I appreciated how he centered justice in his depiction of the gospel. Not super compelling overall but still okay.
May 18, 2025
A MODERN INTERPRETATION OF THE GOSPEL
Scot McKnight is a New Testament Scholar who taught at Northern Baptist Theological Seminary (and previously at North Park University).
He wrote in the Prologue to this 2005 book, “I tell the story of the gospel in what follows, and along the way I tell stories of a variety of persons who discovered that the gospel can soothe suffering and forgive their sins and restore their community and empower them to work for the good of the world. In other words, they learned that the gospel can satisfy the soul… The gospel is a story about a Person and about persons who find themselves in that story. In telling stories of the gospel, however, I will not be giving ‘proofs’ of the gospel. The gospel is good enough on its own, and it doesn’t need to be propped up with proofs.”
He continues in the Introduction, “The most import thing I have to say in [this book] is this: each of these groups is trying to say the same thing, each of these groups is right in what they do say about the gospel, and each of these groups needs the definition of the other… So, how would I define the gospel? The gospel is the work of God to restore humans to union with God and communion with others and the world. This is what I call the gospel of ‘embracing grace.’ In this book we will look at each element of this definition, tweaking it here and there with special words. This is a general summary of a gospel for ALL OF US.” (Pg. xii-xiii)
He explains, “The entire Judeo-Christian tradition… believes humans are special---that they are Eikons… But, in the vast majority of post-Enlightenment perceptions of human nature, whether they are political or scientific or interpersonal or institutional or familial, human beings are understood first and foremost as INDIVIDUALS. While I would not want to say that being an individual is being unchristian or somehow wrong, the focal point of the Bible---from Genesis to Revelation---is elsewhere. The focal point of the entire tradition is that humans need to be seen as Eikons. Seeing humans as merely ‘individuals’ diminishes the well-rounded Eikon of God. It is to exclude our relationship to God and our relationships to others from the discussion, and that leaves us stranded as we determine who we are. Individualism is the biggest obstacle to the gospel of embracing grace.” (Pg. 22-23)
Later, he adds, “Now it is clear that individualism is so important in our understanding of the gospel: individualism preaches non-communion and the limited value of relationships. Eikons are made as male and female in need of communion with others. It was not good for Adam to be alone; aloneness is not what Eikons were made for. They are designed for relationship. The gospel says this is what life is all about.” (Pg. 35)
He suggests, “This kind of ecstatic experience of union with God is not unusual for Christian mystics. I believe that Eternity will be an uninterrupted flow of such ecstatic union with God. We will be, in our very natures, blended into the presence of God while maintaining our identity.” (Pg. 58)
"The earthly shape of God’s community is the centerpiece of God’s restoring work. Because the work of God is to restore each of us in the context of a community in the here and now. The history of Israel is not the failed attempt of a nation between two big moments in history---between the Fall and the Cross. You tear the heart out of God’s work on earth if you skip from the Fall to the Cross. At each stage of the process in this history, God is working with COMMUNITIES: a family tribe (Abraham), an entire nation (Moses), a kingdom (David), and a universal church (Jesus)… Jesus’ mission was to bring the KINGDOM, and the kingdom is a community or a society wherein the will of God---what I call the Jesus Creed---is done. Humans are restored to God and to others, and they can be healed and sustained through pain as they are drawn into a community of faith.” (Pg. 70-71)
He says, “There we have it all: the restoration of cracked Eikons is empowered by the twin events of the Death and the Resurrection. So, it would be more appropriate for Christians to say that Jesus came not just to [pay] for our sins, but to die for our sins and to be raised to empower us to live as Eikons. The gospel is God’s comedy, because in the gospel death is overcome by life, and that life restores us to community for the good of the world.” (Pg. 116-117)
He states, “Exclusion needs to be seen for what it really is. Ultimately exclusion is a paradox. Exclusion in its very essence is the choice to embrace ourselves as the only embrace needed. By turning inward instead of outward---toward God and others, the self-embracing ‘I’ seeks to restore what was lost in Eden by searching for it within oneself. Humans cannot be satisfied with a self-embrace; humans are made for God and others and the good of the world.” (Pg. 135)
He notes, “what it means to have faith [is to] embrace a community of faith. Embracing a community of faith is often called ‘joining a church’ or ‘becoming a member of a church,’ and many today feel constricted by such requirements. But, I can’t read the Bible without seeing the idea of ‘community’ everywhere, page after page. There must be thousands of verses for community for every one verse about the afterlife… those who see the gospel in the word church are seeing a central theme of the whole Bible: God’s goal for the world is the kingdom of God, and Jesus formed the Church to be a catalyst for that kingdom. This means that one embraces oneself, God, and others by entering the community of faith. It matters that you enter into that community and make it your faith family.” (Pg. 158-159)
This book will be of keen interest to Christians looking for creative approaches to the faith.
Scot McKnight is a New Testament Scholar who taught at Northern Baptist Theological Seminary (and previously at North Park University).
He wrote in the Prologue to this 2005 book, “I tell the story of the gospel in what follows, and along the way I tell stories of a variety of persons who discovered that the gospel can soothe suffering and forgive their sins and restore their community and empower them to work for the good of the world. In other words, they learned that the gospel can satisfy the soul… The gospel is a story about a Person and about persons who find themselves in that story. In telling stories of the gospel, however, I will not be giving ‘proofs’ of the gospel. The gospel is good enough on its own, and it doesn’t need to be propped up with proofs.”
He continues in the Introduction, “The most import thing I have to say in [this book] is this: each of these groups is trying to say the same thing, each of these groups is right in what they do say about the gospel, and each of these groups needs the definition of the other… So, how would I define the gospel? The gospel is the work of God to restore humans to union with God and communion with others and the world. This is what I call the gospel of ‘embracing grace.’ In this book we will look at each element of this definition, tweaking it here and there with special words. This is a general summary of a gospel for ALL OF US.” (Pg. xii-xiii)
He explains, “The entire Judeo-Christian tradition… believes humans are special---that they are Eikons… But, in the vast majority of post-Enlightenment perceptions of human nature, whether they are political or scientific or interpersonal or institutional or familial, human beings are understood first and foremost as INDIVIDUALS. While I would not want to say that being an individual is being unchristian or somehow wrong, the focal point of the Bible---from Genesis to Revelation---is elsewhere. The focal point of the entire tradition is that humans need to be seen as Eikons. Seeing humans as merely ‘individuals’ diminishes the well-rounded Eikon of God. It is to exclude our relationship to God and our relationships to others from the discussion, and that leaves us stranded as we determine who we are. Individualism is the biggest obstacle to the gospel of embracing grace.” (Pg. 22-23)
Later, he adds, “Now it is clear that individualism is so important in our understanding of the gospel: individualism preaches non-communion and the limited value of relationships. Eikons are made as male and female in need of communion with others. It was not good for Adam to be alone; aloneness is not what Eikons were made for. They are designed for relationship. The gospel says this is what life is all about.” (Pg. 35)
He suggests, “This kind of ecstatic experience of union with God is not unusual for Christian mystics. I believe that Eternity will be an uninterrupted flow of such ecstatic union with God. We will be, in our very natures, blended into the presence of God while maintaining our identity.” (Pg. 58)
"The earthly shape of God’s community is the centerpiece of God’s restoring work. Because the work of God is to restore each of us in the context of a community in the here and now. The history of Israel is not the failed attempt of a nation between two big moments in history---between the Fall and the Cross. You tear the heart out of God’s work on earth if you skip from the Fall to the Cross. At each stage of the process in this history, God is working with COMMUNITIES: a family tribe (Abraham), an entire nation (Moses), a kingdom (David), and a universal church (Jesus)… Jesus’ mission was to bring the KINGDOM, and the kingdom is a community or a society wherein the will of God---what I call the Jesus Creed---is done. Humans are restored to God and to others, and they can be healed and sustained through pain as they are drawn into a community of faith.” (Pg. 70-71)
He says, “There we have it all: the restoration of cracked Eikons is empowered by the twin events of the Death and the Resurrection. So, it would be more appropriate for Christians to say that Jesus came not just to [pay] for our sins, but to die for our sins and to be raised to empower us to live as Eikons. The gospel is God’s comedy, because in the gospel death is overcome by life, and that life restores us to community for the good of the world.” (Pg. 116-117)
He states, “Exclusion needs to be seen for what it really is. Ultimately exclusion is a paradox. Exclusion in its very essence is the choice to embrace ourselves as the only embrace needed. By turning inward instead of outward---toward God and others, the self-embracing ‘I’ seeks to restore what was lost in Eden by searching for it within oneself. Humans cannot be satisfied with a self-embrace; humans are made for God and others and the good of the world.” (Pg. 135)
He notes, “what it means to have faith [is to] embrace a community of faith. Embracing a community of faith is often called ‘joining a church’ or ‘becoming a member of a church,’ and many today feel constricted by such requirements. But, I can’t read the Bible without seeing the idea of ‘community’ everywhere, page after page. There must be thousands of verses for community for every one verse about the afterlife… those who see the gospel in the word church are seeing a central theme of the whole Bible: God’s goal for the world is the kingdom of God, and Jesus formed the Church to be a catalyst for that kingdom. This means that one embraces oneself, God, and others by entering the community of faith. It matters that you enter into that community and make it your faith family.” (Pg. 158-159)
This book will be of keen interest to Christians looking for creative approaches to the faith.
December 3, 2023
daily with my bible, learning more of Gods grace to me. made already in his image but growing in grace, love and mercy.
August 30, 2007
I purchased Scot Mcknight's book, "Embracing Grace - A Gospel for All of Us because I read, "the Jesus Creed" about loving God and loving your neighbor. What does Loving God with all of your strength look like and what does Good News look like to your neighbor?..... "Embracing Grace" gives you some practical glimpses. It also gives some ideas of what the Kingdom of God looks like when we are "embracing grace".
Scot writes with fresh metaphors that allow the Gospel to be seen in new ways. His chapter on the Missional Gospel and cracked Eikons is worth the whole book.
From Dancing Grace - Chapter 13, "The embrace of faith, like any embrace, is visible." I think the world is still awaiting that visible expression of love from the people of God. This dance of faith begins with a Person - Jesus Christ and encompasses His big, integrated, holistic heart for creation, the world, society, community, our neighbors, family and each of us. Anything less than this is not the Gospel. McKnight captures this and shares practical stories of what it looks like.
I have been working in relief and development for the past 27 years in Asia and was reading this book while visiting projects in northeastern Cambodia. When we first went there in 1990, 40% of children were dying before reaching the age of five, primarily from malaria, bad water and preventable childhood diseases. We began serving the health needs of a remote province that was where the Khmer Rouge began their assault on the country and after 17 years, there has been a growing impact upon both the spiritual and physical health of 100,000 people. This small, team has embraced this local part of the Khmer world that God is restoring. The leaders were encouraged to hear Scot's thoughts the Gospel among us and what it looks like to our neighbors.
If you have not read Scot McKnight, do yourself a favor - get this book.
October 3, 2008
Let me start off by saying that I think McKnight is one of the most brilliant minds I have ever read and part of his brilliance is his ability to take something complex and make it very readable and understandable. He is a professor and scholar which makes this accomplishment all the greater. This book was good, not as good or as impressive as some of his other works but very good nonetheless.
Basically, he states that the Gospel is: “the work of God, in the context of a community, to restore Eikons to union with God and communion with others, for the good of others and the world.” He talks about the story of Eikons, the hindrances to experiencing the Gospel, the stories of Atonement that deal with the “telling” of the story (which he says the different theories of the atonement all have a part to play in telling the ‘right’ story - more of this can be found in his book, A Community Called Atonement). He explains how the Gospels are truly comedies. In that the Gospels aren’t “funny” but in literature comedies are stories that have a good or happy ending. The tragedy of the cross was brought into comedic relief by the resurrection.
Much more could be said, but I leave it with this thought that has gripped me since I read it: “to love God ‘with all your strength’ means that we are to love God with everything we do, with everything we say, with everything we touch, with everything we smell, with everything we eat or choose to eat, with everything we buy and don’t buy, with everything we own, with everything we make, with every cultural establishment, with every social institution and with every global structure….and on and on.”
Basically, he states that the Gospel is: “the work of God, in the context of a community, to restore Eikons to union with God and communion with others, for the good of others and the world.” He talks about the story of Eikons, the hindrances to experiencing the Gospel, the stories of Atonement that deal with the “telling” of the story (which he says the different theories of the atonement all have a part to play in telling the ‘right’ story - more of this can be found in his book, A Community Called Atonement). He explains how the Gospels are truly comedies. In that the Gospels aren’t “funny” but in literature comedies are stories that have a good or happy ending. The tragedy of the cross was brought into comedic relief by the resurrection.
Much more could be said, but I leave it with this thought that has gripped me since I read it: “to love God ‘with all your strength’ means that we are to love God with everything we do, with everything we say, with everything we touch, with everything we smell, with everything we eat or choose to eat, with everything we buy and don’t buy, with everything we own, with everything we make, with every cultural establishment, with every social institution and with every global structure….and on and on.”
March 5, 2010
A good book, and much better than his The Blue Parakeet. It still suffers from the same poor metaphors, but they are few and far between for the most part. There isn't a whole lot of spectacularly new observations here and it felt a lot like a retread of McKnight's other books. Nevertheless, there are some fresh observations, and McKnight's focus on theology as an outward-focused discipline that leads to right action, rather than "something that happened to me once" is very refreshing.
"The gospel is the work of God to restore humans to union with God and communion with others, in the context of a community, for the good of others and the world" (xiii).
"The gospel is the work of God to restore humans to union with God and communion with others, in the context of a community, for the good of others and the world" (xiii).
September 23, 2010
Fantastic re-imaging of the Gospel. McKnight displays a great case for a holistic understanding of Christ's Kingdom that invades every area of our life and reunites us to God, reunites us to his creation, reunites us to others, and reunites us to ourselves. He includes an overview of atonement stories and how they all have something to say for the Christian experience. Generally, he expands the Kingdom to include all of us...no matter how broken or together we may appear, there's space for us in the Kingdom.
December 26, 2007
Book talks about how the gospel is about a lot more than penal substitution (Jesus dying on the cross for our sins that we may have eternal life). Beginning of book is good but then half way through you wonder where he is going - I think he was just trying to explain more facets of the gospel. I would actually recommend finding his talk on this on the internet and listening to it - in this case you wouldn't need to buy this. Even though the book is only okay, he does make an excellent point.
January 24, 2015
This book discusses our embracing grace and what it means to the gospel. McKnight defines the gospel as:
- It is the work of God, in the context of community, to restore us to union with God and communion for the good of others and the world.
The book stresses the community aspect of this (rightly so) and contends that individualism is the biggest obstacle to the gospel of embracing grace.
The book is short and is a fairly quick read.
- It is the work of God, in the context of community, to restore us to union with God and communion for the good of others and the world.
The book stresses the community aspect of this (rightly so) and contends that individualism is the biggest obstacle to the gospel of embracing grace.
The book is short and is a fairly quick read.
December 10, 2007
I loved this book...I will leave it at that.
September 14, 2008
Underwhelming. This book had a promising title, but the writing was vague, undirected and repetitive. The best parts where were he just quoted other works, like the Book of Common Prayer.
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July 28, 2011Good read on what the Gospel is and how it's lived out in cracked Eikons (God's image) because of God's grace.
July 29, 2011
The gospel is bigger then i thought
August 5, 2011
I appreciated McKnight's holistic and comprehensive view of a Big Gospel that goes way beyond a narrow understanding of the Gospel simply for the salvation of the individual soul.
February 3, 2015
I have a bigger understanding of the gospel now.
September 3, 2017
Very good explanation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ as the Grace of God.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews