Good Goats: Healing Our Image of God

by Francisco Miranda (Illustrator), Dennis Linn, Sheila Fabricant Linn

A fully illustrated, full-color book that, through a blending of story, scripture, and theology, tackles questions of sin, hell, and vengeance in such a way that readers are led to transformation and healing in the midst of a loving, merciful, and saving God. †

Genres: Religion, Spirituality, Christianity, Christian, Theology, Nonfiction, Catholic

112 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

Reviews

[MyLan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good: got me to think about how I read the gospels and how I think about God.

Bad: some heresies.

[Jess · Rating 1 out of 5]

My review is written from a conservative, reformed, Protestant view of Scripture. This book focuses on one attribute of God -- love. Of course we cannot understand why a loving God would reject those who reject Him if we only see Him as a God of love. Read Scripture as a whole, not in fragments. The God of the OT is the same as the God of the NT and today. The authors are viewing Him through a modern lens. The Gospel is not presented and this is heretical teaching. Why this book is circulating among Protestant circles is baffling!

[Cassie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the most influential books on my own theological thinking of recent years. It is written for the laity, but in the back it defends its positions w/ references and notes and explanations from great academic theologians. It's approach to Biblical Interpretation is what I'm drawn to; I'm not 100% sold on all their conclusions, but the freedom w/ which they wrestle w/ scripture is...enlightening. I recommend it to all Christians who come from a conservative background, like myself!

[Kendall Klein · Rating 1 out of 5]

Picked this up at half price and it’s got some absolutely whack theology

[Eddie · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a great, but intriguing book. Published by the Society of Jesus and yet this book seems to differ greatly from traditional Catholic of even Western Christian teaching. Sprinkled throughout is several streams of Christianity (I.e. Augustine, Barth, and Balthasar). Well sourced and approachable for laity. Although orthodox it does differ from Wesleyan theology at points such as where it holds to a Lutheran/Reformed simultaneous "saint and sinner" concept. Nice read though! It weaves together well practical stories and theology.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has a life-giving premise: We need to heal our image of God. The Linns describe a pervasive image of God in our culture -- whom they call "Old Uncle George" God -- a god who is up on high watching everything we do, just waiting for us to do something wrong, and then eager to punish. They suggest -- correctly, I think -- that we start to become like the God we worship and image and adore. So, they urge us to meet the God we meet in Scripture who loves us and wants good and wholeness for us all -- the God who has created us as beloved, who frees us from every oppression, who brings us home from every exile, and who saves us from everything that would do us harm. The book is a quick read, and worth the read if only for this liberating (and Scripture-based) premise. The book wanders a bit in the second half, hence the 4 stars instead of 5.

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

A find from the Stone Ridge sale, this book was peculiar because the illustrations and level of writing make it seem like a children's book, but it's not. Perhaps they wanted to reach the widest audience possible. In any case, the authors present ideas for a God who is all-loving and not vengeful. They believe our image of God needs to be updated from One who would indulge in what they called the "20,000 year pout": God gets annoyed with humanity, is only placated by Jesus's offer to get himself killed, and then is finally satisfied. They offer the suggestion that perhaps no one ultimately goes to hell, and that heaven and hell are not literal places. They also make the case for many Bible stories being allegorical. These are ideas that may seem obvious to some, but are not often discussed in churches. The authors are Catholics, and state that their writings are consistent with Catholic doctrine.

[Kitap · Rating 4 out of 5]

I purchased this book right after I finished reading Borg's *The God We Never Knew,* and it complements that book nicely. The first half provides insight into how our images of God influence how we relate to ourselves and one another, and suggests that all the received images of God as wrathful and bloodthirsty miss the point that Jesus was trying to make about a radically re-imagined God. The mainstream doctrine of substitutionary atonement (with its image of God as a psychopath who must kill his own son to forgive me for being the way God made me) falls short of what I'd consider "good news," and this book provides an alternative understanding of the Gospel. The second half of the book provides a more in-depth Q&A where the authors provide reputable sources for some of their more unorthodox assertions about Christian theology. This book is definitely a keeper.

[Dick · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a quick read and I was all right with it, but since we are deep into our Bible study and in meditation, it seemed a bit simple. Which means I likely missed the intent. My Pastor recommended it, so maybe I just missed the intent all together.

It was philosophical, and I think it was to help improved our image of God, if we had a poor one.

I do not have a poor image of God though I do struggle with His plans often. Especially when bad things happen to good Christian people. Or death takes someone too soon and leaves young children behind and so forth. But I am able to just trust and wait for clarity when my day comes.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t know.... I went with the 4 ⭐️ bc a lot of things really resonated with me; however, there were also a couple of points where I thought, “Seriously??” It also looks like a children’s book but isn’t, and I was not a fan of how it was set up.

[Connie Fish]

A friend recommended this book, and it's not only enlightening, it's comforting, and contains the imprimatur. I would highly recommend it to any Christian

[Sunny Petkova · Rating 1 out of 5]

Too free interpretation of God's Word! I didn't like it at all! :(

[Gigi · Rating 4 out of 5]

"We become like the God we adore."

Interesting ang napulot ko sa libro na ang image natin ngayon sa Diyos ay isang Diyos na macho at naaapektuhan nito kung papaano tayo nag-iisip bilang tao at bilang isang society. At nag-ugat ang perception na ito dahil na rin sa history ng Church na mga lalaki ang namumuno at naging ganoon kalalim ang epekto ng patriarchy.

Nakikita natin ang Diyos bilang isang ama na kapag may kasalanan ka, magsisi ka lang, agad-agad papatawarin ka niya at paparusahan niya ang mga makasalanan. Pero sinasabi ng libro na mas matimbang ang pagiging ina ng Diyos. Mali ang perception natin na may hinihinging kapalit ang Diyos para patawarin at mahalin ka niya. Kapag nanay kasi kahit hindi mag-sorry ang anak, mahal niya pa rin ito at hindi na kailangang humingi pa ng tawad. At dahil nga sa pagmamahal na ito (at hindi dahil sa takot sa parusa), kaya tayo nagbabago at pinipili nating maging mabuti.

Isa pang interesting point, nag-eencourage ng violence towards others ang image natin ng isang machong Diyos. Ayon sa source nila, maraming Kristiyano ang pabor sa death penalty kahit na opposed dito ang simbahan (Oplan Tokhang anyone?). Dahil nga sabi ng machong Diyos, ang mga makasalanan ay pinaparusahan o pinapadala sa impiyerno. At hindi lang ito nagtatapos sa mga kriminal. Maraming giyera at atrocity na nagawa dahil ang justification ay "God is on our side". Wala sa inyo ang Diyos kundi nasa side namin siya kaya kailangan niyong magsubmit, magpasakop, mag-convert kundi mapaparusahan kayo, which is produkto din ng isang male-oriented thinking na kailangan nating baguhin.

[Trey Kennedy · Rating 2 out of 5]

While the premise of focusing much more fully on the image of God as loving is good, useful, and very consistent with the Good News of Jesus, the way in which this book gets to that point is often suspect. While it is true that not everything in Scripture is meant in a literal word-for-word way, this book treats that concept as a “get out of jail free” card, to the point of ignoring one or two questions raised instead of answering them. Instead of quoting theologians directly, they often quote them through other sources. Perhaps this method is to make these concepts easier to understand for the average reader, but it comes off as bad scholarship and, in the case of some more ancient authorities, disrespectful.

The authors call us to be more open-minded in our image of God, yet they come off as closed-off in their own post-modern Western view. This can be seen clearly in their approach to understanding Scripture, which takes the words and interprets their true meaning based on a modern worldview instead of trying to understand Scripture more fully in the light of how those who wrote it and first heard it would have understood it, which would be very easy given their often remarkable understanding of the greek language and scriptural customs. Their interpretation is also very rooted in their own generational experience without the wealth and depth of how those experiences will differ from generation to generation.

Overall I believe this book can be helpful to some, but more thanks to Part I than Part II.

[D.J. Lang · Rating 4 out of 5]

It turns out that I have quite a few books by the Linns on my bookshelves so I decided to read all that I have: this is my third one in the past seven days. I liked it a lot, but I knew there would be people who would not. 1) It still looks like a children's book, but it is for adults. I've become accustomed to the artwork of Francisco Miranda. 2) And, this the one I really thought would happen: reviewers calling the book heretical. Not sure heretical for whom since it does have an Imprimi Potest (approved for Catholics). Since I'm fine with the label, Heretics for Jesus, I guess this book is meant for me. If readers actually look at how the Linns define "universalist", I would hope they wouldn't cast aside all the good in this book. Still, I know the Linns can have some wildly interesting thoughts (I didn't necessarily see in this book but in the next book I review), but see my previous sentence: I don't cast aside books just because there are challenging or controversial thoughts in the book. If you're the same type of readers as I am, then I can fully recommend this book to you.

[Amelia and John · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant universalist approach to hell!

Though I am not a universalist, I found the ideas and presentation intruiging. What I wish is that the ideas in the book were expounded on more; even in the Q&A section, some notions were insufficiently developed in my view.

What I have noticed is that the arguments take for granted a quite positive anthropology. This positive anthropology is understandable when discussing regenerate hearts, but (and maybe this is due to my own theological presuppositions!) it seems positive anthropology is not universally tenable.

Another interesting assumption was that true freedom means always choosing the good, whereas other conceptions of freedom see free will as the ability to choose between good and evil.

[Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good attempt - it did clear some grey areas for me. However, it also admitted to not knowing about many areas, which isn’t the best for reconciliation of the image of God, fyi. I felt that this barely scraped the surface, it touched mostly on masculinity and femininity, being good goats and The Bible’s touch on vengefulness. But considering how vast the concepts are supposed to be, I guess touching on some avenues isn’t too bad.

[Jennifer Barten · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely LOVED this book! A lot of these thoughts weren't new to me but the authors formulated them into a way that others could understand and gave me backing to prove some of my points. While a lot of the thoughts weren't new, I learned a lot about what words meant when the Bible was written and the context the words were used at the time they were said.
Possibly the best book I've ever read about our image of God and explaining parts of the Bible. Amazing read!

[Karin Jenkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book of two halves. The opening section consists of stories used in retreats the authors have run to look at our problems with some of the traditional teaching about punishment and forgiveness and these really strike a chord. The second half tries to back up a reinterpretation theologically. Some of this was a bit convoluted but certainly gave food for thought and further study.

[Sori · Rating 4 out of 5]

La verdad me gustó mucho los temas que aborda, la secció de preguntas y respuestas está muy completa y siento que de verdad puede ayudarle a alguien que no sabe muchas cosas de la Iglesia, su historia y que sobre todo no se ha dado la oportunidad de conocer a Dios.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful book about embracing the image of a loving God instead of a scary one.

[Amelia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was really cool to read stuff in a different perspective to what I personally think

[Isaac · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVE this book! Must read for any Christian recovering from deconstruction. Reconstruction is a vulnerable time and this book will be helpful in healing your image of God.

[Carrie F. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book fussed with my image of God, as it intended to do. Their lens for seeing things of God is through God's love and healing. People aren't really damned to hell. If we know God's love and healing, no one would make a free will choice to reject God. God never gives up on us. Jesus even freed the thief on the cross without any initiative on the part of the thief. And there are several bible verses about Jesus drawing all people to him, even in the world below.(eg Revelation 5:13). With enough healing and love, everyone will choose God and God always leaves us the key to get out of whatever hell we are in.

[Sandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is another of the Linn/Fabricant books that looks like it ought to be a children's book but is much deeper than that. The first part walks you through the image of God discussion and then the second half is questions and answers about each of the sections in the first half. My partner & I used it kind of like a devotional, reading a section each day. It led to some really good and sometimes intense discussion (ok, it got me called theologically bankrupt at one point). I didn't agree with everything in it, moreso in the Q&A section, but there's a lot to mull over in this deceptively small book.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

A simple book that helps me remember why the good news actually IS very, very good. A good book to read for Christians who tend to get frustrated sometimes with some of the more dominant views of Christianity as they have been handed down to us -- views that see God as the menacing "Good Old Uncle Gus" portrayed in the book. The Jesuit order has given its seal of approval to the book's theology, but I imagine some people will read it as unorthodox. That's okay with me, but I imagine some more "orthodox" Christian readers will be bothered by it.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second book I read by the Linns. Like the previous book I read (Sleeping with Bread) I found the book insightful, though poorly written and theologically suspect. I did however find this book challenging and liked some of the ways in which it pushed against some unhealthy images of God as wrathful. However it drifts too far in a universalist direction for me. It was interesting and challenging though.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Looks like a children's book but it's not! I am always looking for accessible resources for progressive theological thought. This fits that bill! I really enjoyed the opening description of their process for writing the book... "This truly is orthodoxy everyone. They wouldn't have published it if it wasn't."

[Maria Longley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved Sleeping with Bread so was happy to read another book collaboration between Dennis Linn, Sheila Fabricant Linn and Matthew Linn. (I like the illustrations by Francisco Miranda too.) Presented as short chapters addressing the theme and then followed in part two by a Q&A of the questions they most encounter while delivering workshops etc based on this.

[David Pearson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great simple presentation of a violent angry God protecting a purity law code within the Christian faith, contrasted with a preferred loving God promoting grace and the Kingdom of God. Don't agree with all he goes on to say but very nicely and simply put. Presented illustrations like a children's book but suitable for adults in the pews.