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A More Christlike God: A More Beautiful Gospel
What is God like? Toxic images God the punishing judge, the deadbeat dad, the genie in a bottle—false gods that need to be challenged. But what if, instead, God truly is completely Christlike? What if His love is more generous, his Cross more powerful, and his gospel more beautiful than we’ve dared to imagine? What if our clearest image of God is the self-giving, radically forgiving, co-suffering Love revealed on the Cross? What if we had 'A More Christlike God'? "This excellent and much-needed book confronts with both open heart and very good mind the major obstacles we have created for people in their journey toward God! So many of us are asking, “Why didn’t people teach us this many years ago?” I am so grateful that Brad Jersak is re-opening the door that Jesus had already opened 2000 years ago. It is so terribly sad that it was ever closed." — Fr. RICHARD ROHR Center for Action and Contemplation "With theological integrity and open-hearted compassion, Brad Jersak creates a beautiful space for Jesus to challenge our views of God. A breath of clean and clarifying air." — WILLIAM PAUL YOUNG Author of The Shack "Brad Jersak has given us a gift of greatest a fresh vision of God, Christ, the Cross, Scripture and ourselves. He displays the rare ability to take deep theological issues and make them understandable to everyone. Jersak represents a new generation of Christian theologians whose work is both desperately needed and wonderfully liberating." — BRIAN D. McLAREN Author of We Make the Road by Walking "Brad Jersak has immersed himself in the company of the poor, the addicted, the outsiders. He is determined to recover the essence of the “beautiful” gospel for all of us. The conspicuous mark that characterizes every page of this winsome witness is that it is a “lived theology.” He has given attentive detail to what is in the theological libraries, but is not content with that. He has worked it out on the streets and in the lives of those with whom he has chosen to share his life and Christlike God witness, a convincingly beautiful Gospel." — EUGENE H. PETERSON Translator of The Message “'Good souls many will one day be horrified at the things they now believe of God.' George MacDonald’s prophecy has found its fulfillment in Brad Jersak’s journey from the ‘volatile moral monster’ to the face of Jesus’ Father. Here the ancient song of light sings us new Behold the Lamb, just like his Father. A priceless treasure, worthy of serious reflection." — BAXTER KRUGER Author of The Shack Revisited and Patmos
354 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 21, 2015
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July 6, 2015
I dare you to read this book with an open mind and a unbiased desire to discover more of the true character of God!
It may not reinforce everything you've been taught, but may uncover, as it did with me, that some things you've been taught come from surprisingly different viewpoints than how God would really want us to understand him. Modern western Christianity comes with some foundations that originated relatively late in the life of Christianity and continue to be built upon resulting in a theology that actually can turn people away from God. Returning to a more beautiful and MORE biblical understanding of the nature of God may be what the world needs!
If you only like exposing yourself to ideas that will reinforce what you already believe, don't bother reading this book, but if you're open to the fact that some things you may believe can withstand questions or challenges, I dare you to read this book!
It may not reinforce everything you've been taught, but may uncover, as it did with me, that some things you've been taught come from surprisingly different viewpoints than how God would really want us to understand him. Modern western Christianity comes with some foundations that originated relatively late in the life of Christianity and continue to be built upon resulting in a theology that actually can turn people away from God. Returning to a more beautiful and MORE biblical understanding of the nature of God may be what the world needs!
If you only like exposing yourself to ideas that will reinforce what you already believe, don't bother reading this book, but if you're open to the fact that some things you may believe can withstand questions or challenges, I dare you to read this book!
June 13, 2015
Jersak proposes a new theology, that we get our understanding of the character of God solely from the incarnation of Jesus. There are a number of problems with this proposal. The greatest one is that John 21:25 tells us that the gospels contain only a small amount of what Jesus said and did. To develop a theology of God's character from only a tiny bit of information is just not valid. Acts of Jesus that do not go along with Jersak's view are ignored, such as cleansing the temple and calming the storm. Jersak encourages Christians not to be hampered by a literal view of the Old Testament and reinterprets it, much as metaphor and not history. He does the same reinterpretation with the epistles.
These are just a few of the problems with this book. Please see my entire critical review, a lengthy one, at http://bit.ly/1GBrlPp.
I received a complimentary egalley of this book through Litfuse for the purpose of an independent and honest review.
These are just a few of the problems with this book. Please see my entire critical review, a lengthy one, at http://bit.ly/1GBrlPp.
I received a complimentary egalley of this book through Litfuse for the purpose of an independent and honest review.
June 13, 2015
In John 14, before Jesus' arrest and crucifixion, he tells his disciples that if they have seen him, they have seen the Father (John 14:9). And yet often our image of God can look very different from Jesus. Our God could be a doting grandfather, a deadbeat dad or absentee landlord, a punitive judge, or some Santa Claus blend. If Jesus is God-in-the-flesh and our vision of what the Godhead is really like, then we desperately need to see this more Christlike God. This is just the vision that Brad Jersak casts in A More Christlike God: A More Beautiful Gospel.
Jersak is an author I've read appreciatively in the past. His book Can You Hear Me? is one of my favorite books on listening prayer. He also wrote Her Gates Will Never Be Shut against the idea of Hell as eternal conscious punishment (like Rob Bell but with complete sentences) and has co-edited a volume critiquing penal models of the atonement (Stricken By God?). He was the pastor and church planter of Fresh Wind in Abbotsford, BC and got his PhD examining the political theology of Canadian philosopher George Grant. Additionally he edits a couple of online magazines (Christianity Without the Religion Magazine and the Clarion Journal). In recent years, Jersak has journeyed to Orthodoxy (OCA). He teaches New Testament and Patristics at the Westminster Theological Centre (Cheltenham, UK). I do not always agree with Jersak. I tend to have a more of a classical evangelical outlook, but I appreciate his challenge and think he raises some important questions about how we understand God.
Jersak's case for the Christlike God unfolds in three parts. In part one he confronts our images of God and offers a vision of God, shaped by the Incarnation and the cross. In chapter one Jersak relays a conversation with a teenager he calls Jess who rejected Christianity because of God's judgment, damnation and his-Old-Testament-genocidal tendencies, etc. (16-18). Jersak's answer to Jess is to say to her every objection is, "God is exactly like Jesus." Jersak then goes on to confront the various caricatures of God western Christians often present (chapter two), and confront the voluntarism underlying much of theology proper in Western thought (chapters three and four). In chapter five, Jersak points us toward the incarnation as a means of retooling our vision of the God revealed through Christ.
Part two further unpacks what this Christlike God looks like and what he does, giving special emphasis on how the cross shapes our vision of God. Jersak paints God as loving first and foremost. Because of this, God operates in the world most often via consent (Divine and human consent). This has implications for how we tackle the problem of theodicy. In part three, Jersak 'unwraths' God by recasting 'wrath' in the Bible as metaphorical language describing God's consent to our non-consent (of Him). Much of part three is dedicated to unfolding the New Testament metaphors of the atonement as non-punitive.
Jersak contrasts the 'God of Will' in Western thought with the God of Love revealed in Jesus by his cross. According to Jersak. the God of Will emphasizes freedom of action (61). In this understading, everything God does and wills is right, because it is God that wills it. Likewise, If this is our vision of God, we also seek our own freedom to act as we choose. The theology of this willful God tends towards triumphalism. In contrast the God of love comes in the form of Christ: a God who goes to the cross and is crucified by humanity. He doesn't force his will on his creatures but has opened up a way for them through his self giving, self-emptying (kenotic) love.
To my mind Jersak does one of the best jobs of confronting and critiquing the problem of voluntarism (the primacy of the freedom of the will in God) in a way that a general reader can understand. I think he is right to push us towards a more self-emptying vision of God. This is a far cry of triumphalism. Jersak writes:
A theology of the cross admits the obvious: namely, God is truly all-powerful and immovable in his love but also (though not only), is surprisingly, we often experience him as all-powerless in time, in the world. 'All Powerless'? I only make such a bold statement advisedly, not to diminish God's omnipotent love, but to resist human conceptions of power-as-coercion erroneously imposed on God. (170)
This is a challenge to any sort of Omnipotent-Might-Makes Right, sort of Will-to-Power picture of God. This doesn't make God weaker, it makes him less coercive. As Jersak says, "Yes, Christ is mighty to save, since his love is a power far greater than force: the left-handed scepter of enduring mercy" (178). I think he is right to let this vision of Jesus shape his hermeneutic of scripture as he explores the image of God.
However I wasn't completely happy with his handling of the Old Testament. He favors strongly New Testament texts and tends to only quote the Old Testament favorably when it coincides with his vision of this 'more Christlike God.' Passages that are more retributive (i.e. Numbers 31, the conquest, etc) are dismissed because they are out of character for this God revealed in Christ (16-18). Or the wrathful parts of the Old Testament are cast as an early, immature vision of God in early Judaism, using James Fowler's Stages of Faith (putting early Judaism on par with Fowler's description of school children's faith development). There is something to the notion of progressive revelation in the Old Testament but I think Jersak's canon seems too limited. Because of this, I think he commits the same error that many of those he critiques do: he offers an overly simple picture of God that does not do justice to all that God is.
That isn't to say I didn't really enjoy this and found reading it fruitful. Theologically Jersak pushes me in a good direction. I applaud his critique of where we done mussed up gospel. I want the more Christlike God that Jersak commends and share his discomfort with the way God's wrath is described by many in the evangelical world. I also appreciate his pastoral insights into places that our vision of God can be detrimental to our life and soul. I give this book four stars and recommend it to everybody who reads John Piper.
Notice of material connection: I received this book via Litfuse Publicity in exchange for my honest review.
Jersak is an author I've read appreciatively in the past. His book Can You Hear Me? is one of my favorite books on listening prayer. He also wrote Her Gates Will Never Be Shut against the idea of Hell as eternal conscious punishment (like Rob Bell but with complete sentences) and has co-edited a volume critiquing penal models of the atonement (Stricken By God?). He was the pastor and church planter of Fresh Wind in Abbotsford, BC and got his PhD examining the political theology of Canadian philosopher George Grant. Additionally he edits a couple of online magazines (Christianity Without the Religion Magazine and the Clarion Journal). In recent years, Jersak has journeyed to Orthodoxy (OCA). He teaches New Testament and Patristics at the Westminster Theological Centre (Cheltenham, UK). I do not always agree with Jersak. I tend to have a more of a classical evangelical outlook, but I appreciate his challenge and think he raises some important questions about how we understand God.
Jersak's case for the Christlike God unfolds in three parts. In part one he confronts our images of God and offers a vision of God, shaped by the Incarnation and the cross. In chapter one Jersak relays a conversation with a teenager he calls Jess who rejected Christianity because of God's judgment, damnation and his-Old-Testament-genocidal tendencies, etc. (16-18). Jersak's answer to Jess is to say to her every objection is, "God is exactly like Jesus." Jersak then goes on to confront the various caricatures of God western Christians often present (chapter two), and confront the voluntarism underlying much of theology proper in Western thought (chapters three and four). In chapter five, Jersak points us toward the incarnation as a means of retooling our vision of the God revealed through Christ.
Part two further unpacks what this Christlike God looks like and what he does, giving special emphasis on how the cross shapes our vision of God. Jersak paints God as loving first and foremost. Because of this, God operates in the world most often via consent (Divine and human consent). This has implications for how we tackle the problem of theodicy. In part three, Jersak 'unwraths' God by recasting 'wrath' in the Bible as metaphorical language describing God's consent to our non-consent (of Him). Much of part three is dedicated to unfolding the New Testament metaphors of the atonement as non-punitive.
Jersak contrasts the 'God of Will' in Western thought with the God of Love revealed in Jesus by his cross. According to Jersak. the God of Will emphasizes freedom of action (61). In this understading, everything God does and wills is right, because it is God that wills it. Likewise, If this is our vision of God, we also seek our own freedom to act as we choose. The theology of this willful God tends towards triumphalism. In contrast the God of love comes in the form of Christ: a God who goes to the cross and is crucified by humanity. He doesn't force his will on his creatures but has opened up a way for them through his self giving, self-emptying (kenotic) love.
To my mind Jersak does one of the best jobs of confronting and critiquing the problem of voluntarism (the primacy of the freedom of the will in God) in a way that a general reader can understand. I think he is right to push us towards a more self-emptying vision of God. This is a far cry of triumphalism. Jersak writes:
A theology of the cross admits the obvious: namely, God is truly all-powerful and immovable in his love but also (though not only), is surprisingly, we often experience him as all-powerless in time, in the world. 'All Powerless'? I only make such a bold statement advisedly, not to diminish God's omnipotent love, but to resist human conceptions of power-as-coercion erroneously imposed on God. (170)
This is a challenge to any sort of Omnipotent-Might-Makes Right, sort of Will-to-Power picture of God. This doesn't make God weaker, it makes him less coercive. As Jersak says, "Yes, Christ is mighty to save, since his love is a power far greater than force: the left-handed scepter of enduring mercy" (178). I think he is right to let this vision of Jesus shape his hermeneutic of scripture as he explores the image of God.
However I wasn't completely happy with his handling of the Old Testament. He favors strongly New Testament texts and tends to only quote the Old Testament favorably when it coincides with his vision of this 'more Christlike God.' Passages that are more retributive (i.e. Numbers 31, the conquest, etc) are dismissed because they are out of character for this God revealed in Christ (16-18). Or the wrathful parts of the Old Testament are cast as an early, immature vision of God in early Judaism, using James Fowler's Stages of Faith (putting early Judaism on par with Fowler's description of school children's faith development). There is something to the notion of progressive revelation in the Old Testament but I think Jersak's canon seems too limited. Because of this, I think he commits the same error that many of those he critiques do: he offers an overly simple picture of God that does not do justice to all that God is.
That isn't to say I didn't really enjoy this and found reading it fruitful. Theologically Jersak pushes me in a good direction. I applaud his critique of where we done mussed up gospel. I want the more Christlike God that Jersak commends and share his discomfort with the way God's wrath is described by many in the evangelical world. I also appreciate his pastoral insights into places that our vision of God can be detrimental to our life and soul. I give this book four stars and recommend it to everybody who reads John Piper.
Notice of material connection: I received this book via Litfuse Publicity in exchange for my honest review.
June 26, 2015
As I started reading this book, I felt like it had some beautiful elements. For example, there is this quote by Bradley that I want to remember: "God is love and so defines love. All other claims to love either relate to God's love or fail to be love at all." What a wonderful reminder in this society obsessed by love, sexuality and romance.
Proceeding deeper into the book, I started to feel warning bells going off. I realized where this book was going (which, the title should have given away). Suddenly, I felt like I was in the mix of someone that wants to love God and straddle social acceptance. The concept is that God is fully portrayed in Jesus. Love others, forgive everything and God is not big enough to prevent evil?
First of all, God is not small enough to box into the life of Jesus and the very limited revelations we have about His life here. God is a God of the entire Bible. He is also very clear about acceptance of people claiming to be Christians and blatantly sinning. People like to recognize Jesus' acceptance, but not His righteous anger.
For me, I don't recommend the book. I think it is OK for someone that is strong in their faith and wants to read about atonement theology. I think there is some great stuff here. However, to a weaker brother or sister, I think this book could be setting them on a path that is only seeing and believing a small portion of who God is. In doing so, that becomes exactly what Bradley is against: a god of our own making. Ironic, isn't it?
Thank you, Litfuse, for this read. As always, this is my honest opinion. Here's to many more!
Proceeding deeper into the book, I started to feel warning bells going off. I realized where this book was going (which, the title should have given away). Suddenly, I felt like I was in the mix of someone that wants to love God and straddle social acceptance. The concept is that God is fully portrayed in Jesus. Love others, forgive everything and God is not big enough to prevent evil?
First of all, God is not small enough to box into the life of Jesus and the very limited revelations we have about His life here. God is a God of the entire Bible. He is also very clear about acceptance of people claiming to be Christians and blatantly sinning. People like to recognize Jesus' acceptance, but not His righteous anger.
For me, I don't recommend the book. I think it is OK for someone that is strong in their faith and wants to read about atonement theology. I think there is some great stuff here. However, to a weaker brother or sister, I think this book could be setting them on a path that is only seeing and believing a small portion of who God is. In doing so, that becomes exactly what Bradley is against: a god of our own making. Ironic, isn't it?
Thank you, Litfuse, for this read. As always, this is my honest opinion. Here's to many more!
December 29, 2018
What is God like?
Jersak joins a chorus of voices today seeking to remind Christians, and anyone else listening, that historic orthodox Christianity affirms that God is like Jesus. Our clearest and primary revelation of God is the incarnation where God took on flesh and became human.
This changes everything. Though the point is not that such changes are new. Rather, things were already changed that now need changes back. One thing is that the Bible, with many pictures of God, is used to relativized Jesus. So sometimes God is like Jesus but other times, not so much. Jersak shows the deep problems here. God, we are told, loves us so much. But if we refuse said love then God will torture us for all eternity in hell. After all, sometimes God is love and sometimes not. Along with that, a stream of Christian thought (seen in Reformed circles; Jersak quotes Piper a few times) affirms God really causes everything. Your kid died of cancer? Genocide in Rwanda or Germany? You got raped? According to some Christians, God actually did those things. But don’t worry, God is Love?
Jersak argues the God revealed in Jesus does not do anything but love. God empties himself, giving humans space to act. Wrath is not an act of God but a natural consequence of sin. Evil is a result of people choosing to act apart from God. But God continually reaches out to us with love.
There’s a lot here that echoes Boyd, Zahnd and others. Jersak is Orthodox, but was once Anabaptist. At times I wonder how he is Orthodox; he is critical of Constantine but Constantine is a saint in the Orthodox Church. That aside, it is becoming clear there are fruitful areas for dialogue between Anabaptist and Orthodox views. Further, we who grew up imbibing Western faith do ourselves a favor to drink deeply at the Orthodox well.
Finally, this book is definitely approachable for any Christian reader. It’s not just for pastors and scholars. Highly recommended m!
Jersak joins a chorus of voices today seeking to remind Christians, and anyone else listening, that historic orthodox Christianity affirms that God is like Jesus. Our clearest and primary revelation of God is the incarnation where God took on flesh and became human.
This changes everything. Though the point is not that such changes are new. Rather, things were already changed that now need changes back. One thing is that the Bible, with many pictures of God, is used to relativized Jesus. So sometimes God is like Jesus but other times, not so much. Jersak shows the deep problems here. God, we are told, loves us so much. But if we refuse said love then God will torture us for all eternity in hell. After all, sometimes God is love and sometimes not. Along with that, a stream of Christian thought (seen in Reformed circles; Jersak quotes Piper a few times) affirms God really causes everything. Your kid died of cancer? Genocide in Rwanda or Germany? You got raped? According to some Christians, God actually did those things. But don’t worry, God is Love?
Jersak argues the God revealed in Jesus does not do anything but love. God empties himself, giving humans space to act. Wrath is not an act of God but a natural consequence of sin. Evil is a result of people choosing to act apart from God. But God continually reaches out to us with love.
There’s a lot here that echoes Boyd, Zahnd and others. Jersak is Orthodox, but was once Anabaptist. At times I wonder how he is Orthodox; he is critical of Constantine but Constantine is a saint in the Orthodox Church. That aside, it is becoming clear there are fruitful areas for dialogue between Anabaptist and Orthodox views. Further, we who grew up imbibing Western faith do ourselves a favor to drink deeply at the Orthodox well.
Finally, this book is definitely approachable for any Christian reader. It’s not just for pastors and scholars. Highly recommended m!
August 17, 2015
Western Christianity is probably most familiar with the forensic, legal, and penal-substitution theory of the atonement and a gospel presentation based upon it. In more recent years, however, increasing number of voices have raised a different, more ancient, and arguably more authentic and apostolic view. It is based on the Orthodox view which has not been influenced by Roman views. It is sometimes referred to as the healing or therapeutic view. It has also been referred to as Christus Victor.
This book is written from an Orthodox perspective and challenges the predominant forensic view and the logical progression toward the image of God that this view paints. It argues that the therapeutic view is more consistent with the progression of scripture, how Jesus (who is God) portrayed God, and how the gospel writers and Paul approached writing about God in light of Christ.
The author argues strongly against specifically the Calvinist and Neo-Reformed theologies around the atonement, their concepts of wrath (of God), their definition of "all-powerful," and their theories around the concepts of sin.
This book argues that love is God's primary characteristic which defines and constraints every other aspect. And it describes "consent" as an essential part of love. God allows freedom in his created beings and consents to allowing them to rebel and reject him. He values love and consent so much that he will not employ any kind of power of force or coercion to enforce his will. God works his will in the world through consent by working through those who willingly consent to follow him.
For the many who have become increasingly disillusioned with how God is frequently portrayed by popular (Western) Christianity, this book offers a refreshingly different way of understanding God that is based in scripture and Christian history. For those who are unfamiliar with Orthodox (Eastern) Christianity and how they interpret the work of Christ, this book provides a good overview.
This book is written from an Orthodox perspective and challenges the predominant forensic view and the logical progression toward the image of God that this view paints. It argues that the therapeutic view is more consistent with the progression of scripture, how Jesus (who is God) portrayed God, and how the gospel writers and Paul approached writing about God in light of Christ.
The author argues strongly against specifically the Calvinist and Neo-Reformed theologies around the atonement, their concepts of wrath (of God), their definition of "all-powerful," and their theories around the concepts of sin.
This book argues that love is God's primary characteristic which defines and constraints every other aspect. And it describes "consent" as an essential part of love. God allows freedom in his created beings and consents to allowing them to rebel and reject him. He values love and consent so much that he will not employ any kind of power of force or coercion to enforce his will. God works his will in the world through consent by working through those who willingly consent to follow him.
For the many who have become increasingly disillusioned with how God is frequently portrayed by popular (Western) Christianity, this book offers a refreshingly different way of understanding God that is based in scripture and Christian history. For those who are unfamiliar with Orthodox (Eastern) Christianity and how they interpret the work of Christ, this book provides a good overview.
November 17, 2020
I will write briefly about Brad Jersack's 1) method of communicating theological truth and 2) the content.
First, his method of communicating theological truth. It's hard to place Brad Jersak's writing style in a box and I mean that as a compliment. It's deceptively accessible given that he is obviously dealing with very heavy subjects, such as theodicy (how we reconcile evil in the presence of an all powerful God) and free will vs. being saved by pure grace. He tries very hard to be clear, which I appreciate. Theological language is extremely slippery. Although he probably doesn't define everything perfectly (who does?), he at least makes the attempt to make sure the reader knows what he means and has nice sidebars where he gives his definitions for various terms. So important when communicating about theology!
Second, the content. Not too much of it was new for me since I read other similar works in the last few months. Jerak's main thesis is that since the God revealed in Jesus is the only true picture of God we have, than any violent God is an idol. He has a splendid treatment of kenosis and how suffering love, first in Jesus and now in his followers, is the means by which God is saving the whole world. It did leave me with a question: if we know God's chair is always turned toward us (analogy from the book), what will motivate us to embrace a life of denying self and crossbearing? My guess is that Jersak would say that when we catch a glimpse of the beauty of nonviolent love, we don't think twice about "selling all to follow him." Great book.
First, his method of communicating theological truth. It's hard to place Brad Jersak's writing style in a box and I mean that as a compliment. It's deceptively accessible given that he is obviously dealing with very heavy subjects, such as theodicy (how we reconcile evil in the presence of an all powerful God) and free will vs. being saved by pure grace. He tries very hard to be clear, which I appreciate. Theological language is extremely slippery. Although he probably doesn't define everything perfectly (who does?), he at least makes the attempt to make sure the reader knows what he means and has nice sidebars where he gives his definitions for various terms. So important when communicating about theology!
Second, the content. Not too much of it was new for me since I read other similar works in the last few months. Jerak's main thesis is that since the God revealed in Jesus is the only true picture of God we have, than any violent God is an idol. He has a splendid treatment of kenosis and how suffering love, first in Jesus and now in his followers, is the means by which God is saving the whole world. It did leave me with a question: if we know God's chair is always turned toward us (analogy from the book), what will motivate us to embrace a life of denying self and crossbearing? My guess is that Jersak would say that when we catch a glimpse of the beauty of nonviolent love, we don't think twice about "selling all to follow him." Great book.
January 21, 2023
A thorough deconstruction of our toxic and unhealthy beliefs about God and a compelling examination of the ways God is in fact perfectly Christlike and Christ is the perfect reflection of God. Bradley Jersak does a great job at unpacking the repercussions of believing in a wrathful, vengeful God and then transitions into how the Incarnation and the Cross invites us into a more beautiful Gospel. I think this book is quite accessible to anyone who is looking for a book that challenges the modern conservative evangelical theology (especially regarding atonement theory) yet holds onto an authentically Christ-like faith. I'd recommend this to anyone who is struggling to cling to Jesus in a world where many Christians seem to only cling to power, might, and rightness.
August 4, 2017
This book will rock your theological world in a very good and needed way. It challenges the party-line Gospel presentation and bring us back to a much more Biblical and Christ centered one. I will be chewing on the concepts of this book again and again.
November 5, 2022
I just finished "A More Christlike God: A More Beautiful Gospel," by Brad Jersak, 2015.
Buy this book.
I first met the premise of this book in Greg Boyd's "The Crucifixion or the Warrior God" a few years ago. It can be summed up like this: Jesus, the Word, is who reveals to us--primarily on the cross--what exactly God is like.
Jersak wants us to get this message: God looks like Jesus. Atheists often will take issue with the character of God as it is portrayed or amplified by some Christians but not Jesus. Scripture has enough places to see a model of God and we gravitate towards one which we like rather than ask "what does God incarnate" (in the flesh...think carnitas) "show Himself to be like?" Scripture can be a rorschach test of our personality as we apply it to the Divine...especially when His character doesn't challenge us but mirrors us. So here's the take away: what about your relationship with God would change if you were assured that He looks like "love your enemy Jesus" and not the "slay the enemy Joshua?" Jesus is perfect theology.
This doesnt just impact the violence or nonviolence of God; how does "God looks like Jesus" impact our theology, specifically our models of God? Jersak shows us the image of God looking like Jesus on the one hand and the Augustinian-Calvinism view on the other. Does God compell and control all things as Augustine, Calvin, Edwards, Piper, et al, believe? If so what does this say abut the character of God? It says that God didn't allow the holocaust, He caused it for some good if only for His glory. This model doesn't look like the kenotic (kenosis: self-empting) Christ crucified. This is a battle between one side wanting to see God as power and the other side wanting to see God as love.
Further on when describing Kenosis Jersak asks what if the self emptying of the Son in the incarnation isn't what had to happen so that God could identify with humanity, it wasn't a departure from God's "Godness" but a definition or demonstration of the reality of who God is and what God is like? What happens to your model of God if not the totality of your theology is you truly believe that self giving love and radical servant hood express the nature of God? (Jesus is perfect theology; "if you've seen me you've seen the Father.")
"Thus, the self-giving love seen in Christ's passion becomes the clearest expression of God the Father (and Son and Holy Spirit)," pp 102-103.
With the above in mind Jersak addresses the horrible misconception that Jesus incarnated as a meek lamb but will come back as a violent lion (Revelation). Here's the big key for your Revelation decoder ring: the blood Jesus is drenched in is His own. He has never been other than Kenotic, loving, and giving. He isn't trying to give some a model for a hostile takeover of a government or any other type of violence. That's not Jesus and that's not God. Some may have thoughts on violence, great, but don't try to shoehorn those thoughts into Jesus' teachings.
There is so much more going on here with this book. I only cover the above so some may dwell on the amazing thought that God looks just like Jesus and He is peaceful, He is Love. Awesome book.
#AMoreChristlikeGod #BradleyJersak #BradJersak #Jersak #AtonementTheology #ModelOfGod #BOTY
Buy this book.
I first met the premise of this book in Greg Boyd's "The Crucifixion or the Warrior God" a few years ago. It can be summed up like this: Jesus, the Word, is who reveals to us--primarily on the cross--what exactly God is like.
Jersak wants us to get this message: God looks like Jesus. Atheists often will take issue with the character of God as it is portrayed or amplified by some Christians but not Jesus. Scripture has enough places to see a model of God and we gravitate towards one which we like rather than ask "what does God incarnate" (in the flesh...think carnitas) "show Himself to be like?" Scripture can be a rorschach test of our personality as we apply it to the Divine...especially when His character doesn't challenge us but mirrors us. So here's the take away: what about your relationship with God would change if you were assured that He looks like "love your enemy Jesus" and not the "slay the enemy Joshua?" Jesus is perfect theology.
This doesnt just impact the violence or nonviolence of God; how does "God looks like Jesus" impact our theology, specifically our models of God? Jersak shows us the image of God looking like Jesus on the one hand and the Augustinian-Calvinism view on the other. Does God compell and control all things as Augustine, Calvin, Edwards, Piper, et al, believe? If so what does this say abut the character of God? It says that God didn't allow the holocaust, He caused it for some good if only for His glory. This model doesn't look like the kenotic (kenosis: self-empting) Christ crucified. This is a battle between one side wanting to see God as power and the other side wanting to see God as love.
Further on when describing Kenosis Jersak asks what if the self emptying of the Son in the incarnation isn't what had to happen so that God could identify with humanity, it wasn't a departure from God's "Godness" but a definition or demonstration of the reality of who God is and what God is like? What happens to your model of God if not the totality of your theology is you truly believe that self giving love and radical servant hood express the nature of God? (Jesus is perfect theology; "if you've seen me you've seen the Father.")
"Thus, the self-giving love seen in Christ's passion becomes the clearest expression of God the Father (and Son and Holy Spirit)," pp 102-103.
With the above in mind Jersak addresses the horrible misconception that Jesus incarnated as a meek lamb but will come back as a violent lion (Revelation). Here's the big key for your Revelation decoder ring: the blood Jesus is drenched in is His own. He has never been other than Kenotic, loving, and giving. He isn't trying to give some a model for a hostile takeover of a government or any other type of violence. That's not Jesus and that's not God. Some may have thoughts on violence, great, but don't try to shoehorn those thoughts into Jesus' teachings.
There is so much more going on here with this book. I only cover the above so some may dwell on the amazing thought that God looks just like Jesus and He is peaceful, He is Love. Awesome book.
#AMoreChristlikeGod #BradleyJersak #BradJersak #Jersak #AtonementTheology #ModelOfGod #BOTY
June 18, 2021
Sound theology of the beautiful gospel. I HIGHLY recommend!
May 28, 2015
There is a significant and important theological trend in recent years to reclaim the doctrine of Incarnation: that Jesus is the full representation of God. This is the first book I have seen, however, that explicitly deals with that idea and a few of its subtopics - how we understand violent portrayals of God in the Old Testament (and a few in the New) and how we understand atonement being the big two. Most of the core ideas I was broadly familiar with from other studies, but there were several interesting pieces I had not encountered before.
I found Jersak did a great job of being firm about why he thinks certain presentations of God are far from the biblical images centered on Jesus, while still being respectful of those holding images of God that don't look like Jesus. That makes it a very good resource for sharing with those who are coming out of those harmful images but don't know how to replace it.
I would specifically call attention to his concluding chapter, A More Beautiful Gospel. The way it is presented is truly beautiful: a God who like Jesus truly loves us and would do anything for us, regardless of if we accept the right doctrines or do the right rituals or any other way of earning his favour.
Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book (electronic format) in exchange for an honest review.
I found Jersak did a great job of being firm about why he thinks certain presentations of God are far from the biblical images centered on Jesus, while still being respectful of those holding images of God that don't look like Jesus. That makes it a very good resource for sharing with those who are coming out of those harmful images but don't know how to replace it.
I would specifically call attention to his concluding chapter, A More Beautiful Gospel. The way it is presented is truly beautiful: a God who like Jesus truly loves us and would do anything for us, regardless of if we accept the right doctrines or do the right rituals or any other way of earning his favour.
Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book (electronic format) in exchange for an honest review.
September 18, 2019
"God is like Jesus, exactly like Jesus. God has always been like Jesus. We did not know that, but now we do." (294)
The entire book could be distilled down to that quote, although there is so much more development of this truth than a single book could contain. Jersak pushes back on the modern evangelical understanding of the Gospel as penal atonement, and leads us to train our vision to the beauty of the Triune God, most clearly displayed in Jesus. While some authors take an antagonist stance toward those who disagree, Jersak demonstrates a pastoral corrective approach, which is appropriate given the emphasis on the love of the Triune God found throughout the book.
For more than the last decade of my life, I have been most influenced by the Eastern Orthodox and anabaptist streams, so it should be no surprise that this book would be in my sweet spot. However, you do not have to be a theology nerd to appreciate the clear and beautiful vision of the Triune God that Jersak shows us in the book. This is now a book that I buy multiple copies of so that I always have one to give away because I believe, not only in the message of the book, but also in the way it is presented, and want to see others share in Jersak's vision.
The entire book could be distilled down to that quote, although there is so much more development of this truth than a single book could contain. Jersak pushes back on the modern evangelical understanding of the Gospel as penal atonement, and leads us to train our vision to the beauty of the Triune God, most clearly displayed in Jesus. While some authors take an antagonist stance toward those who disagree, Jersak demonstrates a pastoral corrective approach, which is appropriate given the emphasis on the love of the Triune God found throughout the book.
For more than the last decade of my life, I have been most influenced by the Eastern Orthodox and anabaptist streams, so it should be no surprise that this book would be in my sweet spot. However, you do not have to be a theology nerd to appreciate the clear and beautiful vision of the Triune God that Jersak shows us in the book. This is now a book that I buy multiple copies of so that I always have one to give away because I believe, not only in the message of the book, but also in the way it is presented, and want to see others share in Jersak's vision.
April 25, 2016
Dr Brad Jersak [PhD] tackles the big question,
"If there is a God, what is God like?" in this new book.
“In the flesh and blood person of Jesus, we have the only life ever lived that perfectly reveals the true nature of God.”
A More Christlike God: A More Beautiful Gospel conveys that such a God would be very good news...
A Love that is always toward us and a Grace that pours into this suffering world through willing, human partners. This book presents the challenge to readers to become another of those willing partners. Then engages readers with challenges to contemplate and prayers to prepare hearts in this journey to know and represent a more Christlike God - a more beautiful Gospel.
Qualified both as scholar and pastor, rich reading from a fav Canadian teacher.
Sorely needed, a book to recommend widely.
*Thankyou to litfuse for providing an ecopy to read and review without cost or compensation.
"If there is a God, what is God like?" in this new book.
“In the flesh and blood person of Jesus, we have the only life ever lived that perfectly reveals the true nature of God.”
A More Christlike God: A More Beautiful Gospel conveys that such a God would be very good news...
A Love that is always toward us and a Grace that pours into this suffering world through willing, human partners. This book presents the challenge to readers to become another of those willing partners. Then engages readers with challenges to contemplate and prayers to prepare hearts in this journey to know and represent a more Christlike God - a more beautiful Gospel.
Qualified both as scholar and pastor, rich reading from a fav Canadian teacher.
Sorely needed, a book to recommend widely.
*Thankyou to litfuse for providing an ecopy to read and review without cost or compensation.
February 16, 2019
A fabulous book. A game changer. An epic beauty of a book that pulls you into every page as the character of God, explained by Jersak, is perfectly revealed through Jesus. A must read, especially if you are struggling with the dichotomy of an angry retributive God that seems to be on the surface of many Bible stories and Jesus.
June 5, 2015
Loved it. God is like Jesus. Simple enough, at least until you get fed other pictures in church or you come across some of the seemingly not so Jesus like images in the Old Testament. Brad does a wonderful job painting a more 'Christlike God' for us in this book.
March 18, 2016
A very interesting book about how Christ reveals the nature of God completely. He delves a lot into not pitting the Trinity against one another in the death of Christ. If you love Jesus but are a little nervous about God this would be a great book for you.
May 10, 2016
Superb! The best thing I've read about toxic images of God. Jersak carefully and intelligently reinterprets the apparent "wrath of God" and violence instigated by God. He also presents a view of the atonement which is entirely biblical and consistent with the character of God as love.
September 8, 2019
In simple words, this book is helping to rewrite sections of my core theological operating system. While in some places, it could have done with a little more editing, the ideas expressed and the way they are strung together have lodged deeply inside. I won't be the same after reading it.
July 10, 2024
Fine book. Definitely was a little long winded at some points and some of the conclusions he comes to I don’t agree with. But I do love the why behind the book and offered some great food for thought!
December 31, 2018
A question at the heart of Cruciform Theology is "What is God like?" and this book provides a clear answer. It is structured like a well devised textbook peppered with anecdotes and presents its points in an easily digestible way carefully defining terminology as it goes along. As I read it, I felt like I was taking a crash course that was so good that I didn't need to do further study or homework and which brought my outdated theological knowledge up to date in one shot. The book provides a really good introduction and overview of the cruciform way of thinking and I give it my wholehearted recommendation.
Brad starts by contemplating what God is and how we have many different notions which will themselves change during our lifetimes. He looks to negative theology where we define God by saying what He isn't so that we avoid boxing God in and comes up with "God is" statements containing words: good, love, light, beauty, truth, justice. He introduces these as "divine energies" which are more than attributes. They "are God himself at work". But still the picture is incomplete until we realise we have the "only perfect image" of God in Christ. "Jesus has shown us the face and heart of God through the fullness of his life on earth: revealed through eyewitness accounts of his birth, ministry, death and resurrection". He says "Jesus alone is perfect theology". Given this promising framework, Jersak considers how people are turned away from faith by un-Christlike images of God and the difficult questions Christians often prefers to ignore. Renewal comes when we understand God as "the merciful and hospitable Father; who wins us by love rather than threats; who accepts and adores us while we're still a mess; who sees us as we are and heals us with hugs rather than blows".
The author next considers how we either project ourselves onto God or become like the God we worship. He looks at common images: "the doting grandfather" who does whatever we want, "the deadbeat dad" who is absent when needed, "the punitive judge" or "prurient voyeur" who cannot stand our sin and "the Santa Claus blend" who mixes the three. Then he looks at the two principal competing images: "the God of pure will (or freedom) and the God of pure love (or goodness)". The former produces willful people while the latter inspires loving followers who experience true freedom. Brad examines what happens when freedom is paramount vs when love reigns. He says that "Christ's love is willing not willful. Consensual, not coercive". He examines the willful God in Christian history looking at Augustine vs Clement and Origen, Voluntarism, Reformation Theology of Calvin, Radical Puritanism and the Neo-Reformed movement; in Jewish scripture where he considers Job; and in the New Testament where he quotes Mark Driscoll: "In Revelation, Jesus is a prize-fighter...with the commitment to make someone bleed....I cannot worship a guy I can beat up", exploring Paul in particular.
Proposing Jesus "as the lens through which to clarify our vision of God" does not go far enough, Jersak says. Instead he says "God is, was and always will be exactly like Jesus". Describing the Trinity, he observes that God "did not merely become Christlike", he always was. He compares the lowly king born in a stable to the emperor image Christianity embraced through Constantine. He demonstrates that the crucifixion was an "ugly homicide" rather than an act of co-conspiracy by the Father. Kenosis is explained not as a surrender of divine attributes, but rather as self-giving love and self-emptying power. "Kenotic love is who God is." The lamb-lion dichotomy falls under the microscope in particular the common view that Christ first came as a lamb and next time he's coming back in wrath as the lion, a view that appears to suggest that the crucifixion and resurrection were somehow insufficient and that God is little more than an "allegory of earthly kings". But in Revelations the Lion "has overcome" not will overcome and in John "The Lord has done it this very day"- the victory is in our past not our future. The crucifixion is the judgement of the world and of Satan as well as authority over all people.
Given God's power and glory are cruciform and kenotic, the book explores how God can still be sovereign while being non-coercive, uncontrolling, close and caring. The author imagines poetically all cosmic history "spanned by Jesus' outstretched arms". The "Cross-as-consent" encompasses Christ's obedience to the Father, the Father's love for the world and our response to the cross and grace. Considering the problem of evil, God as the "primary or first cause" consents to the "necessity" of "secondary causes" such as the laws of nature and human freedom. But in addition He also "participates fully" in the human condition, suffering with us and dying for us. God reigns not using the worldly power of force but the cruciform power of love. The Fall is about Adam and Eve grasping for power when given the dignity of choice instead of yielding it in obedience in the image of God. The cross invites us once again to lay down power.
Although God is the "infinite source of all being", God's grace participates in the world through willing partners inspired by the Holy Spirit with the ultimate exemplar and perfect link between heaven and earth being Jesus. God reveals His love unconditionally and empties Himself, filling and "saving" us if we consent to empty ourselves and receive his free gift. We then mediate God's love into the world as kingdom priests and through our prayers overcoming necessity. Through the Incarnation, we are assimilated, all our weaknesses and wounds are absorbed by God and we participate in His "salvation victory".
How do we affirm all of the above in the face of all the suffering in the world? Quoting Martin Luther's term "theologies of glory", Jersak shows us that when we try to reason our way out of the problem of evil, we can stumble into calling evil good and lapse into "schadenfreude" - pleasure at someone else's misfortune or tragedy. Luther instead shows us that through the Cross we receive an "anti-theodicy" - God's love and human affliction are a true contradiction. We must start by acknowledging that evil exists and that our faith tells us that God is all-good. This means that God cannot be all powerful "in this world". Our omnipotent Creator allows free will and natural law to run their course. His love and grace are boundless, yet He allowed the ultimate act of human rebellion, so that "all suffering before or since the Cross are dealt with definitively there". Our affliction is unified with Christ's self giving love so that redemption can occur. The chasm between divinity and humanity is bridged by the authenticity of Christ's experience, particularly that feeling of God's absence that we sometimes feel and that Jesus endured on the Cross.
Similarly to Greg Boyd, Brad sees divine wrath as a metaphor for God letting us face the consequences (wages) of our sins so that we "find out own bottom" and then willingly "surrender to the arms of grace". He observes that many read verses about peace figuratively yet take ones on wrath literally. Reading the Bible literally is symptomatic of mythic-literal faith (stage 2 of James Fowler's "Stages of Faith") and we must learn to use the lens of "cruciform consent". Where Jersak differs from Boyd is that he does not believe God withdraws his mercy to allow sin to run its course but rather that we consciously or unconsciously decide to reject it - our "free agency coupled with cause and effect creates results". Acts of God's active wrath are God consenting to the natural and supernatural (Satan) consequences of human decisions. God allows violence a byproduct of human freedom but also subverts and overcomes it.
"Salvation", the author says, is what God has, is and will do through Christ in us on our journey towards union with him. Atonement theories are human "working models" exploring how salvation might have worked and should not be confused with the gospel or the biblical metaphors they attempt to interpret. These are "Lost-and-found" where Jesus finds and rescues the lost; "The Great Physician" who heals sin's effects; "The Healing Serpent" who overcomes the poison of human sin; the "Atoning Sacrifice" who both renews covenant and acts as scapegoat carrying away our sins; "The Lamb of God" whose blood welcomes God's protection from the destroyer; "Redemption and Jubilee" which encapsulates "adoption", "inheritance" and "reconcilation" where Jesus redeems us from the bondage of sin; "The Ransom" paid not to God, Satan or the Law, but to Death personified. The two most important, which come from Paul, are "Victory" where Jesus conquers Satan and sin at the Cross, death through his resurrection and everything by his love; and "Justification" where we are freely declared righteous in Jesus through being graciously given and practically aided in producing that righteousness.
Jersak summarises how Jesus saves us through five key words: "Cruciform" where all the fullness of the Trinity through Jesus empties for our sake and Christ's death is the "apex revelation and act of God's self-giving love"; "Representation" where Christ as one of us represents the whole human race in his victory; "Identification" since Jesus identifies with human nature and condition; "Substitution" because Jesus substituted for us in the battle with Satan, sin and death (not to appease God's wrath); and "Exchange" where Jesus takes our human nature and blesses us with a divine nature.
Comparing the "modern/legal/retributive" understanding of the Gospel with the "ancient/healing/restorative" view, Brad concludes by presenting the "Gospel in Chairs", which demonstrates that when we turn away, God turns toward us (and is best appreciated by watching a video on YouTube). He reminds us of "two cardinal Christian truths: 1. God does not change 2. God is perfectly revealed in Christ".
Brad starts by contemplating what God is and how we have many different notions which will themselves change during our lifetimes. He looks to negative theology where we define God by saying what He isn't so that we avoid boxing God in and comes up with "God is" statements containing words: good, love, light, beauty, truth, justice. He introduces these as "divine energies" which are more than attributes. They "are God himself at work". But still the picture is incomplete until we realise we have the "only perfect image" of God in Christ. "Jesus has shown us the face and heart of God through the fullness of his life on earth: revealed through eyewitness accounts of his birth, ministry, death and resurrection". He says "Jesus alone is perfect theology". Given this promising framework, Jersak considers how people are turned away from faith by un-Christlike images of God and the difficult questions Christians often prefers to ignore. Renewal comes when we understand God as "the merciful and hospitable Father; who wins us by love rather than threats; who accepts and adores us while we're still a mess; who sees us as we are and heals us with hugs rather than blows".
The author next considers how we either project ourselves onto God or become like the God we worship. He looks at common images: "the doting grandfather" who does whatever we want, "the deadbeat dad" who is absent when needed, "the punitive judge" or "prurient voyeur" who cannot stand our sin and "the Santa Claus blend" who mixes the three. Then he looks at the two principal competing images: "the God of pure will (or freedom) and the God of pure love (or goodness)". The former produces willful people while the latter inspires loving followers who experience true freedom. Brad examines what happens when freedom is paramount vs when love reigns. He says that "Christ's love is willing not willful. Consensual, not coercive". He examines the willful God in Christian history looking at Augustine vs Clement and Origen, Voluntarism, Reformation Theology of Calvin, Radical Puritanism and the Neo-Reformed movement; in Jewish scripture where he considers Job; and in the New Testament where he quotes Mark Driscoll: "In Revelation, Jesus is a prize-fighter...with the commitment to make someone bleed....I cannot worship a guy I can beat up", exploring Paul in particular.
Proposing Jesus "as the lens through which to clarify our vision of God" does not go far enough, Jersak says. Instead he says "God is, was and always will be exactly like Jesus". Describing the Trinity, he observes that God "did not merely become Christlike", he always was. He compares the lowly king born in a stable to the emperor image Christianity embraced through Constantine. He demonstrates that the crucifixion was an "ugly homicide" rather than an act of co-conspiracy by the Father. Kenosis is explained not as a surrender of divine attributes, but rather as self-giving love and self-emptying power. "Kenotic love is who God is." The lamb-lion dichotomy falls under the microscope in particular the common view that Christ first came as a lamb and next time he's coming back in wrath as the lion, a view that appears to suggest that the crucifixion and resurrection were somehow insufficient and that God is little more than an "allegory of earthly kings". But in Revelations the Lion "has overcome" not will overcome and in John "The Lord has done it this very day"- the victory is in our past not our future. The crucifixion is the judgement of the world and of Satan as well as authority over all people.
Given God's power and glory are cruciform and kenotic, the book explores how God can still be sovereign while being non-coercive, uncontrolling, close and caring. The author imagines poetically all cosmic history "spanned by Jesus' outstretched arms". The "Cross-as-consent" encompasses Christ's obedience to the Father, the Father's love for the world and our response to the cross and grace. Considering the problem of evil, God as the "primary or first cause" consents to the "necessity" of "secondary causes" such as the laws of nature and human freedom. But in addition He also "participates fully" in the human condition, suffering with us and dying for us. God reigns not using the worldly power of force but the cruciform power of love. The Fall is about Adam and Eve grasping for power when given the dignity of choice instead of yielding it in obedience in the image of God. The cross invites us once again to lay down power.
Although God is the "infinite source of all being", God's grace participates in the world through willing partners inspired by the Holy Spirit with the ultimate exemplar and perfect link between heaven and earth being Jesus. God reveals His love unconditionally and empties Himself, filling and "saving" us if we consent to empty ourselves and receive his free gift. We then mediate God's love into the world as kingdom priests and through our prayers overcoming necessity. Through the Incarnation, we are assimilated, all our weaknesses and wounds are absorbed by God and we participate in His "salvation victory".
How do we affirm all of the above in the face of all the suffering in the world? Quoting Martin Luther's term "theologies of glory", Jersak shows us that when we try to reason our way out of the problem of evil, we can stumble into calling evil good and lapse into "schadenfreude" - pleasure at someone else's misfortune or tragedy. Luther instead shows us that through the Cross we receive an "anti-theodicy" - God's love and human affliction are a true contradiction. We must start by acknowledging that evil exists and that our faith tells us that God is all-good. This means that God cannot be all powerful "in this world". Our omnipotent Creator allows free will and natural law to run their course. His love and grace are boundless, yet He allowed the ultimate act of human rebellion, so that "all suffering before or since the Cross are dealt with definitively there". Our affliction is unified with Christ's self giving love so that redemption can occur. The chasm between divinity and humanity is bridged by the authenticity of Christ's experience, particularly that feeling of God's absence that we sometimes feel and that Jesus endured on the Cross.
Similarly to Greg Boyd, Brad sees divine wrath as a metaphor for God letting us face the consequences (wages) of our sins so that we "find out own bottom" and then willingly "surrender to the arms of grace". He observes that many read verses about peace figuratively yet take ones on wrath literally. Reading the Bible literally is symptomatic of mythic-literal faith (stage 2 of James Fowler's "Stages of Faith") and we must learn to use the lens of "cruciform consent". Where Jersak differs from Boyd is that he does not believe God withdraws his mercy to allow sin to run its course but rather that we consciously or unconsciously decide to reject it - our "free agency coupled with cause and effect creates results". Acts of God's active wrath are God consenting to the natural and supernatural (Satan) consequences of human decisions. God allows violence a byproduct of human freedom but also subverts and overcomes it.
"Salvation", the author says, is what God has, is and will do through Christ in us on our journey towards union with him. Atonement theories are human "working models" exploring how salvation might have worked and should not be confused with the gospel or the biblical metaphors they attempt to interpret. These are "Lost-and-found" where Jesus finds and rescues the lost; "The Great Physician" who heals sin's effects; "The Healing Serpent" who overcomes the poison of human sin; the "Atoning Sacrifice" who both renews covenant and acts as scapegoat carrying away our sins; "The Lamb of God" whose blood welcomes God's protection from the destroyer; "Redemption and Jubilee" which encapsulates "adoption", "inheritance" and "reconcilation" where Jesus redeems us from the bondage of sin; "The Ransom" paid not to God, Satan or the Law, but to Death personified. The two most important, which come from Paul, are "Victory" where Jesus conquers Satan and sin at the Cross, death through his resurrection and everything by his love; and "Justification" where we are freely declared righteous in Jesus through being graciously given and practically aided in producing that righteousness.
Jersak summarises how Jesus saves us through five key words: "Cruciform" where all the fullness of the Trinity through Jesus empties for our sake and Christ's death is the "apex revelation and act of God's self-giving love"; "Representation" where Christ as one of us represents the whole human race in his victory; "Identification" since Jesus identifies with human nature and condition; "Substitution" because Jesus substituted for us in the battle with Satan, sin and death (not to appease God's wrath); and "Exchange" where Jesus takes our human nature and blesses us with a divine nature.
Comparing the "modern/legal/retributive" understanding of the Gospel with the "ancient/healing/restorative" view, Brad concludes by presenting the "Gospel in Chairs", which demonstrates that when we turn away, God turns toward us (and is best appreciated by watching a video on YouTube). He reminds us of "two cardinal Christian truths: 1. God does not change 2. God is perfectly revealed in Christ".
March 23, 2020
I couldn't recommend this book highly enough to anyone who wishes to experience a more Christlike theology filled to the brim with love and hope that will leave you feeling refreshed and energized about your faith.
I've heard much from Jersak on podcasts and on Youtube, but this was the first book of his that I've read (the first of many, to be sure). I was pleased to find that Jersak's loving and Christlike tone translated well to the page, and it was inspiring in regards to the approach I want to take with theology. This review will be more of a summary, partially for my own benefit of being able to look back and remind myself of its points and themes. I'll treat the three portions of the book separately, but first I have to mention that the foreword from Brian Zahnd was the perfect introduction to this book, including what is now one of my favorite quotes regarding the role of Scripture: "What the Bible does infallibly is take us on a journey that culminates with Christ--but it is Christ who fully reveals God" (pg. xiv).
The first section of the book deals with what God is like, and this is intended to weed out some false conceptions of God, how we know they're false, and how we can know anything about what God is like via the revelation of Christ. He first recognizes the utility of negative theology, but asserts that for God to be "not mere nonsense, we declare some truths by faith for which the opposite is never true" (pg. 7, italics original). He lists six things, then, that God is: good, love, light, and perfect beauty, truth, and justice. Working from this, he explores what else we can know and how we can know it, which is where he introduces his claim "that Jesus alone is perfect theology" (pg. 9), and that we can then approach more frightening theological issues like the violence of the Old Testament and even of the "God characters" in some of Jesus's parables. This is then culminates in one of the most powerful parts of the book, found on pages 16-18, where Jersak recounts a time when he was able to deal swiftly with a wave of questions brought on by a teenager that approached him one time after he spoke at her school, and he does this by relentlessly using the lens of Jesus. It's a beautiful section that nearly brought me to tears, and I think the expectation set by this story, namely that the rest of the book would demonstrate the kind of healthy theology presented in it, did pay off in the end. He briefly addresses the New Atheist movement and how it can be useful for getting Christians thinking about certain issues of faith, but also stresses the importance of looking to Christ as a positive force pushing us to think about those same issues. In his words, "instead of purging ourselves with the saltwater of scorn, we could cleanse our palates with the living water of Truth" (pg. 31, italics original). He then uses the lens of Truth found in Christ to remove some popular un-Christlike images which he calls the doting grandfather, the deadbeat dad, the punitive judge, and the Santa Claus blend. He deals effectively with each of these in a relatively short amount of time, which was important to establish going into the rest of the book.
In the third chapter he addresses an interesting point about freedom in light of the example of Christ; specifically, he points out that, in Christ, freedom should no longer be seen as doing whatever we want to do, but rather the truly freeing result of living in a Christlike and therefore self-giving way. This is how Christ loves us. "Christ's love is the true freedom--freedom to love, empowered by our risen Love!" (pg. 58, italics original). This is the basis from which he establishes the idea that "Christlike love is willing, not willful" (pg. 58), and this is what becomes the backbone of the rest of the book. In doing this, though, he addresses specifically the Calvinist notions of sovereignty and wrath, refusing to ignore them since they appear plainly in the Bible. He deals with them most fully in the third part of the book, but his willingness to honestly present them was inspiring.
The second section of the book then sees some tangible ways of applying this cruciform sort of God to issues of the nature of God, free will, and theodicy. He first establishes that kenosis is the primary nature of God and is presented in the NT as the way God manifests his judgment and authority in the world, which leads him into the part of this that really feels original: his "theology of consent." Jersak himself introduces this by bringing to the forefront the analogy of the bridegroom, which is, unless we are to take a truly repulsive and unloving (not to mention un-Christlike) image of God , an inherently consensual picture of how God loves us. He derives this consent from the cross (through which he rightly wants to filter all theology), which "is the perfection of consent because Christ rules through love rather than coercion--through persuasion rather than force--through revelation rather than domination" (pg. 122), being sure to remind us that
After divine consent comes divine participation, in which God is understood as participating in our suffering through his incarnation and embodiment in the world not only on the cross and when he was here physically, but right now, and this is how he deals with theodicy with what he calls "An Anti-Theodicy of the Cross" (pg. 161). Of all the chapters, I think this is the strongest. He avoids the problem of "calling evil good" (pg. 162) in which people say that God makes everything happen so that he can be glorified or some other form of "in the grand scheme of things, we'll come to see that it was actually good." This is why he refers to his answer to the problem of evil as an anti-theodicy; it's not a way of explaining away the evil in the world, rather it's an affirmation that evil is in fact evil, and we see in Christ a God who suffers and steps into pain with us, even to the point of experiencing the same kind of divine abandonment as we experience. Out of this chapter come some of the boldest words of the book, such as "He doesn't sit in the corner while an adult harms a child; he hangs on a Cross" (pg. 177) and "Yes, Christ is powerless to save, since he's been crucified to control and coercion" (pg. 177, italics original).
This moves us, then, into the third section of the book, titled "'Unwrathing' God". in which Jersak develops a way of seeing God's wrath that aligns with the other themes he has drawn out such as free will and consent. Though this is the longest part of the book, my summary of it will be the shortest (which is great because this is getting quite long). His primary contention here is summarized here:
After this, he goes to a discussion of atonement theories and what metaphors Jesus and Paul use to describe what happened on the cross. This is a very strong part of the book, and it emphasizes the fact that "salvation is a mystery" (pg.228) and that each of these metaphors is getting at a particular aspect of what's going on without claiming to be the singular Truth that encompasses the entire meaning and function of Christ's work. The metaphors that Jesus used are Lost-and-Found, The Great Physician, The Healing Serpent, Atoning Sacrifice, The Lamb of God, Redemption and Jubilee, and The Ransom, and Jersak looks at each one of these to see what they get at in our understanding of atonement, still being careful to recognize that these are all getting at aspects of the cross and need not become entire theories in themselves. Then, he moves to the Pauline metaphors, which he filters through the two ideas of Victory and Justification. This treatment is very well-done and comprises a chapter of its own.
The book then culminates in "The Gospel in Chairs," which you can find videos of on YouTube. This is a powerful way of presenting the Gospel that both bears witness to Jersak's evangelistic heart and is supported by the points about consent, participation, and the atonement that he made throughout the book.
This book greatly impacted me in terms of how I feel free to think and talk about God in the light of Christ being the center, and I look forward to revisiting it often as I seek grounding for theology and the fresh, healing sort of attitude that Jersak takes towards it.
I've heard much from Jersak on podcasts and on Youtube, but this was the first book of his that I've read (the first of many, to be sure). I was pleased to find that Jersak's loving and Christlike tone translated well to the page, and it was inspiring in regards to the approach I want to take with theology. This review will be more of a summary, partially for my own benefit of being able to look back and remind myself of its points and themes. I'll treat the three portions of the book separately, but first I have to mention that the foreword from Brian Zahnd was the perfect introduction to this book, including what is now one of my favorite quotes regarding the role of Scripture: "What the Bible does infallibly is take us on a journey that culminates with Christ--but it is Christ who fully reveals God" (pg. xiv).
The first section of the book deals with what God is like, and this is intended to weed out some false conceptions of God, how we know they're false, and how we can know anything about what God is like via the revelation of Christ. He first recognizes the utility of negative theology, but asserts that for God to be "not mere nonsense, we declare some truths by faith for which the opposite is never true" (pg. 7, italics original). He lists six things, then, that God is: good, love, light, and perfect beauty, truth, and justice. Working from this, he explores what else we can know and how we can know it, which is where he introduces his claim "that Jesus alone is perfect theology" (pg. 9), and that we can then approach more frightening theological issues like the violence of the Old Testament and even of the "God characters" in some of Jesus's parables. This is then culminates in one of the most powerful parts of the book, found on pages 16-18, where Jersak recounts a time when he was able to deal swiftly with a wave of questions brought on by a teenager that approached him one time after he spoke at her school, and he does this by relentlessly using the lens of Jesus. It's a beautiful section that nearly brought me to tears, and I think the expectation set by this story, namely that the rest of the book would demonstrate the kind of healthy theology presented in it, did pay off in the end. He briefly addresses the New Atheist movement and how it can be useful for getting Christians thinking about certain issues of faith, but also stresses the importance of looking to Christ as a positive force pushing us to think about those same issues. In his words, "instead of purging ourselves with the saltwater of scorn, we could cleanse our palates with the living water of Truth" (pg. 31, italics original). He then uses the lens of Truth found in Christ to remove some popular un-Christlike images which he calls the doting grandfather, the deadbeat dad, the punitive judge, and the Santa Claus blend. He deals effectively with each of these in a relatively short amount of time, which was important to establish going into the rest of the book.
In the third chapter he addresses an interesting point about freedom in light of the example of Christ; specifically, he points out that, in Christ, freedom should no longer be seen as doing whatever we want to do, but rather the truly freeing result of living in a Christlike and therefore self-giving way. This is how Christ loves us. "Christ's love is the true freedom--freedom to love, empowered by our risen Love!" (pg. 58, italics original). This is the basis from which he establishes the idea that "Christlike love is willing, not willful" (pg. 58), and this is what becomes the backbone of the rest of the book. In doing this, though, he addresses specifically the Calvinist notions of sovereignty and wrath, refusing to ignore them since they appear plainly in the Bible. He deals with them most fully in the third part of the book, but his willingness to honestly present them was inspiring.
The second section of the book then sees some tangible ways of applying this cruciform sort of God to issues of the nature of God, free will, and theodicy. He first establishes that kenosis is the primary nature of God and is presented in the NT as the way God manifests his judgment and authority in the world, which leads him into the part of this that really feels original: his "theology of consent." Jersak himself introduces this by bringing to the forefront the analogy of the bridegroom, which is, unless we are to take a truly repulsive and unloving (not to mention un-Christlike) image of God , an inherently consensual picture of how God loves us. He derives this consent from the cross (through which he rightly wants to filter all theology), which "is the perfection of consent because Christ rules through love rather than coercion--through persuasion rather than force--through revelation rather than domination" (pg. 122), being sure to remind us that
if consent comes with an ultimatum tied to a deadline--if lack of surrender is threatened with eternal conscious torment--then the offer is devoid of real love. We're left with no more than a pseudo-choice and not genuinely allowed to withhold consent. (pg. 125)From this he makes two incredibly insightful points. The first of these directly attacks the TULIP formulation of Calvinism in saying that "[God] will not ever make you marry his Son, because an irresistible grace would violate your consent. Your part will always and forever be by consent" (pg. 126, italics original). Then, with the first point having dealt quite succinctly with the human role, the second deals just as nicely with God's role; "His consent will never end, because a violent ultimatum would violate your consent" (pg. 127, italics original). This then takes him to a brief discussion of primary and secondary causes being independent of one another, which could of course be treated in a more detailed setting, but was dealt with sufficiently here to make the sort of suggestions he is trying to make.
After divine consent comes divine participation, in which God is understood as participating in our suffering through his incarnation and embodiment in the world not only on the cross and when he was here physically, but right now, and this is how he deals with theodicy with what he calls "An Anti-Theodicy of the Cross" (pg. 161). Of all the chapters, I think this is the strongest. He avoids the problem of "calling evil good" (pg. 162) in which people say that God makes everything happen so that he can be glorified or some other form of "in the grand scheme of things, we'll come to see that it was actually good." This is why he refers to his answer to the problem of evil as an anti-theodicy; it's not a way of explaining away the evil in the world, rather it's an affirmation that evil is in fact evil, and we see in Christ a God who suffers and steps into pain with us, even to the point of experiencing the same kind of divine abandonment as we experience. Out of this chapter come some of the boldest words of the book, such as "He doesn't sit in the corner while an adult harms a child; he hangs on a Cross" (pg. 177) and "Yes, Christ is powerless to save, since he's been crucified to control and coercion" (pg. 177, italics original).
This moves us, then, into the third section of the book, titled "'Unwrathing' God". in which Jersak develops a way of seeing God's wrath that aligns with the other themes he has drawn out such as free will and consent. Though this is the longest part of the book, my summary of it will be the shortest (which is great because this is getting quite long). His primary contention here is summarized here:
The Bible itself takes us on a progressive, cruciform pilgrimage from primitive literal understandings of wrath, where God appears to burn with anger and react violently, to a metaphorical reading of wrath, in which God consents--gives us over--to the self-destructive consequences of our own willful defiance. (pg. 185, italics original)Though he does not intend for this to be an exhaustive exploration of every instance of wrath in the Bible, I think he does a good job of defending this claim as he presents the Bible's arc of how it sees God's wrath.
After this, he goes to a discussion of atonement theories and what metaphors Jesus and Paul use to describe what happened on the cross. This is a very strong part of the book, and it emphasizes the fact that "salvation is a mystery" (pg.228) and that each of these metaphors is getting at a particular aspect of what's going on without claiming to be the singular Truth that encompasses the entire meaning and function of Christ's work. The metaphors that Jesus used are Lost-and-Found, The Great Physician, The Healing Serpent, Atoning Sacrifice, The Lamb of God, Redemption and Jubilee, and The Ransom, and Jersak looks at each one of these to see what they get at in our understanding of atonement, still being careful to recognize that these are all getting at aspects of the cross and need not become entire theories in themselves. Then, he moves to the Pauline metaphors, which he filters through the two ideas of Victory and Justification. This treatment is very well-done and comprises a chapter of its own.
The book then culminates in "The Gospel in Chairs," which you can find videos of on YouTube. This is a powerful way of presenting the Gospel that both bears witness to Jersak's evangelistic heart and is supported by the points about consent, participation, and the atonement that he made throughout the book.
This book greatly impacted me in terms of how I feel free to think and talk about God in the light of Christ being the center, and I look forward to revisiting it often as I seek grounding for theology and the fresh, healing sort of attitude that Jersak takes towards it.
March 15, 2021
This may be the most ground-breaking, eye-opening book on the Christian faith I have ever read. If Jesus shows us what God is really like, then versions of God that don’t line up with Jesus cannot be true. This leads up to the unwrathing of God and a more beautiful Gospel with a God who turns towards us instead of away from us and lovingly pursues us to rescue and heal. It’s a deep read, and I had to take it in small chunks to fully absorb it. And it’s so earth-shaking, that I may need to read it again!
June 19, 2024
A few good critiques of theological caricatures which are certainly real, but the issues begin at the level of presupposition, specifically regarding what it means for God to be revealed fully in Christ in relation to the revelation of God in the rest of his word. Your options are either to assume that Jesus coheres with the Old Testament, or he modifies it. Unfortunately Jersak chooses the latter, and is left where all are who leave behind the authority of the Scriptures; selecting which pieces do and do not cohere with the red letters.
Read
November 14, 2025Wow. So exciting and refreshing.
The gospel in chairs is great!
I watched a video about it and just about fell out of my chair when he said he was from Manitoba.
I have a default suspicion of sugarcoating, but he makes a compelling case that this lens is also more ancient and to me at least it makes more coherent sense narratively.
The gospel in chairs is great!
I watched a video about it and just about fell out of my chair when he said he was from Manitoba.
I have a default suspicion of sugarcoating, but he makes a compelling case that this lens is also more ancient and to me at least it makes more coherent sense narratively.
November 13, 2025
Virkelig god bog! kernesætningen: "Gud er præcis som Jesus" udfoldes i dybden og i bredden. Så meget god refleksion og bøn springer der ud af at læse den
May 26, 2016
This book is a genuine gift of theology to the church, and to the world.
To get straight to the point -- you need to read this!
Dr Brad Jersak, within the space of 300+ pages, has provided a concise theological panacea to our fragmented portraits of a God who is riddled with what some perceive as split personality issues.
Theology can do this. In our attempt to understand God, we divide the divine identity up into chunks. Using (and misunderstanding) the anthropomorphic language employed in scripture as markers of deity DNA, God gets separated up into a cast of characters, each constrained to a specific act or scene within the story; God the creator, God the destroyer, God the liberator, God the bully, God the bringer of miracles, God the bringer of slaughter… God the almighty, all-knowing, all-present but also extremely conflicted, apparently! A God of many faces. And then along comes Jesus, another cast member of the “divine comedy/tragedy”; one more “face” that God exhibits.
Yes, most of the church affirms, Jesus is more than *a* face, he is part of the God head. But in some circles, Jesus’ face also shape-shifts with time. In his past appearing (the story of the Gospels), he’s a dying, self-emptying servant on a cross -- suffering for the world, saving, forgiving and showing love until his last breath. But then in the future appearing (his second-coming), this Jesus will arrive as some kind of apocalyptic hybrid of John Rambo and Genghis Khan. Usurping the claim that he is the same yesterday, today and forever, this idea of Jesus (the one who once welcomed and ate with sinners and cried “father, forgive them”) is now out for the blood of anyone who didn’t respond to his invite.
Sadly, this obvious dichotomy is embraced.
Some voices in the church, would also describe Jesus as someone who “saves us from God” -- which, very disturbingly, stretches the already gaping dichotomy all the more further.
Often this has come about in an attempt to avoid a dualistic idea of God. I.e. the Old Testament portrays an angry God, whilst the New gives us a newer and better (nicer and kinder) version -- God 2.0. But this attempt has been tackled in a way that allows some to desperately maintain a grasp on their flawed Biblicist literal reading of scripture. As an attempt to avoid having two Gods, the literalistic result has given us a pantheon of personalities all contained within one apparent God. Making God, in turn, appear more like “legion” than Jesus of Nazareth.
But the truth of the gospel, the truth that Brad explores throughout A More Christlike God (and a truth I also affirm), is that God is exactly like Christ; God has *always* been exactly like Jesus of Nazareth.
God isn’t like the “many-faced god” of A Game of Thrones fame; in Jesus, God has presented to us the eternal character of the unseen God.
A God whose very expression has consistently been (and always will be) marked by self-emptying, cruciform and kenotic love. A timeless trait, not a feature constrained with some “use-by-date”.
Of course, to say such things raises questions: “If God has always been like this, then what about all those stories of God commanding war and the killing of children? What’s all that stuff about hell and damnation and wrath and destruction? Why is their suffering, if God is truly loving and good?
Well, that’s why you should read this A More Christlike God. It’s a theological tour de force that helps to tackle these big issues head-on. So think of this as a really accessible guidebook through some tough topics. It’s not a book that is full of clichés, anecdotes or shallow thinking -- it’s deep and broad in its theological approach, but in a way that won’t burden you in abstractions and terminology. It’s clear, exegetically rich in scripture, honest and, most of all, understandable. Simply put, it’s brilliant!
Brad is not presenting some “new” idea that’s come about as a way of making Christianity palatable to today’s culture. Jersak delves into a host of historic voices, showing us that this picture of a more Christ-like God is an ancient one; this beautiful portrait is one that is being cleaned off and restored to its central place within our orthodoxy. In reality, the many-faced god is the man-made concoction -- a self-projection into our time-bound cultures-- one that God has been trying to get us to give-up for epochs.
With A More Christlike God, Brad Jersak performs much needed CPR on our hearts and minds in order to get us to vomit out our toxic and damaging images of God; enabling us to fill our lungs with a more life-giving, captivating and gospel centred air.
To repeat myself – you need to read this. Every Christian needs to read this! Every person who has ever been put-off by a god who seeks to destroy us unless we respond to his “love”, needs to read this.
To get straight to the point -- you need to read this!
Dr Brad Jersak, within the space of 300+ pages, has provided a concise theological panacea to our fragmented portraits of a God who is riddled with what some perceive as split personality issues.
Theology can do this. In our attempt to understand God, we divide the divine identity up into chunks. Using (and misunderstanding) the anthropomorphic language employed in scripture as markers of deity DNA, God gets separated up into a cast of characters, each constrained to a specific act or scene within the story; God the creator, God the destroyer, God the liberator, God the bully, God the bringer of miracles, God the bringer of slaughter… God the almighty, all-knowing, all-present but also extremely conflicted, apparently! A God of many faces. And then along comes Jesus, another cast member of the “divine comedy/tragedy”; one more “face” that God exhibits.
Yes, most of the church affirms, Jesus is more than *a* face, he is part of the God head. But in some circles, Jesus’ face also shape-shifts with time. In his past appearing (the story of the Gospels), he’s a dying, self-emptying servant on a cross -- suffering for the world, saving, forgiving and showing love until his last breath. But then in the future appearing (his second-coming), this Jesus will arrive as some kind of apocalyptic hybrid of John Rambo and Genghis Khan. Usurping the claim that he is the same yesterday, today and forever, this idea of Jesus (the one who once welcomed and ate with sinners and cried “father, forgive them”) is now out for the blood of anyone who didn’t respond to his invite.
Sadly, this obvious dichotomy is embraced.
Some voices in the church, would also describe Jesus as someone who “saves us from God” -- which, very disturbingly, stretches the already gaping dichotomy all the more further.
Often this has come about in an attempt to avoid a dualistic idea of God. I.e. the Old Testament portrays an angry God, whilst the New gives us a newer and better (nicer and kinder) version -- God 2.0. But this attempt has been tackled in a way that allows some to desperately maintain a grasp on their flawed Biblicist literal reading of scripture. As an attempt to avoid having two Gods, the literalistic result has given us a pantheon of personalities all contained within one apparent God. Making God, in turn, appear more like “legion” than Jesus of Nazareth.
But the truth of the gospel, the truth that Brad explores throughout A More Christlike God (and a truth I also affirm), is that God is exactly like Christ; God has *always* been exactly like Jesus of Nazareth.
God isn’t like the “many-faced god” of A Game of Thrones fame; in Jesus, God has presented to us the eternal character of the unseen God.
A God whose very expression has consistently been (and always will be) marked by self-emptying, cruciform and kenotic love. A timeless trait, not a feature constrained with some “use-by-date”.
Of course, to say such things raises questions: “If God has always been like this, then what about all those stories of God commanding war and the killing of children? What’s all that stuff about hell and damnation and wrath and destruction? Why is their suffering, if God is truly loving and good?
Well, that’s why you should read this A More Christlike God. It’s a theological tour de force that helps to tackle these big issues head-on. So think of this as a really accessible guidebook through some tough topics. It’s not a book that is full of clichés, anecdotes or shallow thinking -- it’s deep and broad in its theological approach, but in a way that won’t burden you in abstractions and terminology. It’s clear, exegetically rich in scripture, honest and, most of all, understandable. Simply put, it’s brilliant!
Brad is not presenting some “new” idea that’s come about as a way of making Christianity palatable to today’s culture. Jersak delves into a host of historic voices, showing us that this picture of a more Christ-like God is an ancient one; this beautiful portrait is one that is being cleaned off and restored to its central place within our orthodoxy. In reality, the many-faced god is the man-made concoction -- a self-projection into our time-bound cultures-- one that God has been trying to get us to give-up for epochs.
With A More Christlike God, Brad Jersak performs much needed CPR on our hearts and minds in order to get us to vomit out our toxic and damaging images of God; enabling us to fill our lungs with a more life-giving, captivating and gospel centred air.
To repeat myself – you need to read this. Every Christian needs to read this! Every person who has ever been put-off by a god who seeks to destroy us unless we respond to his “love”, needs to read this.
June 5, 2024
Lots to think long and hard about in this one. I fear that, in some of the dismissal of especially OT descriptions of a God as active in condemning and punishing sin as in rewarding obedience, Jersak fails to take seriously the supernatural perspective and worldview of Scripture. On the other hand, it is the religion of Christ-ianity and should therefore be properly and thoroughly Christ-centered, even while reading passages that seem, on the surface, not so Christlike. Again, lots to mull over here. Will definitely make you think, re-evaluate, re-read Bible passages, etc.
July 10, 2015
Matt. 10:16-23 "God In the Uncertainties" "It is not success you are after in such times, but survival. Be survivors".
A Book Review of A More Christlike God: A Beautiful Gospel by Bradley Jersak
Today I went to Angel Island with a friend to celebrate her birthday. It was a little foggy, cloudy, and misty--a perfect Bay day, a perfect day to cross on the ferry. As I looked across the water to the City I thought first of all of my friend of nearly twenty years. My life is full of uncertainty--I never know one month to the next if I am going to have enough money, my life is on the edge and my friend has provided the one certainty during these years--my health insurance. That, and that alone, has been a surety, and has saved my life, and I love her for that, I love her for her faithfulness to our friendship and to our ministry. No one has ever been a better friend to me. I thought of the City that I came to over twenty years ago, its mysterious beauty, in both its under belly and in its glory that has always had a hold on me; a City in which I found ministry, and have had a full, and a totally satisfying life. I thought of the thousands I have served, of the one's I have brought to Angel Island for a day, and of how they loved being out of the dirtiness of the City.
It is in that City that through the years I have encountered and have lived out the theology described in the book A More Christ like God. The theology has Celtic and Orthodox origins. Basically it presents the healing Gospel, even a therapeutic version of the cruciform cross. Our sin--that which separates us from God is rooted deep within us and the Great Physician brings healing when we allow him to. God never turns away from humanity--we turn away--and God is always waiting for us to return--he seeks us out, like the Shepherd. The gospel is this: "when we turn away, he turns toward us. When we run away, he confronts us with his love. When we murder God, he confronts us with his mercy and forgiveness.
This is the Christ I have encountered in my own life, and this is the Christ that I preach, the Christ of love who is always waiting without judgment. We slam him in the face, and he awaits for our return. It is this Gospel that has grounded my ministry--I never turn away, never--for I believe we are called to be conduits for that grace. I am hit in the face, I have been hurt, but I work with people without judgment. That is what ministry is about--to walk with people without judgment presenting the Gospel of grace in our actions. Deo Gratias! Thanks be to God!
A Book Review of A More Christlike God: A Beautiful Gospel by Bradley Jersak
Today I went to Angel Island with a friend to celebrate her birthday. It was a little foggy, cloudy, and misty--a perfect Bay day, a perfect day to cross on the ferry. As I looked across the water to the City I thought first of all of my friend of nearly twenty years. My life is full of uncertainty--I never know one month to the next if I am going to have enough money, my life is on the edge and my friend has provided the one certainty during these years--my health insurance. That, and that alone, has been a surety, and has saved my life, and I love her for that, I love her for her faithfulness to our friendship and to our ministry. No one has ever been a better friend to me. I thought of the City that I came to over twenty years ago, its mysterious beauty, in both its under belly and in its glory that has always had a hold on me; a City in which I found ministry, and have had a full, and a totally satisfying life. I thought of the thousands I have served, of the one's I have brought to Angel Island for a day, and of how they loved being out of the dirtiness of the City.
It is in that City that through the years I have encountered and have lived out the theology described in the book A More Christ like God. The theology has Celtic and Orthodox origins. Basically it presents the healing Gospel, even a therapeutic version of the cruciform cross. Our sin--that which separates us from God is rooted deep within us and the Great Physician brings healing when we allow him to. God never turns away from humanity--we turn away--and God is always waiting for us to return--he seeks us out, like the Shepherd. The gospel is this: "when we turn away, he turns toward us. When we run away, he confronts us with his love. When we murder God, he confronts us with his mercy and forgiveness.
This is the Christ I have encountered in my own life, and this is the Christ that I preach, the Christ of love who is always waiting without judgment. We slam him in the face, and he awaits for our return. It is this Gospel that has grounded my ministry--I never turn away, never--for I believe we are called to be conduits for that grace. I am hit in the face, I have been hurt, but I work with people without judgment. That is what ministry is about--to walk with people without judgment presenting the Gospel of grace in our actions. Deo Gratias! Thanks be to God!
June 9, 2015
Shocking... in a good way.
Early on in the book Jersak recounts a conversation between himself and a 15 year old girl that shocked my evangelical sensibilities. Here is an excerpt:
Jess: Then why does God send people to Hell to burn them forever and ever?
Brad: He doesn't. That would be silly. The God who is love, who is like Jesus, would never do that, would he? That would make no sense, would it?
(P.16).
This sets the tone for the book in many ways. Jersak challenges much of the "toxic" theology common in evangelical circles. The success of this project is stronger in some places than others. The premise of the book, that God is Christlike, is impacting. The author attempts to show how this lens (but more than a lens) changes everything.
The weakest portion of the book is his dealing with the First Testament (in my humble opinion). He does a great job of reinterpreting the wrath of God. One notable point is when he demonstrates internal progression, within the Bible, as in the story of David's sin at the end of 1 Sam being influenced by God and later reinterpreted as a result of the Satan's influence in Chronicles. he constructs a fairly compelling argument around Gods consent to wrath as opposed to active wrath and the importance of the idea that God "gives us over" to the result of our own sin. However, in the end I did not feel satisfied with his overall interpretation. I cannot get around the nagging feeling that active wrath is a characteristic of God that cannot be interpreted away.
First Testament issues aside, I was emotionally moved by the chapter on the "beautiful Gospel", or Gospel in Chairs, where Jersak contrasts the punitive model of salvation with a beautiful depiction of a God who is always there and never turns away. This overall picture redeemed some of the other portions of the book that I had difficulty with along the way. It was clear, in this chapter, that there is a strand throughout the biblical narrative of a God who's love is unrelenting. It was also clear that Christians have sometimes failed to emphasize this fact to our detriment.
If I had it to read again I would read chapter 14 first. The beautiful Gospel is clearly articulated and makes sense of some of the other efforts made to re-read the challenging bits of scripture. Even as I recognize that I cannot go all the way to where Jersak is leading (yet anyway), I am thankful that I was pushed this far.
Early on in the book Jersak recounts a conversation between himself and a 15 year old girl that shocked my evangelical sensibilities. Here is an excerpt:
Jess: Then why does God send people to Hell to burn them forever and ever?
Brad: He doesn't. That would be silly. The God who is love, who is like Jesus, would never do that, would he? That would make no sense, would it?
(P.16).
This sets the tone for the book in many ways. Jersak challenges much of the "toxic" theology common in evangelical circles. The success of this project is stronger in some places than others. The premise of the book, that God is Christlike, is impacting. The author attempts to show how this lens (but more than a lens) changes everything.
The weakest portion of the book is his dealing with the First Testament (in my humble opinion). He does a great job of reinterpreting the wrath of God. One notable point is when he demonstrates internal progression, within the Bible, as in the story of David's sin at the end of 1 Sam being influenced by God and later reinterpreted as a result of the Satan's influence in Chronicles. he constructs a fairly compelling argument around Gods consent to wrath as opposed to active wrath and the importance of the idea that God "gives us over" to the result of our own sin. However, in the end I did not feel satisfied with his overall interpretation. I cannot get around the nagging feeling that active wrath is a characteristic of God that cannot be interpreted away.
First Testament issues aside, I was emotionally moved by the chapter on the "beautiful Gospel", or Gospel in Chairs, where Jersak contrasts the punitive model of salvation with a beautiful depiction of a God who is always there and never turns away. This overall picture redeemed some of the other portions of the book that I had difficulty with along the way. It was clear, in this chapter, that there is a strand throughout the biblical narrative of a God who's love is unrelenting. It was also clear that Christians have sometimes failed to emphasize this fact to our detriment.
If I had it to read again I would read chapter 14 first. The beautiful Gospel is clearly articulated and makes sense of some of the other efforts made to re-read the challenging bits of scripture. Even as I recognize that I cannot go all the way to where Jersak is leading (yet anyway), I am thankful that I was pushed this far.
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