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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!
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
To read this book you have to have an open mind. I can see where the author is coming from but at the same time I had a lot of questions swirling through my head.
Here’s the downside to this book. If you trust the bible and believe in the God of the bible, then you have to believe the entire thing. That includes believing in the deaths, and there are plenty, in the prophecies portion (or Old Testament) of the bible. I can see where and why Bradley Jersak is saying what he is and Jesus being the embodiment of God is a fabulous, wondrous, loving persona. But if we take the God, only as a very thoughtful and loving Jesus, then we forget about the rest of the bible.
It is important for those that believe the bible to believe the entire thing. Yes, it was written by man, and yes in different times, and yes I do try to live my life like Jesus. I want to be a very loving, caring,and giving Christian. But that should not mean to forsake all of the other things that God did prior to Jesus.
In my mind if we are to take the portion of Jesus and not the rest of the Bible then why believe in the prophecies at all. So much has come true that is from the Old Testament and that is what has helped lead me to believe in Christ. If we take that out then what do we have to believe in? Jesus was a man just like Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. and Buddha.
Taking Christianity and taking the part out of it that creates the pathway for Jesus seems to be the wrong way to go about things. I agree that we can all focus more on the loving portion that is Jesus and his teachings. I think we can learn quite a bit from Jesus every day and it would be nice to teach our children these same things. However, that should not include taking out the portions we do not agree with.
As a new Christian I am still learning a lot. So far reading the bible is a test of faith in itself! I can say that when I have questions I go to the bible; the New or Old Testament. I do not want to take any part of the bible, or the history of God, and say that it is less worthy of other portions. If we start to do that then it just becomes another book that does not matter.
That being said, I believe the author is trying to put out there that maybe we all should look at God as a more loving God instead of this evil God that we have set up as a father that we only see when he is there to punish us. It is important to have a relationship with God. Thinking of the personification of God, Jesus, we can see that he is indeed a loving being. There's a lot in this one so I think I am going to have to read it again to ingest it all when I understand more about the bible.
In short: I think I understand where the author is coming from but I think it is also quite important to remember that as Christians the entire bible is important to us.
Here’s the downside to this book. If you trust the bible and believe in the God of the bible, then you have to believe the entire thing. That includes believing in the deaths, and there are plenty, in the prophecies portion (or Old Testament) of the bible. I can see where and why Bradley Jersak is saying what he is and Jesus being the embodiment of God is a fabulous, wondrous, loving persona. But if we take the God, only as a very thoughtful and loving Jesus, then we forget about the rest of the bible.
It is important for those that believe the bible to believe the entire thing. Yes, it was written by man, and yes in different times, and yes I do try to live my life like Jesus. I want to be a very loving, caring,and giving Christian. But that should not mean to forsake all of the other things that God did prior to Jesus.
In my mind if we are to take the portion of Jesus and not the rest of the Bible then why believe in the prophecies at all. So much has come true that is from the Old Testament and that is what has helped lead me to believe in Christ. If we take that out then what do we have to believe in? Jesus was a man just like Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. and Buddha.
Taking Christianity and taking the part out of it that creates the pathway for Jesus seems to be the wrong way to go about things. I agree that we can all focus more on the loving portion that is Jesus and his teachings. I think we can learn quite a bit from Jesus every day and it would be nice to teach our children these same things. However, that should not include taking out the portions we do not agree with.
As a new Christian I am still learning a lot. So far reading the bible is a test of faith in itself! I can say that when I have questions I go to the bible; the New or Old Testament. I do not want to take any part of the bible, or the history of God, and say that it is less worthy of other portions. If we start to do that then it just becomes another book that does not matter.
That being said, I believe the author is trying to put out there that maybe we all should look at God as a more loving God instead of this evil God that we have set up as a father that we only see when he is there to punish us. It is important to have a relationship with God. Thinking of the personification of God, Jesus, we can see that he is indeed a loving being. There's a lot in this one so I think I am going to have to read it again to ingest it all when I understand more about the bible.
In short: I think I understand where the author is coming from but I think it is also quite important to remember that as Christians the entire bible is important to us.
Sometimes, as I glance around, it feels as if Christianity is the fastest shrinking religion in the world. Although I couldn’t take a guess as to why, I don’t have to because so many surveys, articles and even books have been written to address the issue that I couldn’t count them. The overwhelming consensus that I see around me is that those who are exiting the church are doing so because they feel that the image that they have for God is either one that isn’t true or isn’t effective for life in today’s world.
As I can easily agree that sometimes our view of God may not be productive or correct, it was with great interest that I began reading Bradley Jersak’s A More Christlike God: A More Beautiful Gospel. In this book, he examines the views of God that he considers to be incorrect, and he plans a theological path going forward from these views into the view of a new Christlike (or as he terms it, “cruciform”) God. After all, finding the correct view of God is important to both our continuance in the faith and the relevancy with which we pass on this faith to our children and to those who are converted to Christianity.
There are many good things to recommend about this book.
It’s important to have a conversation about why our faith isn’t being passed on and why Christianity is being seen with less relevance that it has been in the past centuries.
It’s important to realize that God always turns toward us and that no matter how we turn away, he still searches and pursues us.
It’s important for us to realize that there is no condemnation in Christ.
It’s important to realize that God doesn’t love us any less, no matter what we may do.
It’s important to realize that God is not a vengeful God who is just waiting in the sky to strike you down for your sin.
. . .and yet. . . despite these good things, there several areas of concern that I began to feel as I read this book.
From the outset of the book, Jersak is very clear that “the truth about God is not discerned by our personal tastes of what is sweet or sour.” Then, he attempts a theodicy (or in his words anti-theodicy) based on his experience in the world and his ideas of what makes a god good or evil.
He repeatedly portrays God as powerless in our world and only working with our consent, and then he imagines that God completely altered the fabric of our world without our consent, desire or interest by sending his son to dry on the cross.
He spiritualizes or metaphorizes the “God of the Old Testament” and the wrathful God that Jesus often talks about as metaphors and the imaging of God by the spiritually less mature. I think this may be the most dangerous ground he treads because when we begin deciding which parts of scripture we’re going to take and which parts we aren’t that’s when we begin to make God over in our image. However, I will concede to Jersak’s argument that even Biblical literalists find themselves picking and choosing which scriptures they’re truly going to take literally.
He uses Fowler’s stages of faith to cast all his opponents as less spiritually mature than he is thus rendering it difficult to actually hold a discussion of ideas. (As an aside, when I was reading this section, I was picturing Jesus in the gospels telling his disciples that we are to come to him like a child.)
In the end, however, he and I have more in common than we do opposed. We’re sick with a disease called sin, and our doctor, Jesus came to heal us. He didn’t come to condemn us. He didn’t come to show God’s wrath to us. He came to show God’s love and God’s pursuit of us. He and I can both agree on that.
In this, I find that his book is a book that I will share with those who have been burned by their experiences with the church and with people who claim to be Jesus’s followers but have no actual experience with what the love of God looks like. (I once was one of those people, so my heart is for them.) I believe that many of those I know who think they know about Jesus could use a fresh look at God and his redemption plan, a pastoral look that shows our separation from God and God’s continual attempt to draw us to him. That is the audience that I will recommend this book to.
Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review and my opinions are my own.
As I can easily agree that sometimes our view of God may not be productive or correct, it was with great interest that I began reading Bradley Jersak’s A More Christlike God: A More Beautiful Gospel. In this book, he examines the views of God that he considers to be incorrect, and he plans a theological path going forward from these views into the view of a new Christlike (or as he terms it, “cruciform”) God. After all, finding the correct view of God is important to both our continuance in the faith and the relevancy with which we pass on this faith to our children and to those who are converted to Christianity.
There are many good things to recommend about this book.
It’s important to have a conversation about why our faith isn’t being passed on and why Christianity is being seen with less relevance that it has been in the past centuries.
It’s important to realize that God always turns toward us and that no matter how we turn away, he still searches and pursues us.
It’s important for us to realize that there is no condemnation in Christ.
It’s important to realize that God doesn’t love us any less, no matter what we may do.
It’s important to realize that God is not a vengeful God who is just waiting in the sky to strike you down for your sin.
. . .and yet. . . despite these good things, there several areas of concern that I began to feel as I read this book.
From the outset of the book, Jersak is very clear that “the truth about God is not discerned by our personal tastes of what is sweet or sour.” Then, he attempts a theodicy (or in his words anti-theodicy) based on his experience in the world and his ideas of what makes a god good or evil.
He repeatedly portrays God as powerless in our world and only working with our consent, and then he imagines that God completely altered the fabric of our world without our consent, desire or interest by sending his son to dry on the cross.
He spiritualizes or metaphorizes the “God of the Old Testament” and the wrathful God that Jesus often talks about as metaphors and the imaging of God by the spiritually less mature. I think this may be the most dangerous ground he treads because when we begin deciding which parts of scripture we’re going to take and which parts we aren’t that’s when we begin to make God over in our image. However, I will concede to Jersak’s argument that even Biblical literalists find themselves picking and choosing which scriptures they’re truly going to take literally.
He uses Fowler’s stages of faith to cast all his opponents as less spiritually mature than he is thus rendering it difficult to actually hold a discussion of ideas. (As an aside, when I was reading this section, I was picturing Jesus in the gospels telling his disciples that we are to come to him like a child.)
In the end, however, he and I have more in common than we do opposed. We’re sick with a disease called sin, and our doctor, Jesus came to heal us. He didn’t come to condemn us. He didn’t come to show God’s wrath to us. He came to show God’s love and God’s pursuit of us. He and I can both agree on that.
In this, I find that his book is a book that I will share with those who have been burned by their experiences with the church and with people who claim to be Jesus’s followers but have no actual experience with what the love of God looks like. (I once was one of those people, so my heart is for them.) I believe that many of those I know who think they know about Jesus could use a fresh look at God and his redemption plan, a pastoral look that shows our separation from God and God’s continual attempt to draw us to him. That is the audience that I will recommend this book to.
Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review and my opinions are my own.
Life Changing
Brad Jersak closes this powerful book on the cruciform love of God by praying Paul's prayer to the Ephesians over his readers. Ephesians 3:14-19 "14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."
I can say without a doubt that his pray has been answered in my life through the reading of this book. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
Brad Jersak closes this powerful book on the cruciform love of God by praying Paul's prayer to the Ephesians over his readers. Ephesians 3:14-19 "14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."
I can say without a doubt that his pray has been answered in my life through the reading of this book. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
This book is about atonement theories, but not really. It’s really about what God is like and how beautiful the Gospel really is. The default atonement theory of most conservative evangelical churches in America is the legal/penal-substitution theory. Jersak pushes back against this, arguing for a more ancient, more authentic and more Orthodox view. He refers to it as the healing or therapeutic view, but it is also known as the Christus Victor view of the atonement. Jersak argues that the therapeutic view is more consistent with the picture of God we see revealed in Jesus, who is God incarnate.
... Read my full review at neyhart.blogspot.com
The last chapter of the book takes a closer look at the "beautiful gospel" and even gives practical tips for sharing it with others. Jersak summarizes a presentation originally called “The Gospel in Chairs” and now titled “The Beautiful Gospel” (Jersak’s presentation of this is available on YouTube as this that by his colleague Brian Zahnd). Two chairs are used to symbolize humanity and God. In one version of the gospel, God turns away from humanity when humanity turns from God. In the “beautiful” version, God never turns away but only awaits the return of human beings. This presentation of the gospel brought tears to my eyes as I was reminded all over again of how beautiful the gospel really and truly is.
I love the way Brad Jersak points us to Jesus over and over again, and I love the gift he has for taking complex theological issues and making them accessible to everyone. And I wish everyone would read this book!
... Read my full review at neyhart.blogspot.com
The last chapter of the book takes a closer look at the "beautiful gospel" and even gives practical tips for sharing it with others. Jersak summarizes a presentation originally called “The Gospel in Chairs” and now titled “The Beautiful Gospel” (Jersak’s presentation of this is available on YouTube as this that by his colleague Brian Zahnd). Two chairs are used to symbolize humanity and God. In one version of the gospel, God turns away from humanity when humanity turns from God. In the “beautiful” version, God never turns away but only awaits the return of human beings. This presentation of the gospel brought tears to my eyes as I was reminded all over again of how beautiful the gospel really and truly is.
I love the way Brad Jersak points us to Jesus over and over again, and I love the gift he has for taking complex theological issues and making them accessible to everyone. And I wish everyone would read this book!
"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.