About the
book:
A More
Christlike God (April 2015)
What is God
like? A punishing judge? A doting grandfather? A deadbeat dad? A vengeful
warrior?
Believers and
atheists alike typically carry and finally reject the toxic images of God in
their own hearts and minds. Even the Christian gospel has repeatedly lapsed
into a vision of God where the wrathful King must be appeased by his victim
Son. How do such good cop/bad cop distortions of the divine arise and come to
dominate churches and cultures?
Whether our
notions of 'god' are personal projections or inherited traditions, author and
theologian Brad Jersak proposes a radical reassessment, arguing for A More
Christlike God: a More Beautiful Gospel. If Christ is "the image of
the invisible God, the radiance of God's glory and exact representation of
God's likeness," what if we conceived of God as completely
Christlike---the perfect Incarnation of self-giving, radically forgiving,
co-suffering love? What if God has always been and forever will be cruciform
(cross-shaped) in his character and actions?
A More
Christlike God suggests
that such a God would be very good news indeed---a God who Jesus
"unwrathed" from dead religion, a Love that is always toward us, and
a Grace that pours into this suffering world through willing, human partners.
Purchase a
copy: http://bit.ly/1JHG9yp
About the
author:
Brad Jersak
(PhD) is an author
and teacher based in Abbotsford, BC. He is on faculty at Westminster
Theological Centre (Cheltenham, UK), where he teaches New Testament and
Patristics. He also serves as adjunct faculty with St Stephen's University (St.
Stephen, NB). He is also the senior editor of CWR (Christianity Without the
Religion) Magazine, based in Pasadena, CA.
Margie’s Comments: I
wasn’t sure what to expect when I started reading A More Christlike God by Bradley Jersak, but as I read and
processed what I was reading—this is not a “quick-read”—three scriptures came
to mind:
[Christ]
is the exact likeness of the unseen God [the visible representation of the
invisible]. Colossians 1:15 amp
[Christ]
is the sole expression of the glory of God [the Light-being, the out-raying or
radiance of the divine], and He is the perfect imprint and very image of
[God’s] nature. Hebrews 1:3 amp
For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world
that He [even] gave up His only begotten (unique) Son, so that whoever believes
in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction,
be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life. John 3:16 amp
The
author begins the book by revealing some of the false images of God mankind has
created. Then the discussion moves on to how Jesus is the exact image of God.
He is the flesh that allows us to “see” God. Finally the images of a
judgmental, even cruel, God that many of us have formed from the Old Testament
are held up to the light of Jesus Christ’s character and shown to be false or,
at least, misinterpretations of a whole.
While
many of the conclusions Jersak comes to are mine as well, it was interesting to
ponder the different means God uses to teach us more of Him, to give us a
complete picture rather than a distortion based on too few facts. To understand
more of why Bradley Jersak wrote A More
Christlike God, read this interview that Litfuse did with the author: http://litfusegroup.com/blog/story-behind-a-more-christlike-god
When
I finished reading the book, I came away with a sense of awe and a renewed
belief in God’s love, mercy, and grace as revealed in His Son, Jesus Christ. I
know that these truths about God will remain with me for a very long time. Of
course, no one will ever fully comprehend the enormity of God’s love in our
short lifetimes, but then we will have all of eternity to rejoice in Him.
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