Redeeming Books Archives - Page 8 of 15

My new book on the Non-Violent Atonement was released yesterday. It is called The Atonement of God, and you can (#AmazonAdLink) buy it on Amazon.

The book begins with a summary of three views on the atonement, and then I define and defend a fourth view, which is a Non-Violent view of the atonement.

The basic idea of a Non-Violent view of the atonement is that God did not want or need the death of Jesus in order to offer grace or forgiveness of sins. Yes, Jesus died a violent death, but it was not to satisfy an angry God. Instead, Jesus died for completely different reasons (which are explained in the book).

(#AmazonAdLink) Following this explanation of the Non-Violent atonement, I provide 10 areas of theology that are affected by the Non-Violent atonement.

Here they are with a brief summary of each.

1. The Non-Violent Atonement Brings Continuity to the Life of Jesus

Everything Jesus did was Non-Violent. Yes, Jesus was aggressive, but He never harmed another human being, or encouraged others to do so. A Non-Violent atonement helps us see that Jesus what Jesus accomplished on the cross was right in line with the way He lived the rest of His life as well.

2. The Non-Violent Atonement Reveals the Truth about God

Does Jesus fully reveal God to us or not? Jesus claimed that He did, and other New Testament writers believed so as well John 1:14, 18; 14:9-11; 2 Cor 4:4; Php 2:6; Col 1:15; Heb 1:2-3.

But if God is violent, and Jesus does not reveal the violent side of God to us, this means that Jesus is a faulty revelation of God. The better option is to believe that Jesus does reveal God to us, and God looks just like a Non-Violent Jesus.

3. The Non-Violent Atonement Reveals the Truth about Scripture

But if God is Non-Violent like Jesus is Non-Violent, then what are we to do with all the violent portrayals of God in Scripture? I do not write them off as hopelessly in error. I continue to hold to an inerrantist position on Scripture, and argue that the violent portrayals of God in Scripture accurately reveal the heart of man instead of the heart of God.

4. The Non-Violent Atonement Reveals the Truth about Sacrifice

If Scripture reveals the heart of man instead of the heart of God, then this helps us make sense of the conflicting statements in Scripture about sacrifice. God does not want sacrifice and never did. We wanted it.

5. The Non-Violent Atonement Reveals the Truth about Humans

The truth from Scripture is that God is not violent, but humans are. We are the violent ones. And we justify our violence by blaming it on God.

6. The Non-Violent Atonement Reveals the Truth about Sin

The reason God tells us not to sin, is not because He is angry at us about sin, or will be angry with us if we sin. No, God tells us not to sin because in hurts and damages us. He loves us and does not want to see us hurt.

7. The Non-Violent Atonement Reveals the Truth about Forgiveness

God’s forgiveness has always been completely free. There have never been any conditions for God’s forgiveness. God does not need sacrifice in order to extend forgiveness. He simply forgives, just as Jesus does on the cross.

8. The Non-Violent Atonement Reveals the Truth about Justice

Christians often teach that “God is a God of love and forgiveness, but He is also a God of justice.” This chapter shows how wrong that idea is. Unconditional love and forgiveness are incompatible with justice. You can have one or the other, but you cannot have both.

9. The Non-Violent Atonement Reveals the Truth about Violence

As we begin to bring the book to a close, this chapter shows why God inspired a book (the Bible) which is so full of violence. The reason is because violence is such a huge human problem, God wanted to reveal that we humans are the source and cause of violence. We are in desperate need of this revelation from God, which is why God gave us the Bible.

10. The Non-Violent Atonement Reveals the Way to Peace

But if the violence is the problem, then peace is the cure. The Bible doesn’t just tell us that we are violent, but also shows us the way to peace, which is the way of love and forgiveness.

I am really excited about this book. Studying about the Non-Violent atonement and writing this book transformed my theology, and I know that if you read it, your life and theology will also be transformed. (#AmazonAdLink) Get your copy today on Amazon.

How can a God who says "Love your enemies" (Matthew 5:44) be the same God who instructs His people in the Old Testament to kill their enemies?

These are the sorts of questions we discuss and (try to) answer in my online discipleship group. Members of the group can also take ALL of my online courses (Valued at over $1000) at no charge. Learn more here: Join the RedeemingGod.com Discipleship Group I can't wait to hear what you have to say, and how we can help you better understand God and learn to live like Him in this world!

We do NOT serve a bloodthirsty God

By Jeremy Myers

12 Comments

My new book on the atonement is almost out! One week to go…

I have about 30 people reading through portions of my book on the atonement right now. So far, the feedback has been encouraging. Nobody has the whole book (except my wife) and everybody who has read portions of it says they cannot wait to read the rest.

Though there appears to be blood all over the cover, the message of the book is that God does not demand or want blood, and Jesus did not die to appease a bloodthirsty God. In fact, the cross of Jesus reveals that God has never required blood to offer forgiveness of sins.

If you are curious how God can forgive sins and rescue us from death without demanding the bloody death of Jesus, you will want to read this book.

I have been reading, teaching, and writing A LOT these past several years on the violence of God in the Bible, and this book also provides the beginning place for understanding these violent, bloody texts in Scripture.

If you want to read a brief excerpt, Brad Jersak posted a bit of it on The Clarion Journal, his online theology blog. Click that link to go read it.

The book officially is released on March 21, so stay tuned for more information as we get closer!

This is my BEST book yet!

By Jeremy Myers

8 Comments

I have sent my next book to the printers… The book is called The Atonement of God, and is now available for pre-order at Amazon.

And I am SO excited, because I believe this is my best book yet.

If you have been following my blog for a while, you know that I have been struggling with the violence of God in the Bible. About 5 years ago, I thought I had a solution to this problem, and started writing a book to present it. I wrote 200,000 words before giving up.

But in the process, I developed a different solution. I am not quite ready to publish a book on THAT solution, but this book which is now available for pre-order from Amazon contains a large part of the solution. This book forms the foundation for that future book.

If you sort of read between the lines of the book, my solution to the problem of the violence of God in the Bible is in this book, but it is not really stated explicitly.

Instead, this book really just presents Jesus as the solution to it all, and shows how a proper understanding of the crucifixion of Jesus helps sort out a lot of other areas of theology as well.

The book ships on March 21, so order your copy today!