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What does it mean to participate in the cruciform Lord Jesus Christ so that our life together becomes a living exegesis of the gospel? Michael Gorman has been tremendously influential in exploring this question within the New Testament, particularly in the letters of Paul, the Gospel of John, and the book of Revelation. His 2001 book Cruciformity: Paul’s Narrative Spirituality of the Cross inspired a generation of scholars and was the first in a trilogy of New Testament theology devoted to exploring the role of the cross, participation in Christ, and becoming the gospel in mission. Here, an assemblage of some of the best and brightest current New Testament exegetes honor Gorman’s work with contributions of their own, each of which further explores these three critical themes in various passages of the New Testament. Cruciform Scripture is more than a tribute to a giant of biblical scholarship. Its contributors (including N. T. Wright, Sylvia Keesmaat, and Richard Hays) are masters in their own right who offer incisive interpretations of essential themes of New Testament theology and the core concerns of Christian life in community. As they reason together in this volume, they amplify one another’s voices as well as Gorman’s, modeling a way that careful reflection on Paul’s determination to “know nothing . . . except Jesus Christ and him crucified” can engender fruitful insights on the nature of discipleship. Contributors Ben C. Blackwell, Sherri Brown, Frank E. Dicken, Dennis R. Edwards, Rebekah Eklund, Dean Flemming, Patricia Fosarelli, Stephen E. Fowl, Nijay K. Gupta, Richard B. Hays, Andy Johnson, Sylvia C. Keesmaat, Brent Laytham, Christopher W. Skinner, Klyne R. Snodgrass, Drew J. Strait, and N. T. Wright.
What is the Cross-Shaped Life? It is the vertical life of loving God with all your head, heart, and hands; and the horizontal life of loving others as Christ has loved you. Employing the symbols of the cruciform cathedral and the Celtic cross, Jimmy Davis uses personal stories, both humorous and heart-breaking, to encourage and equip the reader to gain a cross-shaped perspective on how he or she can be an active participant in God's community-on-mission. This book casts a vision for living as disciples of Jesus who are being shaped by the cross (gospel) into people and churches who share and show the cross (gospel) by living as sons and servants of God. As we embrace the gospel in this way we can live: in relationship to God as seekers who exalt God; in relationship to other disciples as shepherds who encourage one another; in relationship to the resources God has given us as stewards; and in relationship to those who are not disciples as sowers of the gospel of grace, engaging our neighbors, the nations, and the next generation with cross-shaped words and works. Finally, the Cruciform Life involves growing through cross-shaped spiritual disciplines and cross-shaped suffering, which together enable us to embrace and express the Cruciform Life to God, one another, and the world.
This richly synthetic reading of Paul offers a compelling argument that the heart of Paul s soteriology lies in theosis the incorporation of God s people into the life and character of the God revealed in the cross. Michael Gorman deftly integrates the results of recent debates about Pauline theology into a powerful constructive account that overcomes unfruitful dichotomies and transcends recent controversies between the New Perspective on Paul and its traditionalist critics. Gorman s important book points the way forward for understanding the nonviolent, world-transforming character of Paul s gospel. Richard B. Hays / Duke Divinity School / Provides an important corrective to segmentalized approaches to Paul. Michael Gorman lucidly connects justification to spiritual transformation. Faith, love, and action come together as theosis the taking on of the character of Christ and, so, of God. Though constantly in conversation with other scholars, Gorman has a refreshingly original approach, illuminating the lively theology of Paul. Inhabiting the Cruciform God clearly advances the field of Pauline studies. Stephen Finlan / Fordham University / In this pioneering work Michael Gorman offers a fresh way to view Paul s understanding of justification and holiness. Cutting a new path through old territory, Gorman leads us to a vision of holiness and justification rooted in the transforming power of nonviolence and the cross. His work will provide pastors with new insights for preaching and scholars with new ways to address old questions. Frank J. Matera / Catholic University of America
A dramatic tension confronts every Christian believer and interpreter of Scripture: on the one hand, we encounter images of God commanding and engaging in horrendous violence: one the other hand, we encounter the non-violent teachings and example of Jesus, whose loving, self-sacrificial death and resurrection is held up as the supreme revelation of God’s character in the New Testament. How do we reconcile the tension between these seemingly disparate depictions? Are they even capable of reconciliation? Throughout Christian history, many different answers have been proposed, ranging from the long-rejected explanation that these contrasting depictions are of two entirely different ‘gods’ to recent social and cultural theories of metaphor and narrative representation. The Crucifixion of the Warrior God takes up this dramatic tension and the range of proposed answers in an epic constructive investigation. Over two volumes, renowned theologian and biblical scholar Gregory A. Boyd argues that we must take seriously the full range of Scripture as inspired, including its violent depictions of God. At the same time, we must take just as seriously the absolute centrality of the crucified and risen Christ as the supreme revelation of God. Developing a theological interpretation of Scripture that he labels a “cruciform hermeneutic,” Boyd demonstrates how Scripture’s violent images of God are completely reframed and their violence subverted when they are interpreted through the lens of the cross and resurrection. Indeed, when read through this lens, Boyd argues that these violent depictions can be shown to bear witness to the same self-sacrificial character of God that was supremely revealed on the cross.
Renowned pastor-theologian Gregory A. Boyd tackles the BibleÕs biggest dilemma. Ê The Old Testament God of wrath and violence versus the New Testament God of love and peaceÑitÕs a difference that has troubled Christians since the first century. Now, with the sensitivity of a pastor and the intellect of a theologian, Gregory A. Boyd proposes the Òcruciform hermeneutic,Ó a way to read the Old Testament portraits of God through the lens of JesusÕ crucifixion. Ê In Cross Vision, Boyd follows up on his epic and groundbreaking study, The Crucifixion of the Warrior God. He shows how the death and resurrection of Jesus reframes the troubling violence of the Old Testament, how all of Scripture reveals GodÕs self-sacrificial love, and, most importantly, how we can follow JesusÕ example of peace.
Just two words: "But God..." Understand their use in Scripture and you'll never be the same. Whether from the pen of Moses, Paul, or other biblical authors, "But God" appears in various forms hundreds of times in the Bible. To understand these two words as they are used in Scripture is to understand the gospel. This book focuses on nine of the most important appearances of this key phrase, drawing in numerous other passages of Scripture and in the process unfolding the magnificent drama of God's sovereign grace--from his mercy on Noah to our security in a resurrected Savior. James Montgomery Boice wrote, "May I put it quite simply? If you understand those two words--'but God'--they will save your soul. If you recall them daily and live by them, they will transform your life completely." Boice was right. To the left of "But God" in Scripture appear some of the worst human atrocities, characterized by disobedience and rebellion. To the left of "But God" is hopelessness, darkness, and death. But to its right, following "But God," readers of Scripture will find hope, light, and life. Following God's intervention, the story of Scripture becomes one of grace, righteousness, and justice. In fact, this phrase is used to describe God's activity in nearly every great salvation story in the Bible. It is the perfect phrase for highlighting God's grace against the dark backdrop of human sin. "But God" marks God's relentless, merciful interventions in human history. It teaches us that God does not wait for us to bring ourselves to him, but that he acts first to bring about our good. It also teaches us of the potential consequences if God were not to act. Scripture shows over and over that without God's intervening grace, without the "But God" statements in the Bible, the world would be completely lost in sin and under judgment. May the reading of this book, and of the biblical "But God" statements it contains, cause you to understand these two words, recall them regularly, and allow them to transform your understanding of God's grace and thus transform your very life.
When it was first published in 2001, Cruciformity broke new ground with a vision of Pauline spirituality that illuminated what it meant to be a person or community in Christ. Beginning with Paul’s express desire to “know nothing but Christ crucified,” Gorman showed how true spirituality is telling the story, in both life and words, of God’s self-revelation in Jesus, so that we might practice “cruciformity”—the impossible possibility of conformity to the crucified Christ. Two decades later, Gorman’s seminal work is still a powerful model for combining biblical studies and theological reflection to make Paul’s letters more immediately relevant to contemporary Christian life. This twentieth-anniversary edition includes a new foreword by Nijay Gupta—a next-generation Pauline scholar heavily influenced by Gorman—as well as an afterword by the author, in which he reflects on the legacy of Cruciformity in the church and the academy, including his own subsequent work in Pauline theology.
A GOD OF LOVE AND GENOCIDE? For many Christians the problem of violence in Scripture can result in a crisis of faith--especially when we see how such passages have been used throughout history to justify horrific bloodshed in God's name. Moving beyond typical conservative and liberal approaches, which seek to either defend or whitewash over violence in the Bible, Disarming Scripture takes a surprising yet compelling approach: Learning to read the Bible like Jesus did. Along the way the book deals with some very big issues, ranging from passages commanding genocide and infanticide in the Old Testament to passages in the New Testament that have been used to justify slavery, child abuse, and state violence. The take-away is an approach to Scripture that not only sees questioning as an acceptable part of a healthy faith, but as an absolutely essential part of it.
Are we actually living the message of grace? "When a corrective like this comes from within a movement, it is a sign of health" -John Piper Something wonderful is happening in Western Evangelicalism. A resurgence of Calvinism is changing lives, transforming churches, and spreading the gospel. The books are great, the sermons are life-changing, the music is inspirational, and the conferences are astonishing. Will this continue or will we, who are part of it all, end up destroying it? That depends on how we live the message. As "insiders" of the Calvinist resurgence, there are at least eight ways we can mess everything up. Learn what they are and how to avoid killing off a perfectly good theology.
Best-selling author Jerry Brides (The Pursuit of Holiness, The Discipline of Grace, The Bookends of the Christian Life, and many other books) asks perhaps the most fundamental question of existence: “Who am I?” He then turns to Scripture to unpack for the Christian eight clear, interlocking, illuminating answers: I Am a Creature I Am in Christ I Am Justified I Am an Adopted Son of God I Am a New Creation I Am a Saint I Am a Servant of Jesus Christ I Am Not Yet Perfect A direct, honest presentation of biblical truth, and all new material from Jerry Bridges, Who Am I?demonstrates for believers that they can and should rightfully claim for themselves an unshakeable, lifelong, personal foundation of confidence in one thing and one thing alone: the gospel of a victorious, resurrected Savior.