Sinners in the Hands of a Loving God Review Tgc
Those who have followed my blog or my Facebook posts for whatever length of time will be no stranger to Zahnd. A veteran pastor of 35 years' standing, in recent years he has go a prolific and increasingly important phonation for those who tire of dogmatic fundamentalism and its ugly implications, but who are unwilling to simply throw in the towel and walk away from the religion altogether. As a effect, Zahnd is at the forefront of a rising tide of prophetic voices whose mission is to help Christians and non-Christians alike rediscover – in the words of the book'south subtitle – "The Scandalous Truth of the Very Expert News". (I have previously reviewed two other books by Zahnd:A Adieu To Mars andH2o to Wine).
In a way,Sinners bears some similarity with Zahnd'southward previous bookWater to Wine: Some of my Story, in that it starts with what he once believed as a zealous young Jesus freak and tracks his theological trajectory from there towards a much broader, deeper and more cute faith. The key deviation, though, is that whereWater to Vino was essentially a biographical narrative that served as a framework for Zahnd'south theological growth,Sinners is unashamedly a work of theology – by which I mean that its focus is theological, non biographical, and it is structured into broad theological topics, including some "hot potatoes".
A quick discussion nigh the book'due south title, whose resonance may escape those less familiar with the history of American evangelicalism. In 1741, revivalist preacher Jonathan Edwards preached what would become his most famous sermon, titledSinners in the Hands of an Angry God, in which he expounded, often in pulp terms, on fallen homo's utter depravity and God'southward deserved utter contempt for humankind. The sermon went on to become a Puritan classic, and was without dubiousness foundational and extremely influential in later American revivalism and evangelicalism more broadly. (For a flavor of Edwards's sermon, read Zahnd's volume: he quotes a sample of excerpts from it in the first chapter.)
It should be obvious enough by at present what Zahnd is trying to achieve inSinners: his aim is to subvert the angry-God theology of Edwards's infamous sermon and paint a much truer and more cute picture of God and the Gospel that will exist compelling to those put off by the legacy of Edwards and his theological offspring. And in this task he succeeds admirably, primarily because his approach is not to tear downwardly and overcome Edwards'southward sermon by sheer force of argument, simply rather to simply concord upwards the unparalleled beauty of the loving God he has encountered on his own journey of life and report, and allow it to outshine and eclipse all bottom portraits of the divine.
Some of the basis covered inSinners will be very familiar to those already acquainted with Zahnd: the first one-half of the book focuses on topics similar doing away with the notion of vengeance, seeing Jesus as "what God has to say", and understanding Jesus' expiry and resurrection without the violent and retributive baggage that has then oft been loaded onto information technology.
In the second half of the book, withal, Zahnd ventures into territory he hasn't explored in any of his previous books – at least not explicitly or in any corking depth. Specifically, he examines the notion of hell and concludes that information technology is best understood first as the misery, pain and death we inflict on each other through violence and war in all their forms, and second as the tormented state of those who adamantly decline beloved, whether in this life or the side by side. Only the crucial indicate, in Zahnd's words, is that "no 1 who calls upon the mercy of God is always refused".
Zahnd then spends three chapters surveying that role of the Bible that has undoubtedly provided the most fuel for angry-God theologians: the volume of Revelation. Without engaging in detailed exposition or poesy-past-poetry exegesis (which would require a book of its own), he conspicuously and convincingly shows how John the Revelator masterfully uses an array of imagery and symbolism to reveal and underscore a startling truth: war, mortality and vengeance belong non to God just to empire. Indeed, the almost persistent and meaningful epitome John uses to represent Christ is non a mighty warrior but a little lamb. Information technology'south true that Revelation depicts God as the winner of the great boxing between good and evil, but he wins this battle entirely through cocky-giving dear.
The volume concludes with a chapter titled "Love Alone is Credible", which is, of form, a reference to the work of the same proper noun by twentieth century Swiss theologian Hans Urs Von Balthasar. In this final affiliate, Zahnd only summarises and emphasises what the writer of one John summed up in iii words: God is love. Zahnd helps united states see how, far from being a warm, fuzzy bit of sentiment, this truth is the pinnacle of Christian theology and the only star by which we should navigate.
I cannot recommendSinners highly enough. The content is compelling and prophetic, but Zahnd is never preachy or strident; rather, he delivers his message with the care of a pastor and the sensitivity of a poet. If you lot've already rediscovered the scandalous truth of the very skilful news, this book volition delight and encourage you. If you've been put off by the angry God and his angry followers, this volume will offer yous hope. And if yous're keen to share the skillful news with others in a format that is profound yet accessible, wait no further.
I'll go out the terminal words to Zahnd himself:
"In the conclusion of his "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" sermon, Jonathan Edwards says, "The axe is in an extraordinary manner laid at the root of the trees, that every tree that brings not forth good fruit, may exist hewen down, and bandage into the fire." And I say, "Amen." I thank God that the theological tree that produced the bitter fruit of belief in an angry, vehement, retributive God has at final been hewn downwards and cast into the fire. In my life the poisonous tree of angry-God theology is now gone. In its identify grows the tree of life, a tree whose leaves bring healing. It's a tree that looks similar it one time may have been an ugly cross, but it is now cute and verdant, producing the fruit of eternal life. Planted by the Father himself, this tree is an everlasting reminder that I am a forgiven sinner at present existence healed in the easily of a loving God."
(Brian Zahnd,Sinners in the Hands of a Loving God, 207)
[I was kindly provided with a review re-create of Sinners in the Hands of a Loving God by the author. I was not required to write a positive review.]
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Source: https://www.faithmeetsworld.com/book-review-sinners-in-the-hands-of-a-loving-god-by-brian-zahnd/
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