A More Christlike God: A More Beautiful Gospel

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!