Healing the Gospel: A Radical Vision for Grace Justice and the Cross

Description: Why did Jesus have to die? Was it to appease a wrathful Gods demand for punishment? Does that mean Jesus died to save us from God? How could someone ever truly love or trust a God like that? How can that ever be called Good News? Its questions like these that make so many people want to have nothing to do with Christianity. Healing the Gospel challenges the assumption that the Christian understanding of justice is rooted in a demand for violent punishment and instead offers a radically different understanding of the gospel based on Gods restorative justice. Connecting our own experiences of faith with the New Testament narrative author Derek Flood shows us an understanding of the cross that not only reveals Gods heart of grace but also models our own way of Christ-like love. Its a vision of the gospel that exposes violence rather than supporting it--a gospel rooted in love of enemies rather than retribution. The result is a nonviolent understanding of the atonement that is not only thoroughly biblical but will help people struggling with their faith to encounter grace. Endorsements: In this readable and balanced book Flood gently--yet firmly and provocatively--challenges and enriches our understanding of the cross. He shows how the New Testament writers (and their earliest interpreters) present saving death as Gods act of restorative rather than retributive justice as an act of nonviolent enemy-loving reconciling and healing love. Such amazing love beckons us to follow in the way of Jesus and justice. It is a book to read mark and digest. --Michael J. Gorman author of Apostle of the Crucified Lord Quietly deftly brilliantly Flood takes on the story of the Christian doctrine of atonement turns that story on its end and then lays out before us a beauty almost beyond theology. Read it for yourself and see. --Phyllis Tickle author of The Great Emergence There has been a spate of books on atonement this past decade. None of them treat the salvific healing of Jesuss death better than this one. It is well-researched yet easy to read full of insight and sure to be a go-to book on the subject. --Michael Hardin author of The Jesus Driven Life Healing the Gospel brings the latest insights in biblical scholarship to the ongoing and lively atonement debate. Floods work is biblical straightforward and accessible for the lay reader. He surveys the restorative justice of the wondrous cross with fresh eyes engaging many head-scratching texts with utmost clarity. A great contribution! --Brad Jersak author of Stricken by God? In this provocative book Flood exposes the grave deficiencies of the penal substitution model of atonement pinpointing its shallow treatment of the depth and the gravity of sin . . . Armed with astute interpretations of Scripture he focuses on the love of God and reinterprets justice as restorative . . . Finally after centuries of suffering under a legal perception of atonement Flood has shown us that the good news is truly good news! --Sharon L. Baker author of Razing Hell On a cresting wave of reaction against violent atonement theory Healing the Gospel charts a sea-change course back to Jesuss ministry as a model of gracious restoration moving far beyond the traditional abusive contours of penal substitution as explanation of Christs death . . . Jesus dies to show us Gods enemy-love which changes everything. A splendid stirring and essential book! --Anthony Bartlett author of Cross Purposes Anyone concerned about the connection between theology and violence in American society will welcome Floods Healing the Gospel. In a readable format he explains why we should abandon violence-accommodating penal substitutionary atonement and replace it with atonement imagery that reflects the restorative justice Jesus lived. --J. Denny Weaver author of The Nonviolent Atonement. About the Contributor(s): Derek Flood is a write