Meeting Jesus the Christ Again: A Conservative Progressive Faith

The religion of Jesus or the religion about Jesus? The cross as Christs atoning sacrifice or as a courageous prophetic martyrdom? With a pastoral/prophetic voice and insights derived from a lifetime in parish ministry and theological education Meeting Jesus the Christ Again encourages the reader to rethink these and other hotly disputed issues of Christian faith. Taking a big-picture perspective and seeking common ground Chesnut points us toward a neo-classical faith. This engaging book calls us back to the vital center of historic Christian faith. This wise insightful book invites us to both/and thinking about our faith. With a Christ-centered cross-centered focus it shows how to build faithful bridges across old divides between believers left and right. In an age of intense polarizations all Christians of good will should be intrigued by the conservative progressive vision offered here. --Richard Rohr author The Divine Dance: The Trinity and Your Transformation Chesnuts personal intellectual and spiritual journey lands in a place our culture and the church desperately need. He calls it a Conservative Progressive Faith that takes seriously the honest questions people have about Christianity and also the rigorous social and political challenges that confront anyone who aspires to follow Jesus Christ in the world. . . . This book is not only fascinating but a sheer delight to read. --John Buchanan pastor emeritus The Fourth Presbyterian Church of Chicago Although this conciliatory volume covers a lot of ground it will hold the readers attention from start to finish. Chesnuts thoughtful informed and well-reasoned chapters are the product of a lifetime of active ministry and (refreshingly) self-critical reflection and they are the perfect antidote to a host of false antitheses that haunt the contemporary Christian landscape. One sincerely hopes that Meeting Jesus the Christ Again will win a wide readership. --Dale C. Allison Jr. Richard J. Dearborn Professor of New Testament Princeton Theological Seminary Robert A. Chesnut is pastor emeritus of the East Liberty Presbyterian Church Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. The author of Transforming the Mainline Church: Lessons in Change from Pittsburghs Cathedral of Hope (2000) he holds MDiv and PhD degrees from Harvard.