DISCLAIMER: This podcast episode may tip over some of your prized sacred theological cows. Proceed only if you are willing to look at things from a fresh perspective with an open, curious, and objective mind.
The Bible says a lot about atonement.
There are many theories about what the atonement really is. And one of the most popular ones has only been around since the 1500s.
In this week’s episode, I talk with Keith Giles about his new book, Jesus Unforsaken: Substituting Divine Wrath with Unrelenting Love. In it, Keith explores the history of various atonement theories and explains how they differ from the teachings of the early Church.
Here are some of the things Keith and I discussed:
- His journey in and out of the pulpit
- How he started a church that gave away all its collections to the poor
- What the gospel actually is (Hint: it’s not the atonement)
- His gradual deconstruction from believing in a wrathful God to knowing God as a loving Father who forgives freely
- How the penal substitution theory of atonement (i.e. Jesus died on the cross in your place and God demanded a blood sacrifice to cleanse you from your sins), which is so popular with many Christians today was formulated by John Calvin in the 1500s and wasn’t part of the early Christian Church’s teachings
- Why so many churches are fixated on how sinful people are
- Worm-free Christianity
- Why Jesus was actually crucified
- Why the cross is about so much more than just forgiveness of sins
- The full scope of the atonement Christ provides for us
Contact info for Keith Giles:
Blog: www.KeithGiles.com
Online Courses: Back to Square 1
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Embezzlement: The Corporate Sin of American Christianity by Ray Mayhew
Books by Keith Giles:
Jesus Unforsaken: Substituting Divine Wrath with Unrelenting Love
Jesus Unexpected: Ending the End Times to Become the Second Coming
Jesus Undefeated: Condemning the False Doctrine of Eternal Torment
Jesus Unbound: Liberating the Word of God from the Bible
Jesus Unveiled: Forsaking Church as We Know It for Ekklesia as God Intended
Jesus Untangled: Crucifying Our Politics to Pledge Allegiance to the Lamb
These are Amazon affiliate links
I would love to hear your thoughts on today’s episode.
Thanks for listening. If you know someone who will enjoy this episode, please share it with them.
Have a great week.
Blessings,
James
Bible references in this episode:
2 Corinthians 5:19 ESV
19 in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.
Psalm 103:11, 12 ESV
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
Jeremiah 31:34 ESV
34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
1 John 4:16 ESV
16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
John 8:32 ESV
32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
John 10:10 ESV
10 I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
Matthew 11:30 ESV
30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Ephesians 3:16-19 KJV
16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;
17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
18 May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.
Romans 8:38, 39 ESV
38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,
39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
1Corinthians 13:4-6 CSB (Christian Standard Bible)
4 Love is patient, love is kind. Love does not envy, is not boastful, is not arrogant,
5 is not rude, is not self-seeking, is not irritable, and does not keep a record of wrongs.
6 Love finds no joy in unrighteousness but rejoices in the truth.
John 3:16 ESV
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Matthew 9:2 ESV
2 And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.”
John 2:20 ESV
20 And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”
1Corinthians 15:14, 17 ESV
14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.
17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.
Romans 8:11 ESV
11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
John 10:38 ESV
38 … you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.
