Review of Brad Jersak's 'A More Christlike God' - by Ron Dart

Review: Bradley Jersak, A More Christlike God: A More Beautiful Gospel (2015) 

The Christian family is pulled in a variety of at odds directions these days: postmodernists, modernists and the classical tradition compete for faith attention. Then, there are movements such as renovare, ressourcement (Protestant and RC), charismatic, liberationist, neocalvinist and various forms of the evangelical tribe holding high their flags. Each of these different approaches to the faith journey are often about reads of the Bible, Tradition and, of utmost importance, images, ideas and existential interpretations of God. There is much sifting of chaff and wheat, burning of dross from gold in such an approach. In short, how we interpret and see God has significant implications for good or ill. The beauty of A More Christlike God is the way Bradley Jersak tends to these issues in an accessible, thoughtful and pastoral manner. 

A More Christlike God is divided into three distinct yet overlapping sections (most Trinitarian indeed) and a suggestive Appendix:

1) What is God? Competing Images of Will and Love,

2) The Cruciform God,

3) ‘Unwrathing’ God, and,

the Appendix, by way of Conclusion, ‘Some More Christlike Voices.’

There is a definite flow and momentum in the tome from ideas and images of God which are distinctly toxic and unhealthy to invitational portals that point to the way to a more gracious and suffering God who engages us in our all too human journey. There is no doubt that the violent and wrathful, sentimental or deist versions of God have done much harm and hurt.

What are the positive, creative and more constructive images of God that point the way to a more transformative approach? And, how can we be sure these images are not just fictions we are creating to serve and suit our temperaments and tendencies? – theological anthropomorphisms can be both subtle and crude – there are many ways to lose our way on such a quest.

There can be no doubt Brad has mined a rich mother lode in his pilgrimage to see and be seen by God in a more mature manner, and he has wisely so, drawn from the best of the Christian wisdom tradition in doing so. The more the curious and attentive turn the ears of their souls to the communion of the saints, the better and more refined the divine music heard. If we dare to see God through the lens of Christ, alternate reads of God dissipate like thin clouds that have no enduring substance.

A More Christlike God walks the extra mile, in a nuanced and judicious manner, to see God through the tender yet firm soul of Christ. And, Brad is thoughtful enough to realize that a certain protestant read of the Bible disconnected from the Great Tradition is a thin and hollow child – this is why there is a turn, again and again, to see Christ through the eyes of the mothers and fathers of the church (past and present)—the Appendix points in such a needful direction. I’d have been delighted if others were included in the Appendix that are not, mostly, Patristic or Orthodox (for the faith family is much grander), but the Patristic-Orthodox synthesis is a beauty to behold.

Shadia Drury is, probably, one of the most controversial political philosophers in Canada today. Shadia and I often stay in touch, and in her demanding missive, Terror and Civilization: Christianity, Civilization and the Western Psyche (2004), she does probes as few do. If we are to see God through Christ, who was Jesus Christ?  Drury refuses to buy into the violent god of the Hebrew canon and compassionate, unwrathed God of the New Testament. In fact, Shadia goes to the heart and core of a troubling dilemma – there are tough and demanding sayings of Jesus that seem to have much affinity with Jahweh – there is the north wind—this cannot be denied.

If I might lift a title from one of George MacDonald’s novels, Back of the North Wind, I cannot but be led to ponder the role the stern north win plays in our read of a more Christlike God. It would have been of some value and a more nuanced light if this had been pondered further and deeper in A More Christlike God – MacDonald, like C.S. Lewis and Shadia Drury (often not mentioned in the same company and gatherings) go a long way to taking these issues to a more demanding level. A More Christlike God is a must read for those who have been sold false goods on their faith journey, and Brad’s pastoral and patristic theology reveals waymarks often hidden or obscure from those who have never trekked to such sublime places. 

Amor Vincit Omnia

Ron Dart                   

                   

Comments

[Rene Lafaut]

Yesterday, I received the revelation that I still viewed sin in a penal/law focused way. For a long time when it came to me trying to stop judging others I tried to say that things were relative...that the more blind a conscience is the more limited the amount of guilt and penalty payable by God was. In reading Brad Jersak’s latest book, “A More Christlike God” I am starting to realize that sin is its own punishment (God does not add to this His wrath); that the real consequences of sin are its own punishment. So instead of being saved from God’s wrath (as a penalty for sins committed) we are saved from sin, its own consequences, and the guilt we feel because we have sinned, and all of this “saving” is a gift from God through Jesus’ love. I now know that sin kills us, not God. God does not punish us with death when we sin. When we sin we pull away from life either a bit or a lot: that life is God. Knowing that Jesus did not save us from His Father’s wrath, but that they come to find who is lost, heal who is sick, and bring life where there is death; gives me a new focus away from compulsively judging others. Abiding in Jesus the True Vine does help me to stay away from sinning. This insight that “sin kills; not God”...thanks to Brad Jersak’s book helps me view God more realistically...and I no longer fear God’s wrath...it also helps me to abide in the True Vine: Jesus and fellowship with God. I also have a new appreciation of wanting to stay away from sin because of its consequences. Now that I see God in this new light I also want to imitate Him...and I don’t feel the compulsion to be overly angry and abrasive with others as much like before.