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P. Luu

... is based on the simple premise that God is like Jesus. This should be an uncontroversial assertion for ...

Reviewed in the United States on May 16, 2017

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Jersek’s book is based on the simple premise that God is like Jesus. This should be an uncontroversial assertion for many Christians, but if taken to its logical conclusion and it’s implications spelled out, the idea undoes many assumptions made by Christianity in the West, especially among “Evangelicals.” Jersek’s Christology, his study of Christ, governs his view of atonement, i.e. what God did in the world through Christ. These two should not be different, if Christ was carrying out the mission of God in the world. However, theories like the penal substitutionary theory, describe God’s work in terms of punitive justice, where God pours out God’s wrath on Jesus because of God’s holiness. This punishment is taken out on Christ because of the sins of humanity in order to justify (make right) the wrongs humans. Otherwise, how can a righteous God bear to commune with unrighteous humans. However, the ministry of Jesus does not depict this kind of God, but one who communes with sinful and broken humans, and ministers to them in the places they abide. This is a picture of a God who is self-giving love(the Cross in Jersek’s term) and does not need to right the world through violent punishment of an innocent victim.

The reviews that this is a “dry” work is perplexing. One can easily tell that Jersek’s experience as a pastor contributes to his writing. I have read many an academic work and this is not in the same, wooden style. Instead, it is filled with personal stories and helpful illustrations. However, Jersek’s in depth knowledge of the Patristics and Christian history is clear and is seen in the appendix. Also, his analysis of biblical passages is thorough and seen through the eyes of one who has witnessed Christ’s work in his life, not a lens that is seeks to confirm a particular dogma or orthodoxy. In this way, the implications of Jersek’s work can be seen in church ministry and mission, and not only in teaching. It is not only about ortho-doxy, but also about ortho-praxis, what the church does in the world. To this end, this is value of Jesek’s work. It seeks not to only change hearts and minds, but to help the church become more faithful followers of the crucified and resurrected one.

Rick Lee James

The Gospel Really Is Beautiful

Reviewed in the United States on June 20, 2019

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This is a powerful antidote to the thinking that God is wrathful, angry, and must be appeased like a spoiled child who can’t control his emotions. God is like Jesus, God has always been like Jesus, and this book helps us to see once again what that looks like. Jersak lays out his points in an orderly fashion, like a good teacher with thoughts to ponder, summaries of each chapter, Prayers to be prayed, glossaries, and examples from through church history. The beautiful gospel is not new, it has just been misplaced for many by a lesser good news. This book helps us get back on track with the ancient, orthodox faith of Jesus and the disciples. It’s especially nice to have “The gospel in chairs” in a written resource, not just in YouTube videos.

A Lazy, Human-based Attack on the Old Testament

Reviewed in the United States on December 17, 2020

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I bought this book because I think it is important to know that God the Father is just like his Son, and that the Son is just like the Father. For the entire 2,000 years since the Father sent the Son, Christians have puzzled over the seeming contradiction between the God that sent the Israelites to eradicate the Canaanites and the God-in-human-flesh who healed the leper and saved the adulteress from stoning. _A More Christlike God_ has chosen the easy--the lazy--and the blasphemous way to reconcile the two. They simply deny the truth of the Old Testament. I was shocked to read "God supposedly said" in reference to an Old Testament Scripture. How does the author justify this blasphemy? Almost exclusively with an appeal to how we feel; what we approve of.

It is true that we are made in the image of God, but our image is corrupted. God is not corrupted, and he never has been. Yes, evangelicalism has slandered God by teaching him as an angry deity with no mercy. The Old Testament introduces God as a God of mercy. When he walked by Moses he announced himself as the God who forgives sin and iniquity. We have come along and taught that he is the god of justice who cannot forgive sin without killing animals or his Son. This is not anything like what the Old Testament teaches. Over and over again he forgives Israel, patiently bearing their sins. Israel said of him that his mercy is new every morning (Lam. 3:22). Psalm 136 repeatedly describes him as the God of lovingkindess. Our outrageous, insulting portrayal of him as a God who cannot forgive sin without killing his own Son probably provoked Jersak's blasphemous, overboard response. Jesus did not die so God can forgive sin. He died so that we would stop being persistent sinners and be among those who receive the mercy that God has always given the righteous. Ezekiel 18:20-30 (and a very similar passage in Ezekiel 33) tell us, with God speaking, what a just judgment is. According to God, under the Old Testament, it is just to give a wicked man life if he stops his wickedness and begins living righteously. According to evangelicals, and especially Calvinists, it is just to torture a person eternally for one sin. Are we going to believe Ezekiel or Calvinist tradition?

Those who are not as lazy as Jersak, who denies the truth of the Old Testament, find much better explanations for the seeming difference between the God of Israel and Jesus. For example, one scholar points out that the writings of the Old Testament describe centuries of God working with Israel as a nation. The destruction of the Canaanites was after centuries of evil and multitudes of children offered in sacrifice to the god Molech. The New Testament covers only a few decades. We see the mercy of Jesus to individuals in the New Testament, something offered over and over to individuals and to nations in the Old Testament as well, but we don't think about the fact that he prophesied the destruction of the temple by Titus with all its accompanying horrors toward the Jews.

We can explain the Old Testament to unbelievers in much better ways than simply denying it like this book does. It is a desperate need among evangelicals to quit being lazy, to quit swallowing obviously false traditions. We have teachers who are doing the hard work. Please don't listen to men like this who don't want to work at understanding and want to simply write off as false what they do not like.

Coop

Nearer my God to Thee

Reviewed in the United States on January 20, 2018

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A life changing message! I have been moving away from my conservative evangelical roots for many years. This book gave me new eyes of faith to see the power of God's love in Scripture in such a way that the scales covering my eyes simply dropped away. Get it and read it.

Top reviews from other countries

Tristan Sherwin

This book is a genuine gift of theology to the church, and to the world.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 26, 2016

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This book is a genuine gift of theology to the church, and to the world.

To get straight to the point -- you need to read this!

Dr Brad Jersak, within the space of 300+ pages, has provided a concise theological panacea to our fragmented portraits of a God who is riddled with what some perceive as split personality issues.

Theology can do this. In our attempt to understand God, we divide the divine identity up into chunks. Using (and misunderstanding) the anthropomorphic language employed in scripture as markers of deity DNA, God gets separated up into a cast of characters, each constrained to a specific act or scene within the story; God the creator, God the destroyer, God the liberator, God the bully, God the bringer of miracles, God the bringer of slaughter… God the almighty, all-knowing, all-present but also extremely conflicted, apparently! A God of many faces. And then along comes Jesus, another cast member of the “divine comedy/tragedy”; one more “face” that God exhibits.

Yes, most of the church affirms, Jesus is more than *a* face, he is part of the God head. But in some circles, Jesus’ face also shape-shifts with time. In his past appearing (the story of the Gospels), he’s a dying, self-emptying servant on a cross -- suffering for the world, saving, forgiving and showing love until his last breath. But then in the future appearing (his second-coming), this Jesus will arrive as some kind of apocalyptic hybrid of John Rambo and Genghis Khan. Usurping the claim that he is the same yesterday, today and forever, this idea of Jesus (the one who once welcomed and ate with sinners and cried “father, forgive them”) is now out for the blood of anyone who didn’t respond to his invite.

Sadly, this obvious dichotomy is embraced.

Some voices in the church, would also describe Jesus as someone who “saves us from God” -- which, very disturbingly, stretches the already gaping dichotomy all the more further.

Often this has come about in an attempt to avoid a dualistic idea of God. I.e. the Old Testament portrays an angry God, whilst the New gives us a newer and better (nicer and kinder) version -- God 2.0. But this attempt has been tackled in a way that allows some to desperately maintain a grasp on their flawed Biblicist literal reading of scripture. As an attempt to avoid having two Gods, the literalistic result has given us a pantheon of personalities all contained within one apparent God. Making God, in turn, appear more like “legion” than Jesus of Nazareth.

But the truth of the gospel, the truth that Brad explores throughout A More Christlike God (and a truth I also affirm), is that God is exactly like Christ; God has *always* been exactly like Jesus of Nazareth.

God isn’t like the “many-faced god” of A Game of Thrones fame; in Jesus, God has presented to us the eternal character of the unseen God.

A God whose very expression has consistently been (and always will be) marked by self-emptying, cruciform and kenotic love. A timeless trait, not a feature constrained with some “use-by-date”.
Of course, to say such things raises questions: “If God has always been like this, then what about all those stories of God commanding war and the killing of children? What’s all that stuff about hell and damnation and wrath and destruction? Why is their suffering, if God is truly loving and good?

Well, that’s why you should read this A More Christlike God. It’s a theological tour de force that helps to tackle these big issues head-on. So think of this as a really accessible guidebook through some tough topics. It’s not a book that is full of clichés, anecdotes or shallow thinking -- it’s deep and broad in its theological approach, but in a way that won’t burden you in abstractions and terminology. It’s clear, exegetically rich in scripture, honest and, most of all, understandable. Simply put, it’s brilliant!

Brad is not presenting some “new” idea that’s come about as a way of making Christianity palatable to today’s culture. Jersak delves into a host of historic voices, showing us that this picture of a more Christ-like God is an ancient one; this beautiful portrait is one that is being cleaned off and restored to its central place within our orthodoxy. In reality, the many-faced god is the man-made concoction -- a self-projection into our time-bound cultures-- one that God has been trying to get us to give-up for epochs.

With A More Christlike God, Brad Jersak performs much needed CPR on our hearts and minds in order to get us to vomit out our toxic and damaging images of God; enabling us to fill our lungs with a more life-giving, captivating and gospel centred air.

To repeat myself – you need to read this. Every Christian needs to read this! Every person who has ever been put-off by a god who seeks to destroy us unless we respond to his “love”, needs to read this.

-- Tristan Sherwin is the author of *Love: Expressed*

Mr G I Ross

Idea Changer

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 10, 2019

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If you are stuck in the hamster wheel of religion and you cannot understand why you are mean to people when you don't want to be, Brad takes you a journey to see how a Father of love really is! I have studied Brad, Baxter Kruger, Paul Young and Francois Du Toits works and visions for almost 5 years now and liberating is the one word I can use. In a world were religion is failing the truth can and will set you free to be known as you have always been known and to learn what love really is!

KT

Accessible theology to aspire to

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 10, 2017

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I discovered this book (Jersak's latest) at the same time as I discovered his first (Are You Listening). What a great treasure trove I found! In his writing Jersak reveals himself to be learned, theologically sophisticated and nuanced, but in a way that is funny, passionate and deeply pastoral. I aspire to be a writer like this. A More Christ-like God doesn't just argue and demonstrate its position by beating down the opposition. It tickles you, pokes you, and warms your heart, winsomely lodging its central idea into your soul: Jesus is perfect theology. This might seem trite or obvious at first glance, but let Jersak take you through the steps and you'll see how radically dangerous this is for Christianised religion, and how much good news it is for real life.

David S

Second most important book I have read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 1, 2018

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A wonderful book which covers the basics of how we see a true and complete reflection of God in Christ. Gone is the supposedly loving yet spiteful, hate filled god, and suddenly it all makes sense. This is important - it is also a call to action to change the world through working for God.

There's plenty of references to scripture and the works of other scholars, so you can make your own mind up.

The Forest Princess

A-mazing

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 22, 2019

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Absolutely amazing book. A must, must read. I can honestly say between them, Brad Jersak, W. Paul Young and Brian Zahnd have changed my whole outlook on God. And changed my life in the process. Their God-is truly worth knowing. Scripture based, showing God is not who we think He is. He truly is Love.

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