Elizabeth Weddington

What an experience. A voice for a generation.

Revisado: 11-26-24

This is a messy story, but isn't that what life is? Our generation is a generation of vulnerability, authenticity, rawness, transparency. Sometimes this means you will be uncomfortable, many times poignant, always moved. The author reads with a lovely voice and gives such depth to her own story. I was encouraged by the voice she gave to many of my own personal wrestlings and the bravery she exhibited in her writing. Though young and new to Christianity, and Orthodoxy in particular, she has been blessed to be immersed deep within the wisdom of monastic life, and that richness comes through in her reflections. Anyone, whether you fully agree with all of her conclusions or not, will be immensely enriched by engaging this material whether in print or Audible. May the life she now lives grant her salvation, and may her prayers for us all be effectual in our own.

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Well organized, not well argued.

Revisado: 08-30-21

The author does a good job of using the Apostles Creed as a framework for his book. This is a better framework than Alysa Childer's "Another Gospel". He succeeds in identifying a troubling pattern of blaming Christianity for all the woes of the world. However, like Childer's, he fails to articulate arguments that are as robust as the so called "progressive christians" he is critiquing. He inasmuch as admits that he says nothing new. Unfortunately, this means that his argument will only persuade those who are already persuaded to think like he does. This will not bridge any gaps. He certainly sticks to his uncompromising position, but this book sounds like an echo chamber. I trust Youssef loves Christ and the so called "progressive christians" but his arguments need to be refined with more research and deeper study on the topics he is addressing. That is the appeal of what he labels "progressive Christianity", a thorough searching and fearless questioning of sacred cows. If we believe Christ is who he claims to be and we have met Him, then our fearless questioning, like Thomas the Apostle, should be welcomed in our churches because of our confidence in Christ, rather than the fear mongering "slippery slope" accusations he is espousing. I contend that if all our Churches were willing to open up the dialogue the mass.exodus would not be happening. Onto his arguments: He is wrong about Christian universalism, reducing it to "Jesus doesn't matter", when in fact their is an astounding amount of solid literature and historical weight to the eschatological position held by many in the patristic period. He is wrong to assume that Penal Substitutionary Atonement is the only orthodox atonement theory, overlooking Christus Victor and many others. He is naive to assume that the literalism ascribed to evangelicalism by so called "progressive Christians" has never run aground in overly wooden interpretation. Christ is the Word , and the words of the Bible are inspired signposts that point to Christ, but inerrancy and infallibility are unhelpful categories. The patristic writings only ever referred to God as infallible, so when we speak this way we not only confuse ourselves but we confuse our children who begin to conflate the Word (Jesus) with the Bible. They are not the same. Interpretation is also not as clear cut as he likes to make it. It takes almost no time at all to realize biblical interpretation is an ocean of mystery, learning, and lessons in humility. Rhetoric, metaphor, and literary devices are all over the text. In many cases "the Bible clearly says" is just wrong. Christ is the full revelation about himself, and all scripture mist be read through that lens. Brad Jersak is much better here in "A More Christlike Word", but Youssef would probably call Jersak a progressive Christian. That's the danger of holding a hammer: everything begins to look like a nail. I could say the same for so called "progressive christians" as well: we need not destroy the faith to rediscover and restore it to it's beautiful historic heritage. We certainly ought to reevaluate our current doctrines against the early church fathers and mother's and lean on recent historical research when needed. We also need to be led by the Spirit AND remain in our Churches, loving the assembly and urging them to consider a new set of lenses. There needs to be a better response that what Childer's and Youssef have put together. is anyone up to the task?

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Must read! Jews and Christians alike!!

Revisado: 05-14-21

The audiobook version is fantastic! Wonderful music transitions, well articulated. I love when an author reads their own work. Easy to listen and the content is top notch. I will have to listen again as well as read John through an entirely new lens.

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phenomenal

Revisado: 02-08-21

challenging, thoughtful, but wholly reasonable, inspired and hopeful. I think this is a strong philosophical argument for the inclusive, transformative, universal reconciliation of mankind to God.

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heady but incredibly helpful!

Revisado: 01-10-21

if you love science and theology and you care about public education and engaging your neighbors in discussions of outcomes without shutting anyone down, this is well worth it. really opens eyes to an amazing perspective on Genesis 1.

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must read

Revisado: 12-31-20

wonderful narration. very important and timely message, will never look at the Bible the same.

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the best summary of the position I have read to da

Revisado: 12-27-20

the best summary of the position I have read to date! pass them out! this is my go to. great list of references included

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Awesome!!

Revisado: 12-07-20

if anyone struggles with approaching scripture from the Western perspective, this masterpiece fibres deep into the Jewish context of Jesus' ministry and sheds light on many of his mysterious sayings. such a blessing and a call to action!!

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very good and grounded

Revisado: 10-16-20

this is a well done book from someone who has been in the trenches of doubt. Being in the trenches myself (for close to a year) I can relate to her story and all of the wrestling she had to go through when the questions rocked her world. Good summary of the movement called "progressive christianity". while I think questions are critical to a deep faith, Alisa rightly articulates that the focus on the questions themselves and a lack of aim in the deconstruction leads to dangerous territory. we all ought to deconstruct false images and views about God, but it seems much of progressive Christianity has swerved into a ditch.

I will make a comment about the last two chapters on hell and PSA. I would love to see Alisa wrestle with the likes of Brad Jersak and Robin Parry on PSA (particularly the penal part) and Hell. I think these two, along with many others such as Ilaria Ramelli from an academic perspective have formulated formidable and we'll articulated biblical grounds for a hope in universal restoration. these have a high respect for the Biblical text and I think demonstrate that there are better answers to the Hell question than what progressive Christianity has to offer. Others include George Sarris, David Artman, and Peter Hiett.

Beyond that, I am thankful for a sister in Christ to lay out a very well done book confronting the myth that deconstruction ends necessarily in a loss of all things sacred. sometimes we must go through it, but God is able to reconstruct us to a deeper confidence in Himself than we were before.

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wonderfully researched, narrated poorly

Revisado: 09-22-20

having listened to Brad's other books, I have gotten used to the poor narration (or really the poor editing, because though the audio is not bad, the narrator frequently repeats himself and did not cut it out before publishing). the material is pastoral, well-researched, and thought provoking. you can tell he isn't trying to be provocative, but to make a pastoral appeal to a different way of holding to our biblical conviction without sacrificing the bible or searing our consciences. great intro to the whole topic. I actually read in this order: A More Christ Like God, A More.Christ Like Way, and then this work.

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