The story Christians tell is often one that moves from the brokenness of sin and separation from God to redemption and reconciliation. It is like the story a recovering alcoholic may tell of reaching rock bottom and then recovering. Or it is like a story of disease and therapy or a story of oppression and liberation.
In The God of Israel and Christian Theology R. Kendall Soulen wants to tell the story in a different way. He points to the about-to-be-martyred Dietrich Bonhoeffer who wrote from prison, “Unlike the other oriental religions, the faith of the Old Testament is not a religion of redemption” (quoted on p. 115).
In Christian thought the idea of a Fall or original disobedience has anchored the idea that we need redemption. But before the Fall there was God’s original intention for creation. Long ago I learned Campus Crusade for Christ’s Four Spiritual Laws…
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James' Ramblings 