This Good Word With Steve Wiens
Religion & Spirituality:Spirituality
Nearly three hundred years ago, a young preacher by the name of Jonathan Edwards gave a sermon called "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," which has aruably become the most influential sermon in the history of the Evangelical church. In it, he says “The bow of God's wrath is bent, and the arrow made ready on the string, and justice bends the arrow at your heart, and strains the bow, and it is nothing but the mere pleasure of God, and that of an angry God, without any promise or obligation at all, that keeps the arrow one moment from being made drunk with your blood.”
Lovely image.
Brian Zahnd is the founding pastor of Word of Life Church in St. Joseph, Missouri. When he was in his twenties, he was greatly affected by Edwards' vision of God as angry, violent and retributive. "What I did know was that I liked Jesus," Zahnd says, "But I was really scared of his Dad, the faceless white giant with obvious anger issues."
In his brand new book, Sinners in the Hands of a Loving God: The Scandalous Truth of the Very Good News, Zahnd paints a very different, very biblical portrait of God: one that looks like Jesus. In it, he asks questions like: Is seeing God primarily as wrathful toward sinners true or biblical? Is fearing God a normal expected behavior? And where might the natural implications of this theological framework lead us?
I loved this book, and I loved my conversation with Brian.
Enjoy!
Oh, and Here is the hilarious and poignant youtube video of "Fyodor Dostoyevsky" reviewing Brian's book.
Music on today's episode is by Masss (Silver Collar)
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Episode 233 | A Conversation with Austin Channing Brown
Episode 232 | You are Not Alone and This Will Not Last Forever with Jessica Kantrowitz
Episode 231 | Finding Grace for Yourself and Hope for the World
Episode 230 | What the Faith? With Allison Del Fium & Ashten Wickham
Episode 229 | Beyond Awkward Side Hugs with Bronwyn Lea
Episode 228 | Resurrection with Amanda Held Opelt, Rachel Held Evans' sister
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Episode 224 | Learning to Pray When Anxiety & Fear Takes Over
Episode 223 | Welcoming Reality in Times of Uncertainty
Episode 222 | Theology of the Womb with Dr. Christy Angelle-Vidrine Bauman
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Episode 220 | In Which I Read Excerpts from My New Book!
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Episode 217 | How to Survive Your own Copernican Shift, Part 1: Disruption
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