The Scandal Of The Gospels

This book argues that the gospels are in an important sense "occasions for offense." The Jesus of the gospels is a scandal (skandalon, in the original Greek) and he is never more scandalous than when he is speaking in parables. Interpreters of the gospels over the centuries have consistently labored to domesticate the offense or to eliminate it entirely. David McCracken, focusing on parables, Matthew's narrative contexts, and the gospel of John, seeks to recover the gospels' sense of Jesus as skandalon. To this end, he enlists the help of Kierkegaard, the philosopher of offense, and to a lesser extent that of Bakhtin, both of whom prove to be surprisingly apt conversation partners for the evangelists.

Through its shocking incongruities and transgressive forms, the grotesque offers an intriguing lens for exploring the scandal of the gospel and the challenges of Christian preaching. Drawing on diverse sources—from Swedish crime fiction and contemporary poetry to James Cone, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and Pussy Riot—this book will examine the theological, homiletical, and social implications of a grotesque gospel for contemporary preachers. The book focuses on three aspects of preaching and the grotesque: (1) the ways in which a grotesque gospel unsettles the preacher and challenges the "false patterns" that often shape Christian preaching; (2) the importance and challenges of resisting the weaponized grotesque, which dehumanizes people and furthers the power of dominant groups; (3) the incarnate Word as the carnivalesque, grotesque body of Jesus, which calls the church to become the porous and inclusive body of Christ. The Scandal of the Gospel is the written adaptation of Yale Divinity School's Beecher Lectures, given by Charles Campbell in 2018. The last chapter, "Preaching and the Environmental Grotesque," is a new addition.

For the first-century Roman world the cross was first and foremost an instrument of shameful and violent execution. But early Christians, who had seen their world upended by the atoning power of the cross of Christ, came to view it in an entirely different light. Deeply scandalous, it was paradoxically glorious. For the cross of Christ marked the epochal saving event in God's dealings with Israel and the world. And its meaning could not be fathomed or encircled by a single image or formulation. Since its publication in 2000, Recovering the Scandal of the Cross has initiated among evangelicals a new conversation about the nature of the atonement and how it should be expressed in the varied and global contexts of today. In this second edition Green and Baker have clarified and enlarged their argument in a way that will continue to provoke thought and conversation on this critical topic.

Although Western culture has been shaped for centuries by Christian teaching, a closer study of the Bible reveals thatwe routinely ignore the uncomfortable heart of New Testament ethics. It's too extreme, too confrontational. Even Christians pander to the world's way of thinking, making the astonishing bland.

This book argues that the gospels are in an important sense "occasions for offense." The Jesus of the gospels is a scandal (skandalon, in the original Greek) and he is never more scandalous than when he is speaking in parables. Interpreters of the gospels over the centuries have consistently labored to domesticate the offense or to eliminate it entirely. David McCracken, focusing on parables, Matthew's narrative contexts, and the gospel of John, seeks to recover the gospels' sense of Jesus as skandalon. To this end, he enlists the help of Kierkegaard, the philosopher of offense, and to a lesser extent that of Bakhtin, both of whom prove to be surprisingly apt conversation partners for the evangelists.

In Scripting Jesus, Michael White, famed scholar of early Christian history, reveals how the gospel stories of Jesus were never meant to be straightforward historical accounts, but rather were scripted and honed as performance pieces for four different audiences with four different theological agendas. As he did as a featured presenter in two award-winning PBS Frontline documentaries (“From Jesus to Christ” and “Apocalypse!”), White engagingly explains the significance of some lesser-known aspects of The New Testament; in this case, the development of the stories of Jesus—including how the gospel writers differed from one another on facts, points of view, and goals. Readers of Elaine Pagels, Marcus Borg, John Dominic Crossan, and Bart Ehrman will find much to ponder in Scripting Jesus.

There is something about Jesus that from the beginning has been distasteful, even scandalous, says Vinoth Ramachandra. In this booklet you'll join Ramachandra in an exploration of this Jesus, exploring what made him so outrageous when he walked on earth, what makes him unique today and why his scandalous claims must be true.

Edited by Joel B. Green, Scot McKnight and I. Howard Marshall, this reference work encompasses everything relating to Jesus and the Gospels.