Liberating the Gospel from Christian Myth

Foreword

(wrote the foreword)

Duane Armitage

“Michael Hardin’s knowledge of history, culture, biblical tradition and Christian faith is immense. He uses it all to provide what is so lacking, that is, someone to interpret (1 Cor 14:27) all that has been and is being said. Like his mentor (Girard), once a person reads Hardin, you can’t unread him. This book is no exception. For those who have become disillusioned with fundamentalist expressions of the Christian faith (religion—both progressive or conservative) this book will help you understand why you just couldn’t do it any longer, and it provides for you a hopeful, joyful path forward that is faithful to the way of Jesus.”

Doug Klassen

“Michael Hardin has done it again. His book The Jesus Driven Life was a major shift in my theology: how I understood and interpreted scripture. Michael’s new book, Liberating the Gospel from Christian Myth has done the same once more, by driving home the truth that all doctrine must be seen through the light of the gospel and understood through the streams of either religion or revelation. This book is written in a way that allows a younger believer to grasp and understand it, while a seasoned theologian will receive fresh light and truth from it. Written with a kind simplicity but fused with Michael’s scholarly mind and wit, it is a must read for every Christ-follower’s journey. I want to encourage every pastor and leader to get a copy, devour it, and then give copies to everyone you are leading. Recommend it to every believer who desires understanding and wants a solid grounding in a Christ-focused and centered theology.”

Jamie Englehart

“Michael Hardin is, and has been, a gift of God to me for over a decade. I am privileged and blessed to have been both a friend and ‘student’ of his during that time. I believe he is one of the most significant, clear-thinking, ground-breaking, pioneering theological minds and voices alive today in the body of Christ. I am approaching my fiftieth year of practicing to be a follower of Jesus. I have literally read thousands of Christian books in that time—both devotional and scholarly—from the Patristic Fathers to modern authors. If I was discipling a would-be follower of Jesus today, on day-one I would give that person two books: a Bible and Michael Hardin’s Liberating the Gospel from Christian Myth. That is how valuable I believe this primer is. I wish it could be in the hands of every human who calls Jesus of Nazareth Lord, or who is considering so, and who is serious about being conformed to his image and way.”

Stephen R. Crosby

“This is the kind of book I have been waiting for someone to write. A book that exposes the painful distortions of the gospel and of God present within American Christianity while offering a gentle invitation to come across to the worship of a God whose love and generosity do not require violence and bloodshed or end in brutal retributive punishments. One of these days the theological world will ‘discover’ Michael Hardin and be better for it.”

John E. Phelan