Sharon L. Putt

Embracing Prodigals

Ethics, Culture & Social Issues

“Borrowing from the parental imagery of ‘authoritative’ and ‘nurturing,’ Sanders dismantles the traditional view of God as an authoritative dictator who fiercely punishes disobedient children and draws a picture from Scripture of the God who nurtures with love, teaches with patience, empathizes with compassion, and saves us through grace. Because we tend to imitate the God we imagine, Sanders asserts that our ‘view of God has real consequences for life.’ Imagine, then, how the world would change if Christians everywhere rejected the authoritative tyrannical God who trades in wrath and punishment and decided instead to imitate the scriptural God who nurtures, loves, and saves through Jesus Christ. This is the God Sanders reveals to us.”

God’s Apocalyptic Insurrection

Theology

“Richard Crane offers readers an historically informative, theologically rich, and biblically sound vision of not only what it means to ‘be saved,’ but also how ‘saved’ persons, ‘drawn into union with the Triune God,’ should work out their salvation in the power of the Spirit. Crane exhorts Christians to participate in the missio Dei as they partner with God on their life-giving journey in working to transform the lives of others, through actively struggling for justice and wholeness, striving to heal a dysfunctional world with the love of God in Christ.”

Mimetic Theory and Biblical Interpretation

Theology

“What we think about God matters—a matter of life and death for many thousands throughout the centuries of Christian violence. . . . I sincerely believe that this book will shine a light on the path back home to God for those who are disenchanted, disillusioned, and dismayed by the contemporary church. In other words, Michael Hardin has given us back a God stolen from us by the church—a God of immeasurable, unfettered love, endless extravagant grace, and incalculable unbounded redemption.”

Sacrifice and Atonement

Theology

“In Sacrifice and Atonement, Stephen Finlan proficiently spans the breadth of Scripture and historical doctrine on the topic, but then takes another daring step. He explores the potential psychological genesis for the creation of each view, by asking the questions, 'Why do human beings feel the need for atonement?'; 'In what ways might each theory satisfy the human psyche?'; and 'Do we construct theories of atonement due to a deep psychological need?' A fascinating study that provides deep insight into the connection between the human psyche and doctrine.”

Scapegoats

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“Bashaw’s book comes during a day and age in which scapegoating (still) runs rampant. She examines the scapegoating stories embedded in Scripture and Jesus’s attempts to liberate its victims. From the first woman to the last, the infirm and the unfortunate, the foreign and the unfit, she exposes the scapegoating mechanisms inherent in our contemporary societies and cultures. Bashaw leads readers on the path of transformation, encouraging all of us to ‘trade the needless cycle of fear, blame, and violence for the liberating cycle of confession, inclusion, and imitation of Christ,’ calling us to ‘follow Jesus toward a world without scapegoats, . . . toward our own transformation, toward a communal love for neighbor and stranger, toward radical participation in the divine reign of God.’ May we hear the call and allow the truths unveiled in Bashaw’s book to guide us in our quest for a scapegoat-free world—a world in which love of God and neighbor reigns and rules.”