Repenting of Religion: Turning from Judgment to the Love of God

Please do yourself a favor and disregard the majority of the negative reviews of this astonishing book. These only confirm the main premise of Mr Boyd's argument: a large number of American Christians have been mainlining juice from the fruit of the wrong tree for years now. Thus, they have lamentably and tragically and ironically allowed themselves to become a 'community of accusers,' whose perverse aim is the 'moralizing of life,' which is the total antithesis of what Jesus initiated! With this book as well as a previous one (The Myth of a Christian Nation), Mr Boyd is prophetically addressing serious flaws and downright sins in present-day churches. He makes the most compelling and scripturally persuasive case as to what has turned so much of Christianity into an aggressive and cold-hearted pathogen amidst a culture that desperately needs Christ-like lovers--whose love is as reckless, extravagant and promiscuous as that of Jesus. I could refute many of the false arguments and objections raised below by quoting from the book. Instead I say: buy it and read it; this is a well-balanced argument and thoroughly faithful to the Spirit of the Word. It will answer much that has baffled you and confirm what you have known was not right in many a congregation. But I will address one legitimate observation: the seeming contradiction of a book that forbids judgement judging the judgmental attitude of others. Here's a quote from the book that I believe settles this issue: "Jesus' religious reputation was tarnished in the eyes of religious people because he did not honor many of the religious taboos of his days. Walking in unity with God, Jesus possessed a joyful freedom--indeed, a recklessness-- that was scandalous to those whose worth was derived from their supposed ability to judge good and evil and their willingness to separate themselves as good apart from those they judged as evil... "But Jesus wasn't concerned about his reputation. He did what he was called to do and let others matters at the hands of his Father. Jesus came to heal the sick, not to placate the religious sensibilities of those who thought they were healthy. To heal the sick, you have to love the sick, which means you have to fellowship with the sick. And this means you have to ignore what those who (mistakenly) think they are healthy, think about you! "... Far from tiptoeing around them, Jesus sometimes seemed to go out of his way to confront religious leaders who lived from a variety of forbidden fruit. While he demonstrated only compassion toward ordinary folk, and especially toward those ostracized and/or judged by the religious establishment, Jesus publicly expressed anger toward self-righteous religious leaders--the Pharisees, scribes, and Sadducees. Though these people were 'the most moral of people, lived the best of lives, and were perfectly obedient and virtuous, they substituted their own morality for the living and actual Word of God [Jacques Ellul].'

This book will rocked my world. I found it challenging in its call to love without judgment. Drawn partly from the writings of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, it is rich in insight and powerful in its call for us to desist from practicing religion and enter into relationship. A worthy read!

I am still mulling through my own actions after reading this book. I was a fan of "Letters From a Skeptic," and was pleasantly amazed to find this title and see how Boyd beautifully expounds on Bonhoeffer as well as the Scriptures in God's mandate to humanity to fulfill the Greatest Commandment, to love God and neighbor. There has been much debate on what this looks like, and Boyd paints a narrative from beginning to end, walking through the Scriptures and paying attention to what Jesus' way of life could look like today. If the church of Jesus could grasp one iota of this argument, it would be better for it, something I believe this book is trying to accomplish. There will be those in conservative evangelical circles (I include myself there, although I am moving further away) who will be upset by the reading of this book, which Boyd suspected as outlined in chapter 11. Boyd is not soft on sin, but he is hard on judgment. If you were to ask a question of anyone here about what the #1 thing Christians are known for, would they say love? I would wholeheartedly think they wouldn't (a Barna survey in August 2004 said that 91% said "hates gays."). Boyd presents a clearly detailed, biblical philosophy, with heavy influence from Bonhoeffer, about how we are to love others as Jesus loved with holiness, accountability, and the integrity of the Scriptures not being compromised. He outlines in detail how most of us in the modern American church are not familiar with first-century church context and how they confronted each other on sin issues. Chapters 11 and 12 are worth the price of the book alone, but every chapter of this book is priceless. This is a book that every pastor and Christian leader should have close by. It is a detailed outline through the Scriptures on how God has wired us to love without conditions through Jesus Christ. Even if you disagree, pick it up and read it yourself, it is a must read.

As a longtime fan of Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Cost of Discipleship, Ethics) and Soren Kierkegard, it is refreshing to see someone take their contributions seriously. I especially appreciate the perspective of a more liberal and liberated and libertarian Christian church of divine inclusiveness and celebration of diversity, tolerating what conservative evangelicals brand intolerable. A breath of bracing air into the pathological lungs of the Body of Christ, designed by the Creator to Love not pass judgment on so many things. The only thing worse than religionless Christianity is christianly religiosity. Love is Good. Judgment is Evil. It's that simple.

My inspiration for reviewing this book came not so much from its impact on my own life - though that was significant - but from the negative reviews which only serve to reinforce Boyd's thesis. One reviewer writes: "Too lopsided on one aspect of God's character ... Does not balance personal skew with God's holy wrath against sin." These words exemplify the essence of Boyd's concern, as stated in the chapter titled 'The Center is Love:' "Even as I write these words, I can hear someone saying, 'Yes, we must love. But we must balance love with truth. ... Love has its place, but we must not forget God's wrath.' ... We have to wonder where anyone got the idea that love in any way competes with truth, holiness or biblical doctrine. Love is the central biblical truth; it is the essence of all holiness." (p. 57-58) Boyd in no way infers or states that we should gloss over sin in our own lives and the lives of others, but in discerning evil, or sin, we should be motivated by the love of Christ that lives within us, not our need to draw worth from our power to judge others, a desire rooted in our fallen, or 'old man.' As Boyd so clearly states, our focus on hatred of sin is often rooted in our desire to play God, by deeming who is worthy of love and who is not, based on their love-ability. This, simply stated, is heretical to the very nature of the God, who IS love, and portrays a skewed image of Abba Father that believes the divine's hatred for sin, not his lovingkindness, sent him to the cross. All the writers of the New Testament clearly state that all we do should be done in love, and even our acts of apparent harshness, discipline and discernment need be motivated by what is best for the others involved, not a sense of righteousness. Boyd captures this sentiment wonderfully and saturates this thesis with countless scriptures and a theology that, while unsettling to our paradigms, is sound to those who have tasted of the grace of God. The further accusation of antinomianism is baseless, and, as is so often the case with those who are quick to toss about this term, indicates a failure to understand its actual meaning. Antinomianism is the belief that God's grace, as evidenced through the cross, eradicated the law by destroying the reality of wrong and right, good and evil, and this belief is a a lie; it IS heresy. Boyd's thesis far from antinomian. Like the Apostle Paul, he is simply stating that its power to either condemn us when we fail to fulfill its demands or its ability to ascribe to us worth when we fulfill is demands IS DEAD. While we still seek to discern sin and the lies that bind us, the law and its power died to us at the cross, and the only thing that matters now - the only law that binds us, is the law of liberty, or as Paul states, faith expressing itself through love. This IS the gospel. We no longer view God, ourselves or the world through the grid of the law, but through God's love, and God's love is selfless and always