theology: an introduction
 
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Embracing Grace

Our Discussion Notes

Here are the notes from our weekly discussions though Scot McKnight's Embracing Grace: A Gospel for All of Us (Brewster, MA: Paraclete Press, 2005). Scot himself blogged that this was "a virtual study guide" for his book.

Scot McKnight

Our guide for this season was Scot McKnight (PhD, University of Nottingham), a widely-recognized authority on the New Testament, early Christianity, and the historical Jesus. Scot currently teaches Religious Studies to undergraduates at North Park University in Chicago, and maintains an award-winning weblog. He is known for his gifted writing for both academic and popular audiences. Here are fuller biosketches from his blog and from wikipedia.
 
Two years ago, we studied Scot's book, The Jesus Creed: Loving God, Loving Others. Our discussion of "The Creed" was introduced by these two lectures: Life in a Nutshell, part 1, part 2.

Embracing Grace: A Gospel for All of Us

By walking together as a small group through this insightful, accessible book we learned what it means to be embraced by God’s grace, and in that embrace, to be transformed into those who share that grace with others.
"According to evangelical theologian Scot McKnight the gospel is too often reduced to forgiveness from sins and getting to heaven. The message of the Bible, and the story of God, is actually much bigger and better than just that. In Embracing Grace, McKnight presents an understanding of our relationship with Jesus that takes in the whole range of the Bible, from the original Fall to the Passion and Resurrection of Christ.”    Publisher
 
“For too long, grace has been misunderstood as being nothing more than punishment avoidance. But God's grace was flourishing ever before the first sin was ever committed. Scot McKnight, in his thoughtful and provocative way, helps us think again about the comprehensiveness of grace and the robust nature of the gospel. This is a book for people who want not only to be 'saved' by grace, but to live by grace."      John Ortberg, pastor of Menlo Park Presbyterian Church
 
“With grace, humility, and wit, Scot offers a compelling vision of the breath-taking scope of the gospel—that in Jesus Christ, God is at work restoring broken people to full humanity in loving community with God and with one another, for the salvation of all creation. This is a message to be pondered, savored, embraced, and embodied.”           Ross Wagner, Professor of New Testament Studies, Princeton Theological Seminary
For a summary of Scot's grasp of the gospel, here's his article in Christianity Today, March 2008: "The 8 Marks of a Robust Gospel."
 
Lectures on Embracing Grace
 
Recently Scot spoke to the Graduate Students and Faculty Members of the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. His lectures were taken from this book, Embracing Grace. If you'd like to listen, here's the link.
 
Additional Resources
 
Throughtout the year we refered to a number of books, sermons, and essays that helped round out our discussions at various points. Many of these are mentioned in the links below. 

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