Home

The GOSPEL BEYOND BELIEF

…when the atoning work of the cross is even theoretically separated from Jesus’ teachings and life, Christians can (and do) sometimes end up with a cheap, merely legal, understanding of grace.  This is why, especially in America, we have so many believers and so few genuine disciples.  This disastrous failure in praxis is, I submit, most fundamentally rooted in a misunderstanding of the atonement.

Dr. Gregory A. Boyd

Without the resurrection, there is no reason to suppose that Jesus’ crucifixion dealt with sins, or with sin.  But with the resurrection, the divine victory over sin(s), and hence over death, is assured.

N.T. Wright, commenting on 1 Corinthians 15:17

Welcome to the Gospel Beyond Belief.  The purpose of this site is to tell a truer story of Christianity than the one most commonly told by my fellow evangelicals.  This truer story I will term the “Gospel Beyond Belief”.  Since I believe the standard evangelical story is almost exclusively the result of a misreading of Paul, I intend to counter this story with a better reading of Paul, especially a better reading of his letters to the Galatians, Philippians and Romans.

My basic strategy is to lay the foundations of my reading of Paul by showing how well my reading lines up with the overall story told in the Old Testament and the story told in the Gospels.  I will highlight the Gospel of John for it is especially misused to back the standard evangelical story.  I then comment on Paul’s letters to the Galatians, Philippians and Romans.  Finally, I will offer some brief comments on the book of Hebrews for it too is misused to back the standard evangelical story.