The Skeletons in God's Closet: The Mercy of Hell, the Surprise of Judgment, the Hope of Holy War

by Joshua Ryan Butler

Overview

How can a loving God send people to hell? Isn’t it arrogant to believe Jesus is the only way to God? What is up with holy war in the Old Testament?

Many of us fear God has some skeletons in the closet. Hell, judgment, and holy war are hot topics for the Christian faith that have a way of igniting fierce debate far and wide. These hard questions leave many wondering whether God is really good and can truly be trusted.

The Skeletons in God's Closet confronts our popular caricatures of these difficult topics with the beauty and power of the real thing. Josh Butler reveals that these subjects are consistent with, rather than contradictory to, the goodness of God. He explores Scripture to reveal the plotlines that make sense of these tough topics in light of God’s goodness. From fresh angles, Josh deals powerfully with such difficult passages as:

• The Lake of Fire
• Lazarus and the Rich Man
• The Slaughter of Canaanites in the Old Testament

Ultimately, The Skeletons in God's Close uses our toughest questions to provoke paradigm shifts in how we understand our faith as a whole. It pulls the “skeletons out of God’s closet” to reveal they were never really skeletons at all.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780529100818
Publisher:	Nelson, Thomas, Inc.
Publication date:	10/21/2014
Pages:	356
Product dimensions:	8.30(w) x 5.50(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Rick McKinley was educated at Multnomah University and earned his Doctorate from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. However, most of his education has come from pastoring Imago Dei Community since 2000 with his wife Jeanne in Portland, OR. Imago Dei is now a large congregation situated in the heart of the city, reaching out to Portland through preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ and creatively engaging the city for the social good. He is also the author of Jesus in the Margins and This Beautiful Mess.

Table of Contents

Foreword xv

Introduction: Skeletons in the Closet xvii

Part 1 The Mercy of Hell 1

1 Heaven and Earth 3

2 The Wicked Root 19

3 Outside the City 35

Interlude: The Game-Changer 49

4 Boundary of Mercy 53

5 The Great Reversal 69

6 Freedom From and For 85

Interlude: Ancient or New? 101

Part 2 The Surprise of Judgment 107

7 On Priests and Pedophiles 109

8 East and West 121

9 Welcome to the Wedding 133

10 The Servant at the Center 147

Interlude: The Sovereignty of Christ 163

11 Reconciliation as Judgment 165

Interlude: Love Has a Name 185

12 Body and Bride 191

Part 3 The Hope of Holy War 207

13 Weak vs. Strong 209

Interlude: God Critiques Holy War 223

14 Evicted from Eden 225

Interlude: Raising the Bar 241

15 The Great City 245

16 Agents of Wrath 261

17 The Rubble of Babylon 273

Interlude: The Spirit of Empire 287

18 City of God 293

Conclusion: These Bones Can Live 303

Appendix 313

Grateful 329

About the Author 331

Notes 333