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We have misunderstood Paul, badly.
We have read his words through our own set of assumptions. We need to begin with Paul's world view, to see things the way he saw them.
- What if 'original sin' was never part of Paul's thinking?
- What if the idea that we are saved by faith in Christ, as Luther argued, was based on a mistranslation of Paul's words and a misunderstanding of Paul's thinking?
'Over the centuries,' writes Steve Chalke, 'the Church has repeatedly failed to communicate, or even understand, the core of Paul's message. Although Paul has often been presented as the champion of exclusion, he was the very opposite. He was the great includer.'
Steve Chalke MBE is a Baptist minister, founder and leader of the Oasis Charitable Trust, and author of more than 50 books.
Acknowledgements xiii
1 The conversation 1
2 The revolutionary 7
3 Longing 14
4 Air 20
5 A new world 30
6 Perspective 40
7 A legal error 51
8 Faithful 61
9 Think like a Hebrew 70
10 What if? 83
11 Aha! 95
12 Oxymoron 105
13 The double whammy 118
14 True 126
15 The crux 134
16 Shades 144
17 Layers 153
18 Different 162
19 The elephant 174
20 Credo 185
21 A twist in the tale 196
22 Judgement 205
23 The pruning 217
24 Wired 229
25 Refined 245
26 In heaven's name 252
27 Metaphor 263
28 Rescued 272
29 The revolution 279
Appendix: What did the Ancient Greeks think about the afterlife? 290
About Oasis 293
Further reading 295