Meeting Jesus the Christ Again

The religion of Jesus or the religion about Jesus? The cross as Christ's atoning sacrifice or as a courageous, prophetic martyrdom? With a pastoral/prophetic voice and insights derived from a lifetime in parish ministry and theological education, Meeting Jesus the Christ Again encourages the reader to rethink these and other hotly disputed issues of Christian faith. Taking a big-picture perspective and seeking common ground, Chesnut points us toward a ""neo-classical"" faith. This engaging book calls us back to the vital center of historic Christian faith.

""This wise, insightful book invites us to both/and thinking about our faith. With a Christ-centered, cross-centered focus, it shows how to build faithful bridges across old divides between believers left and right. In an age of intense polarizations, all Christians of good will should be intrigued by the 'conservative progressive' vision offered here.""
--Richard Rohr, author, The Divine Dance: The Trinity and Your Transformation

""Chesnut's personal intellectual and spiritual journey lands in a place our culture and the church desperately need. He calls it a 'Conservative Progressive Faith' that takes seriously the honest questions people have about Christianity and also the rigorous social and political challenges that confront anyone who aspires to follow Jesus Christ in the world. . . . This book is not only fascinating but a sheer delight to read.""
--John Buchanan, pastor emeritus, The Fourth Presbyterian Church of Chicago

""Although this conciliatory volume covers a lot of ground, it will hold the reader's attention from start to finish. Chesnut's thoughtful, informed, and well-reasoned chapters are the product of a lifetime of active ministry and (refreshingly) self-critical reflection, and they are the perfect antidote to a host of false antitheses that haunt the contemporary Christian landscape. One sincerely hopes that Meeting Jesus the Christ Again will win a wide readership.""
--Dale C. Allison, Jr., Richard J. Dearborn Professor of New Testament, Princeton Theological Seminary

Robert A. Chesnut is pastor emeritus of the East Liberty Presbyterian Church, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The author of Transforming the Mainline Church: Lessons in Change from Pittsburgh's Cathedral of Hope (2000), he holds MDiv and PhD degrees from Harvard.