Finding Love

Andrew Callander asks whether the mainstream Christian understanding of the gospel might itself be a major reason so many people have turned away from faith. Many believers were taught that God is at heart angry and judging, and that Jesus died to win God over. Callander argues the reverse: God's basic attitude toward every person and all of humanity is a kindness rooted in love that never ends, and Jesus came to transform how we understand God.

Callander draws on biblical scholars such as David Bentley Hart, the contemplative activist Richard Rohr, and the progressive writer Brian McLaren. He regrets the many centuries Christians spent drawing and defending lines that separate insiders from outsiders. Through Christ, he maintains, God has removed every obstacle standing between people and God.

At the core of the book is the claim that people already live inside God's embrace. The task is not to hunt for a love that is missing, but to come awake to the fact that this love has already sought us out. That realization should then shape how we treat other people and the wider created world.