All Set Free

What is the ending to the human drama? Will all be reconciled to God in the end? Does God demand an altar, a corpse, and blood? Or, rather, is the Christian God set apart from all the other gods throughout history? All Set Free sets out to answer some of the more difficult questions Christians today are faced with. It will challenge the Augustinian understanding of hell and the Calvinist understanding of the atonement; replacing them with a more Christ-centered understanding of both doctrines. This book will also use the work of Rene Girard in order to reshape how many understand "what it means to be human." Then and only then should we ask: "Who is God?" Come explore what has become Matthew's theological pilgrimage to this point. Come discover the God of peace. FOR THE BACK COVER: "All Set Free . . . is a challenging, provocative study which utilizes the mimetic theory of Rene Girard to reframe the perspective by which readers read the Bible." --Michael Hardin, Executive Director of Preaching Peace, editor/author of eight books, including The Jesus Driven Life "Distefano contributes an accessible yet accurate synthesis of how post-Evangelicals might integrate the discoveries of mimetic theory into an increasingly clear vision of the non-retributive God." --Bradley Jersak, Author of A More Christlike God "All Set Free . . . gives us a positive message of a nonviolent God whose deep attraction promises to make the rote prayer of 'your kingdom come...on earth' become thrilling human reality. A vital book for twenty-first-century Christianity." --Anthony W. Bartlett, Author, Co-Founder and Contributing Theologian at Theology and Peace "All Set Free is a welcome addition to the growing body of literature that challenges the inherited ideas of a violent God and a God for whom forgiveness and salvation depend on a propitiating death of Jesus." --J. Denny Weaver, Professor Emeritus of Religion, Bluffton University "In All Set Free, Distefano presents a way of reading the scriptures that will be new to many. And therein lies its value. We do not gain new insight by simply affirming what we already believe, we expand our thinking by exposing ourselves to ideas that might contradict our current beliefs. . . . A very timely book indeed." --Andre Rabe, Founder of Always Loved Ministries and Author of Desire Found Me FOR THE FRONT MATTER: "In All Set Free, Matthew Distefano articulates what an Evangelical theology might look like when shorn of it's Janus-faced deity. This is a challenging and provocative study which utilizes the mimetic theory of Rene Girard to reframe the perspective by which readers read the Bible. This will be the book you could put into the hands of any person seeking the post-Christian Abba of Jesus." --Michael Hardin, Executive Director of Preaching Peace, editor/author of eight books, including The Jesus Driven Life "All Set Free is a fascinating integration of Rene Girard's mimetic theory with a biblical grounded Christian universalism. Every Sunday countless Evangelicals sing 'Come, Now is the Time to Worship.' Through a careful exposition of the relevant biblical passages, Distefano demonstrates the good news and literal truth of its chorus: 'One day every tongue will confess/One day every knee will bow. . .'" --Ric Machuga, Professor of Philosophy, Butte College; Author of Three Theological Mistakes: How to Correct Enlightenment Assumptions about God, Miracles, and Free Will "All Set Free is a splendid contribution to an ever-growing theological conversation springing from the work of Rene Girard, one that is liberating the Christian tradition from its deadly optics of violence in favor of something much more in character with Jesus's forgiving and loving Abba. Distefano makes the case for the reconciliation of all humanity with God, in a fluent, engaging style, rising often to eloquence, presenting multiple arguments to bring out the inconsistency in textual interpretations demanding eternal retributi