The Mystery of Christ . . . and Why We Don't Get It [Paperback]

Mr. Robert Farrar Capon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 19, 1993

Capon uses a variety of exchanges to drive home his point that salvation can be achieved not just through faith, but by active works. Along the way, he explores guilt, forgiveness, love, anger, romance, grief, spiritual contentment, the Incarnation, reincarnation, resurrection, and more--managing, in the process, to make salvation something fresh and new.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Capon's theme is the understanding of the Christian concept of grace through faith; he feels that this "mystery" is in this world, not some mystical experience of another realm. The popular idea that the goal of Christianity and the church is to make people "nonsinners" is replaced, in his argument, with the understanding that God's grace makes people "sin-forgivers." This frees believers from living in fear of a god who is a CPA of sins and frees them to forgive others. Capon handles the topics covered in his dialogues with representative counselees with a light but not frivolous touch. His book is well suited for general collections and would be particularly appropriate for college students because of its treatments of contemporary topics. Mary Beth Vanderpoorten

Product Details

• Paperback: 195 pages
• Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. (October 19, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802801218
• ISBN-13: 978-0802801210
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #131,530 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Realization of TRUE Grace!, September 14, 1998

By 

Glen De Shaw "Froppa" (Artesia, NM USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Mystery of Christ . . . and Why We Don't Get It (Paperback)

If such concepts as "Both heaven and hell are populated with forgiven sinners", "God isn't in the sin-prevention business....He is in the sin-forgiving business", and "the argument between Cheap Grace and Costly Grace is ridiculous, because Grace is FREE", are intriguing to you, then get and read this book. It is a thought provoking delight!

38 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Its hard to categorize this book!, April 23, 2001

By 

Robert Knetsch "Wanna-be theologian" (Toronto, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Mystery of Christ . . . and Why We Don't Get It (Paperback)

With his characteristic wit, humour, digression and depth, Robert Ferrar Capon has delivered another book centred about grace. In his always inimitable way, Capon is able to present an old theme in a new way, using various writing styles and techniques to get his point across.

Having read "From noon to Three" and this book, clearly Capon wants to emphasize - no, pound into your head - the idea that God has done it all, that grace is free, that God simply does not see our sin anymore. He must have quoted the verse "there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" and it is the entire world who is in Christ, and we are in Him. This is part of the mystery.

As a pastoral tool Capon's perspective is refreshing and greatly needed in our works-loving, bookkeeping Church. Capon writes like a prophet, warning us that we fall too easily into the danger of thinking we have to "do" something. I also enjoyed his discussion of ways that we can view the resurrection. This was an education and well thought-out section of the book.

Of course, I have a "but"....I was continually uncomfortable with Capon's approach which, while he claims is theological, often plays fast and loose with the Bible. He was unconvincing in his analysis of the sheep and the goats parable. Moreover, I did not appreciate his several jabs at Bonheoffer, nor his implication that the "medieval" theology of Luther and Calvin, qua medieval theology, was unacceptable. Capon claims that, instead, he is more "biblical" - a term too often bandied about these days.

He speaks near the end of ways that our lives need to be, not acceptable to, but "congruent" to the mystery of Christ. And this would seem to me to mean that congruent should be biblical, but no....instead it is okay to practice astrology as if it gave us even the "weather" of things. Meanwhile the bible specifically indicates that it is not a godly practice. How is it then congruent that his wife is a practicing professional astrologer? No, I do not "condemn" her for it, only to question how he can make this claim.

Given that Luther has expounded so well on the grace of God, I think Capon takes it too far somehow and goes somewhere that is not warranted. Now, if he read this, he would think that I was falling back into "medieval" or "works" theology. No, I just am not convinced that what he argues is fully biblical. It's not that I want grace to cost anything, just that I think he is not convincing.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I think I get it, January 30, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Mystery of Christ . . . and Why We Don't Get It (Paperback)

I read this for the first time shortly after becoming a Christian. Earlier, I thought Christianity meant constantly avoiding sin. Capon points out that we will always sin, but the Good News is that God loves us anyway. He emphasizes love and hope, and does not waste energy on the little questions. And he exhorts us also to remember that we do not need to waste our energy on the little questions, but to instead remember Jesus' commandment to love God, ourselves, and each other. This book increased my new-found joy in knowing God's love.