The Empathic God - by Frank Woggon (Hardcover)

About the Book

In The Empathic God, Frank Woggon constructs a clinical theology of "at-onement." Woggon calls for a caring participation in God's ongoing work of salvation through a praxis of spiritual care. The book will help practitioners and students of spiritual care as well as clergy to critically reflect on where spiritual care practice and theology meet.

Book Synopsis

What if Jesus did not come to die for our sins? What if, instead, Jesus's life and death was intended to provide a way out of our shame? While traditional Christian teachings about the atonement emphasize sin as guilt and transgression against God's will and commandments, Frank Woggon points out that clinical spiritual care reveals that the human condition is predominantly marked by shame rather than guilt.

In The Empathic God, Woggon examines myopic readings of the Jesus event that, in turn, have embedded distortions into traditional paradigms of the atonement. In contrast, Woggon mines narratives of the human condition to engage in a critical examination of the Jesus story. As a clinician and ordained Baptist minister, Woggon presents the Jesus event as God's empathic initiative toward humanity and convincingly argues that salvation comes through empathy rather than forgiveness.

Woggon's work constructs a clinical theology of "at-onement" from the perspective of clinical spiritual care. The Empathic God calls for a practical response of caring participation in God's ongoing work of salvation through an empathic praxis of spiritual care. Most importantly, The Empathic God takes seriously that lived human experience is the starting point for theological exploration rather than doctrine.

This book will help practitioners and students of spiritual care in the Christian tradition to reflect more critically on the intersection of spiritual care practice and theology. The book also will challenge pastors, ministers of pastoral care, chaplains, pastoral counselors, spiritually oriented therapists to interrogate and re-interpret traumatic, shame-filled Christian teachings about the atonement so that they, too, can join in God's ongoing and liberating work of salvation.

Review Quotes

"The Empathic God is a masterpiece. In this groundbreaking contribution, Frank Woggon skillfully engages pastoral, theological, and clinical perspectives from his experiences as a spiritual care provider, educator, administrator, and researcher to explore new understandings of at-onement. This book will stimulate new conversations among theological educators and students, clergy and chaplains, and other readers who seek to interpret human experience with fresh insights into a classical theological doctrine." --Kenneth J. McFayden, vice president for academic affairs and academic dean, and professor of practical theology, Union Presbyterian Seminary

"Frank Woggon redefines the narrative of the concept of atonement in a way that liberates it from traditional themes that often suppress and oppress. In the context of spiritual care, this reframing invites all to see this move as a means of healing of body, mind, and spirit. Practitioners in both the clinical and congregational setting can utilize this text to enhance their care of persons who are seeking to integrate faith practices into their lives." --Bishop Teresa E. Snorton, Clinical Pastoral Educator (ACPE and BCC) (retired), Ecumenical Bishop, the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church

"Atonement theology has fallen on hard times, it seems, but Frank Woggon's book The Empathic God: A Clinical Theology of At-Onement breaks open this central Christian understanding with freshness, clarity, and comprehensiveness. This book will remain a valuable resource that touches this core Christian understanding with theological and spiritual integrity as well as grounded life-praxis. Pastoral practitioners as well as theological and spiritual seekers--even those soured on the question--will find a guide and a friend in this book." --William S. Schmidt, professor, Loyola University Chicago

"Human flourishing is a buzzword of the day, yet how is it possible? Frank Woggon brings years of clinical engagement in hospital chaplaincy and palliative care to explore existential questions of shame, guilt, personal trauma, and social fragmentation that haunt our lives and make flourishing feel impossible. In The Empathic God, he first deconstructs and reconstructs a theology of at-onement, illuminating God's union with Jesus and solidarity with humanity. Then he urges us toward empathic spiritual care for ourselves and others and invites us to embrace a salvation that embodies wholeness, healing, and flourishing." --Rev. Dr. Eileen Campbell-Reed, visiting associate professor of pastoral theology and care, Union Theological Seminary, and author of Pastoral Imagination: Bringing the Practice of Ministry to Life

"A brilliant reinterpretation of the Christian understanding of atonement. Dipping deftly and in great depth into the best of Christian theological reflection as well as actual life experiences, Frank Woggon demonstrates the value of seeing God as a God of empathy to address our human struggle with shame. The Empathic God should be a must-read for all persons engaged in spiritual and pastoral care." --E. Glenn Hinson, professor emeritus of spirituality and church history, Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond