Gospel We Missed: Rethinking the Cross, the Canon, and the God We Thought We Knew

The Gospel We Missed In this bold and compassionate theological meditation, The Gospel We Missed invites readers on a journey beyond the familiar terrain of American evangelicalism into a deeper, more Christ-centered faith. C.R. Kerkau challenges long-held assumptions about the Bible's inerrancy, the sacrificial system of Leviticus, and the transactional view of the cross, offering instead a vision of Scripture that is inspired but not immaculate, human yet Spirit-breathed, and always leading us to the person of Jesus Christ. Drawing from Church Fathers like Origen and Gregory of Nyssa, as well as modern thinkers like René Girard and David Bentley Hart, Kerkau argues that the gospel is not a divine demand for blood but a divine disruption of our scapegoating systems. He explores the priestly and prophetic tensions in Scripture, reevaluates the canon's formation, and reclaims a vision of God who is not bound by legalism but bursting with mercy. This work is as much a memoir as it is a meditation, woven with personal stories of doubt, fatherhood, and spiritual awakening. It is written for the seekers, the questioners, the parents of curious children, and the disillusioned faithful still longing for Jesus. Kerkau doesn't call readers away from the Bible, but toward a truer reading-one that doesn't enthrone the text over Christ, but reads it in light of Him. Ultimately, The Gospel We Missed is a call to rediscover a faith that is rooted not in fear or tradition, but in the living God who desires mercy, not sacrifice; who reveals Himself not through ritual, but through resurrection; and who still whispers in the silence, "Follow me."