{"id":141,"date":"2012-06-14T18:24:42","date_gmt":"2012-06-14T18:24:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.forgivingvictim.com\/?page_id=141"},"modified":"2015-09-10T16:57:39","modified_gmt":"2015-09-10T21:57:39","slug":"introduction","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.forgivingvictim.com\/home\/the-course\/introduction\/","title":{"rendered":"Introduction"},"content":{"rendered":"<div  class='flex_column av-av_one_full-2a9015ff38129c418a3f2eafba3e9512 av_one_full  avia-builder-el-0  el_before_av_one_full  avia-builder-el-first  first flex_column_div  '     ><style type=\"text\/css\" data-created_by=\"avia_inline_auto\" id=\"style-css-av-av_heading-3a8aa1e663a4fd0f6d62d2be4ddf0178\">\n#top .av-special-heading.av-av_heading-3a8aa1e663a4fd0f6d62d2be4ddf0178{\npadding-bottom:0;\n}\nbody .av-special-heading.av-av_heading-3a8aa1e663a4fd0f6d62d2be4ddf0178 .av-special-heading-tag .heading-char{\nfont-size:25px;\n}\n.av-special-heading.av-av_heading-3a8aa1e663a4fd0f6d62d2be4ddf0178 .av-subheading{\nfont-size:15px;\n}\n<\/style>\n<div  class='av-special-heading av-av_heading-3a8aa1e663a4fd0f6d62d2be4ddf0178 av-special-heading-h1 blockquote modern-quote  avia-builder-el-1  avia-builder-el-no-sibling '><h1 class='av-special-heading-tag'  itemprop=\"headline\"  >Introduction<\/h1><div class=\"special-heading-border\"><div class=\"special-heading-inner-border\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<div  class='flex_column av-av_one_full-2a9015ff38129c418a3f2eafba3e9512 av_one_full  avia-builder-el-2  el_after_av_one_full  avia-builder-el-last  first flex_column_div  column-top-margin'     ><section  class='av_textblock_section av-av_textblock-0366cc7376be6c9e82a3e9cc8987b64f '   itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/CreativeWork\" ><div class='avia_textblock'  itemprop=\"text\" ><p><em>Jesus the Forgiving Victim<\/em>\u00a0offers something quite fresh in the field of\u00a0introductions to faith while embracing a straightforward Christian orthodoxy. Most Christian formation courses follow the format of education courses in general, which is to invite learners to be taught by an expert. Novices are taught what they need to know in order to belong to that local church or denomination. Once they \u201cpass\u201d the course, they are welcomed into the community and expected to behave as good Christians.<\/p>\n<p>This approach to Christian life and learning has led many people away from the faith rather than closer to God. Why? Because it is actually quite a boring way to live and not at all what Christ had in mind when he invited his followers into a fullness of life they could barely imagine (John 10:10). What James Alison had in mind when he began putting together <em>Jesus the Forgiving Victim<\/em>\u00a0course over 12 years ago, was to restore to the Christian life the wonder and transformative power of discovering not some new Biblical fact or church doctrine, but that you are loved far more than you know. Where a course of <em>instruction<\/em> tells you about something, gives you information, a course of <em>induction<\/em>, which is what <em>Jesus the Forgiving Victim<\/em>\u00a0is, works cumulatively and allows you to find yourself summoned into being on the inside of something new.<\/p>\n<p>By embarking on this course, you join others on a journey of discovery that will open your hearts and minds to discovering new things about yourself and your faith. It is a journey from fake goodness, from a false and insecure self, to relaxing into a goodness and security not your own, but in which you discover yourself held. And it is a journey from a unity that needs to create victims toward a unity received from the risen and forgiving victim in our midst. We hope that <em>Jesus the Forgiving Victim<\/em>\u00a0will be a meaningful part of your journey toward a deeper faith and fuller life in Christ.<\/p>\n<p>Visit the <a title=\"Store\" href=\"https:\/\/www.forgivingvictim.com\/store\/\">store<\/a> where you can purchase the four volume set of essays or the set of essays plus the six video DVDs. Registration for the electronic format for groups and the only course designed for individuals is available <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forgivingvictim.com\/store\/\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":43,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.9.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Introduction - ForgivingVictim<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.forgivingvictim.com\/home\/the-course\/introduction\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Introduction - 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