From Sin to Amazing Grace

Throughout the history of Christianity, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender ("LGBT" or"queer") people have been condemned as unrepentant sinners who are in dire need of God'ssaving grace. As a result of this condemnation, LGBT people have been subjected to greatspiritual, emotional and physical abuse and violence. This issue has taken on a particularurgency in light of the horrific string of suicides over the last year of young LGBT people whowere subjected to harassment and bullying by their classmates.Cheng argues that people need to be liberated from the traditional legal model of thinkingabout sin and grace as a violation of divine and natural laws in which grace is understood asthe strength to refrain from violating such laws. Rather Cheng proposes a Christological modelbased upon the theologies of Irenaeus, Bonaventure and Barth, in which sin and grace aredefined in terms of what God has done for us in Jesus Christ.This book will serve as a useful resource for all people who struggle to make sense of thetraditional Christian doctrines of sin and grace in the context of the 21st century.