The feeble gospel goes back to Jesus as our model, our example, and is much concerned with moral injunctions. It sees his teaching as a fine set of ideals at which to aim. It may not do much harm but it has no power to change your life: it is a faith built in sand which leaves you untouched at the center and vulnerable and exposed when life knocks you flat on your face.

The powerful gospel, on the other hand, has at its center the Cross and the Passion of Jesus and the compassion of God. It speaks of these truths both as historical and present realities. It speaks of forgiveness and of dying, of resurrection and new life.

from A Year Lost and Found