A Constructively Critical Conversation Between Nonviolent And Substitutionary Perspectives On Atonement

In the contemporary theological world, traditional substitutionary accounts of Christ’s atoning work have increasingly come under criticism for what is said to be their propensity for encouraging violence by a variety of theologians such as feminists, pacifists, and Girardians. Cur deus homo?, the question about God’s sovereign purpose in Christ’s atoning work, is radically transposed into “who killed Jesus?” which is a provocative inquiry into the ethical issues surrounding divine violence from the nonviolent perspective of atonement. Nonetheless, in this monograph, contrary to their nonviolent intention, you will witness that Brock, Schwager, and Weaver violently damage a “holistic” dimension of atonement event under the human cause of the victim Jesus’ crucifixion by evil. By contrast, you will hear the harmonized voices of Anselm, Calvin, and Barth, who adamantly proclaim the incarnated Son of God’s sovereignty in his self-giving death for our salvation. Furthermore, it is through the theological conversation between the opposite camps that you will realize how the anthropological motifs of healing, scapegoat mechanism, and nonviolence are to be constructively engaged with the Christological-cultic context of an evangelical doctrine of substitution. You will encounter the crux of Christ’s saving death for us.

In the contemporary theological world, traditional substitutionary accounts of Christ's atoning work have increasingly come under criticism for what is said to be their propensity for encouraging violence by a variety of theologians such as feminists, pacifists, and Girardians. Cur deus homo?, the question about God's sovereign purpose in Christ's atoning work, is radically transposed into "who killed Jesus?" which is a provocative inquiry into the ethical issues surrounding divine violence from the nonviolent perspective of atonement. Nonetheless, in this monograph, contrary to their nonviolent intention, you will witness that Brock, Schwager, and Weaver violently damage a "holistic" dimension of atonement event under the human cause of the victim Jesus' crucifixion by evil.By contrast, you will hear the harmonized voices of Anselm, Calvin, and Barth, who adamantly proclaim the incarnated Son of God's sovereignty in his self-giving death for our salvation. Furthermore, it is through the theological conversation between the opposite camps that you will realize how the anthropological motifs of healing, scapegoat mechanism, and nonviolence are to be constructively engaged with the Christological-cultic context of an evangelical doctrine of substitution. You will encounter the crux of Christ's saving death for us.

A provocative study that cuts to the very heart of Christian thought, The Nonviolent Atonement challenges the traditional, Anselmian understanding of atonement along with the assumption that heavenly justice depends on Christ s passive, innocent submission to violent death at the hands of a cruel God. Instead J. Denny Weaver offers a thoroughly nonviolent paradigm for understanding atonement, grounded in the New Testament and sensitive to the concerns of pacifist, black, feminist, and womanist theology. While many scholars have engaged the subject of violence in atonement theology, Weaver s Nonviolent Atonement is the only book that offers a radically new theory rather than simply refurbishing existing theories. Key features of this revised and updated second edition include new material on Paul and Anselm, expanded discussion on the development of violence in theology, interaction with recent scholarship on atonement, and response to criticisms of Weaver s original work. Praise for the first edition: The best current single volume on reconstructing the theology of atonement. S. Mark Heim in Anglican Theological Review Weaver provides an important contribution to atonement theories by seriously inserting the contemporary concerns of pacifist, feminist, womanist, and black theologians into the centuries-old christological conversation. . . . A provocative but faithful proposal benefiting any student of christology. Religious Studies Review A noteworthy contribution to the literature on the atonement. Weaver provides a useful critique of the history of atonement motifs; he does a fine job of placing Anselm s theology in its historical context; he creatively fuses a singular biblical vision from the earthly narrative of the Gospels and the cosmic perspective of the Apocalypse; and he attempts to relate discussions of the atonement to Christian social ethics. Trinity Journal This is a superb succinct survey and analysis of classical and contemporary theories of the atonement, ideal for students and general readers. . . . A clearly written, passionately expressed introduction to current debates on the atonement. . . . Excellent resource. Reviews in Religion and Theology

The first installment in a wide and deep constructive theology for our time In Christ and Reconciliation Veli-Matti Karkkainen develops a constructive Christology and theology of salvation in dialogue with the best of Christian tradition, with contemporary theology in its global and contextual diversity, and with other major living faiths. Karkkainen's Constructive Christian Theology for the Pluralistic World is a five-volume project that aims to develop a new approach to and method of doing Christian theology in our pluralistic world at the beginning of the third millennium. Topics such as diversity, inclusivity, violence, power, cultural hybridity, and justice are part of the constructive theological discussion along with classical topics such as the messianic consciousness, incarnation, atonement, and the person of Christ. With the metaphor of hospitality serving as the framework for his discussion, Karkkainen engages Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism in sympathetic and critical mutual dialogue while remaining robustly Christian in his convictions. Never before has a full-scale doctrinal theology been attempted in such a wide and deep dialogical mode.

In this comprehensive volume Thomas N. Finger takes on the formidable task of making explicit the often implicit theology of the Anabaptist movement and then presenting, for the sake of the welfare of the whole contemporary Christian church, his own constructive theology. In the first part Finger tells the story of the development of Anabaptist thought, helping the reader grasp both the unifying and diverse elements in that theological tradition. In the second and third parts Finger considers in more detail the major themes essential to Anabaptist theology, first considering the historic views and then presenting his own constructive effort. Within the Anabaptist perspective Finger offers a theology that highlights the three dimensions of its salvific center: the communal, the personal and the missional. The themes taken up in the final part form what Finger identifies as the convictional framework of that center; namely, Christology, anthropology and eschatology. This book is a landmark contribution of Anabaptist theology for the whole church in biblical, historical and contemporary context.

This penetrating study makes a case for the centrality of the concept of representation (Stellvertretung) in Hans Urs von Balthasar’s theological project. How is it possible for Christ to act in the place of humanity? In Hans Urs von Balthasar’s Theology of Representation, Jacob Lett broaches this perplexing soteriological question and offers the first book-length analysis of Balthasar’s theology of representation (Stellvertretung). Lett’s study shows how Balthasar rehabilitates the category of representation by developing it in relationship to the central mysteries of the Christian faith: concerned by the lack of metaphysical and theological foundations for understanding the question above, Balthasar ultimately grounds representation in the trinitarian life of God, making “action in the place of the other” central to divine and creaturely being. Lett not only articulates the centrality of representation to Balthasar’s theological project but also demonstrates that Balthasar’s theology of representation has the potential to reshape discussions in the fields of soteriology, Christology, trinitarian theology, anthropology, and ecclesiology. This work covers a wide range of themes in Balthasar’s theology, including placial and spatial metaphors, a post-Chalcedonian Christology of Christ’s two wills, and theories of drama. This book is also a text of significant comparative range: Lett considers Balthasar’s key interlocutors (Gregory of Nyssa, Maximus, Aquinas, Przywara, Ulrich, Barth) and expands this base to include voices beyond those typically found in Balthasarian scholarship, including Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Dorothee Sölle. The overall result is a deeply probing presentation of one of Balthasar’s most significant contributions to contemporary theology.

Foreword by Willard Swartley "We considered him stricken by God, but . . ." Did God really pour out his wrath against sin on his Son to satisfy his own need for justice? Or did God-in-Christ forgive the world even as it unleashed its wrath against him? Was Christ's sacrifice the ultimate fulfillment of God's demand for redemptive bloodshed? Or was the cross God's great "No" to that whole system? This distinctively panoramic volume offers fresh perspectives on these and other difficult questions reemerging throughout the church today. Contributors: James Alison Kharalambos Anstall Mark D. Baker Sharon Baker Anthony Bartlett Marcus Borg Ronald S. Dart E. Robert Ekblad Michael Hardin Brad Jersak Andrew P. Klager Brita Miko C. F. D. Moule Wayne Northey Nathan Rieger Richard Rohr Miroslav Volf J. Denny Weaver Rowan Williams N. T. Wright