Acts Of Atonement

Unattainable. That’s what he is. Thirteen years my senior, my uncle’s best friend, and my father’s business partner. The man could not be any more untouchable if he lived on the moon itself. William Hawthorne has haunted my dreams for the better part of my teenage years. Coming in like a dark knight on the most tragic of days, he swooped in and quietly guided me back to sanity, offering me the support I so desperately needed. I've kept my distance, but a series of events have landed me on his doorstep. Literally. I’m both the nanny and his charge, making it practically impossible to stay away. Trying to swallow around a ball of emotions, my breath catches. Letting William see me, the real me—all battered and broken inside, pining after a love I cannot have—is not an option. As the front door swings open I give myself one last warning. But I have to wonder, will it be enough?

In the past century of critical scholarship on Luke-Acts, it has become commonplace to affirm that Luke attaches no direct soteriological value to the death of Jesus. More specifically, the scholarly consensus affirms that Luke-Acts does not present Jesus’ death as an atonement for sin. Rather, Luke’s soteriology is understood to center upon Jesus’ resurrection and exaltation as Lord. In this careful thematic study of atonement theology in Luke’s double-work, John Kimbell demonstrates that the value Luke attributes to the death of Christ has been underestimated. When all the data is considered, the death of Christ is given greater direct soteriological significance in the Lukan writings than scholarship has generally acknowledged. Specifically, the death of Jesus is portrayed by Luke as an atoning death that brings about the forgiveness of sins. This book does not deny the presence of other soteriological emphases. Nevertheless, it convincingly shows that atonement theology plays a fundamental role in Luke’s soteriology, such that when this aspect is rejected or minimized, Luke’s presentation of the cross and salvation is significantly distorted. Kimbell carefully interacts with the scholarly secondary literature on this subject, ensuring that any serious Christian reader will find this work stimulating and useful. Detailed exegesis is paired with careful attention to Luke’s overall theological purposes. The result is that the reader will come away with a clearer understanding of Luke’s writings and a deeper appreciation for the meaning of Christ’s death.

"The doctrine of the Atonement is the distinctive doctrine of Christianity. Over the course of many centuries of reflection, highly diverse interpretations of the doctrine have been proposed. In the context of this history of interpretation, Eleonore Stump considers the doctrine afresh with philosophical care. Whatever exactly the Atonement is, it is supposed to include a solution to the problems of the human condition, especially its guilt and shame. Stump canvasses the major interpretations of the doctrine that attempt to explain this solution and argues that all of them have serious shortcomings. In their place, she argues for an interpretation that is both novel and yet traditional and that has significant advantages over other interpretations, including Anselm's well-known account of the doctrine. In the process, she also discusses love, union, guilt, shame, forgiveness, retribution, punishment, shared attention, mind-reading, empathy, and various other issues in moral psychology and ethics."--

Suffering and exclusion are normal in a believer's life. At least they should be. This was certainly Jesus's experience. And it's the experience of countless Christians around the world today.No matter your social location or set of experiences, the biblical letter of 1 Peter wants to redefine your expectations and reinvigorate your hope.Drawing on years of ministry in a Muslim-majority nation, Elliot Clark guides us through Peter's letter with striking insights for today. Whether we're in positions of power or weakness, influence or marginalization, all of us are called to live and witness as exiles in a world that's not our home. This is our job description. This is our mission. This is our opportunity.A church in exile doesn't have to be a church in retreat.

Leon Morris examines the rich variety of New Testament terms used to describe the significance of Christ's death and resurrection.

novel, contemporary, urban

In response to popular demand, Fr. Patrick Reardon presents the first of three volumes exploring redemption and salvation through the lens of Scripture, patristics, and liturgics, as well as through history, philosophy, language, literature, and psychology. He brings all these perspectives together to show how the whole of Christ's work--from Incarnation to Ascension--accomplishes the "at-one-ment" of God with man.

Gustaf Aulen's classic work, 'Christus Victor', has long been a standard text on the atonement. Aulen applies history of ideas' methodology to historical theology in tracing the development of three views of the atonement. Aulen asserts that in traditional histories of the doctrine of the atonement only two views have usually been presented, the objective/Anselmian and the subjective/Aberlardian views. According to Aulen, however, there is another type of atonement doctrine in which Christ overcomes the hostile powers that hold humanity in subjection, at the same time that God in Christ reconciles the world to Himself. This view he calls the "classic" idea of the atonement. Because of its predominance in the New Testament, in patristic writings, and in the theology of Luther, Aulen holds that the classic type may be called the distinctively Christian idea of the atonement.