jeremymdoan's review
5.0
Easily one of the most impactful books I've ever read. It changed the way I look at the cross, what it means for us and what happened on it. It changed the way I think about theology, how it works and what it can do for us. It changed the way I look at Scripture, realizing how much more we can see when we see Scripture as a work of literature. I feel like my whole life I was looking at all these things through a pinhole, and only now (because of the amazing imagination and faithfulness of Rutledge) am I able to see the whole picture, able to see connections I never knew existed, able to more fully appreciate the depth and breadth of the Church's witness regarding the cross. Very, very grateful for this book.
eaclapp41's review
5.0
I mean... what more is there to say? All the superlatives you hear about this book are true. As a pastor, it will change my preaching. As a follower of Jesus, it has enriched my faith during this season of Lent.
I wholeheartedly recommend this to everyone looking for a comprehensive and faithful examination of everything to do with how God is at work in the cross.
I wholeheartedly recommend this to everyone looking for a comprehensive and faithful examination of everything to do with how God is at work in the cross.
moreteamorecats's review
4.0
The best new theological devotion I've read in years, with caveats. First, the praise.
1) Audience. Popularizing nonfiction often turns out pandering, glib, or underhanded, while the downside of specialized insight and specificity is jargon or idiosyncrasy. Rutledge takes the hard but honest way through the dilemma. She believes the words she needs are worth taking the trouble to teach, and she teaches them well. The result is a rare (but not unprecedented) combination of accessibility and substance in theology.
2) Substance. A commenter at the old-school anonymous blog Unfogged once pointed out that Prince was one of the top ten rock guitarists of all time, and yet lead guitar was maybe the fourth- or fifth-most important thing about Prince's artistry. Likewise Rutledge here. She offers here the most luminous exposition of Barth's Church Dogmatics IV.2 I have ever read, and it's maybe her book's third-most-important substantive contribution for scholars. Second is her image of impunity as a factor in horrendous evil, as a corrective to mushy liberalism-- a retrieval from Anselm, better presented and (to me) persuasive; and first, her demolition of right-wing heresies that read the cross and the Trinity through subordination.
The caveats all have to do with her arms-length approach to liberation theology. Some of her critiques are well-informed and well-taken, but three points rankled for me:
--Her argument about the Trinity and the cross would be even stronger if she foregrounded its anti-patriarchal implications. She wants neither to distance herself from the feminists nor quite to call herself one, so she undermines herself instead.
--Womanists don't get their due here. Rutledge believes that the influential critique of substitution in [b: Sisters in the Wilderness|781774|Sisters in the Wilderness|Delores S. Williams|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1387715957s/781774.jpg|767795] gets the cross and the gospel badly wrong, but I'm disappointed that the more traditional approaches of [a: Kelly Brown Douglas|343855|Kelly Brown Douglas|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] or [a: Shawn Copeland|140916|M. Shawn Copeland|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/f_50x66-6a03a5c12233c941481992b82eea8d23.png] don't show up. It never hurts a White orthodox woman theologian to show what she's learned from Black orthodox women theologians.
--She takes a wait-and-see approach to queer people's place in the church. That galls, especially since she reads AIDS literature with such pastoral and moral sensitivity.
1) Audience. Popularizing nonfiction often turns out pandering, glib, or underhanded, while the downside of specialized insight and specificity is jargon or idiosyncrasy. Rutledge takes the hard but honest way through the dilemma. She believes the words she needs are worth taking the trouble to teach, and she teaches them well. The result is a rare (but not unprecedented) combination of accessibility and substance in theology.
2) Substance. A commenter at the old-school anonymous blog Unfogged once pointed out that Prince was one of the top ten rock guitarists of all time, and yet lead guitar was maybe the fourth- or fifth-most important thing about Prince's artistry. Likewise Rutledge here. She offers here the most luminous exposition of Barth's Church Dogmatics IV.2 I have ever read, and it's maybe her book's third-most-important substantive contribution for scholars. Second is her image of impunity as a factor in horrendous evil, as a corrective to mushy liberalism-- a retrieval from Anselm, better presented and (to me) persuasive; and first, her demolition of right-wing heresies that read the cross and the Trinity through subordination.
The caveats all have to do with her arms-length approach to liberation theology. Some of her critiques are well-informed and well-taken, but three points rankled for me:
--Her argument about the Trinity and the cross would be even stronger if she foregrounded its anti-patriarchal implications. She wants neither to distance herself from the feminists nor quite to call herself one, so she undermines herself instead.
--Womanists don't get their due here. Rutledge believes that the influential critique of substitution in [b: Sisters in the Wilderness|781774|Sisters in the Wilderness|Delores S. Williams|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1387715957s/781774.jpg|767795] gets the cross and the gospel badly wrong, but I'm disappointed that the more traditional approaches of [a: Kelly Brown Douglas|343855|Kelly Brown Douglas|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] or [a: Shawn Copeland|140916|M. Shawn Copeland|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/f_50x66-6a03a5c12233c941481992b82eea8d23.png] don't show up. It never hurts a White orthodox woman theologian to show what she's learned from Black orthodox women theologians.
--She takes a wait-and-see approach to queer people's place in the church. That galls, especially since she reads AIDS literature with such pastoral and moral sensitivity.
andi_h's review
5.0
A powerful and profound exploration of the theology of the crucifixion that, while challenging, is accessible to those without a formal theological education. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It's one that I will be revisiting regularly, not least because I think it will require several read-throughs to glean all the wisdom it contains.
marmanold's review
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
5.0
eric_clapp's review
5.0
I mean... what more is there to say? All the superlatives you hear about this book are true. As a pastor, it will change my preaching. As a follower of Jesus, it has enriched my faith during this season of Lent.
I wholeheartedly recommend this to everyone looking for a comprehensive and faithful examination of everything to do with how God is at work in the cross.
I wholeheartedly recommend this to everyone looking for a comprehensive and faithful examination of everything to do with how God is at work in the cross.
colinjfast's review against another edition
4.0
Certainly covers a lot of ground, and topics largely ignored or shunned (satisfaction, substitution, wrath, blood sacrifice). Many theological assumptions and questionable theological takes aside, worthwhile read which helps focus on the centrality of the crucifixion.
otisrobertson's review against another edition
4.0
Overall, this is a remarkably helpful book.
The guiding principle of the book is that the competing "theories" of atonement–of what happens at the crucifixion–are neither competitors nor theories. Rather, they are complementary, interconnected images and facets of a divine mystery at work to overcome Sin, Satan, and Death. This is a decided strength of the book.
Rutledge is Episcopalian and writes primarily to a mainline audience. I realize that makes me not the primary demographic for her audience, and I filter accordingly. All the same, it's frustrating how often she feels the need to prove her liberal (theologically, not politically) credibility. For example, she often makes it a point to note the late/liberal view of the Scriptures' authorship (and implicitly rejecting inspiration and infallibility). Yet she even comments at one point that it has no bearing on the point she's making at the time.
That said, to her credit, she also rebukes the mainline churches for neglecting the Bible and the riches of the Scriptures' truths. I'm sure her intended mainline audience may be equally as frustrated (for diametrically opposed reasons) as I.
Frustrations aside, I highlighted the crud out of this book. It's a beautiful and powerful "surveying of the wondrous cross."
The guiding principle of the book is that the competing "theories" of atonement–of what happens at the crucifixion–are neither competitors nor theories. Rather, they are complementary, interconnected images and facets of a divine mystery at work to overcome Sin, Satan, and Death. This is a decided strength of the book.
Rutledge is Episcopalian and writes primarily to a mainline audience. I realize that makes me not the primary demographic for her audience, and I filter accordingly. All the same, it's frustrating how often she feels the need to prove her liberal (theologically, not politically) credibility. For example, she often makes it a point to note the late/liberal view of the Scriptures' authorship (and implicitly rejecting inspiration and infallibility). Yet she even comments at one point that it has no bearing on the point she's making at the time.
That said, to her credit, she also rebukes the mainline churches for neglecting the Bible and the riches of the Scriptures' truths. I'm sure her intended mainline audience may be equally as frustrated (for diametrically opposed reasons) as I.
Frustrations aside, I highlighted the crud out of this book. It's a beautiful and powerful "surveying of the wondrous cross."
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