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the_dragon_starback's review
emotional
hopeful
informative
lighthearted
reflective
5.0
I finally finished it and it was incredible and the best book of my year.
marystevens's review
5.0
This was recommended by the TwoFeministsAnnotateThrBible podcast. It’s an encyclopedic treatment of the theology of the crucifixion. I picked it up because I never really understood it. I have a much clearer understanding now but I can’t say I really, really get it. It was slow going. And it was useful to have a Bible handy. I think the intended audience is clergy and well read lay people. That doesn’t include me. But all that said, I really recommend it if you’re interested. Her explanations are really clear, it’s well-written and it’s very well organized. She’s an Episcopal priest, one of the first women to be ordained.
milkbadger's review against another edition
For unknown masochistic reasons, I committed myself to reading this book cover to cover. It took over two years, I think. I did let myself off the hook a little by deciding to skip all of the voluminous footnotes, but it was a slog even so.
The book covers a staggering quantity of theological treatments of the crucifixion event throughout the ages, and I don't and won't remember most of the perspectives that I encountered in the six hundred pages of text. But if I had to pick a single presentation that I thought was the most important to carry forward in Christian tradition, I would go with Karl Barth, or at least, the version of Barth that Rutledge presents in the book. In my estimation, Barth possesses a gift for telling the story of salvation and drawing connections in such a way as to make them seem ordinary and simple but also surprising and eye-opening at the same time.
The book covers a staggering quantity of theological treatments of the crucifixion event throughout the ages, and I don't and won't remember most of the perspectives that I encountered in the six hundred pages of text. But if I had to pick a single presentation that I thought was the most important to carry forward in Christian tradition, I would go with Karl Barth, or at least, the version of Barth that Rutledge presents in the book. In my estimation, Barth possesses a gift for telling the story of salvation and drawing connections in such a way as to make them seem ordinary and simple but also surprising and eye-opening at the same time.
justjohnson93's review against another edition
5.0
A top 3-5 theological book I have ever read, easily. Mrs. Rutledge is one of my favorite authors, as some of her other written works and her regular tweeting habits (even as an 83 year old woman) have truly blessed, enriched, and deepened my Christian faith. This 600+ page study of the atoning work of Jesus Christ on the cross is the apex of a lifetime of pastoral ministry and scholarship, and it's nearly perfect in my assessment. I read this alongside another 20-something CoC minister friend, and we were both so grateful for Mrs. Rutledge's ministry of study that is a gift to all ages of Christians in every stream of the Church.
"All the manifold biblical images with their richness, complexity, and depth come together as one to say this: the righteousness of God is revealed in the cross of Christ. The 'precious blood' of the Son of God is the perfect sacrifice for sin; the ransom is paid to deliver the captives; the gates of hell are stormed; the Red Sea is crossed and the enemy drowned; God's judgment has been executed upon Sin; the disobedience of Adam is recapitulated in the obedience of Christ; a new creation is coming into being; those who put their trust in Christ are incorporated into his life; the kingdoms of the 'present evil age' are passing away and the promised kingdom of God is manifest not in triumphalist crusades, but in the cruciform witness of the Church."
"All the manifold biblical images with their richness, complexity, and depth come together as one to say this: the righteousness of God is revealed in the cross of Christ. The 'precious blood' of the Son of God is the perfect sacrifice for sin; the ransom is paid to deliver the captives; the gates of hell are stormed; the Red Sea is crossed and the enemy drowned; God's judgment has been executed upon Sin; the disobedience of Adam is recapitulated in the obedience of Christ; a new creation is coming into being; those who put their trust in Christ are incorporated into his life; the kingdoms of the 'present evil age' are passing away and the promised kingdom of God is manifest not in triumphalist crusades, but in the cruciform witness of the Church."
nate_s's review against another edition
5.0
Home run after home run.
Can't recommend it highly enough. Especially to those dissatisfied with the accounts of Christianity, viz. atonement, given by both standard evangelicalism and liberal/mainline theology.
I had my breath taken away at several moments. Rutledge is dialed in, y'all. May her kind increase.
P.S. Holy footnotes, Batman! The book is at least 50% longer than it looks because of all the fine print!
Can't recommend it highly enough. Especially to those dissatisfied with the accounts of Christianity, viz. atonement, given by both standard evangelicalism and liberal/mainline theology.
I had my breath taken away at several moments. Rutledge is dialed in, y'all. May her kind increase.
P.S. Holy footnotes, Batman! The book is at least 50% longer than it looks because of all the fine print!
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