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A review by latviadugan
The Crucifixion: Understanding the Death of Jesus Christ by Fleming Rutledge
5.0
Rutledge succeeds in returning Christ, and him crucified, back to the center of Christian faith and message after falling out of fashion in much of Western Christianity. Rather than speaking of atonement theories, she prefers motifs, and finds a place for most of them. All, in fact, need to be considered to get a full picture of what happened on the cross. However, the foundational motif is apocalyptic. The incarnation was an invasion by the Son of God into enemy-occupied territory. All other motifs - sacrifice, ransom, penal substitutionary, Christus Victor, etc. - shed light on the apocalyptic. The cross was God's wrath and judgment on Sin, a power (like Death) that holds humanity in bondage.
Main themes in this massive volume are Sin and Death as powers that nothing short of a bloody crucifixion and glorious resurrection could defeat, righteousness as a verb understood within a larger word group including justice and justification, justification understood as rectification if all that is wrong, and the scandalous heart of the gospel that Christ died for the ungodly, which she suggests points to a universal scope of salvation.
Rutledge converses with Scripture, patristic fathers, Reformers, and contemporary theologians. This is a book rich in theological insights, even if one doesn't agree with every assertion. It should be in every preacher's library.
Main themes in this massive volume are Sin and Death as powers that nothing short of a bloody crucifixion and glorious resurrection could defeat, righteousness as a verb understood within a larger word group including justice and justification, justification understood as rectification if all that is wrong, and the scandalous heart of the gospel that Christ died for the ungodly, which she suggests points to a universal scope of salvation.
Rutledge converses with Scripture, patristic fathers, Reformers, and contemporary theologians. This is a book rich in theological insights, even if one doesn't agree with every assertion. It should be in every preacher's library.