Stricken by God?: Nonviolent Identification and the Victory of Christ

by Bradley Jersak (Editor), Michael Hardin (Editor)

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

Genres: Theology, Nonfiction, Religion, Christianity, Christian

531 pages, Paperback

First published September 25, 2007

Reviews

[Brent Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who has been journeying through the miasma of more high altitude theology with all of its difficulties and abstractions, I can say that this book has been helpful in a number of ways. It has helped me learn to look at the same concept but ask different questions. It has also helped me discover a ground level, good-news story that is much closer to the Jesus I've come to love than the one I've been taught to think about. Brad's personal journey puts flesh on an area of Christianity (the atonement) that many choose to either ignore (due to a real sense of cognitive dissonance) or simply give 3o0-year-old platitudes towards. Admittedly, not all the essays are comprehensible at my current level of theological understanding and ability so I was unable to finish reading all the essays. I hope to return to this book over and over again for the rest of my life as my questions grow more precise, honest and informed.

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A critical anthology for any theologian or pastor interested in the current atonement debates. This gives an incredible look at the scope of the debate and is a good entry point for anyone though technical knowledge of Hebrew and Greek is necessary in some chapters. It also is a good bit of reading for people who are familiar with the debate. All of the writers offer great re-readings and re-workings of atonement theory for our time and place and the future. After 500 years penal substitutionary theory has been dethroned. Long live the Suffering God!

[Vanessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm loving this book so far and it's relevance to forgiveness for me is timely. However, I am wondering if anyone else had mixed thoughts about the essay by Mark D. Baker? There were some great points, especially about how our own rage is what made the killing of Jesus inevitable and also how the cross was God's way of showing us that He will forgive the worst possible thing we could do...but it seemed like there were parts of Mark Baker's chapter that echoed atonement theology...am I mistaken? I am a little confused about the placement of his essay in this book on non-violent atonement.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

This a mixed bag of essays from various authors about non-violent models of the atonement. A number of the authors are concerned about how models of the atonement can be used to perpetuate violence. The authors have a particular problem with penal substitution, the dominant western/reformed model of the atonement. There is some thought provoking stuff here.

[Matthew Klein · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely fantastic compilation of essays on a subject that if you haven't read it yet will change your life

[Dwight P]

Excellent book for those interested in a view of the atonement other than penal substitution. The breadth of voices that see the cross as something other than God killing Jesus.