Cross Vision: How the Crucifixion of Jesus Makes Sense of Old Testament Violence

by Gregory A. Boyd

The only way to discover the beauty that lies on the other side of a mountain of ugliness is to courageously confront and work through it.

God is Christlike, and in him is no un-Christlikeness at all. —A. M. Ramsey[1]

C. S. Lewis once said, “Jesus is what the Father has to say to us.”[9]

Jesus viewed the OT as a divinely inspired authority that was under, not alongside, his own divine authority.

In short, children of the Father are to love others indiscriminately and unconditionally, for this alone reflects the character of the Father, as it is most perfectly revealed on the cross.

A lot of Christians quote passages from the Bible the way Shelley grabs recipes from her cookbook: it doesn’t matter much where the passage is located. “God said it, I believe it, and that settles it,” as we used to say in the Pentecostal church where I first became a Christian. This slogan sounds pious, but among its many problems is the fact that the Bible is not a cookbook, it’s a story.

So why on earth would we ever place more trust in someone who had a cloudy vision of God’s glory than we place in the one who is himself the very radiance of God’s glory?

The cross alone is our theology. —Martin Luther[1] I see nothing in Scripture except Christ crucified. —Martin Luther[2]

But if we focus our thinking about God on the crucified Christ, our concern is much more with protecting the moral character of God, for the revelation of God on the cross is primarily a revelation of God’s loving character.

Because God always works with people by means of influence, not coercion, we need to investigate the ways biblical authors were influenced by their surrounding culture, especially in terms of how they viewed God. The result may surprise you.

We humans rely on brute force to stop evil only because we lack the character and wisdom to see alternative ways of arriving at peace