A Better Atonement Quotes

“God cannot be bound by a law, a moral code, a universal sense of justice, or a “deep magic from the dawn of time.” God could have forgiven us of our sin however God wanted too—with or without the execution of his son.”
― Tony Jones, A Better Atonement: Beyond the Depraved Doctrine of Original Sin

“I, too, want to advocate for a theological stance that takes a pastiche approach. Each of the theories above, and the one below, come from a certain context. Each was developed in order to solve a contemporary problem with the atonement. Each did that, albeit imperfectly. So I’d like us to embrace them all, realizing their shortcomings.”
― Tony Jones, A Better Atonement: Beyond the Depraved Doctrine of Original Sin

“The problems with this concentration on God’s wrath are pluriform. First and foremost, it contradicts the experience that most of us have with God, and that a lot of us have with the Bible. Our experience of God is not of wrath, but of love. Indeed, that’s how most people experience God even before they accept the idea that Christ stands between us and God. So it seems odd to first have to convince people that God’s wrath burns against them, then to convince them that Jesus lovingly took on that wrath.”
― Tony Jones, A Better Atonement: Beyond the Depraved Doctrine of Original Sin

“The early church did not understand the death of Christ as paying a penalty in some transactional sense that only God’s son could pay. The crucifixion is not, in that sense, cosmically necessary to reconcile God and humanity. Instead, Christ’s death is God’s victory over sin and death. God conquers death by fully entering into it. God conquers Satan by using the very means employed by the Evil One. Thus, the crucifixion is not a necessary transaction to appease a wrathful and justice-demanding deity, but an act of divine love.”
― Tony Jones, A Better Atonement: Beyond the Depraved Doctrine of Original Sin

“this: The work of atonement that is accomplished on the cross is one of invitation into the eternal, loving relationship of the Trinity—ultimately, into union with God.”
― Tony Jones, A Better Atonement: Beyond the Depraved Doctrine of Original Sin

“In other words, God’s love is not a characteristic of God. For example, maybe you’ve heard someone say, “Sure, God is loving, but his love is balanced with his justice.” Or, “Without justice, love is not possible.” These statements talk of God’s love as an attribute of God. But, for Eastern Christians, God’s very nature is love. It’s not an aspect of God’s being, it is God’s very being.”
― Tony Jones, A Better Atonement: Beyond the Depraved Doctrine of Original Sin