The Atonement Muddle

More than two billion of Earth's estimated seven billion human beings believe that the answer to all their questions about why people exist and how they are supposed to live can be found in the story of a Jewish tradesman who was reared in Nazareth about 2000 years ago. By all the available accounts, he emerged suddenly from obscurity in northern Palestine, began to preach about God from within the Jewish tradition but outside of its control, did that for about three years and then was...
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More than two billion of Earth's estimated seven billion human beings believe that the answer to all their questions about why people exist and how they are supposed to live can be found in the story of a Jewish tradesman who was reared in Nazareth about 2000 years ago. By all the available accounts, he emerged suddenly from obscurity in northern Palestine, began to preach about God from within the Jewish tradition but outside of its control, did that for about three years and then was tortured to death for alleged sedition against the Roman Empire. All Christians claim to be following his teachings but fight among themselves about what the short life and violent death of Jesus of Nazareth actually was and really means. In this book is a history and exposition of one of their ongoing controversies: The Atonement of Christ.Helpful for any non-Christian person who would like to read a short, if condensed and demanding, overview of cultural mechanisms undergirding the proclamation of "Jesus Saves." Useful for catechists in any Christian faith tradition, especially for Christians reared in one tradition who are converting to another. An excellent text for religious studies courses as an introduction to the development of soteriological assertion in the Christian faith tradition from Patristic times into the era of Post-modernity.Of particular interest to contemporary women who have experienced abuse, bullying and battering at the hands of individuals and institutions who claim to be doing so in the name of Jesus, and would like support to become liberated from it.About the Cover Art: The author is a Catholic and a catechist. The cover image was designed by the author and is meant as an illustration of the literary metaphor used in the excerpt: ".... The most important thing to notice about this ongoing and interminable argument is that both sides agree to focus on the crucifixion as the locus of salvation. They are like two watchdogs chained to the same post, and as they quarrel for dominance in their dual guardianship of the value of the death of Jesus, they become inextricably tangled in each other's traces, and their range of movement over the field of approach to the gospel narrows and tightens as they both become evermore tightly enmeshed."