At some point in the Christian faith journey, most people ask the question, “Why did Jesus die?” The most common answer is, “For my sins.” But what if Jesus died because of the sin of humanity, not for individual sins? It seems weirdly illogical for a God who is love (1 John 4:8) to demand a blood sacrifice to cover sin. It is not what the Jewish sacrificial system supported either. I hope that this book will help us understand that God loves us and will not forsake us. Ever. Forgiveness is about love, not punishment.

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A Close Look at Atonement's Place in Contemporary Systematic Theology. In light of renewed interest in the doctrine of atonement—during which a range of "atonement models" have gained momentum among different traditions—it's important to map these models to the broader context of theological thought on this aspect of Christ's work and to show how no single approach has the complete picture. The proceedings of the third annual Los Angeles Theology Conference seek to identify the place of the doctrine of atonement in systematic theology. Locating Atonement stays away from discussion of theories of atonement, typologies of those theories, and contests among various theories. Instead, its focus is on the question: What else is there to do in atonement theology besides rehashing types and theories? The twelve diverse essays in this collection include discussions on: Atonement and the concept of punishment. Atonement and ascension. Atonement and human suffering. Atonement and covenant. Each of the essays collected in this volume engage with Scripture as well as with others in the field—theologians both past and present, from different confessions—in order to provide constructive resources for contemporary systematic theology and to forge a theology for the future.

Atonement has been described as the central doctrine of Christianity and yet, surprisingly, the church has never insisted on a particular understanding of how redemption in Christ was achieved. Instead, a miscellany of metaphors has been employed, each picturing “something” of Christ’s work. Recent debate within Reformed Evangelicalism has been characterized by claims for hegemony to be granted to penal substitution versus counter-arguments for a kaleidoscopic, multi-model understanding. Notably absent in these discussions, however, are two considerations. One is any common nexus to draw atonement thought together. The other is any positive theological contribution deriving from God’s preexisting relationship with Israel (the presumed role of which has rather been to provide a negative contrast of law-versus-grace and works-versus-faith, as the dark background against which the light of Christ may shine more brightly). Recent scholarship, however—particularly the “new perspective on Paul”—has comprehensively dismantled the old stereotypes concerning first-century Judaism. This book asks how differently we might think about the atonement once it is brought into conversation with the new scholarship. It concludes by proposing a “new perspective” on atonement in which Christ is central, Israel and Torah are affirmed, and the traditional metaphors continue to find their place.

Christians agree that they are saved through the death and resurrection of Christ. But how is the atonement achieved in these events? This book offers an introduction to the doctrine of the atonement focused on the unity and diversity of the work of Christ. Johnson reorients current patterns of thought concerning Christ's work by giving the reader a unifying vision of the immensely rich and diverse doctrine of the atonement, offering a sampling of its treasures, and cultivating the desire to further understand and apply these riches to everyday life. Where introductions to the atonement typically favor one aspect of the work of Christ, or work with a set number of themes, aspects or theories, this book takes the opposite approach, developing the foundation for the multi-faceted nature of Christ's work within the being of God himself. It offers a grand unifying vision of Christ's manifold work. Specific elaborations of different theories of the atonement, biblical themes, and the work of different theologians find their place within this larger rubric.

Traditional views of the atonement tend to be reductive, focusing solely on Jesus's death on the cross. In his 2011 groundbreaking book Atonement and the Logic of Resurrection in the Epistle to the Hebrews, David Moffitt challenged that paradigm, showing how the atonement is a fuller process. It involves not only Jesus's death but also his resurrection, ascension, offering, and exaltation. In the succeeding years, Moffitt has continued to expand and clarify his thinking on this issue. This book offers a more fulsome articulation of his work on the atonement that reflects his recent thinking on the topic. Moffitt continues to challenge reductive views of the atonement, primarily from the book of Hebrews, but he engages other New Testament passages as well. He offers fresh insights on sacrifice and atonement, the importance of resurrection and ascension, Jesus's role as priest, and a new perspective on Hebrews. This important book brings Moffitt's award-winning and influential scholarship to a broader audience. The book includes a foreword by N. T. Wright.

This book analyzes the relationship between forgiveness, atonement, and reconciliation from a Christian theological perspective. Drawing on both theological and philosophical literature, it addresses the problem of whether atonement is required for forgiveness and considers important related concepts such as sin and justice. The author develops a sacrificial model of atonement that connects an understanding of Christian forgiveness with the biblical narrative of Christ’s sacrifice and makes reconciliation between God and humanity possible. Offering a fresh and coherent argument, the book will be relevant to scholars of Christian theology, biblical studies, and the philosophy of religion.

The concept of the atonement is one of the defining doctrine of Christianity. Over the course of many centuries, theologians, church forefathers, philosophers and more have proposed a huge expanse of interpretations of Christ's sacrifice for humanity, each different to the next. In this ambitious study, Eleonore Stump uses the context of this history of interpretation to reconsider the doctrine afresh with philosophical care. Whatever exactly the atonement is, it is supposed to include a solution to the problems of the human condition, especially its guilt and shame. Stump canvasses the major interpretations of the doctrine, highlighting their shortcomings as an explanation for this solution. In their place, she argues for an interpretation that is both novel whilst still using traditional theology, including Anselm's well-known account of the doctrine. Atonement is a rich exploration of the doctrine and all that it covers: love, union, guilt, shame, forgiveness, retribution, punishment, shared attention, mind-reading, empathy, and various other issues in moral psychology and ethics.

A historical survey of atonement theology through ancient Jewish and Christian sources What is the historical basis for today’s atonement theology? Where did it come from, and how has it evolved throughout time? In Atonement, a sterling collection of renowned biblical scholars investigates the early manifestations of this core concept in ancient Jewish and Christian sources. Rather than imposing a particular view of atonement upon these texts, these specialists let the texts speak for themselves so that the reader can truly understand atonement as it was variously conceived in the Hebrew Bible, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Pseudepigrapha, the New Testament, and early Christian literature. The resulting diverse ideas mirror the manifold perspectives on atonement today. Contributors to this volume—Christian A. Eberhart, Crispin Fletcher-Louis, Martha Himmelfarb, T. J. Lang, Carol A. Newsom, Deborah W. Rooke, Catrin H. Williams, David P. Wright, and N. T. Wright—attend to the linguistic elements at work in these ancient writings without limiting their scope to explicit mentions of atonement. Instead, they explore atonement as a broader phenomenon that negotiates a constellation of features—sin, sacrifice, and salvation—to capture a more accurate and holistic picture. Atonement will serve as an indispensable resource for all future dialogue on these topics within Jewish and Christian circles.

The central Christian belief in salvation through the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ remains one of the most intractable mysteries of Christian faith. Throughout history, it has given rise to various theories of atonement, many of which have been subject to critique as they no longer speak to contemporary notions of evil and sin or to current conceptions of justice. One of the important challenges for contemporary Christian theology thus involves exploring new ways of understanding the salvific meaning of the cross. In Atonement and Comparative Theology, Christian theologians with expertise in Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Daoism, and African Religions reflect on how engagement with these traditions sheds new light on the Christian understanding of atonement by pointing to analogous structures of sin and salvation, drawing attention to the scandal of the cross as seen by the religious other, and re-interpreting aspects of the Christian understanding of atonement. Together, they illustrate the possibilities for comparative theology to deepen and enrich Christian theological reflection.