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A Community Called Atonement: Living Theology

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I have to say that this book is an excellent start to Abingdon Press and Emergent Village's new "Living Theology" line. The did well to tap Scot McKnight to kick it off. Scot's main point throughout the whole book can be summed up by his use of the golf club metaphor. He describes atonement theories as golf clubs, and suggests that just as you wouldn't want to use only one club on the golf course for any and every situation, we likewise shouldn't limit ourselves to only one way to understand the significance of the atonement. He suggests that different atonement theories (e.g. recapitulation, Christus Victor, satisfaction, representation, penal substitution, etc.) are useful for answering different theological questions - for instance all the multiple ways that we are oppressed by sin. He points out that how we think the atonement solves the "problem" depends very much on what we think the problem is in the first place, and that if the problem is multifaceted, then it makes sense that the solution would be as well.

I think this "both/and" approach to atonement theories is a wonderful example of what those of us in the emerging church call "a generous orthodoxy" - in other words, embracing a multiplicity of perspectives and many different traditions of the church rather than defining our theology narrowly and excluding anyone who does not completely agree with us. And I think that Scot, as a theologian that has a foot in both the moderate evangelical world and in the emerging church, is an excellent "bridge" for traditionalists to start exploring broader possibilities while also keeping emergent folks connected to their heritage.

Scot builds on this golf club analogy later in the book to suggest that we not only need all of the clubs, but we also need a bag that will hold all of the clubs, an embracive metaphor that includes all of these others. For this he suggests that we should think of atonement as identification for incorporation. In other words, Jesus becomes like us, identifies with humanity, to liberate us from sin so that then we can be incorporated into his new community where God's will is done. This is where the idea of a "community called atonement" comes in. Atonement means being part of a community through which God is at work to redeem the world. As Scot says at the end of Part 3:

"We are now ready to explore atonement not only as the act of God but, as is the case with all emerging theology, as something we are invited to perform with God in this world. Atonement is praxis."

In the final section Scot fleshes out this idea of "Atonement as Missional Praxis" in a number of ways, with chapters on "Fellowship", "Justice", "Missional", "Living the Story as the Word", and "Baptism, Eucharist, and Prayer". While Scot had many good things to say in each of these chapters (plus a few things I didn't quite agree with), there is too much for me to respond to entirely in this post (perhaps I'll post a few scattered reactions to various points in the days to come). However, the main point which emerges repeatedly (perhaps even a little too repetitively at times) is, as Scot puts it:

"The work of God is to form a community in which the will of God is done and through which one finds both union with God and communion with others for the good of others and the world."

This formulation builds off of Scot's own previous work, reiterated again in this book, about human beings as Eikons (image bearers) of God who have been "cracked" and broken in our relationship to God, self, others and the world. It is the restoration of these four essential relationships that is the ultimate work of atonement, and Scot points out that atonement must address all of these relationships to be truly effective - hence the idea of atonement as missional community.

Again, there are far too many good things in this book (for all of its short length) for me to respond to, however, there are a few minor critiques I did want to point out:

Firstly, while I realize that this was intended as a scholarly theological work, I did at times feel like Scot descended a little too often into heavy theological terminology without really bringing it back to a more accessible or even practical understanding. There were many times, when he was talking about the recapitulation or incorporation theories for instance, when I kept wanting to ask "Yes, that sounds nice, but what does that really mean? How does it practically solve the problem of sin in my own life?" Perhaps this was my pastoral tendencies coming out: theological explanations are great, but I need to know whether it will preach. How would I explain it to my congregation in a way that would be meaningful to them?

The strange thing was that even in his chapters on "praxis" I still often felt like Scot was staying too much in the realm of generalizations and abstract language, and not giving enough concrete examples of how this praxis will play out in real life. Perhaps this is just showing my own amateurishness when it comes to theology, but I really could have used more real life stories of what the kind of atonement Scot is talking about would look like. He actually tells one very helpful story about an ER nurse that he knows early on in the book (I liked it enough that I borrowed it for a sermon a few months ago - but don't worry Scot, I cited you :-), but I could have used more of this kind of thing throughout the book.

My second bone to pick, and this is not so much a criticism as simply a disagreement, but I think he is trying too hard to hold onto the "penal substitution" theory. While he does give a very fair treatment of both its inadequacies and especially its misuses, as well as why he still embraces it in the end, in the end I didn't find his defense of penal substitution entirely convincing. Or, to put it more clearly, while I agree with Scot's "re"-definition of what penal substitution is really all about (as opposed to some of its distortions), I think he actually ends up redefining the "penal" part right out of it.

For instance, Scot states (along with other noteworthies like Leon Morris, John Stott, and J.I. Packer) that penal substitution should be "contextualized into a Trinitarian context wherein it is not the Father being 'ticked off' at humans and venting his rage on the Son", but rather it is the identification of Jesus, as a member of the Godhead himself, with fallen humanity to take the consequences of their sin upon himself. Or, as I would put it (and I hope I'm not misrepresenting what I understand Scot to be saying), it is not God inflicting our punishment on Jesus so much as it is God himself, in Jesus, forgoing punishment altogether and being willing instead to suffer the consequences of our sin himself in our place.

However, when you put it that way, I think the "penal" part just sort of evaporates. The point is no longer punishment, the point is forgiveness. I don't really see the point of hanging onto the term at all, unless it is just that Scot doesn't want to cut ties altogether with those who still insist that penal substitution must be the the sole, or at least the dominant metaphor for the atonement. If his goal is to help such people recognize some of the warped ways this theory gets interpreted (e.g. God as an abusive and wrathful Father punishing his Son for someone else's crime, or a bi-polar God who is conflicted about whether to show mercy or justice), and lead them to reinterpret in healthier ways, then I'm all for it. However, I think the term just carries so much negative baggage for so many people, and requires so much reinterpreting to avoid those distortions, that personally I'd rather just find less loaded ways of talking about what Scot is describing. I don't think we need to throw out words like "substitution" or "punishment" or even "wrath", but we need to find new ways to talk about them that avoids the old "penal substitution" formulas which are so easily misunderstood.

Anyhow, with all that said, I still found Scot's book to be very helpful to my own thinking about the atonement. And who knows but that his more inclusive approach on issues like penal substitution might in fact smooth some ruffled feathers and persuade some critics of the emerging church that we're not all just throwing out their favorite theory of the atonement altogether after all.

So for those who aren't in my "white suburban men who like to sit around and talk about theology circle", you may not be familiar with a rather excellent blogger and every-man theologian, Scot McKnight. You don't get the title of being the most read "emerging church" person without being a well respected bloke with a moderate, generous voice. So when Emergent launched their new line of applicable theology books, Scot McKnight got the chance to articulate the church emerging's diversity of thought on the topic of the atonement.

The topic of the atonement has become somewhat of a flash point over the last few years among conservative evangelical leaders who critique (unfairly) "emergent-types" of being heretics because some are not as passionate about the penal substitutionary atonement being the only metaphor used when thinking about the life (meaning of) and death (purpose of) Christ. Much of this critique coming from the conservative camp centers on Steve Chalke's seminal book The Lost Message of Jesus, in which he argues that the penal substitution is a poor metaphor to use solely and exclusively as a mean of explaining the message of Jesus.

In a nutshell, the penal substitution theory says that the life and death of Jesus was all about, solely, and strictly and related to God's wrath needing to be appeased. So in that vein "God" punished "Jesus" on behalf of "humanity". A common metaphor used was that God had a gun pointing at humanity but God made Jesus stand in front of the gun to take the bullet for us. You may recall Nick & I getting testy over Derek Webb dropping this on us during one of our podcasts. But I digress. Back to the review.

This book is the first in a new partnership between Abingdon Press & Emergent Village where Emergent is attempting to articulate the diverse perspectives of theology within the practicing church emerging community. One of the slams is that we care nothing about theology and only want to remake it in a "postmodern" light. So this new line of books focusing on applicable theology is a step in proving that assertion wrong. And the first book in the series is a response to our biggest critique, namely that we care nothing about "sin", the cross, or the "afterlife".

Scot McKnight was given the challenge to answer this critique as well as find a common voice for one of the most diverse ecclesial communities on one of the most debatable topics of theology - the atonement. And while I don't always agree with McKnight's theological conclusions (particularly in regards to the comprehensiveness of sin), I think this is one of the most generous articulations of atonement theory that I've ever read.

As Series Editor, Tony Jones says in the Introduction,

"These books will not only tackle theological issues, they'll also promote a way of doing theology - one that is conversational, collegial, and winsome. Those of us who are involved in this series hold our own convictions, but we do with enough humility to let contrary opinions shape us, too."

McKnight's contribution to atonement theory in just 156 pages is plenty. His main premise is that for to long we have held one particular theory tightly to the exclusive ignoring of others. He uses the analogy of a golf bag and golfing. He retells a question that he was once asked about what was his favorite golf club? He said he thought that was a rather odd question to ask since all of his clubs were equally important depending on the conditions and terrain. When he was on the putting green, his favorite club was the putter. When he was on the tee box, his favorite club was the driver. When he was in the green, his favorite club was an iron. McKnight then compares this to atonement theories. Instead of relying on one exclusive club and playing every shot with the same club (trying to putt with a driver) that the seasoned golfer relied on all of the clubs and appreciated each for their part in the whole.

McKnight then carries this metaphorical theme throughout the book describing how we need all of the club/theories - and even the golf bag itself - in order to have a robust and healthy theological perspective of the atonement.

As an applicable theologian, McKnight does not just begin and end the book by describing the different theories of the atonement, but rather begins at the beginning of our story (creation/Genesis) and ends at the transitioning chapter (new creation/Revelation) of our story. In that vein, I think the most important chapter might be his thoughts on Eikons (which I'm sure the Orthodox tradition would deeply value) in which he explains the nature of humanity's intent, their cracked state, and how the relationality of Jesus (horizontally and vertically) heals the problem for us (horizontally and vertically) . . . (he does a great job of explaining the difference in beginning with wrath and beginning with relationality that I think deserves much more thought in theological circles).

Not only does he root the conversation of atonement in the original creation story but directs the trajectory of the atonement into the here and now. Explaining how the atonement is not just a future oriented "act of God" of cleaning sinners for future entry into heaven, but rather an act that crashes into the present inviting the community of God to participate in the healing, restoration, and justice of the world.

All in all, McKnight does an excellent job with a difficult topic. Balancing the tradition/history of the church with the present/contextual. Balancing the reformed perspective with the new Paul perspectives. My only complaint is that the book was a bit choppy. With each chapter being only 4 or 5 pages. I only wished that each thought would have been given more space and breathing room to develop. But at that point, it would have probably become too weighty and unbearable to manage, losing it's applicable theology status and becoming a theology for the elite.

If you've made it through this whole thing, I'm also giving this book away for free since it was sent to me for review for free. Just leave me a comment if you want it. The only thing is . . . when you're done reading it, you have to pass it along to someone else.

Scot McKnight is slowly finding his way to the top of reading lists for many interested in theology, and rightly so [he is quickly gaining ground on my reading list]. "A Community Called Atonement" is both a sweeping overview of the divergent theories of atonement, and a proposal for bringing the divergent views of atonement under a single umbrella of Christ's redeeming work in the world to restore cracked Eikons.

The atonement has too often been squeezed into a one size, one theory fits all box. Often times that box is determined by our denominational influence. McKnight points out that many atonement theories are seriously deficient because they lack any consideration or interaction with Christ's teaching of the Kingdom of God.

"Atonement theories have been shaped by the history of atonement theories, and that history has been dominated by Paul's letter to the Romans so one-sidedly that opening the door to the kingdom upsets the entire conversation." [Page 9]

McKight purports that atonement can only be understood when it is seen through the lens of the work of God to restore cracked Eikons in all interpersonal relations. Atonement must be broadened out from an individual, sin remission only view, to a view that encompasses the work of the entire ecclesiastical community of believers.

Many of our atonement theories capitulate to the very thing that McKnight argues against. We view our problem in the world simply as individual sin. The remedy to this problem is simply an atonement theory that will cover our moral indiscretions, and restore our standing as right moral individuals. Sin however for McKnight goes beyond poor moral decisions. Sin is the "hyperrelational distortion and corruption of hte Eikon's relationship with God and therefore with self, with others, and with the world." [McKnight page 23]

A broad view of the affects of sin will help to broaden out our view of the atonement. If we can move beyond our reformation influenced view of personal sin, we will be able to begin to put our arms around the breadth of the atonement.

McKight offers a view that gathers divergent views of the atonement seeing them as vital parts of the whole. He uses the image of a golf outing. A golfer may have a favorite club, but cannot hope to play a full round of golf with only that club. The same can be said about our views of the atonement. We may have a preferred theory, but our theories in and of themselves cannot fully comprehend the broad scope of the atonement. It takes all the theories together to fully describe the work of Christ on the cross.

McKnight closes his book with an important consideration of the affect of atonement on our praxis as the people of God. Atonement is not simply something that was accomplished 2,000 years ago on the cross, but rather is something that is working its way out through the called out ones. Believers work out the atonement through acts of fellowship, justice, community and prayer. The atonement is not simply an archaic or dusty old theology to be debated and dissected by theologians, but is rather a vibrant and active event that is occurring around us every day.

In short, this book is a brilliant consideration of divergent theories of the atonement, and a great read for both the novice, and advanced student of theology. McKnight has written a classic book on the theory of the atonement.

've been looking forward to scot's book for a long time, as atonement theory has been one of the handful of theological areas i've really wrestled with in the past several years. it's a particularly sticky area to wrestle in, when you speak to teenagers as i do; because i'm constantly needing to talk about the gospel. that's great -- i love talking about the gospel. but i don't want to be dishonest about what i believe and only say words i've said in the past because they're easy to say and no one will be bothered.

so... the basic premise of this book is that there are multiple metaphors of multiple theological explanations of atonement in scripture, and we need them all. penal substitutionary atonement (the primary understanding i grew up with for what took place at the cross) is only one of many helpful and important metaphors for understanding atonement. first, it was really helpful for me to think of these various explanations (theologies, you might call them) as metaphors. i guess i knew that; but it was a helpful reminder. evangelicals don't tend to talk about penal substitution as a metaphor; it seems it's usually talked about in more literal terms.

it was also helpful to get a better understanding on the other, equally-valid and important (not only important to us, but important to paul and in whole of scripture) metaphors. mcknight talks about them as clubs in a golf bag: one would never go golfing with one club. you need the whole bag, but each is useful (even best) in different circumstances. .

while not a purely academic book, it's a weighty book in terms of language and ideas; so i took a couple months to pick through it, bit by bit (while readying other books alongside).

The nature of the Atonement has, unfortunately, become a rather hot button issue in many theological circles. I say unfortunately by no means because I think it unimportant, but rather because of the tenor of the debate with all sides picking one atonement theory as 'biblical' and attacking the rest. This might be most true of the penal-substitution camp, because they are most invested in their theory and so also have the most to lose.

McKnight in 'A Community Called Atonement' carefully, clearly, and eruditely steers a path which while placing a heavy emphasis on penal-substitution, shows that the Atonement is bigger than any of our theories and so all of them have a place in explaining the deep mystery of God's atoning work.

I appreciate the richness of the Atonement so much more after reading this book, and liked McKnight's focus on 'catching other people being right' instead of the usual 'find one area your opponent is wrong and drill that into the ground' approach one often sees.

Also, I think his argument that the atonement is something to be lived in our relationship with God, others, and the world (rather than only believed) is quite a valuable insight.

newwaystheology.[...]

Scot McKnight's A Community Called Atonement (Abingdon, 2007) is one of the most important Christian books of the year. McKnight's work shows how each model of atonement theology has a biblical basis and a rightful place in discussions about the meaning of Christ's death and resurrection.

If you ever tire of seeing the beauty of the atonement mired in abstract theological debate, you will love this book. If you prize one model of the atonement at the exclusion of all others, you will hate this book.

A Community Called Atonement is not a treatise on how the atonement leads to mission; it is about how the atonement breathes mission. McKnight masterfully weaves the biblical stories and theology of the atonement into missional focus - showing how each model of the atonement serves a purpose in the mission of the Church.

Of particular interest to me was the way Scot shines light on important moments for the atonement. While obviously centered on the cross and resurrection, Scot's theology of the atonement takes in Christmas and Pentecost too.

I appreciate Scot's willingness to formulate the doctrine of penal substitution in a thoroughly biblical way, avoiding the misconceptions and caricatures while maintaining its essence. Even though penal substitution may be out of fashion for many in the Emerging circles who will pick up this book, Scot refuses to dismiss this model, since he finds it clearly expressed in the biblical text.

Yet, Scot maintains (over against many proponents of penal substitution) that the atonement cannot be reduced to one theory. He holds many theories in tension, likening them to golf clubs in a golf bag. He believes that identification for incorporation is the most important motif of the atonement, as it incorporates all the others.

Read this book. The last section on "Atonement Praxis: Who Does Atonement?" is helpful in answering the "So What?" question that many laypeople ask regarding the atonement. McKnight's work is thorough, fair, and gives weight to the biblical witness in all its glory. You will come away from this book with a wonderful sense of how big the atonement is and how great is God's love for this fallen world.

Atonement Theology, or how we understand the meaning and consequence of the death of Jesus on a Roman cross has been a much discussed topic in the last decade. I believe this is a very good thing to be asking these big questions about what is at the very heart of the Christian Faith.

If my history is right, we have William Tyndale to thank for the coinage of our english word atonement. Atonement being a concatenation of the words `At One' to describe Christ's work of restoring a good relationship -- a reconciliation -- between God and people.

If you are like me, you came out of a tradition that explained the totality of what Jesus did through the Cross strictly in Penal Substitutionary terms. This might have been the only lens in which you have seen what Christ has done for us. According to Wikipedia:

"Penal substitution (sometimes, esp. in older writings, called forensic theory) is a theory of the atonement within Christian Theology, developed with the Reformed tradition. It argues that Christ, by his own sacrificial choice, was punished (penalised) in the place of sinners (substitution), thus satisfying the demands of justice so God can justly forgive the sins. It is thus a specific understanding of substitutionary atonement, where the substitutionary nature of Jesus' death is understood in the sense of a substitutionary punishment."

Along with this strict interpretation, the dots might not have been connected between Jesus "Kingdom"message and his death on a Roman cross.

In Scott McKnight's book, "A Community Called Atonement: Living Theology", he argues quite persuasively for a more comprehensive and varied understanding of the atoning work of Jesus. Scott begins his exploration and explanation of the atonement by likening the various New Testament atonement metaphors to the many golf-clubs that are needed in playing a good game of Golf. He says if we were to only use one club/metaphor for an exhaustive explanation of what is happening with Jesus going to the cross then we will be playing a very poor game of golf.

Scott explores the proper understanding or Metaphors; the reality to which they point as well as a metaphors limits . He explores the question, "What did Jesus think of his death?" He gives good summary of the main atonement metaphor categories: Identification for Incorporation, Recapitulation, Ransom/Christus Victor, Satisfaction, Substituion, Representation, Penal Substitution. I feel that Scott McKnight has done us all a great service by framing the atonement in the manner that he has. Thank you. : )

I read this book at the recommendation of Frank Viola, co-author of Jesus Manifesto: Restoring the Supremacy and Sovereignty of Jesus Christ and found it to live up to the recommendation.

Scot McKnight is commonly associated with the emergent church movement and this book is indeed the opening volume of a series from that community. The material itself, however, stands well on its own and it provides a very strong and very practical look at the atonement that will serve anyone, from any tradition or background, to see the panorama of the atonement and how it is understood throughout all of Christian History and across many Christian communities.

Lest anyone imagine that this is just a book of theology and history that operates in the intellectual realm McKnight keeps things very much rooted in the practical and speaks of how these truths tie into daily expression and community as a whole.

The primary theme of the book finds its expression in human beings as "cracked eikons" or the marred image of God within us. The atonement as the restoration of mankind is a constant theme as well with the multiple metaphors of scripture looked at with a caution against adopting any one of the them as the "master theme" to the diminishing or exclusion of the others. Of particular value to this reviewer was the examination of Penal Substitutionary Atonement (PSA). PSA tends to be at the core of most reformed, evangelical and fundamentalist theology and practice and it has been a particular target of many who see it as offensive and exclusionary. Instead of dismissing it out of hand or accepting it as it is popularly applied, McKnight takes a conciliatory tact viewing it in balance with several other metaphors within the Bible and reminding the reader that the metaphor is not the things itself.

This combined with a similar handling and familiarizing of the reader with the different themes and metaphors allows for a very rich appreciation of the atonement and it's beauty. Add to this that McKnight brings in as well an element often skimmed over in other venues, that being the title theme of the community and it's tie-in through Pentecost.

All in all, Frank didn't steer me wrong. This is a beautiful, educational, practical and inspiring thematic work that anyone, coming from any Christian tradition should come away from with a deeper appreciation of their own tradition as well as expand their understanding of others and perhaps even temper their understanding to see how pervasive the atonement is in all areas of life, fellowship and community.

5 stars.

bart breen

I appreciate Mcknight's synthetic approach to understanding the atonement in the light of the contemporary discussions that often tend towards polarization and the hardening of categories. The various theories or metaphors are discussed in a concise way - satisfaction, ransom, penal substitution, representation, moral example, Christus Victor, recapitulation and so on - showing the inadequacies of each model as well as its strengths and contributions and how we need to hold them together for a more balanced and holistic view of the death and resurrection of Christ. It augurs well with the Emerging Churches' ethos of generous orthodoxy, which seeks to embrace rather than exclude a diversity of viewpoints in Christian faith and practices. In taking this approach, the church can thus find its way towards charity and unity of faith as well as a more humble, mature and fuller grasp of the mystery, that is the atonement. He devotes several chapters towards the end to fleshing out the outworking of such a synthetic approach and how it could shape the church in her mission, fellowship, worship and work of justice.

I reckon that the book will be useful to one has already entered the contemporary discussion of the atonement for some time and is trying to make sense of the various approaches and theories but will probably prove a little daunting to a new reader who is just getting acquainted with the subject and its historical understandings. Mcknight skilfully steers us away from the slanted portrayals of those theories which have come under fire in some circles and provides us with a more nuanced picture of them, especially the penal substitutionary theory. Some readers might be tempted to charge him for going out of his way to agree with these positions (which he does not really buy, if pressed) for the sake of diplomacy. I doubt this critique is fair and would like Mcknight and synthetic thinkers like him to continue to expand on this work and thereby demonstrate more fully from Scripture and good theology how we do really need 'all the clubs in one bag'. I think even if one goes away disagreeing, one stands to benefit from the charity, humility and even-handedness that characterizes the spirit with which he writes.

First let clarify and say that every Christian should this, though not every Christian person may easy follow. I think this book is a great time invested, but it can be "heady" at times and one may need a good grasp on OT history in order to really gain the full meaning of this book.