Cross Purposes: The Violent Grammar of Christian Atonement (Paperback)

by Anthony Bartlett (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"... groundbreaking thesis on how and why Christ saves us from sin and death... argues forcefully and persuasively..." -- James G. Williams, the author of The Bible, Violence, and The Sacred and editor of The Girard Reader

"... powerful book... A milestone in the new understanding of the Cross." -- René Girard, author of Violence and the Sacred

"[E]vinces prodigious scholarship as well as acute insight and poetic skill at conveying the contemporary experience of abandonment to violence." -- The Heythrop Journal, July 2004 (vol. 45, issue #3)

... groundbreaking thesis... Bartlett argues forcefully and persuasively that Christ overcomes violence and scandal in the weakness of the Cross... -- James G. Williams, the author of The Bible, Violence, and The Sacred and editor of The Girard Reader

... uses Girard's idea of the generative mimetic scapegoat mechanism and Kierkegaard's concepts of repetition and anxiety in a brilliant fashion. -- James G. Williams, the author of The Bible, Violence, and The Sacred and editor of The Girard Reader

[Bartlett's] most powerful book... A milestone in the new understanding of the Cross. -- René Girard, Professor Emeritus, Stanford University

Product Description
This seminal study of the Christian theory of the atonement examines the story of Christian violence. In Cross Purposes, Anthony Bartlett claims that the key Western doctrines of atonement have been dominated by a logic of violence and sacrifice as a means of salvation. Subsequently, the graphic suffering of the crucified in images and narrative has served to unleash a prolonged sacrificial crisis in which there is always a potential need to displace blame. These doctrines of atonement have sanctioned wide-spread violence in the name of Christ throughout history.

But Bartlett argues that a minority tradition also exists. He contends that the tradition of the compassion of Christ provides the possible way out of Christian violence. Bartlett's study gives this tradition a dynamic new reading, showing how it undoes both divine and human violence and offers a powerfully transformative version of atonement for the contemporary world. Cross Purposes provides a rich historical and theological overview of the evolution of various atonement theories, using literature, art, and philosophy to provide a creative and provocative reading of Christian atonement.

Anthony Bartlett is engaged in post-doctoral research and is an instructor in Religion at Syracuse University.

For: Seminarians; clergy; graduate students; professors

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Product Details

• Paperback: 277 pages
• Publisher: Trinity Press International (May 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1563383365
• ISBN-13: 978-1563383366
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,058,509 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A provocative, relevant reading of the cross, October 28, 2004

By	David E. Eagle (Victoria, BC, Canada) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Cross Purposes is an important book in the continuing conversation about the saving significance of Jesus' death. Surveying historical thinking on atonement, the book unearths the traces of sacralized violence in atonement thinking. The book offers a helpful critique of Anselm and his followers, including evangelical penal substitution, for the violent and inconsitent image of God is perpetuates. Whereas many authors (J Denny Weaver for instance) turn to Christus Victor as an alternative to the Anselmian views, Bartlett helpfully exposes the same problem in Christus Victor - a picture of a God tainted by violence.

The book then goes onto adopt a generally deconstructive, Girardian rereading of Peter Abelard's moral influence theory. He manages to answer the critics of Abelard convincingly through his use of Derrida and Girard. His generally deconstructive approach allows him to stay away from the triumphalism that Girard is sometime accused of perpetuating. As an Anabaptist I highly appreciates Bartlett's construction of the atonement as it prunes God of any hint of violence, and holds together God's essential unity in self-giving love. And he does this in such a way that maintains the integrity of the Biblical message. Recommended to all who are interested in engaging the cross through new lenses. If you are reading James Alison and Raymund Schwager, this book is an absolute must read!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Compelling Reading for Christians and Non-Christians Alike, July 24, 2004

By	L. George - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Larry N. George, Ph.D. ([e-mail]), a professor of political science, July 24, 2004,
Powerful and Provocative Reading for Christians and Non-Christians Alike
Anthony Bartlett has accomplished quite a feat: he has managed to say something new and profound about Christianity, and has done so with such deep erudition and in such a humanely compelling voice that even non-theists may well find themselves seduced by his argument, as I was. No issue could be more important for those affected by the power of monotheism in the world today -- and that, for better or worse, includes just about everyone -- than the question of violence and atonement. Bartlett's thesis is radical and provocative, and his book will stimulate much reflection and, literally, soul-searching on the part of Christian and non-Christian readers alike.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a pastor's perspective, February 26, 2006

By	Mary McKinney "following the prince of peace" (Illinois) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

As a parish minister it has been 25 years since my formal study of atonement theory. The violent god so permeating our theologies is seductive for some and repulsive to others. Perhaps people decide to be church members in spite of god, rather than because of God. Bartlett meticulously walks us through the ways we've ended up in the dungeon of the god of violence, the "god of this world," to use St. Paul's phrase. Philosophy, theology, the Bible and literature for Bartlett are ways to understand where we've been and how we can move toward God. Thanks to Bartlett, I have new ways to preach about the God revealed in Jesus. For those of us not in academia, Cross Purposes is a challenging read providing solid foundation for my preaching.