Customer Reviews

Proverbs of Ashes : Violence, Redemptive Suffering, and the Search for What Saves Us

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In "Proverbs of Ashes", Rita Nakashima Brock and Rebecca Ann Parker challenge the traditional Christian theology of atonement. As the liberation theologian Gustavo Gutiérrez wrote, "Theology is reflection, a critical attitude. The commitment of love, of service, comes first. Theology follows; it is the second step." (Gustavo Gutiérrez: Essential Writings, James B. Nickoloff ed.) Brock and Parker examine their lives and the abuse and violence they and others have suffered. Their theology has roots in autobiography. If this sounds radical, remember St. Augustine's "Confessions."

Brock and Parker find the costs of present atonement theology exorbitant. They ask: what sort of god requires his son to die to redeem others' guilt? (I use a small-g god to indicate god as a human concept which arises out of our lives, as did the idea that Jesus died for our sins. St. Anselm thought it up in the twelfth century. That doesn't make it wrong. That makes it debatable.) What sort of son would submit? What sort of human being feels redeemed by such a death? Does this theology twist god into being an abuser? When a woman is sent back to her abusing husband who then kills her, how many murderers are there?

In telling their stories of the descent of violence, one generation to the next, and the struggle to understand and contain it, and the descent of love, one generation to the next, and the struggle to embody and inflame it, Brock and Parker work the idea of atonement into something closer to its original meaning: at-one-ment. They find they cannot leave God behind. (Big-G God.) It's God who gets them through. Their stories are hard and demanding. Theirs is a scathingly honest, no punches pulled, gut level theology.

This issue is not angels-on-pin-head academic. We Christians continue to cause our share of suffering and death in the world. How does our idea of god play into our own penchant for violence? If god demanded, for his own purposes, that his son submit to suffering and death, then it is only (super)natural that we demand, for our purposes, the same of our sons, daughters, wives, neighbors and enemies. But if Christ's mission was to teach us how to relate to each other and his justice, mercy, kindness and charity proved so threatening to us that we killed him - we have a very different Christianity. We have a very different God.

"Proverbs of Ashes" is powerful and engrossing. It is not a book to be taken lightly.

This is one of the most important books I have ever read in my life. It is a searing personal and theological indictment of the Christian theological view that Jesus was sent into the world to suffer and die for us and that by this event, we are redeemed eternally.

I have never understood how an act of cruelty, violence and human sacrifice could be in any way redemptive and it is because of my inability to do so that I have never been able to become a Christian. This book, in a magnificent blend of personal life/ minsterial experience and theological rigor, challenges the notion of substitutionary atonement in a clear, concise and compelling fashion.

As a woman raised in a predominantly Christian society, I found much theological and personal healing in this book - it works strongly at many levels, the theological, feminist and societal, in its analysis of the relationship among Christianity, gender and violence. It comes from the hearts and minds of two Christian women who love God, Jesus and their faith very much, but are not willing to accept or excuse the poisonous wound at its heart.

Words are inadequate to convey the true depth and importance of this work; I can only urge you to read it and hope it may have a profound positive effect on your life as it has had on mine.

This was a provocative book by two feminist theologians who shared their personal stuggles of early sexual abuse and the effect it had on their adult lives. The honesty of each is gripping. They also make a very credible tie between abuse and violence being tolerated in religious circles because of existing patriarchal beliefs and language in the Bible and religion. It is very insightful and a comfort for women who have felt abused by the Church at worse or not supported in efforts to end abuse in their lives. An eye-opener for those who have yet to be educated about the problem of language in referal to God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit - A consolation for those who have.

I won't describe this book, as it has been adequately described by the preceeding reviews.

I will, however, repeat that this is a "must read" book IMHO. As a psychotherapist and seeker, I found this book to be very important in my own thinking toward Christianity and suffering.

For any therapist who works with childhood sexual abuse, Chapter 5 "The Unblessed Child" alone is worth the price of the book.

I would, however, like to address a point raised by a reviewer below, who criticized the book for not answering the questions that it raises. I think this is unfair criticism. The issues of suffering and violence are vastly complicated, and it is my opinion that by raising the questions and examining them in light of Christianity this book provides a great service.

Given the educational levels of the authors, I felt somewhat daunted when I began the book. To their high credit, the authors have taken complicated, emotionally charged information and have made it very accessible. I applaud the authors' courage at being willing to step forward and to tell their own stories, and to explore how their own life experiences have impacted their theology.

I look forward to hearing more from both of these authors.

i always thought i was alone in thinking that atonement theology is violent at its core- brock and parker share their deeply personal stories that lead them to create a new, live-affirming theology. the book is gripping; the authors seem to understand their readers' need to engage both mind and heart in matters such as these. HIGHLY recommended.

Warning: this book is not for the faint of spirit! It is an excellent book that speaks to the souls of women who have experienced violence of any type. (Being a woman, I can't speak for men who have experienced violence. Someone else will have to write that review.)

My soul was deeply moved by the writings of authors Rita Nakashima Brock and Rebecca Parker. Proverbs of Ashes speaks to the pain I experience as an Christian. As I recognize the immense power of story in people's lives, I find myself grimacing more and more at the reality that the story that has primacy in the Christian tradition is the story of the crucifixion of Jesus. The story is at its very core a violent story, and one that brings humiliation and shame (as do domestic violence and sexual abuse). Nakashima Brock and Parker describe that angst without apology. They don't sugar coat it; they don't try to lessen the pain. They acknowledge and name it, and therein lies the seed of healing.

This is a book for those pondering the violence in our Christian tradition. It is a book for those who are questioning their place in the Christian church, especially those who have experienced violence or abuse. This is a book for the church to ponder. It is time to reorient our focus in Jesus' story from death to resurrection, to locate salvation beyond just a personal relationship with Jesus to a recognition of the whole human family, and to live out the compassion that can be found at the root of every world religion. This book is a starting point for that grand journey of the world's soul.

This book clarified for me a long-standing discomfort I have had with the Christian teachings of my childhood and helped me see how my own attitudes toward suffering have been influenced by them. Though the book deals with theology, by grounding their views in their personal expperience, the authors have written an accessible book, that is absorbing as well as thought provoking. This book has helped me understand and accept my life and its worth in a profoundly helpful way. It's a must-read for anyone who has grown up in our predominantly Christian society!

Brock and Parker may have been doing theological work on atonement for years, but that effort does not bear fruit in this book. "Proverbs of Ashes" is not about theology, but about pain, lots of it, graphically described. The book is so explicit -- in both the sex and violence departments -- that I have removed it from my house so that my 14-year-old daughter (a readaholic) won't be tempted to leaf through it.

I can respect the authors' courage in telling their intense stories, and I rejoiced with Rita as she discovered her birth father's family, but I am disappointed that they did not carry the theological story through to the end. The authors' rejection of the atonement doctrine in Christianity is nothing new. Many liberal Christians like myself relate to Christ in other ways than through a legalistic concept of sacrificial redemption. It is heartening that they continue to have faith and to find mercy and hope in worship and community, but this book doesn't give much of a message for readers to take away and meld into their lives. Perhaps now that their life stories are out in the open, Brock and Parker can get back to their theological work and finish answering the questions they've raised.

In Proverbs of Ashes, co-authors Rita Nakashima Brock and Rebecca Ann Parker tell the powerful stories of their lives and create a new theology that reflects their reality. They begin with experience; the terrible and beautiful experience of living life as women. They share tragic stories of abuse, racism, neglect, shame, and despair. Through these experiences, they come to realize that the Christian image of a suffering, self-sacrificial Jesus who brings redemption through a gruesome death is, to say the least, inadequate. In this traditional view of atonement, God is a violent, abusive Father who requires the submissive, obedient destruction of his Son. Brock and Parker reject this image in search of a God and a Savior who can provide redemption and healing for their broken lives. They envision new possibilities in which God is Presence who mourns and inspires passion and salvation is love that encompasses and heals.
The honesty of this powerful little book was refreshing. I felt a sense of relief as I read it. The way in which these two women talked about dealing with pain and despair was new for me, and it was strangely comforting. Despair and sadness are not shameful emotions. They are not something to ignore or "overcome"; but something we must embrace with an attitude of love. I deeply resonate with this idea, and think this truth has the ability to heal hurt in women's lives.
Another major contribution of this book is the idea of God as Presence. Far from demanding blood in reparation for disobedience, God as Presence completely rejects violence. This is a God who surrounds us when we experience pain, and helps us survive through the aftermath of traumatic events. This loving picture of God requires us to rethink our traditional understanding of the atonement; about why Jesus died on the cross. For Brock and Parker, Jesus' death was not a necessity, but an unredeemable tragedy. "Jesus didn't have to die for us to know that God is present. He didn't have to rise from the dead for us to know that God's creative power is greater than death" (212-213). Thank God women's voices are finally entering into this discussion. I am grateful for these new, liberating, comforting, and healing interpretations of what kind of power really has the ability to save us.

"Proverbs Of Ashes" starts out as a very promising attempt to formulate an alternative to the traditional "God-whacked-Jesus-instead-of-you" understanding of the Christian doctrine of vicarious substitutionary atonement. Furthermore, to its credit, Brock and Parker make it very clear up front that this task is not motivated only, or even primarily, by considerations of abstract, scholarly, academic rigor, but springs from the vital depths of their experience of that doctrine as underwriting the various forms of abuse, sexual, emotional, and gender-based, that they have experienced. So far, so good. But a third or half way through the book, they seem to lose their way and, from that point on, the book becomes a repetitive catalog of stories of abuse: abuse by parents, abuse by spouses, even child abuse (Parker) by a next-door neighbor. While I respect these stories, the suffering they recount, and the courage of both women in making them public, the book becomes an exercise in schadenfreude: redundant at best, and narcissistic at worst. I am glad that both Brock and Parker benefited from good therapists. A good editor would have helped, also. JAMES R. COWLES