Customer Reviews

Stricken by God?: Nonviolent Identification and the Victory of Christ

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I've found this book to be helpful in addressing the tectonic shift occurring between atonement theories such as penal substitution and its cousins and siblings and what is emerging due to a closer look at the text. In reading other reviews it is clear that the book stirs a hornets' nest. Perhaps we shouldn't be surprised at the ferocity with which proponents of decaying atonement theories hang on in spite of overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
Several reviewers urge us to read this book or that in lieu of a compendium such as this. Such counsel might be appropriate for members of the academy. As pastor of a congregation, this book employs my reading time efficiently and creatively. I am not bothered that some of the essays do not appear here for the first time.
For anyone struggling under the burden of a distorted image of who the God of the Bible is, I suggest this book with its many references to scripture. Denny Weaver's summary in light of the parable of the prodigal son is worth the price of admission!
Anyone ensconced in 19th and 20th century categories of liberal/conservative, modernist/fundamentalist may find these categories outmoded when using this text. One need not quote Shakespeare's "A Plague on both your houses." These houses are rickety at best and are falling w/out a plague. Jesus invites us, Come unto me all ye who labor and are heavy laden." The book is a pathway to that joy.

Brad Jersak, co-editor of this book, writes some of the reasons why the church must review its prevailing theology of atonement. They include:
This theology says sin must be paid back by punishment--the torment of the sinner satisfies God's need for wrath. The justice he requires is specifically retributive.
It paints God as retributive--the picture of God derived from penal substitution looks vindictive and untrustworthy, repulsed by sinners and rather different than the the Father's heart as portrayed perfectly by Jesus.
It creates atheists--authors like Steve Chalke see in penal substitution a caricature of God who would be guilty of "cosmic child abuse." An Orthodox Archbishop says: "A god who demands the child-sacrifice of his own son to satiate his own wrath? That is not Jehovah; that is Molech. God was not punishing Christ on the Cross; he was IN Christ, reconciling the world to Himself."

Devout and wise thinkers address these and other questions in the book. Don't fail to read the essays by Miroslav Volf, Brita Miko and Sharon Baker. They will give you inspired thoughts on how to deal with enemies. I'll let Sharon Baker's words conclude this short review:
"I dare to dream of a world dis-armed by the reconciling repetition of God's forgiving justice re-enacted in the lives of Christ's followers throughout the world. Such extravagant forgiveness, reconciliation, and love serve justice and truly satisfy God. In other words, to serve justice through forgiveness satisfies God--God is satisfied through forgiveness by which justice and mercy redeem creation and fulfill God's promise of restoration for all."

Excellent collection of essays by a range of theologians concerned with envisioning an atonement free of divinely-sanctioned violence.

Many of these essays were extraordinary, a couple simply verbose and missing the point, at least one simply wrong, and several breathtaking in the freshness of their ideas for post-modern Christianity. It was so helpful to find all these authors in one place.

But why have none of these scholars and theologians represented in Stricken by God? declared that Satan (the devil, the evil one) does not exist as an independent physical or spiritual entity? Since God created everything that is or ever was, and it was all good, how can anyone believe He created a powerful evil and competing force that He would then need to pacify or bargain with? In our OT, the references to the accuser are metaphorical or simply superstition, no matter how vivid the description. It was the best explanation available at the time when it was also believed that demons, evil spirits, or the sins of the fathers caused mental and physical illness, and so became accepted "fact". They also believed the earth was flat, that the earth was the center of the universe - even the sun revolved around us. People of that time also believed God required thousands of bulls or other animals to be slaughtered, and often, as a sacrifice to placate His anger. Can you image what a bloody mess that was? We were well into Christian times before those understandings changed.

Jesus always talked to people in terms they would understand. Not only was He God in human form, but He was also human in a contemporary way at that time. He wrestled with the evil one. So who is this evil one dating back to the Garden of Eden? I submit it is that side of every human, from Adam forward, which tempts us to follow our less Godly side. We have free will; we are perpetually tempted to listen to that side of ourselves that would seem to make life easier, more fun, or just to follow our own wishes of the moment. By nature we are self-absorbed. When "the devil made me do it", instead of blaming some outside force we need to look only within ourselves for the source of the mischief. Of all the evils in the world, personal or global, the evils begin with one or more humans choosing to inflict their worst side on others, whether it is greed, bigotry, hatred, selfishness, meanness, etc. It comes from within each of us. Even Jesus temptation was surely that human side acting out as He struggled with emotional pain, hunger and the delirium it would cause. He conquered that side of Himself, as each of us must do. Blaming someone or something else when we loose the battle over being true to God is an easy out and pretty cowardly.
Stricken by God?: Nonviolent Indentification and the Victory of Christ

Potential buyers should be aware that more than a third of the essays (including most of the ones written by heavyweights) in this book have been previously published elsewhere. In other words, the editors simply asked N.T. Wright, Marcus Borg, Rowan Williams, and others if they could republish chapters from other recently published books.

Among the essays that were actually written for this book few provide serious interaction with either the biblical text or opposing viewpoints. Most of the chapters are based on caricatures of penal substitution.

This book is poorly edited. I'm not sure how Eerdmans let some of this stuff get past them. For example, in the essay by N.T. Wright the footnotes are nearly useless because they assume a non-existent bibliography and therefore only provide authors' last names, the year of publication, and the page number (footnote 5: "See e.g. the protests of Borg 1984, ch. 1; Horsley 1994, esp. 395-8."). This chapter also contains abbreviations despite the fact that the book contains no list of abbreviations anywhere. For example, footnote 1 says, "See JVG, ch. 3.2.iii (106-9) for a preliminary discussion and setting of the scene." Do you know what JVG stands for? You won't find out until footnote 35 where the editors finally indicate that it refers to "Jesus and the Victory of God" (the book this essay was copied from). Examples of this type of editorial work can be found throughout the book. This book isn't going to do anything to help Eerdmans's reputation.

There are much better books on the atonement. Good alternatives to this one include,

Jeffery, Ovey, & Sach, "Pierced for Our Transgressions"
Beilby & Eddy, eds. "The Nature of the Atonement"
Hill & James, eds. "The Glory of the Atonement"

All three of these titles are available through Amazon. Don't waste your money on "Stricken by God?"

I guess the above reviewer was not at the recent American Academy of Religion meeting in San Diego. The panelists all expressed extremely positive remarks about the book and Eerdmans has apparently agreed to publish a follow-up book. On whatever side of the issue scholars find themselves, the level of scholarship in this book has never been in question. Perhaps I should include my own disclaimer: Potential readers of the above review beware! If the selection of alternative books near the bottom of his review is any indication, the above reviewer clearly is merely interested in dissuading potential book-buyers from purchasing a book that opposes his own point of view...and must have chosen this book specifically to review because it poses the most serious threat to his own perspective. If you've always found the typical vindictive and violent caricature of God, specifically in atonement theology, to be inconsistent with God-revealed, i.e. the Incarnate Christ, then this book will provide you with a good primer of the issues as well as the literature that has begun to question such an interpretation in addition to providing more advanced scholarship on both the conceptual (scriptural, theological, historical, textual-critical) and practical outworking of nonviolent atonement images.

WARNING! This book could be dangerous to your theology! Especially for those whose theology is conventional and unexamined, wrapped up in the security blanket of a deficient medieval penal satisfaction theory of atonement.
But for thinking Christians open to new insights, Jersak and Hardin have prepared a marvelous feast. The collection of twenty essays, many of them excerpts from sources not readily obtainable elsewhere, includes major contemporary voices such as N. T. Wright, Rowan Williams and Miroslav Volf, as well as lesser known writers. They are bound together only by their "dissatisfaction with satisfaction" in their shared quest for deeper understanding of the inexhaustible riches to be found in the gospel of Christ. This is required reading for the Lenten journey.

'Penal substitutionary' atonement is presently in vogue in the Western church, but it hasn't always been this way. This book collects essays from across the theological spectrum exploring biblical, historical, and philosophical alternatives to the view that 'somebody had to die' in order to appease a wrathful God.

'Stricken by God?' presents both new and republished scholarship from a veritable who's-who of quality biblical scholars and theologians including Miroslav Volf, Richard Rohr, NT Wright, Marcus Borg, Miroslav Volf & James Alison. The contributors (contrary to what some negative reviewers have implied here) to not present a single unified atonement model; they come from a variety of disciplines and persuasions regarding the meaning and significance of Jesus' death and resurrection. What they are all committed to is a deep desire for dialogue and truth. You will come away from these essays with a renewed appreciation for the rich tapestry of atonement in Scripture, as well as a fresh sensitivity for the concerns of contemporary faithful and seekers alike. Highly recommended as a companion to The Nonviolent Atonement, Recovering the Scandal of the Cross, and A Community Called Atonement.

Atonement models explored include Christus Victor, ransom, moral example, Girardian/Mimetic and various nonviolent models of atonement from Franciscan, Anabaptist, Quaker, alternative Evangelical and other sources. If this terminology sounds like another language to you, it's okay; the majority of the essays do quite well explaining, in plain language, what they're talking about.

If you get just one anthology exploring different models of Jesus' atonement, this should be it. Highly recommended.

Some reviewers are obviously committed up front to a penal satisfaction view of the atonement. Notice that no negative reviewer takes on the substance of the book leaning instead on ad hominem arguments, typical of an extremist approach. I also hope, that in addition to the contributors, readers will notice the heavyweights like Girard, Caputo, Heim, Hauerwas, Boyd and McLaren that LOVED the book. They certainly carry more weight than anonymous on line reviewers.

The fact that seven of the twenty essays are reprints cannot be held against the collection, this is one of the books strengths in that it brings together major and minor voices, theologians and laity, Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox all to the table around the common rejection of penal satisfaction and the positing of a life giving alternative to understanding Jesus' death and resurrection.

I hope potential purchasers of the book are more discerning than some concrete (all mixed up and permanatly set) anonymous reviewers.

Stricken by God is a wonderful collection of the growing body of theological writing that realizes that it is people who are violent and not God. As an every week Lutheran preacher these essays have helped me to move out of a dark myth filled past and into the light of seeing God through Jesus' eyes.
The introductory essays by Jersak and Hardin are especially good in describing the problem of being blinded by Platonic dualism and a Roman judicial sense of justice as getting and staying even. The essay by Bartlett is a tour de force explanation of Girard, Postmodern theology, deconstruction and the Gospel. It is like a one book library!