The Sign and the Sacrifice: The Meaning of the Cross and Resurrection

by Rowan Williams

Publisher:

Westminster John Knox

, 2017

Overview

Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury, presents the Gospel accounts of Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection as viewed through the eyes of those who witnessed them. The Sign and the Sacrifice explores the meaning of the cross and the significance of Christ's resurrection, discussing what these events meant to Jesus' followers in the early years and what they can say to us today.

Key Features

• Examines the resurrection from the perspectives of the people who witnessed it
• Explores the value and centrality of the cross in Christian theology and practice
• Emphasizes how Jesus' death and resurrection were interpreted by his followers in the early Church

Contents

• Part 1: The Meaning of the Cross
  • The Sign
  • The Sacrifice
  • The Victory
• Part 2: The Meaning of the Resurrection
  • Christ's Resurrection – Then
  • Christ's Resurrection – Now
• Epilogue: The beginning of the new creation

Endorsements

‘Theology at its very best, and easily accessible too! Reading the book, I found myself drawn afresh to the vision of “perfect humanity” made manifest in Jesus Christ.

—Miroslav Volf, professor of systematic theology, Yale Divinity School

With a subtitle as ambitious as “The Meaning of the Cross and Resurrection,” one might expect a heady theological tome too dense to penetrate or a preachy tract designed to intimidate. Rowan Williams’s The Sign and the Sacrifice is neither. Instead, Williams invites his readers to re-examine these bigger-than-life concepts and gives us handles to hang onto along the way. In language that manages to be both poetic and straightforward—eloquent turns of phrase join sharp clarity, even when discussing ancient ideas that are anything but clear—Williams impresses on us the centrality of the cross and the momentousness of the resurrection and then goes on to show us why such things matter, deeply, in the here and now

—Lee Hull Moses author of More Than Enough: Living Abundantly in a Culture of Excess

‘This is a wonderful book: it is life-changing. No one can read it without coming closer to the crucified and risen Jesus . . . Rowan Williams is a very great teacher. With simplicity, subtlety, profound seriousness and humor too, he opens up to us the infinite depth of our Christian faith.

—Sister Wendy Beckett

Product Details

• Title: The Sign and the Sacrifice: The Meaning of the Cross and Resurrection
• Author: Rowan Williams
• Publisher: Westminster John Knox
• Print Publication Date: 2017
• Logos Release Date: 2022
• Pages: 106
• Era: era:contemporary
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subjects: Jesus Christ › Crucifixion; Theology of the cross; Jesus Christ › Resurrection
• ISBNs: 9780664262648, 9781611648003, 0664262643, 1611648009
• Resource ID: LLS:SGNSCRFCRSRRCTN
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2023-03-28T22:48:01Z

About Rowan Williams

Born in 1950, Rowan Williams was educated in Swansea (Wales) and Cambridge. He studied for his theology doctorate in Oxford, after which he taught theology in a seminary near Leeds. From 1977 until 1986, he was engaged in academic and parish work in Cambridge, before returning to Oxford as Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity. In 1990, he became a fellow of the British Academy.

In 1992, Professor Williams became Bishop of Monmouth, and in 1999 he was elected as Archbishop of Wales. He became Archbishop of Canterbury in late 2002 with 10 years’ experience as a diocesan bishop and three as a primate in the Anglican Communion. As archbishop, his main responsibilities were pastoral—whether leading his own diocese of Canterbury and the Church of England, or guiding the Anglican Communion worldwide. At the end of 2012, after 10 years as archbishop, he stepped down and moved to a new role as Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge.

Professor Williams is acknowledged internationally as an outstanding theological writer and teacher as well as an accomplished poet and translator. His interests include music, fiction, and languages.