Cross and Covenant: Interpreting the Atonement for Twenty-First Century Mission
Overview
The cross lies at the heart of Christian faith, yet in a fast-changing cultural context many Christians are struggling to make sense of the atonement and how best to communicate its meaning.
Larry Shelton grasps this bull by the horns and sets forth what he considers to be both a solidly biblical and missionally relevant account of Christ's atoning work. At the core of Shelton's thesis is the claim that covenant relationship has to form the center of our theological reflections on the cross. Moving through both Old and New Testaments, Shelton argues that all of the diverse metaphors for atonement can be held together by the organizing notion of covenant relationship.
Then, tracing the history of theologies of the cross from the second century through to the contemporary world, he sets forth a Trinitarian, relational, and contemporary model of the atonement that parts company with penal substitutionary accounts.
Top Highlights
“The covenant theme is the perspective from which all atonement metaphors may most effectively be evaluated, as we will demonstrate. The key issue and divine objective in the biblical teaching on salvation is the restoration of covenant fellowship, not simply the removal of guilt.” (Page 20)
“The postmodern tendency to reject exclusivist truth claims may be one of the most difficult obstacles for communicating the Christian faith.” (Page 2)
“The basic character of sin, then, is action contrary to the norm of the Law of Yahweh, a violation of the personal relationship with him. Three basic Hebrew words for sin illustrate this concept: (1) hatah’: ‘to miss the mark’; (2) ‘avon: ‘to veer or go aside from the right way,’ or ‘irregular or crooked action’—with the implicit idea that the agent is aware of the culpability of his action; and (3) pesha’: ‘rebellion or revolt.’54 Sin to the Israelite was unhealthy, for it rendered one incapable of living with others or with Yahweh.55 When a person insisted upon acting in a manner contrary to God’s order, he or she negated the covenant purposes of fellowship with Yahweh. This was a moral transgression, not a legal one. It required a moral antidote, not a legal one.” (Page 49)
“I deserve a Mercedes because the commercial says I deserve it. We really need to evaluate the concept of entitlement. In doing so, we need to understand indebtedness and lostness and dependence and accountability. These concepts enlighten us about salvation. Christ’s purpose in giving his life was to reestablish an interpersonal union between humanity and God.” (Page 9)
This is important work, and we are indebted to Shelton for his theological clarity, his scholarly breadth, his sensitivity to the contemporary debate on the atonement, and his mission-mindedness.
—Joel B. Green, Professor of New Testament Interpretation, Asbury Theological Seminary
- Title: Cross and Covenant: Interpreting the Atonement for Twenty-First Century Mission
- Author: R. Larry Shelton
- Publisher: Paternoster
- Publication Date: 2006
- Pages: 320