In communion we are powerfully reminded that we are the atoning community of Christ in this world;- that Christ is flesh and is our flesh, and that to live is Christ means we are to live even as Christ was/is/will be atonement, so that the Body of Christ, his church, may continue the wondrous atoning work of Christ on the cross.

The cross and tomb are empty, Christ has saved the whole world, and we are the community who brings his work to the world!!

Scot McKnights writing about of the atonement is thoughtful and refreshing. I have had a growing uneasiness with the church’s willingness to let our theological system explain scripture rather than the opposite. This book does more than it has intended (to be the cornerstone of ‘a living theology’) because it also draws the reader into a conversation that is emerging not from the scholarly chalk dust of contemporary academics but from the marrow of atonement theories drawn out of Western and Eastern Christianity, and acknowledges that the mystery of the atonement that may continue to light dark places and fill the cracks of eikons throughout the entire world. Most importantly, this book paves the way of mosaics and metaphors with purpose, for it calls for a generous ortho-praxis—a movement beyond a generous grouping of doctrines to find unity and lets that unity fulfill its purpose of building a community anchored in atonement.

Theories of atonement are so essential to our understanding to the gospel and has been one of the handful of theological areas i’ve really wrestled with in the past several years. It seems to me that penal substitution has only recently been questioned as the basis for all other theories of atonement. McKnight represents one view, and there are others to consider as well. Here are two I would sugguest read alongside it:
The Nature of Atonement: Four Views. Schreiner, Boyd, Green, Reichenbach, IVP.
Pierced for Our Transgressions. Jeffrey, Ovey, Sach.

McKnights use of the language of eikon/cracked eikon/restored eikon/agents of reconciliation is a really special part of his writing. A Community Called Atonement, is hard to put down with brevity and depth in 19 pacey chapters covering 156 pages presents a stimulating, challenging, biblical, theological, missional and practical reflection on the meaning and significance of the cross and God’s work of atonement. Its a stunning read: of depth and yet accessiblity.
Read it and be renewed!
Read it and rejoice!
Just read it!


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