Book Review: The Atonement

The Atonement: Its Meaning and Significance Its Meaning & Significance by Leon Morris

As church librarian, I do a monthly review of a book found in our church library for the church newsletter. Can you believe that even though I’ve recommended this book over and over, I’ve never done a proper review of it? So here you go, a draft version June’s review. Want to help me proofread/edit it before I sent it off to the newsletter editor? This is the edited version, about 50 words shorter than what I originally posted.

Leon Morris was an Australian New Testament scholar and author most noted for The Apostolic Preaching of the Cross, his scholarly work examining the biblical words related to the cross of Christ and defending the historical doctrine of the atonement from the testimony of Scripture. It is considered by many to be a classic, but it’s also a technical book, written by a scholar for other scholars, and not accessible to the layperson.

The Atonement was put together from the material in The Apostolic Preaching of the Cross, but presented in a simpler, less technical form. We might think of it as the average Christian’s version of Apostolic Preaching. It’s a biblical study of the terms associated with the atonement—“the great words,” to quote the introduction, “used to bring out the meaning of the cross.” 

Morris shows us the multifaceted nature of the cross work of Christ as described through biblical words—justification, sacrifice, propitiation, redemption, and reconciliation, to list a few. Christ’s death can be viewed through many lenses: as payment in exchange for freedom (redemption), as the turning of enemies into friends (reconciliation), or the turning away of wrath (propitiation), and more. Each perspective on this gracious act at the center of Christianity adds to our understanding of its significance.

What’s more, even though it was written in the 1980s drawing from research done in the 1950s, many of the arguments in The Atonement, especially those found in the chapter on propitiation, are applicable to current debates about the nature of the atonement.

The Atonement is on a very short list of basic theology books I’d recommend to any believer. It’s of classic quality, but not difficult to read—and short enough for those who do a page count first and eliminate anything over 200 pages. And what’s more important than understanding what Christ accomplished for us on the cross?

Thankful Thursday

I’m thankful that my youngest son arrives home from his trip to Europe on Saturday afternoon. He’s been travelling there for seven weeks, long enough to make us all extremely happy that he’s coming home. I’m thankful that God kept him safe and healthy while he was gone. 

I’m  thankful that I worry a lot less than I used to. Does that sound like I’m thanking God for something I do—or, in this case, don’t do? It’s not—not really—because I only worry less because I am more sure of God’s care in everything, even tragic circumstances. And that assuredness is God—worked: I’ve seen him working all things together for my good; I’ve known his upholding hand.

I’m thankful that I’m still healthy and strong enough to tackle the spring yard and garden prep. I’m thankful for good weather—finally, and buds on the May Day tree.

I’m thankful for all the time I’ve had alone over the past weeks. (I’m one of those people who enjoys big chunks of uninterrupted time to read books or work on projects.) I’m also thankful that I haven’t had too much time alone. 

Evidence of an Emerging Canon in the New Testament

In Canon Revisited: Establishing the Origins and Authority of the New Testament Books, Michael Kruger gives three different threads of evidence for an emerging canon in early Christianity that are found in the New Testament itself.

There are references to canonical books. 2 Peter 3:16, for example, “where Paul’s letters are regarded as on par with … ‘the other scriptures’ of the Old Testament.” (Kruger has explained this evidence and what we can deduce from it on his blog.)

There are allusions to a bi-covenantal canon. Look at 2 Peter 3:2:

. . . that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles… .

Quoting from Kruger’s remarks on this verse:

Most noteworthy here is the juxtaposition of “prophets’ of the old covenant and the “apostles” of the new covenant as two equal sources of divine authority. This suggests that 2 Peter views divine revelation in two distinct phases or epochs—perhaps an allusion to the beginnings of a bi-covenantal canon. The mention of plural “apostles” would also indicate that any emerging New Testament would be composed of more than just one apostle’s teaching (thus making it clear that Paul is not the only author in view).

Moreover, the fact that “holy prophets” is clearly a reference to written texts suggests that the possibility that the “commandment of the Lord … through your apostles” may also refer, at least in part, to written texts. This possibility finds support in the immediate context, which expressly mentions written apostolic texts (2 Peter 3:1, 16). In addition, the phrase [commandment of the Lord] not only is used regularly to refer to written Old Testament commands, but also finds a notable parallel in Paul: “If anyone thinks that he is a prophet, or spiritual, he should acknowledge that the things I am writing to you are a command of the Lord … ” (1 Cor 14:37). This passage is at least one instance where a “command of the Lord” from an apostle appears in a written text.

See 2 Cor. 3:6 with 3:14; Heb. 2:2-3 for other allusions to a bi-covenantal structure for God’s revelation.

There are references to the public reading of canonical books. See Col. 4:16, 1 Thes. 5:27, 2 Cor. 10:9; Revelation 1:3. Why is this important? Portions of the Old Testament were read out loud to the congregation in the Jewish synagogue. The readers of Paul’s letters and Revelation would have known this, and would probably have viewed these letters, then, as “in the same category as other ‘Scripture’ read during times of public worship.”

---

Other quotations from this book:

• A Canon Based on Probability
• Canonical Bookends
• Like a Thermometer, Not a Thermostat
• Getting Our Expectations Straight