Rillera, Andrew R. Lamb of the Free: Recovering the Varied Sacrificial Understandings of Jesus's Death . Eugene, Oregon: Cascade Books, 2024. Reviewed b y Kelly D. Liebengood Jesus saves. But how ? And in particular, what did Jesus accomplish in his death? Historically, most Protestant traditions have replied that he died to offer himself as an atoning sacrifice. That is, in his death, Jesus stood in the place of sinners (substitution) and took upon himself the punishment for sins (penal) that they committed in order to appease God’s wrath, to satisfy his justice, and to secure forgiveness of sins (atonement). In Lamb of the Free , Rillera disassembles the building blocks for this prominent interpretation of Jesus’s death (often referred to as penal substitutionary atonement [henceforth, PSA]), and replaces them with an account of the saving significance of Jesus’s death that is coherently aligned with the logic of Old Testament sacrifice and the prophetic expectations t...
What Do We Study the Bible for? An Introduction Why do we study the Book of Revelation (or any other biblical studies course offered in our curriculum)? What is knowledge of the book for ? What should we seek to get out of engaging with Scripture? How we respond to these questions will depend, in part, on the vantage point from which we read Revelation (or any other biblical text). If you consider yourself to be a follower of Jesus, the life you have been called to is a life in which you have been invited to receive and enjoy God's love and in which you have been called upon to faithfully participate in God's life of love for the sake of the church and the world. And that reality undergirds, shapes, and animates how we read the Bible. We catch a glimpse of this life we have been invited into in what is perhaps an unexpected place, the prayer life of Jesus. Prayer is often where we find one's deepest expressions of want, longing, and desire, where we learn what matters most...
* A Reflection on Jesus' encounter with two men on their way to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-27) Lent is usually the time of year that could be described as "confrontational." We roll up our sleeves and ask God "to search us and know our hearts; too try us and know our thoughts; to see if there is any idolatrous way in us; and to lead us in the right way (adapted from Psalm 139:23-24)." We are more intentional about setting aside time in our days to consider the ways in which our lives do not conform to the words of Jesus and the revelation he brings to us in the Epiphany. We are more deliberate about self-examination, seeking to pay closer attention to what we have heard so that we do not drift away (Heb 2:1). And over the course of those 40 plus days of auditing, we become acutely aware of all the ways we "fall short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23)." Easter is a welcome relief! Yes, we fall short, but God has bridged the gap, defeating the one who has the powe...
Comments
Post a Comment