The (Lieben)GOOD LIFE

  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...

  John M.G. Barclay. Paul and the Gift. Eerdmans, 2015. Pgs. 656; $70 hardback. Most within the Christian tradition, especially those who are the byproduct of the Reformation, have celebrated Paul as the theologian of grace who came on the scene to save us all, both Jew and Gentile, from the destructive and impossibly demanding “works-righteousness” of Judaism. In 1977 that basic framework for understanding Judaism and Paul was challenged by E.P. Sanders’ book Paul and Palestinian Judaism . Sanders’ provocative insights generated a fresh wave of research on Paul’s theology in its Jewish context, which in turn fostered a new (but not monolithic) scholarly approach to reading the apostle (and Second Temple Judaism) known as the “new perspective”. Sanders and those who followed similar lines of research, have argued that the Judaism of Paul’s day has been unfairly mischaracterized within the Christian tradition, especially in the aftermath of the Reformation. They argue that Judais...

 In the rhythm of the academic year, summer is often a time for me to reflect upon the craft of scholarship and/or teaching. I recently discovered a book called  Show Your Work:10 Ways to Share Your Creativity and Get Discovered by Austin Kleon (thanks, Luke Tallon). While it is written for artists and writers, it wasn't hard to make connections with the craft of scholarship. Here are a few takeaways from the book, which I have translated into my world of biblical and theological scholarship: 1. Creativity is not the product of a lone genius. Great ideas, profound insights, compelling questions,  unexpected connections come from engagement with others (and not just in books). Good scholarship comes from social interaction. Kleon encourages us to make the most of collaboration, especially with the capabilities of the Internet. I would add to his observation that it is helpful to pay attention to the contributions and questions of non-scholars, things that people in the...