mbjones

There is a new documentary through HBO about the Ted Haggard scandal that broke a few years ago. His former church has lifted his gag on talking about the events that went down and this article has some information from him about the upcoming movie. There is one line from him that is particularly interesting and is worth talking about more. When interviewed about the scandal, he says this:

“The reason I kept my personal struggle a secret is because I feared that my friends would reject me, abandon me and kick me out, and the church would exile and excommunicate me. And that happened and more,”

For those that know me, it’s no surprise that I tend to be quite frustrated with the culture of the American/Western church. This quote exemplifies a couple of reasons why: we are very self-focused and performance driven. Gone is the since that the church is any real type of community where we walk along side and lift one another up whenever we might fall down. Because Jesus came on the scene and did what he did, our personal struggles seise to be personal as Jesus takes them on his outstretched hands and bids us enter His kingdom. Gone should be the fears of rejection, fears of abandonment, fears of exile and excommunication. 1 Thessalonians 5 tells us a lot but specifically that we should be encouraging and building one another up, admonishing the undisciplined, comforting the discouraged and helping the weak. As a church, we need to be in a place where people are comfortable with this and can bring all that they are to the table (even the leaders). He needed help for his weakness (and several good doses of admonishment) and shouldn’t have been worried about rejection and exile.

Today I finished the best straight up theology book I’ve read since Transforming Mission by David Bosch. It is called A Community Called Atonement by Scot McKnight and is the first in the “Living Theology” series by Abingdon Press/Emergent Village (edited by EV’s national co-ordinator — Tony Jones). The “Living Theology” series bills itself as books of theology approachable by all folks. If A Community is any indicator of what is to come, then I have high hopes for future volumes in this series.

Anyways, this note isn’t about the series itself but about the book — an approachable look at the theology surrounding the atonement of Christ. For those unaware, atonement is defined in the dictionary as “compensation for a wrong” (among other definitions). Applied to theology and more specifically Christ it is everything surrounding forgiveness of sin. Now, I’m being brief here but will be more specific as I go through my review. Also note that this is a review in the sense of me regurgitating what I’ve read (in the hopes that I’ll pick up on further nuances). That means lots of details about the book (and little about my thoughts). Don’t let that scare you away though — this really is a fantastic read (the book, I mean).

A Community Called Atonement begins right where it should: with the beginnings of the atonement. More specifically, McKnight begins with a discussion of the kingdom of God (as espoused in Luke primarily). This is because McKnight sees any atonement theory that fails to be ecclesial (a major thrust of kingdom theology) as lacking.

“…atonement is only understood when it is understood as the restoration of humans — in all directions — so that they form a society (the ecclesia, the church) wherein God’s will is lived out and given freedom to transform all of life.” pg 9

Moving through Luke (highlights include 1:46-55, 67-79, 4:16-21, 6:20-26, 7:21-23) and into Acts (2:42-47, 4:32-35) he lays out a preliminary theory of the what Jesus meant when He came preaching “Repent! The Kingdom is near!”

So — we have the kingdom of God as one beginning to the atonement story, but it is not the only one. The next one discussed is Perichoresis. Thankfully this book is approachable so that big word is defined in the text (as “the mutual interdependence of the persons of the Trinity” pg 16). Why is this important? One big reason is because it sets up God as relational. The Father, Son and Spirit remain separate but cannot be known apart from one another. And it’s a starting point because atonement ultimately concerns union with God (and communion with one another).

The third starting point discussed is humanity as Eikon (the image of God). We learn in Genesis that with the entrance of sin we become “cracked” eikons and thus begin the road of failing as God’s divine representation on earth until Jesus after which we go down the path of becoming redeemed eikons. This leads us to what being an eikon means before God:

“…to be in union with God as Eikons; …to be in communion with other Eikons; …to participate with God in His creating, His ruling, His speaking, His naming, His ordering, His variety and beauty, His location, His partnering and His resting and to oblige God in his obligating of us.” pg 21

Fourthly, sin has to be a beginning point. Afterall it is the problem that atonement solves. Sin is defined here (and this happens to be one of the better definitions I’ve read) as “…the hyperrelational distortion and corruption of the Eikon’s relationship with God and therefore with self, with others, and with the world.” (pg 23)

The fifth beginning examined is “eternity as worshipping fellowship”. This is a beginning because, as described, atonement readies God’s people for union with Himself and communion with others (all in a place of perfection — of justice, peace, and worship of God). The sixth beginning is ecclesial community as atonement aims for faith communities living out the will of God. And the final beginning is praxis and by this he means the reciprocity — us reflecting to others what has been done for us.

And thus we have the first chunk of A Community Called Atonement setting up the building blocks of atonement (the settings, the cast of characters, the problems and the responses). While written primarily as a refresher for myself (they say writing things down helps your memory) if any of this has caught your eye I encourage picking up this fine book. I’ll get to the remaining sections in the coming days (while it’s still fresh on my mind).