Book Review: The Wondrous Cross

Stephen R. Holmes, The Wondrous Cross: Atonement and Penal Substitution in the Bible and History, Paternoster, 2007, 130pp. £9.99.

In this book Steve Holmes shows that not only is he fast becoming, if not already, one of the leading (and busiest) British theologians in the UK (and a Baptist at that), but that he a is a theologian who can speak to the wider church. One of the great weakness for many theologians is their inability to write and communicate, beyond the academic circle (and sometimes within the academic circle). The best theologians are those who preach, who are forced to make their theology speak to the lives of real people. (Steve remarks elsewhere that Colin Gunton used to say to him, 'You can always tell when a theologian has stopped preaching; their work loses something vital').

Steve Holmes is also a theologian who doesn't shy away from the difficult theology - he has written on ghosts, divine simplicity and here he contributes to the discussion on atonement and penal substitution. As well as being a book on penal substitution,  the book works as a good introduction to the history of atonement theology. It shares in lots of ways the approach of Colin Gunton's The Actuality of Atonement.  Steve makes a lot of sense and helpfully shows why we shouldn't be too quick to throw penal substitution out the window, but also why penal substitution is only a partial way of viewing the cross - in this he speaks to both those who want to defend the doctrine and those who want to reject it.

I remain with those who find penal substiution more unhelpful and inadequate, but Steve makes the case for why many of criticisms that are made against it do not actually hold weight. I still find it troubling because it seems to have no need for the Holy Spirit or the resurrection and I think fundamentally Paul's language of atonement is participatory (with Douglas Campbell) - atonement is our sharing in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ - and so Paul's constant use of 'in Christ' language (which is much more prevalent across his letters than justification language).  So I guess I remain unconvinced whether penal substitutionary is truly biblical.         

I got hold of a copy of Steve's book when it first came out last year, and apart from a quick skim read, this is the first time I've read it and I'm glad I have and would encourage others to put it on a wish list. 

Comments

[Jason Goroncy]

Andy, thanks for drawing attention to Steve's book, even if (or perhaps especially if) you can't go along with him all the way. For what it's worth, my review of the same book can be read here.