I can’t remember the last time I was as excited by a book as I am about The Crucifixion. All Christians need to understand the significance of the Cross, and our churches need to teach and preach about the saving suffering of Christ. That is the contention of Fleming Rutledge, noted Episcopal priest and preacher, who has put a lifetime of study into a scholarly yet engaging book, brimming with inspiration and insight. In her own words from the Preface: “What I have attempted—as a pastor and a preacher—is a series of theological reflections on Scripture that I hope will add up to a coherent account of the death of Jesus Christ for the church.”
She has written with three audiences in mind: serious students of theology, pastors who hope to convey Gospel truth to their congregations, and laypeople who wish to gain a better grasp of the Christian faith. As we see the magnitude of the death of Christ, we are drawn into the heart of God. Rutledge insists: “Christians do not simply look to the cross of Christ with prayerful reverence. We are set in motion by its power, energized by it, upheld by it, guaranteed by it, secured by it.”
Rutledge writes from a conservative perspective, rejecting both liberal views and the growing evangelical tendency to focus primarily on positive, uplifting themes. The church needs to return to the sober reality of the vicarious suffering of our Savior. Rutledge contends that the sinful brokenness of humankind made a secular, degrading, horrific death of our Savior necessary. The crucifixion thus is unique in history.
The massive work could have easily been published in two volumes. The first part is a detailed explanation of the death of Christ—the plan, primacy and godlessness of the cross, the gravity of sin and the justice of God. The second part deals with cross motifs in Scripture: the Passover, blood sacrifice, the descent into Hell, ransom and redemption.
At first glance this 660-page volume may seem lofty and daunting, yet I found myself looking forward to every opportunity to get back into it. There is hardly a wasted word. Even the footnotes are engaging; it is often tempting to skip footnotes, yet here they are as substantive and striking as the text. I would go so far as to call The Crucifixion a “page-turner”, with amens and alleluias on nearly every page.
-Rev. Dr. Robert Leroe
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From the Publisher
Part 1: The Crucifixion
Part 1 is a four-chapter section designed to give a broad overview of (1) the nature of crucifixion as a mode of execution and its unique place in the Christian story, and (2) some of the major issues raised by the fact that Jesus died in this particular way. A special chapter on Anselm bridges chapters 3 and 4.
Chapters 3 and 4 focus on injustice and the overarching category of Sin. There is a specific reason for moving the theme of Sin forward into the first major section instead of postponing it to part 2. Sin, understood as a Power, lies at the very heart of the underlying meaning of the cross, and that is the reason for tackling it at the outset.
Chapters
- The Primacy of the Cross
- The Godlessness of the Cross
- The Question of Justice
- Bridge: Anselm Reconsidered for Our Time
- The Gravity of Sin
Part 2: The Biblical Motifs
Part 2 lays out the richness and variety of the biblical material. The introduction to part 2 outlines the way that the New Testament writers use numerous motifs of great depth and richness to expound the meaning of the cross. The following eight chapters examine each of the principal motifs in turn.
Chapters
- The Passover and the Exodus
- The Blood Sacrifice
- Ransom and Redemption
- The Great Assize
- The Apocalyptic War: Christus Victor
- The Descent into Hell
- The Substitution
- Recapitulation
Praise for the Book
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Scot McKnight"In this amazingly complex but clear book Fleming Rutledge goes deftly where few seem willing to go—to the variety of imaginations shaping early Christian explorations of the significance of Jesus's death. She is one of the few theologians who not only preach inclusivism but practice it by inviting all points of view into the discussion." |
Stanley Hauerwas“This is a work of a lifetime that could only be written by someone who has lived a life determined by the cross.” |
Leanne Van Dyk“Before we can get to the glorious resurrection, we must take full account of the tragic necessity of the cross. . . . Penetrating and unflinching in its insistence on Jesus Christ, condemned, crucified, dead, and buried, this book powerfully demonstrates that this is good news of cosmic and comprehensive scope.” |
Bishop Robert Barron"One of the most stimulating and thought-provoking books of theology that I have read in the past ten years. . . . Rutledge has an extraordinary knack of cutting to the heart of the matter. Her book on the central reality of the Christian faith is supremely illuminating, a delight for the inquiring mind—and man, will it ever preach." |
Fleming Rutledge
Fleming Rutledge is an Episcopal priest widely recognized in North America and the UK as a preacher, lecturer, and teacher of other preachers. Her published sermon collections have received acclaim across denominational lines.
Ordained to the diaconate in 1975, Rutledge was one of the first women to be ordained to the priesthood of the Episcopal Church (January 1977). She matriculated at General Theological Seminary and received her Master of Divinity degree from Union Theological Seminary in New York in 1975.
For fourteen years Rutledge was assistant and then Senior Associate at Grace Church in New York City. She also served as interim rector of St. John's, Salisbury, Connecticut, and has twice been a resident Fellow at the Center of Theological Inquiry at Princeton. She has been a resident at Wycliffe College in the University of Toronto School of Theology, where she taught preaching, and also a Visiting Scholar at the American Academy in Rome.
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Reviews with images
The most comprehensive and inclusive modern study of the Atonement
This serious effort to include all relevant themes on the Cross, including that of "penal substitution", (often rejected out of hand by critics) invited orthodox and evangelical believers to take seriously the lengthy (669 pgs) expositions of difficult questions on Atonement. (Christianity Today citing it as 'Book of the Year" as an instance.) The lucid and affirmative treatments on the subject given to Karl Barth's views will assist in the effort to make him more accessible to these groups. The author, who moves in the direction of making Gustav Aulen's "Christus Victor" a central motif, believes Barth's understandings of the Cross fit well into that scheme. (Some good editing, curbing the tendency for repetitive expositions of the same subject, and omitting many of the footnotes, would increase the number of enlightened laymen attempting its study.)
Top reviews from other countries
Tristan Sherwin
Marvellous!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 14, 2020
Tristan Sherwin
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 14, 2020
Highly recommended!
—Tristan Sherwin, author of Living the Dream? :The Problem with Escapist, Exhibitionist, Empire-Building Christianity
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Barry K. Morris
Compelling, comprehensive treatment of a core conviction of Christian faith.
Reviewed in Canada on April 14, 2017
Barry K. Morris
Reviewed in Canada on April 14, 2017
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W B VANDENHENGEL
Helpful corrective to understanding Anslem's "satisfaction".
Reviewed in Australia on September 5, 2018
Charles
A remarkable and influential work of Theology.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 21, 2019