October 10, 2022

Mapping Atonement: My New Book with Joel Scandrett

Filed under: Atonement,Theology — William Witt @ 10:26 pm
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My second book, written with my colleague Joel Scandrett, is now available at the usual outlets: Barnes and Noble, Amazon, Christian Book Distributors.

This has been a lengthy project. I am grateful to my fellow author, Joel Scandrett, not only for his own contribution, but also for editing my lengthy prose to a reasonable length, and to Bob Hosack of Baker, who was patient with a project that took several years to write.

From the Publisher

What do we mean when we say that “Jesus saves”? Unlike the doctrines of the Trinity and Christology, there is no ecumenical consensus regarding the Christian doctrine of the atonement. Instead, there are a number of divergent atonement theologies found in various streams of the Christian theological tradition.

This introduction maps the biblical, historical, and theological terrain of the doctrine of the atonement. Beginning with the early Christian era, the book traces the origins, development, and divergent streams of atonement theology throughout the Christian tradition and proposes key criteria by which we can assess their value. The authors introduce essential biblical terms, texts, and concepts of atonement; identify significant historical figures, texts, and topics; and show how various atonement paradigms are expressed in their respective church traditions. The book also surveys current “hot topics” in evangelical atonement theology and evaluates strengths and weaknesses of competing understandings of atonement.

Contents
Introduction: What Is Atonement?
1. Atonement as Incarnation: Irenaeus and Athanasius
2. Atonement as Christus Victor: Church Fathers and Gustaf Aulén
3. Atonement as Satisfaction: Anselm of Canterbury
4. Atonement as Divine Love: Peter Abelard and the Wesleys
5. Atonement as Fittingness: Thomas Aquinas
6. Atonement as Penal Substitution: John Calvin and Charles Hodge
7. Atonement as Moral Example: Hastings Rashdall
8. Atonement as Reconciliation: Karl Barth
9. Atonement Today
Index

Endorsements

“Christians are united in proclaiming that ‘Jesus saves,’ but the Christian tradition and Scripture offer different narratives, symbols, and metaphors to understand what that means. Witt and Scandrett are wise, charitable, brilliant, and passionate guides to the scriptural, theological, and historical questions that compose atonement theology. This approachable introduction will help everyone who wants a deeper understanding of what we mean when we confess that Christ lived, died, rose again, and ascended into heaven ‘for us and for our salvation.'”

Tish Harrison Warren, Anglican priest and author of Liturgy of the Ordinary and Prayer in the Night

“Thoughtful Christians looking for guidance on the doctrine of the atonement are flooded with almost too much information. Witt and Scandrett’s Mapping Atonement brings wonderful clarity to the field. Their choice of figures for discussion is excellent, and their constructive approach to the topic is theologically balanced and insightful. I look forward to using this book in my own teaching.”

Joseph Mangina, professor of theology, Wycliffe College, University of Toronto

“Mapping Atonement is a major theological accomplishment. It offers a remarkably comprehensive overview of the history of atonement theology. With attention to detail and generosity of interpretation, Witt and Scandrett faithfully map the doctrine of atonement. Rightly arguing that Christ’s mission doesn’t just illustrate but in fact constitutes atonement, Witt and Scandrett carefully chart their own theological path. This is the textbook on Christ’s salvific work that many have been waiting for.”

Hans Boersma, Saint Benedict Servants of Christ Chair in Ascetical Theology, Nashotah House Theological Seminary

“Mapping Atonement serves admirably both as a contribution to theology and as an introduction for students. It expands the vista offered to earlier generations by Aulén, even as it offers a grammar, rooted in Scripture and composed of history and ontology, to evaluate all proposals. Throughout, and especially in the conclusion (culminating in an ‘critical realist’ account of T. F. Torrance), Witt and Scandrett understand the urgency of atonement’s retrieval in our confused time. I highly recommend it to a wide audience.”

The Right Rev. George Sumner, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Dallas

“With the lucidity and penetration characteristic of their teaching and writing, Witt and Scandrett have provided us a superb survey of atonement theology. Written from a classical perspective that is respectful of the variety of views on the topic, yet responsibly critical in the application of scriptural and metaphysical demands on the material, the book covers a broad range of reflection on the atonement from the early church to the present, culminating in a careful commendation of T. F. Torrance’s work. The volume wears its scholarship lightly but is informed by a mastery of the tradition. This will prove an essential introduction to the topic.”

Ephraim Radner, professor of historical theology, Wycliffe College, University of Toronto

Law and Gospel According to St. Matthew: A Sermon

Filed under: Sermons — William Witt @ 9:35 pm

Proverbs 31-12
Psalm 119: 33-40
2 Timothy 3:1-17
Matthew 9:9-13

St. Matthew

T

he readings this morning are not the usual Sunday lectionary readings, but the readings for the Feast Day of St. Matthew. Matthew is both an Apostle and an Evangelist. He is identified with Matthew the tax collector or publican, mentioned in today’s Gospel reading (Matt. 9:9). Matthew is also traditionally identified as the author of the Gospel identified by his name, the first book in the New Testament. Many modern scholars question Matthew’s authorship, but for the convenience of this sermon, I am going to assume that both the converted tax collector and the writer of the Gospel are the same person. I’ll be focusing on the first Gospel because it is the book that has really given Matthew his influence in the church.

Matthew’s Gospel was the most popular of the four Gospels in the early church, and it has continued to be influential, both in the history of the church, and even in modern secular culture. After hearing the Gospel reading from Matthew on the Commissioning of the Twelve Apostles at a Sunday mass in February 1208, Francis of Assisi decided to devote himself to a life of poverty, and composed a simple “Rule” for his mendicant order – to follow the teachings of Jesus and to walk in his footsteps. Thomas Aquinas claimed that the entirety of Christian ethics could be summarized in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount in Matthew’s Gospel. At the time of the Reformation, Mennonites found their inspiration for pacifism in Jesus’ commands in the Sermon on the Mount to not resist evil and to turn the other cheek. Anglican and founder of Methodism John Wesley found his doctrine of Christian perfection or “entire sanctification” in Jesus’ command in the Sermon on the Mount: “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matt. 5: 48). Mahatma Gandhi found the inspiration for his philosophy of non-violence in the Sermon on the Mount.

Even modern secularists have found themselves coming back again and again to Matthew’s Gospel. In 1964, Italian film director Pier Paolo Pasolini made a film titled in its English translation, The Gospel According to St. Matthew. In 1971, John-Michael Tebelak wrote a script that became the off-Broadway musical and later Hollywood film Godspell, based on Matthew’s Gospel. Jesus of Montreal is a 1989 Canadian film about a group of actors who stage a modern version of the Passion Play. As they continue to enact the play, the actors lives are transformed as they begin to resemble Jesus and his followers. The Jesus of Jesus of Montreal is clearly the Jesus of Matthew’s Gospel.

For most Christians, Matthew’s Gospel is likely the one with which we’re most familiar. When we think of the Christmas story of the Magi, we think of Matthew’s Gospel. When we think of the Beatitudes, the Sermon on the Mount, and the Lord’s Prayer, we usually think of Matthew’s version, not the parallel versions found in Luke. So in addition to the writings of Paul, Matthew’s Gospel is perhaps the most influential book of the New Testament. It is through Matthew’s Gospel that most people have come to know the story of Jesus.

Despite the average Christian’s love for Matthew’s Gospel, it has sometimes been problematic for theologians, and we see the reasons why in today’s lectionary readings. (more…)

October 2, 2022

Another Review of a Book that I Did Not Write

Filed under: Theology,Women's Ordination — William Witt @ 12:53 am

This is the first in several essays responding to a review of my book Icons of Christ by the Rev. Mark Perkins.

 

The Problem of Rhetoric

I have noticed in past reviews of my book Icons of Christ a tendency to substitute rhetoric for careful reading and reasoned response. The result is a failure to actually read and fairly represent my argument. Even when one disagrees with a position, one has a responsibility to present the argument in such a way that the opponent would recognize this as his or her position. I have always tried to follow this approach in my writing. My dissertation was on the theology of Jacobus Arminius, and I spent the first several chapters in trying to honestly and fairly summarize the positions of late medieval scholastics, Luther, Calvin, and the Reformed Scholastics with whom Arminius was in disagreement. I have just published a book on the doctrine of the Atonement, in which I summarize the atonement theologies of theologians from Irenaeus and Athanasius to the modern period. In each case, I try to make every effort to accurately represent the positions of even those theologians with whom I am not sympathetic.

In writing my book on women’s ordination, I took the same approach. My book is unique in addressing both Protestant and Catholic objections to women’s ordination, and I intentionally avoided sarcasm or snarkiness or misrepresentation in summarizing positions with which I disagreed. I have not yet come across any criticisms of my book that suggested that I had incorrectly or inaccurately summarized the views of either Protestant complementarians or Catholic sacramentalists. Unfortunately, those who have reviewed the book negatively have not returned the favor.

Mark Perkins’ review of Icons of Christ initially claims to be an exception. Perkins purports at the beginning to “thoughtfully engage” with what I’d written. He speaks of having taking a course under me at Trinity School for Ministry where he appreciated my “deft hand in navigating contentious waters with a theologically diverse set of students,” and he compliments me by saying that he initially believed that Icons of Christ “would offer the best possible argument for women’s ordination.”

Despite the initial compliments, however, Perkins’ review follows the usual pattern. More specifically, when Perkins finds himself in general agreement with something I write, he can summarize my views somewhat fairly. For example, as an Anglo-Catholic, Perkins is not generally in agreement with Wayne Grudem’s Protestant Complementarian approach to the interpretation of Scripture. Accordingly, Perkins summarizes my views in a sympathetic and more or less accurate manner in those cases where he thinks I am correct and Grudem mistaken.

To the contrary, Perkins’s own case against WO is Anglo-Catholic, and in discussing those parts of my book that address Catholic objections to the ordination of women, Perkins regularly presents my arguments in a condensed fashion, reduces this summary to a caricature of my actual position, and then dismisses the caricature. In these parts of his review, Perkins regularly engages in the only-too-frequent pattern I have noticed among complementarian opponents of WO, of substituting snark and sarcasm for actual argument.

(more…)

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