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Spring 2012 · Vol. 41 No. 1 · pp. 165–183 

Recommended Reading

Atonement: A Bibliography

Vic Froese

Thousands of books have been written on the topic of atonement in the last 200 years or so, not to mention thousands more articles and essays. This bibliography, long as it is, lists just a fraction of those works.

The main divisions in what follows are Anabaptist/Mennonite, Eastern Orthodox, feminist works, and those that raise the issue of violence and atonement. (The latter, of course, could include virtually all the feminists works, but I’ve included only those that focus specifically on the issue.) After that, I have classified works by the historical period in which they were written. A more finely granulated classification would have been preferable but that would have required substantially more time than I had available. As it is, the “Pre-modern Discussions” section is weak, as is the “Eastern Orthodox.” Not included in this list are biblical commentaries, which will obviously discuss atonement when dealing with relevant Scripture passages. Works published in languages other than English have been excluded as well.

Still, there is an abundance of material here, certainly enough to assure Mennonite Brethren that they are not the only ones to struggle with this teaching. Furthermore, the range of views represented here might be wide enough to make us wonder whether we should be so vexed by the relatively conservative views that have provoked such anxiety among us. If not, at least this bibliography can serve as a resource to those who wish to pursue further study.

Note that an asterisk in front of an entry indicates that the title was included on the “Recommended Reading List” for participants in the “Mystery of the Cross” study conference, sponsored by the Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches and held in Kitchener, Ontario, October 27–29, 2011. Note also that, for the reader’s convenience, some titles appear in more than one category. {166}

Anabaptist/Mennonite Discussions

  • *Baker, Mark D. “How the Cross Saves.” Direction 36, no. 1 (2007): 43–57. Also available online at http://www.directionjournal.org/article/?1464.
  • Baker, Mark D., and Joel B. Green. Recovering the Scandal of the Cross: Atonement in New Testament and Contemporary Contexts. 2nd ed. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2011.
  • Baker, Mark D., ed. Proclaiming the Scandal of the Cross: Contemporary Images of the Atonement. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2006.
  • *Driver, John. Understanding the Atonement for the Mission of the Church. Scottdale, PA: Herald, 1986.
  • Finger, Thomas. Christian Theology: An Eschatological Approach. 2 vols. Nashville: Nelson, 1985–89. See esp. v. 1: 303–67.
  • ———. “The Anabaptist Theology of Atonement.” In Mennonite Encyclopedia, vol. 5, s.v. “Atonement, Anabaptist Theology of.” Also available online at http://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/A86.html.
  • ———. “Pilgram Marpeck and the Christus Victor Motif.” Mennonite Quarterly Review 78, no. 1 (2004): 53–77.
  • *Green, Joel B., and Mark D. Baker. Recovering the Scandal of the Cross: Atonement in New Testament and Contemporary Contexts. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2000.
  • *Hiebert, Frances F. “The Atonement in Anabaptist Theology.” Direction 30, no. 2 (2001): 122–38. Also available online at http://www.directionjournal.org/article/?1170.
  • Koontz, Gayle Gerber. “The Liberation of Atonement.” Mennonite Quarterly Review 63, no. 2 (April 1, 1989): 171–92.
  • Kraus, C. Norman. “Interpreting the Atonement in the Anabaptist-Mennonite Tradition.” The Mennonite Quarterly Review 66 (July 1992): 291–311.
  • Marpeck, Pilgram. The Writings of Pilgram Marpeck. Edited and translated by William Klassen and Walter Klaassen. Vol. 2 of Classics {167} of the Radical Reformation. Scottdale, PA: Herald, 1978. See esp. “Concerning the Lowliness of Christ.”
  • Martens, Peter. “The Quest for an Anabaptist Atonement: Violence and Nonviolence in J. Denny Weaver’s The Nonviolent Atonement.” Mennonite Quarterly Review 82, no. 2 (2008): 281–311.
  • Menno Simons. The Complete Writings of Menno Simons, c. 1496-1561. Translated by Leonard Verduin; edited by J. C. Wenger. Scottdale, PA: Herald, 1956. See esp. “The Incarnation of Our Lord,” “Brief and Clear Confession,” “The Cross of the Saints,” and “The Spiritual Resurrection.”
  • *Murray, Stuart. The Naked Anabaptist: The Bare Essentials of a Radical Faith. Scottdale, PA: Herald, 2010.
  • Ressor-Taylor, Rachel. “Anselm’s Cur Deus Homo for a Peace Theology: On the Compatibility of Non-Violence and Sacrificial Atonement.” PhD diss., McGill University, 2007.
  • ———. “Mennonite Perspectives on Atonement: A Review Article.” Vision (Winnipeg, Man.) 7, no. 1 (2007): 32–40.
  • ———. “Yoder’s Mischievous Contribution to Mennonite Views on Anselmian Atonement.” In A Mind Patient and Untamed: Assessing John Howard Yoder’s Contributions to Theology, Ethics, and Peacemaking, edited by Ben C. Ollenburger and Gayle Gerber Koontz, 303–17. Telford, PA: Cascadia; Scottdale, PA: Herald, 2004.
  • Sattler, Michael. The Legacy of Michael Sattler. Edited and translated by John H. Yoder. Classics of the Radical Reformation, vol. 1. Scottdale, PA: Herald, 1973. See esp. “On the Satisfaction of Christ.”
  • Schertz, Mary H. “Recovering the Scandal of the Cross: Atonement in New Testament and Contemporary Contexts.” Mennonite Quarterly Review 79, no. 1 (January 1, 2005): 125–27.
  • Swartley, Willard M., ed. Violence Renounced: René Girard, Biblical Studies, and Peacemaking. Studies in Peace and Scripture, vol. 4. Telford, PA: Pandora; Scottdale, PA: Herald, 2000.
  • Weaver, J. Denny. Keeping Salvation Ethical: Mennonite and Amish Atonement Theology in the Late Nineteenth Century. Studies in Anabaptist and Mennonite History, no. 35. Scottdale, PA; Waterloo, ON: Herald, 1997. {168}
  • ———. The Nonviolent Atonement. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2001.
  • ———. The Nonviolent Atonement. 2nd ed., greatly rev. and expanded. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2011.
  • Yoder, John Howard. Preface to Theology: Christology and Theological Method. Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos, 2002. See esp. “Christ as Priest, Atonement.”
  • *Yoder Neufeld, Thomas R. Recovering Jesus: The Witness of the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos, 2007.

Feminist Discussions

  • Alsford, Sally. “Sin and Atonement in Feminist Perspective.” In John Goldingay, ed., Atonement Today, 148–65. London: SPCK, 1995.
  • Annandale, Naomi H. “ ‘An Arrow to God’: Wesleyan Atonement Beyond Forgiveness.” Quarterly Review 23, no. 4 (2003): 373–85.
  • Baxter, Christina A. “Jesus the Man and Women’s Salvation.” In John Goldingay, ed., Atonement Today, 131–47. London: SPCK, 1995.
  • Brock, Rita Nakashima, and Rebecca Ann Parker. Proverbs of Ashes: Violence, Redemptive Suffering, and the Search for What Saves Us. Boston: Beacon, 2001.
  • ———. Saving Paradise: How Christianity Traded Love of This World for Crucifixion and Empire. Boston: Beacon, 2009.
  • Brown, Joanne Carlson. “Divine Child Abuse.” Daughters Of Sarah 18, no. 3 (1992): 24–28.
  • Brown, Joanne Carlson, and Carole R. Bohn, eds. Christianity, Patriarchy, and Abuse: A Feminist Critique. New York: Pilgrim, 1989.
  • Crysdale, Cynthia S. W. Embracing Travail: Retrieving the Cross Today. New York: Continuum, 1999.
  • ———. “Jesus Died for Our Sins: Redemption as an Ethic of Risk.” In From Logos to Christos, edited by Ellen Leonard, 209–28. Waterloo, ON: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2010. {169}
  • Duff, Nancy J. “Atonement and the Christian Life: Reformed Doctrine from a Feminist Perspective.” Interpretation 53, no. 1 (1999): 21–33.
  • Finger, Reta Halteman. “How can Jesus Save Women? Three Theories on Christ’s Atonement.” Daughters of Sarah 14, no. 6 (1988): 14–18.
  • Gilliss, Martha Schull. “Resurrecting the Atonement.” In Feminist and Womanist Essays in Reformed Dogmatics, edited by Amy Plantinga Pauw and Serene Jones, 125–38. Columbia Series in Reformed Theology. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 2006.
  • Grey, Mary C. “Have the Wellsprings Run Dry? Re-Sourcing Tradition in Feminist Theology.” Feminist Theology no. 3 (May 1, 1993): 38–52.
  • Heyward, Carter. “Suffering, Redemption, and Christ: Shifting the Grounds of Feminist Christology.” Christianity and Crisis 49 (December 11, 1989): 381–86.
  • Houts, Margo G. “Atonement and Abuse: An Alternate View.” Daughters of Sarah 18, no. 3 (1992): 29–32.
  • Isherwood, Lisa, and Dorothea McEwan, eds. An A to Z of Feminist Theology. Sheffield, England: Sheffield Academic, 1996. S.v. “Atonement.”
  • Keshgegian, Flora A. “The Scandal of the Cross: Revisiting Anselm and His Feminist Critics.” Anglican Theological Review 82, no. 3 (2000): 475–92.
  • Kleinhans, Kathryn A. “Christ as Bride/Groom: A Lutheran Feminist Relational Christology.” In Streufert, Transformative Lutheran Theologies, 123–34.
  • McAvoy, Jane E. The Satisfied Life: Medieval Women Mystics on Atonement. Cleveland, OH: Pilgrim, 2000.
  • Megill-Cobbler, Thelma. “A Feminist Rethinking of Punishment Imagery in Atonement.” Dialog 35, no. 1 (1996): 14–20.
  • Peacore, Linda D. “An Evangelical Feminist Perspective on Traditional Atonement Models.” Ex Auditu 26 (January 1, 2010): 145–63. {170}
  • ———. The Role of Women’s Experience in Feminist Theologies of Atonement. Eugene, OR: Pickwick, 2010.
  • Ray, Darby Kathleen. Deceiving the Devil: Atonement, Abuse, and Ransom. Cleveland, OH: Pilgrim, 1998.
  • ———. “A Praxis of Atonement: Confounding Evil Through Cunning and Compassion.” Religious Studies and Theology 18, no. 1 (1999): 34–46.
  • Reesor, Rachel. “Atonement: Mystery and Metaphorical Language.” Mennonite Quarterly Review 68, no. 2 (1994): 209–18.
  • Riswold, Caryn D. Coram Deo: Human Life in the Vision of God. Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications, 2006.
  • Schertz, Mary H. “God’s Cross and Women’s Questions: A Biblical Perspective on the Atonement.” Mennonite Quarterly Review 68, no. 2 (1994): 194–208.
  • Solberg, Mary M. Compelling Knowledge: A Feminist Proposal for an Epistemology of the Cross. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1997.
  • Sölle, Dorothee. Christ the Representative: An Essay in Theology after the Death of God. Translated by David Lewis. Philadelphia, PA: Fortress, 1967.
  • Storkey, Elaine. “Atonement and Feminism.” Anvil 11, no. 3 (1994): 227–35.
  • Streufert, Mary J. “Maternal Sacrifice as a Hermeneutics of the Cross.” In Trelstad, Cross Examinations, 63–75.
  • ———. “Reclaiming Schleiermacher for Twenty-First Century Atonement Theory: The Human and the Divine in Feminist Christology.” Feminist Theology 15, no. 1 (2006): 98–120.
  • Streufert, Mary J., ed. Transformative Lutheran Theologies: Feminist, Womanist, and Mujerista Perspectives. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2010.
  • Tanner, Kathryn. “Incarnation, Cross, and Sacrifice: A Feminist-inspired Reappraisal.” Anglican Theological Review 86, no. 1 (2004): 35–56. {171}
  • Terrell, JoAnne Marie. Power in the Blood? The Cross in the African-American Experience. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1998.
  • Thompson, Deanna A. “Becoming a Feminist Theologian of the Cross.” In Trelstad, Cross Examinations, 76–90.
  • Trelstad, Marit. “Putting the Cross in Context: Atonement Through Covenant.” In Streufert, Transformative Lutheran Theologies, 107–22.
  • Trelstad, Marit, ed. Cross Examinations: Readings on the Meaning of the Cross Today. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2006.
  • Van Dyk, Leanne. “Do Theories of Atonement Foster Abuse?” Dialog 35, no. 1 (1996): 21–25.
  • VandenBerg, Mary. “Redemptive Suffering: Christ’s Alone.” Scottish Journal of Theology 60, no. 4 (2007): 394–411.
  • Watson, Natalie K. “A Wider View or the Place Where Love is Possible: Feminist Theology, the Cross and the Christian tradition.” In Watson, Exchanges of Grace, 15–23. London: SCM, 2008.
  • Watson, Natalie K. and Stephen Burns, eds. Exchanges of Grace: Essays in Honour of Ann Loades. London: SCM, 2008.
  • Young, Pamela Dickey. “Beyond Moral Influence to an Atoning Life.” Theology Today 52, no. 3 (1995): 344–55.

EASTERN ORTHODOX

  • Anstall, Kharalambos. “Juridical Justification Theology and a Statement of the Orthodox Teaching.” In Stricken by God? Nonviolent Identification and the Victory of Christ, edited by Brad Jersak and Michael Hardin, 482–502. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2007.
  • Florovsky, Georges. Creation and Redemption. Vol. 3 in The Collected Works of Georges Florovsky. Belmont, MA: Norland, 1976.
  • ———. “On the Tree of the Cross.” St. Vladimir’s Seminary Quarterly 1, no. 3–4 (1953): 11–34.
  • Harakas, Stanley S. “An Orthodox Comment on Violence and Religion.” In Orthodox Churches in a Pluralistic World, 103–109. Geneva: WCC Publications, 2004. {172}
  • Hart, David Bentley. “A Gift Exceeding Every Debt: An Eastern Orthodox Appreciation of Anselm’s Cur Deus Homo.” Pro Ecclesia 7, no. 3 (1998): 333–49.
  • Schiefelbein, Kyle Kenneth. “The Theology of Atonement in Eastern Orthodoxy and Lutheranism Viewed through Hymnody.” Dialog 48, no. 4 (2009): 329–38.
  • Schmemann, Alexander. Liturgy and Tradition: Theological Reflections of Alexander Schmemann. Crestwood, NY: St Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1990. See esp. chap. 9, “Sacrifice and Worship.”
  • Weinrich, William C. “God Did Not Create Death: Athanasius on the Atonement.” Concordia Theological Quarterly 72, no. 4 (2008): 291–304.
  • Yannaras, Christos. Elements of Faith: An Introduction to Orthodox Theology. Translated by Keith Schram. Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1991. See especially chap. 8, “Jesus Christ.”
  • Atonement and Non/violence
  • Baker, Mark D., ed. Proclaiming the Scandal of the Cross: Contemporary Images of the Atonement. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2006.
  • Baker, Mark D., and Joel B. Green. Recovering the Scandal of the Cross: Atonement in New Testament and Contemporary Contexts. 2nd ed. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2011.
  • Bartlett, Anthony W. Cross Purposes: The Violent Grammar of Christian Atonement. Harrisburg, PA: Trinity Press International, 2001.
  • Brock, Rita Nakashima and Rebecca Ann Parker. Proverbs of Ashes: Violence, Redemptive Suffering, and the Search for What Saves Us. Boston: Beacon, 2001.
  • Brown, Joanne Carlson. “Divine Child Abuse.” Daughters Of Sarah 18, no. 3 (1992): 24–28.
  • Brown, Joanne Carlson, and Carole R. Bohn, eds. Christianity, Patriarchy, and Abuse: A Feminist Critique. New York: Pilgrim, 1989.
  • Cole, Graham A. God the Peacemaker: How Atonement Brings Shalom. Downers Grove, IL: Apollos/InterVarsity, 2009. {173}
  • Girard, René. I See Satan Fall Like Lightning. Translated by James G. Williams. New York: Orbis Books, 2001.
  • ———. The Scapegoat. Translated by Yvonne Freccero. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1989.
  • Heim, S. Mark. Saved from Sacrifice: A Theology of the Cross. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2006.
  • Jersak, Brad, and Michael Hardin, eds. Stricken by God? Nonviolent Identification and the Victory of Christ. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2007.
  • Love, Gregory Anderson. “In Search of a Non-Violent Atonement Theory: Are Abelard and Girard a Help, or a Problem?” In Theology as Conversation: The Significance of Dialogue in Contemporary Theology, edited by Bruce L. McCormack and Kimlyn J. Bender, 194–214. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2009.
  • Milbank, John. Being Reconciled: Ontology and Pardon. Radical Orthodoxy series. London; New York: Routledge, 2003. See esp. chap. 6, “Atonement: Christ the Exception.”
  • Ressor-Taylor, Rachel. “Anselm’s Cur Deus Homo for a Peace Theology: On the Compatibility of Non-Violence and Sacrificial Atonement.” PhD diss., McGill University, 2007.
  • Sanders, John, ed. Atonement and Violence: A Theological Conversation. Nashville: Abingdon, 2006.
  • Swartley, Willard M., ed. Violence Renounced: René Girard, Biblical Studies, and Peacemaking. Studies in Peace and Scripture, vol. 4. Telford, PA: Pandora; Scottdale, PA: Herald, 2000.
  • Weaver, J. Denny. The Nonviolent Atonement. 2nd ed., greatly rev. and expanded. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2011.
  • Wink, Walter. Engaging the Powers: Discernment and Resistance in a World of Domination. Vol. 3 of The Powers. Minneapolis: Fortress, 1992. See esp. chap. 7, “Breaking the Spiral of Violence: The Power of the Cross.” {174}

Pre-Modern Discussions

  • Abelard, Peter. Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans. Translated by Steven R. Cartwright. The Fathers of the Church, Mediaeval Continuation, v. 12. Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2011.
  • Anselm, Saint, Archbishop of Canterbury. Why God Became a Man (Cur Deus Homo). Translated by Jaspar Hopkins and Herbert Richardson. Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen, 1980.
  • Athanasius, Saint, Patriarch of Alexandria. De Incarnatione Verbi Dei: Athanasius on the Incarnation. Translated by T. Herbert Bindley. Vol. 3 of the Christian Classic Series. London: Religious Tract Society, 1887.
  • Augustine, Saint, Bishop of Hippo. Augustine’s views on the work of Christ are scattered throughout his many writings. See, e.g., Against Adimantus, 21.3; Against Faustus, 14; Confessions, 9.13.36 and 10.43.68–70; On the Advantage of Believing, 15.33; On Free Will, 3.10.31; On Genesis, against the Manichees, 2.21.32; To Simplicianus, 1.2.16.
  • Calvin, John. Commentary on Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians. Translated by  T. H. L. Parker. Calvin’s New Testament Commentaries, vol. 11. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1965.
  • Dunstone, Alan S. The Atonement in Gregory of Nyssa. London: Tyndale, 1964.
  • Eckardt, Burnell F. Anselm and Luther on the Atonement: Was It “Necessary”? San Francisco, CA: Mellen Research University Press, 1992.
  • Hardy, Edward Rochie, ed. Christology of the Later Fathers. Vol. 3 in The Library of Christian Classics. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1954.
  • Hart, David Bentley. “A Gift Exceeding Every Debt: An Eastern Orthodox Appreciation of Anselm’s Cur Deus Homo.” Pro Ecclesia 7, no. 3 (1998): 333–49.
  • Irenaeus, Saint, Bishop of Lyon. St. Irenaeus of Lyons Against the Heresies. Translated by Dominic J. Unger et al. Ancient Christian Writers, no. 55, 64–65. New York: Paulist, 1992. See esp. 3.18.1 and 5.21.1. {175}
  • Justin Martyr. Dialogue with Trypho. In Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol 1. Edited by Alexander Roberts. New York: Scribner & Sons, 1892. See especially chap. 95.
  • Luther, Martin. Luther’s Works. American ed. 55 vols. St. Louis, MO: Concordia, 1955–1986. See esp. 13:319; 22:132, 165; 23:58, 195; 24:98; 25:45, 284, 348; 26:29; 41:111f, 336, 342; 43:27; 44:38; 47:303f.
  • McAvoy, Jane E. The Satisfied Life: Medieval Women Mystics on Atonement. Cleveland, OH: Pilgrim, 2000.
  • Thomas Aquinas, Saint. Summa Theologica. Translated by Fathers of the English Dominican Province. Westminster, MD: Christian Classics, 1981 (1948). See esp. IIIa, QQ. 46ff.
  • Weinrich, William C. “God Did Not Create Death: Athanasius on the Atonement.” Concordia Theological Quarterly 72, no. 4 (2008): 291–304.
  • Williams, Garry J. “Penal Substitutionary Atonement in the Church Fathers.” Evangelical Quarterly 83, no. 3 (2011): 195–216.
  • Williams, Thomas. “Sin, Grace, and Redemption in Abelard.” In The Cambridge Companion to Abelard, edited by Jeffrey E. Brower and Kevin Guilfoy, 258–78. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004.

Modern Discussions (1700–1899)

  • Bushnell, Horace. The Vicarious Sacrifice, Grounded in Principles of Universal Obligation. New York: Charles Scribner & Co., 1866.
  • Campbell, John McLeod. The Nature of the Atonement. Edinburgh: Handsel; Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1996. (Reprint of the 2nd ed., published in 1867, with Campbell’s introduction.)
  • Dale, R. W. The Atonement: The Congregational Union Lecture for 1875. London: Congregational Union of England and Wales, 1904.
  • Harnack, Adolph von. History of Dogma. 7 vols. Translated from the 3rd German ed. by Neil Buchanan et al. New York: Russell & Russell, 1958. (First published in the 1880s as Lehrbuch der Dogmengeschichte.) See esp. vol. 6. {176}
  • Hodge, Archibald Alexander. The Atonement. Philadelphia: Presbyterian Board of Publication, 1867.
  • Kant, Immanuel. Religion Within the Limits of Reason Alone. Translated by Theodore M. Greene and Hoyt H. Hudson. La Salle, IL: Open Court; New York: Harper, 1960. First published 1794. See esp. Book 2 and Book 3, div. 1, pt. 7.
  • Maurice, F. D. The Doctrine of Sacrifice: Deduced from Scriptures. London: Macmillan, 1879.
  • Miley, John. The Atonement in Christ. New York: Phillips & Hunt, 1880.
  • Oxenham, H. N. The Catholic Doctrine of the Atonement: An Historical Inquiry into its Development in the Church. London: Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, and Green, 1865.
  • Ritschl, Albrecht. A Critical History of the Christian Doctrine of Justification and Reconciliation. 3rd ed. Translated and edited by H. R. Mackintosh and A.B. Macaulay. Clifton, NJ: Reference Book Publishers, 1966. (Vol. 3 of Ritschl’s Christliche Lehre von der Rechtfertigung und Versöhnung, published in 1870.)
  • Rivière, Jean. The Doctrine of the Atonement: A Historical Essay. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Tru¨bner, 1909.
  • Schleiermacher, Friedrich. The Christian Faith. Edited by H. R. Mackintosh and J. S. Stewart. Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 2003. (First published 1821–22 as Der christliche Glaube.)
  • Wesley, John. Wesley’s Works. 3d edn. 14 vols. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1979. (Reprinted from the 1872 edition issued by Wesleyan Methodist Book Room, London.) See, e.g., vol. 6 (Sermons, vol. 2), Sermon 62, “The End of Christ’s Coming.”

Late Modern Discussions (1900–1999)

  • Aulén, Gustaf. Christus Victor: An Historical Study of the Three Main Types of the Idea of the Atonement. Translated by A. G. Hebert. London: SPCK, 1970 (1931).
  • Balthasar, Hans Urs von. Theo-drama: Theological Dramatic Theory. 5 vols. Translated by Graham Harrison. San Francisco, CA: Ignatius, 1988–1998. See esp. vol. 4, “The Action.” {177}
  • Barth, Karl. Church Dogmatics. 4 vols. Edinburgh, Scotland: T & T Clark, 1958–69. See esp. vol. 4, pt. 1.
  • Berkhof, Louis. Vicarious Atonement Through Christ. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1936.
  • *Bloesch, Donald G. Jesus Christ: Savior and Lord. Downer’s Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 1997. See especially chap. 6, “Christ’s Atoning Sacrifice.”
  • Brunner, Emil. The Mediator: A Study of the Central Doctrine of the Christian Faith. Translated from the 2nd German edition by Olive Wyon. London: Lutterworth, 1934.
  • Clark, Henry W. The Cross and the Eternal Order: A Study of Atonement in its Cosmic Significance. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1944.
  • Coffin, Henry Sloane. The Meaning of the Cross. New York: Scribner’s, 1931.
  • Culpepper, Robert H. Interpreting the Atonement. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1966.
  • Denney, James. The Atonement and the Modern Mind. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1903.
  • ———. The Death of Christ: Its Place and Interpretation in the New Testament. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1903.
  • Dillistone, F. W. The Christian Understanding of Atonement. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1968.
  • Feenstra, Ronald J., and Cornelius Plantinga, eds. Trinity, Incarnation, Atonement: Philosophical and Theological Essays. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1989.
  • Forsyth, P.T. The Cruciality of the Cross. London: Independent, 1948.
  • Girard, René. The Scapegoat. Translated by Yvonne Freccero. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1989.
  • Gorringe, Timothy. God’s Just Vengeance: Crime, Violence, and the Rhetoric of Salvation. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996. {178}
  • Green, E.M.B. The Meaning of Salvation. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1965.
  • Gunton, Colin E. The Actuality of Atonement: A Study of Metaphor, Rationality, and the Christian Tradition. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1989.
  • Hamerton-Kelly, Robert. Sacred Violence: Paul’s Hermeneutic of the Cross. Minneapolis: Fortress, 1992.
  • Hengel, Martin. The Atonement: The Origins of the Doctrine in the New Testament. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1981.
  • Hodges, Herbert Arthur. The Pattern of Atonement. London: SCM, 1955.
  • Hodgson, Leonard. The Doctrine of the Atonement. New York: Scribner, 1951.
  • Hughes, Thomas Hywel. The Atonement: Modern Theories of the Doctrine. London: G. Allen, 1949.
  • Kuiper, Rienk Bouke. For Whom did Christ Die? A Study of the Divine Design of the Atonement. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1959.
  • *Letham, Robert. The Work of Christ. Downer’s Grove, IL: IVP, 1993.
  • Mathews, Shailer. The Atonement and the Social Process. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1930.
  • *McGrath, Alister. What Was God Doing on the Cross? Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1992.
  • McIntyre, John. The Shape of Soteriology: Studies in the Doctrine of the Death of Christ. Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1993.
  • Moltmann, Jürgen. The Crucified God. New York: Harper, 1974.
  • Morris, Leon. The Cross of Jesus. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans; Exeter, England: Paternoster, 1988.
  • Moule, C. F. D. The Sacrifice of Christ. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1964.
  • Nygren, Anders. Essence of Christianity: Two Essays. Translated by Philip S. Watson. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1960. See esp. “The Atonement as a Work of God.” {179}
  • Packer, J. I. Celebrating the Saving Work of God. Carlisle, UK: Paternoster, 1998. See esp. chap. 8, “What Did the Cross Achieve?” and chap. 9, “Sacrifice and Satisfaction.”
  • Pannenberg, Wolfhart. “A Theology of the Cross.” Word & World 8, no. 2 (1988): 162–72.
  • Rahner, Karl. Foundations of Christian Faith: An Introduction to the Idea of Christianity. Translated by William V. Dych. New York: Crossroad, 1982. See esp. chap. 6, “Jesus Christ.”
  • Rashdall, Hastings. The Idea of Atonement in Christian Theology. London: Macmillan, 1919.
  • Schwagger, Raymund. Jesus and the Drama of Salvation: Toward a Biblical Doctrine of Redemption. New York: Herder & Herder, 1999.
  • Sölle, Dorothee. Christ the Representative: An Essay in Theology after the Death of God. Translated by David Lewis. Philadelphia, PA: Fortress, 1967.
  • Stalker, James. The Atonement. Toronto: Upper Family Tract Society, 1908.
  • Stott, John R.W. The Cross of Christ. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1986.
  • Swinburne, Richard. Responsibility and Atonement. Oxford [England]: Clarendon; New York: Oxford University Press, 1989.
  • Sykes, Stephen W. Sacrifice and Redemption: Durham Essays in Theology. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 1991.
  • Taylor, Vincent. The Atonement in New Testament Teaching. London: Epworth, 1945.
  • Volf, Miroslav. Exclusion and Embrace: A Theological Exploration of Identity, Otherness, and Reconciliation. Nashville: Abingdon, 1996.
  • Wainwright, Geoffrey. For Our Salvation: Two Approaches to the Work of Christ. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1997.
  • Wand, J. W. C. The Atonement. London: SPCK, 1963. {180}
  • Wheeler, David L. A Relational View of the Atonement: Prolegomenon to a Reconstruction of the Doctrine. New York: Peter Lang, 1990.
  • White, Vernon. Atonement and Incarnation: An Essay in Universalism and Particularity. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 1991.
  • Wink, Walter. Engaging the Powers: Discernment and Resistance in a World of Domination. Vol. 3 of The Powers. Minneapolis: Fortress, 1992. See esp. chap. 7, “Breaking the Spiral of Violence: The Power of the Cross.”
  • Wolf, William J. No Cross, no Crown: A Study of the Atonement. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1957.
  • *Yancey, Philip. The Jesus I Never Knew. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1995.

Recent Discussions (2000–2011)

  • Bartlett, Anthony W. Cross Purposes: The Violent Grammar of Christian Atonement. Harrisburg, PA: Trinity Press International, 2001.
  • *Beilby, James, and Paul R. Eddy, eds. The Nature of the Atonement: Four Views. Downer’s Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2006.
  • *Boersma, Hans. “The Disappearance of Punishment.” Books & Culture (March/April 2003). Also available online at http://www.ctlibrary.com/bc/2003/marapr/16.32.html.
  • *———. Violence, Hospitality, and the Cross: Reappropriating the Atonement Tradition. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2004.
  • Cole, Graham A. God the Peacemaker: How Atonement Brings Shalom. Downers Grove, IL: Apollos/InterVarsity, 2009.
  • Daly, Robert J. Sacrifice Unveiled: The True Meaning of Christian Sacrifice. London; New York: T & T Clark International, 2009.
  • *Demarest, Bruce. The Cross and Salvation. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2006.
  • *Dever, Mark E. “Nothing But the Blood.” Christianity Today 50, no. 5 (2006): 28–33. Also available online at http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2006/may/9.29.html. {181}
  • Eberhart, Christian. The Sacrifice of Jesus: Understanding Atonement Biblically. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress, 2011.
  • Finlan, Stephen. Options on Atonement in Christian Thought. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical, 2007.
  • ———. Problems with Atonement: The Origins of, and Controversy about, the Atonement Doctrine. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical, 2005.
  • Girard, René. I See Satan Fall Like Lightning. Translated by James G. Williams. New York: Orbis Books, 2001.
  • Hedley, Douglas. Sacrifice Imagined: Violence, Atonement, and the Sacred. New York: Continuum, 2011.
  • Heim, S. Mark. Saved from Sacrifice: A Theology of the Cross. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2006.
  • *Hill, Charles E., and Frank A. James III, eds. The Glory of the Atonement: Biblical, Historical, and Practical Perspectives. Downer’s Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2004.
  • *Hirsch, Alan, and Michael Frost. ReJesus: A Wild Messiah for a Missional Church. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2009.
  • *Hsu, Al. “A Multifaceted Gospel.” Christianity Today 52, no. 4 (2008): 66. Also available online at http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/april/17.66.html.
  • Jeffery, Steve, Michael Ovey, and Andrew Sach. Pierced for Our Transgressions: Rediscovering the Glory of Penal Substitution. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2007.
  • Jersak, Brad, and Michael Hardin, eds. Stricken by God? Nonviolent Identification and the Victory of Christ. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2007.
  • *Keller, Timothy J. The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism. New York: Dutton, 2008.
  • Love, Gregory Anderson. “In Search of a Non-Violent Atonement Theory: Are Abelard and Girard a Help, or a Problem?” In Theology as Conversation: The Significance of Dialogue in Contemporary Theology, edited by Bruce L. McCormack and Kimlyn J. Bender, 194–214. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2009. {182}
  • Marshall, I. Howard. Aspects of the Atonement: Cross and Resurrection in the Reconciling of God and Humanity. London: Paternoster, 2007.
  • *Matthewes-Green, Frederica. “The Meaning of Christ’s Suffering.” Books & Culture (March/April 2004): 14. Also available online at http://www.ctlibrary.com/bc/2004/marapr/1.28.html.
  • McKnight, Scot. Jesus and his Death: Historiography, the Historical Jesus, and Atonement Theory. Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2005.
  • *———. A Community Called Atonement. Nashville: Abingdon, 2007.
  • Milbank, John. Being Reconciled: Ontology and Pardon. Radical Orthodoxy series. London; New York: Routledge, 2003. See esp. “Atonement: Christ the Exception.”
  • *Mouw, Richard J. “Violence and the Atonement.” Books & Culture 7 (January/February 2001): 12–17. Also available online at http://www.ctlibrary.com/bc/2001/janfeb/3.12.html.
  • *Neff, David. “Your Atonement Is Too Small.” Christianity Today 52, no. 5 (2008). Also available online at http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/may/27.69.html.
  • Packer, James I., and Mark E. Dever. In My Place Condemned He Stood: Celebrating the Glory of the Atonement. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2008.
  • Peters, Ted. “Six Ways of Salvation: How Does Jesus Save?” Dialog 45, no. 3 (2006): 223–35.
  • Sanders, John, ed. Atonement and Violence: A Theological Conversation. Nashville: Abingdon, 2006.
  • Schmiechen, Peter. Saving Power: Theories of Atonement and Forms of the Church. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2005.
  • Shelton, R. Larry. Cross and Covenant: Interpreting the Atonement for 21st Century Mission. Tyrone, GA: Paternoster, 2006.
  • *Sherman, Robert J. King, Priest, and Prophet: A Trinitarian Theology of Atonement. New York: T & T Clark, 2004. {183}
  • Sloyan, Gerard Stephen. Why Jesus Died. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress, 2004.
  • Stevenson, Peter K., and Stephen I. Wright. Preaching the Atonement. London and New York: T & T Clark International, 2005.
  • Tidball, Derek, David Hilborn, and Justin Thacker, eds. The Atonement Debate: Papers from the London Symposium on the Theology of Atonement. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2008.
  • Torrance, Thomas F. Atonement: The Person and Work of Christ. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2009.
  • Vanhoozer, Kevin J. “The Atonement in Postmodernity: Guilt, Goats and Gifts.” In Hill, The Glory of the Atonement, 367–404.
  • Westhelle, Vitor. The Scandalous God: The Use and Abuse of the Cross. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress, 2006.
  • Williams, Garry J. “Penal Substitution: A Response to Recent Criticisms.” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 50 (2007): 172–91.
  • Williamson, Clark M. “Atonement Theologies and the Cross.” Encounter 71, no. 1 (2010): 1–25.
  • *Wright, N.T. Evil and the Justice of God. Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2006.
  • *———. Justification: God’s Plan and Paul’s Vision. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2009.

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