Though the apostle Paul boldly proclaimed “Christ crucified” as the heart of the gospel, Fleming Rutledge notes that preaching about the cross of Christ is remarkably neglected in most churches today. In this book Rutledge addresses the issues and controversies that have caused pastors to speak of the cross only in the most general, bland terms, precluding a full understanding and embrace of the gospel by their congregations.
Countering our contemporary tendency to bypass Jesus’ crucifixion, Rutledge in these pages examines in depth all the various themes and motifs used by the New Testament evangelists and apostolic writers to explain the meaning of the cross of Christ. She mines the classical writings of the Church Fathers, the medieval scholastics, and the Reformers as well as more recent scholarship, while bringing them all into contemporary context.
Widely known for her preaching, Rutledge seeks to encourage preachers, teachers, and anyone else interested in what Christians believe to be the central event of world history.
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 SinPart 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 RecapitulationPraise for the Book
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.
Publisher : Eerdmans; Reprint edition (February 9, 2017)
Language : English
Paperback : 696 pages
ISBN-10 : 0802875343
ISBN-13 : 978-0802875341
Item Weight : 0.988 ounces
Dimensions : 5.75 x 1.5 x 8.75 inches
