Abstract
In this protracted work, Anabaptist theologian Darrin Belousek attempts to triangulate the atonement of Jesus Christ, the justice of God and the church’s mission to make peace in a world gripped by retributive violence. The foment over the current atonement debates provides the impetus for Belousek to wade into the dispute, particularly over whether or not the predominantly Protestant view of penal-substitution is biblically justified and intellectually coherent. Belousek takes his readers on an exegetical journey through key Old and New Testament passages wherein and by which he methodically critiques the penal-substitutionary view replacing it with an expiation-representational view. Belousek further deconstructs the reigning paradigm of retributive justice as based upon the lex talionis (law of retribution) and how that legal principle has permeated not only classical and contemporary western society but also the majority of western Christianity. Once Belousek establishes his understanding of the atonement purged of the excesses of penal-substitution, he draws out the ethical implications of restorative justice by denouncing economic injustice on the poorest of society and petitions for a moratorium on capital punishment. Finally, Belousek delineates the ecclesial implications of a representational atonement based upon restorative justice by arguing for the church to be a community with no inter-religious/ethnic enmity and disunity, but a society determined by the cruciform paradigm and mission of Jesus Christ.
The greatest strength of this work lies in the author’s meticulous exegesis of the Christian scriptures and his willingness to critique the prevalent atonement view in Protestantism. Belosuek does well to expose the hermeneutical inaccuracies and theological inconsistencies of penal-substitution, and then offers what he believes is a more biblically accurate understanding of atonement that is Christologically representational revealing the justice of God as restorative and reconciliatory. The greatest weakness lies in the author’s (at times slavish) use of Anabaptist theological works, along with his near complete vilification of the penal-substitutionary view. Furthermore, the author’s ethical-ecclesial arguments are mostly tailored for an American audience and the current cultural-political issues thereof, meaning readers from different socio-political contexts may find his constructive criticisms irrelevant. This tome is laborious to digest but is rewarding for those interested in the current atonement debates.