Abstract
The Christian doctrine of atonement has been seriously undermined by limited vision. Aulén, Girard and endless debates about penal substitution are largely to blame, but the Western fixation on the cross emphasized by Anselm has pushed out of sight the 18 or so alternative models found in the New Testament alone.
Johnson writes with a quiet conviction about this doctrinal myopia. He suggests a campaign is required on two fronts: firstly, atonement needs to be reconfigured as an ongoing process, involving not only the cross but Christ’s entire ministry from incarnation to eschaton. Then secondly, atonement theology needs to break away from the anthropocentric limits of the Western imagination, constrained as it is by an obsession with personal sin and guilt. Atonement, as the New Testament suggests, has a cosmic dimension, which leads not only to human–divine reconciliation but also to the restoration and perfection of all of creation.
Two useful tools are provided to help with this rethinking. The first is a template for assessing existing theories of atonement by looking at five core elements: the cast said to be involved (God, humanity, Christ, etc.), the attributes of God brought to the fore by each theory (justice, mercy, love, etc.), the ‘target’ envisaged – the primary problem thought to be overcome by Christ, the present condition said to result from that underlying problem and the perceived purpose of atonement – the future seen to open out as a result. The book then goes on to apply this template to various theologies from Irenaeus to the Reformers, with a particular focus on the ‘flagship’ post-Reformation idea of penal substitution.
The second tool for rethinking atonement is the doctrine of the Trinity. Atonement, Johnson rightly insists, is a thoroughly Trinitarian affair, in which Father, Son and Holy Spirit work together to achieve the new creation. This is the essential starting point for a fresh understanding.
Atonement is a clear, concise and well-written introduction which, will be of benefit to students and ministers alike, but could also stimulate lively discussion among more advanced experts in the field. There are, of course, critical points for debate, not least the number of un-argued assertions and slippery arguments: for example, it is not clear that the brave attempt to address the charge of ‘divine child abuse’ from feminist theologians really succeeds, nor that the moral offence many find in the doctrine of penal substitution is properly explored. But this is an excellent book and a stimulating read.
Pneumatology is also excellent. Castelo, like Johnson, is on a mission – in this case, to rescue the theology of the Spirit from its status as the poor relation in Western Trinitarian thought. Castelo begins by setting out a concise but helpful overview of the biblical foundations for pneumatology before reviewing key moves in the early Christian theology from Montanism to Athanasius, tracing the heated Christological disputes which eventually fed into further reflection on the Spirit. A carefully nuanced account of the way Augustine seems to reduce the Spirit to a mere impersonal bond of love and the counterbalancing influence of the Cappadocians then provides the backdrop for a brief introduction to the filioque controversy.
Castelo suggests that theologies of the Spirit can be divided into two broad streams – ‘from above’ and ‘from below’. The ‘from above’ approach tends to be rooted in the New Testament, where the texts, particularly Paul and Acts, suggest that the Spirit is experienced primarily as a dynamic power sent by God to equip the Church for mission through extraordinary phenomena such as miracles or speaking in tongues. The ‘from below’ approach, however, tends to draw more on Old Testament images, where frenzied experiences of the Spirit are not unknown, but the Spirit is experienced mostly as God’s ongoing activity through the processes of creation and re-creation. This leads Castelo into a discussion first of the relationship between science and religion, then eco-ethics, as examples of the Spirit working through the ordinary and mundane. More ecclesial concerns are considered next, as the traditional Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant positions linking the gifts of the Spirit to sacramental baptism are compared in a balanced way with Pentecostal views, which look for a second gifting marked by charismatic experience.
Finally, Castelo turns to questions of epistemology and discernment, arguing that it is too easy to claim authority for a particular view of inspiration from the Bible, because the Spirit generally works through people rather than texts, through a reciprocal exchange between an inspired author and an inspired reader. Biblical interpretation thus turns out to be typical of the Spirit in action – elusive and ambiguous. There can never be a simple answer to the question how is it possible to recognize the presence of the Spirit, therefore; discernment is necessarily a dynamic process in which the Spirit works through the believer to cultivate a Christian character open to the presence of God in ordinary everyday living.
Castelo, like Johnson, makes some questionable moves at times; but that surely is the point of introductions such as these – not only to map out the territory but also to encourage readers to think for themselves. Both books in this sense are a credit to the series – valuable, informative and thought-provoking as they invite students old and new to enter into a fresh engagement with these doctrinal themes.