Scot McKnight’s A Community Called Atonement (Abingdon, 2007) is one of the most important Christian books of the year. McKnight’s work shows how each model of atonement theology has a biblical basis and a rightful place in discussions about the meaning of Christ’s death and resurrection.
If you ever tire of seeing the beauty of the atonement mired in abstract theological debate, you will love this book. If you prize one model of the atonement at the exclusion of all others, you will hate this book.
A Community Called Atonement is not a treatise on how the atonement leads to mission; it is about how the atonement breathes mission. McKnight masterfully weaves the biblical stories and theology of the atonement into missional focus – showing how each model of the atonement serves a purpose in the mission of the Church.
Of particular interest to me was the way Scot shines light on important moments for the atonement. While obviously centered on the cross and resurrection, Scot’s theology of the atonement takes in Christmas and Pentecost too.
I appreciate Scot’s willingness to formulate the doctrine of penal substitution in a thoroughly biblical way, avoiding the misconceptions and caricatures while maintaining its essence. Even though penal substitution may be out of fashion for many in the Emerging circles who will pick up this book, Scot refuses to dismiss this model, since he finds it clearly expressed in the biblical text.
Yet, Scot maintains (over against many proponents of penal substitution) that the atonement cannot be reduced to one theory. He holds many theories in tension, likening them to golf clubs in a golf bag. He believes that identification for incorporation is the most important motif of the atonement, as it incorporates all the others.
Read this book. The last section on “Atonement Praxis: Who Does Atonement?” is helpful in answering the “So What?” question that many laypeople ask regarding the atonement. McKnight’s work is thorough, fair, and gives weight to the biblical witness in all its glory. You will come away from this book with a wonderful sense of how big the atonement is and how great is God’s love for this fallen world.
