Consuming Passion – Why the killing of Jesus really matters, edited by Simon Barrow and Jonathan Bartley,
Darton, Longman & Todd, 2005, ISBN 0 232 52607 9, pp 136, rrp $34.95

Reviewed by Arthur J Grimshaw

This refreshing collection of contemporary essays
on the subject of the atonement is a timely reminder of the importance of theological perspectives in shaping our attitude to, and involvement with, the world in which we live.
In their individual ways the twelve contributors
to this helpful digest bring a cohesive clarity to our
study of the significance of the way we understand
the Passion of Christ.
No doubt, in part, these essays were triggered by
reactions to Mel Gibson’s film The Passion - but
there is a wider canvas. Our twenty-first-century
world has been catapulted into consideration of
such big issues not only by the catastrophe of
warfare and political instability in central Asia and
elsewhere, but also by the breathtaking enormity of natural disasters and the suffering inflicted on
humanity across a broad spectrum of racial and
ethnic groups, and acts of terrorism seemingly
derived from deep-seated hatreds.
In the interaction between Christian and
Muslim cultures, it is important in these times
to have a clear understanding of the Atonement
and its impact on our thinking and behaviour.
The compact nature of the book indicates the
beginning of a journey rather than its conclusion,
and the extensive select bibliography may be a
useful guide to those who wish to pursue the
journey in a more dedicated way.
It is an amazingly distilled collection of contemporary writings which make theology central
to our understanding of mission in today’s world.

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We need to discover an interpretation of the atonement that communicates hope and liberation to the abused, the victims and the sinned-against” (page 33).
Personally I am grateful for the specific
expositions by Steve Chalke, and J Denny Weaver, who open up (for me) new avenues of thought in relation to the unsatisfactory nature of traditional theologies of the Atonement.
This collection of contemporary thinking
gives strong encouragement and direction to our
understanding of mission to a jaded world in the
new millennium.

 

Contributors include the West Australian David
Wood, together with a range of British and
American theologians from various traditions
(Anglican, Catholic, Baptist, Mennonite, and
writers with a concern for political theology, and
contemporary Mission Theology). The overall
effect of these is both challenging and stimulating
- even for people with a limited background in
theology.
Steve Chalke argues very persuasively that
what we believe shapes the way we behave. He
supports Derek Tidball’s statement: “Love is not a
quality that God possesses, but the essence of God himself. It is not a minor attribute that characterises God on occasions, but the very heart of God, his essential being. It is not a component part of God, but his very nature. Before God is anything else, he is love.” (page 21-2).
Chalke rejects the penal substitution theory
of the Atonement as being not only inadequate,
but totally contrary to the Gospel record of Jesus’
teaching and example. In an earlier book Chalke
attracted a measure of criticism by claiming that
penal substitution is tantamount to ‘child abuse’,
and he pulls no punches here.
Editor Simon Barrow’s account of one person’s
reaction to the presence of a large crucifix in the
venue of a gathering of people of many faiths
and none, is very arresting – and he uses this
to introduce his understanding of the Pauline
teaching on the Cross (foolishness to the Greeks,
and a stumbling-block to the Jews, but to those
who are being saved, the power of God).
Stuart Murray highlights significant criticism of
established mind-sets derived from the triumphalist “Christendom” era, and reminds us “that the biblical tradition suggests that we need to listen attentively to their perspectives if we are to discover the heart of God. ...