Atonement Theories: A Way Through the Maze

With the subject of the atonement of Christ attracting such a lot of polemical work at this time it is easy to conclude that the current debate is generating more heat than light. Atonement Theories presents the beginning student pastor or researcher with an accessible and fair treatment of every school of thought on this subject. Atonement Theories significantly updates previous histories of the doctrine providing analysis of some fascinating and highly significant recent developments. It also intriguingly highlights at various points where aspects of this central message of Christianity might find a connection within contemporary culture. This book will empower the reader to quickly gain a working knowledge of current debates and the history behind them. Ben Pugh gives us an invaluable contemporary guide to the variety of accounts of the atonement that have been advanced and a judicious evaluation of them. The reader seeking a map of contemporary atonement theology will find it here; the reader wondering which contemporary accounts are correct and which are in error will be challenged and informed by this book. The whole is learned but readable and a valuable addition to the literature on the atonement. --Stephen R. Holmes University of St. Andrews Scotland UK This book plugs a gap in the recent avalanche of writing about the atonement. In reviewing the origins of various theories of the atonement including very recent ones it highlights both the enduring value and provisionality of all such models that grapple with the central truth that Christ died for us. It is a surprisingly informative and accessible survey that is not afraid to question some taken-for-granted assumptions. Its forays into recent popular views give it added value. This will prove a very useful book to those concerned about the atonement even where they may differ from some of its evaluations. --Derek Tidball London School of Theology Middlesex UK Ben Pugh is Lecturer in Theology at Cliff College UK. He is the author of The King of the Jews (2014).