5.0
Lamb of the Free
ByPublisher Description
Lamb of the Free analyzes the different sacrificial imagery applied to Jesus in the NT in light of the facts that (a) there is no such thing as substitutionary death sacrifice in the Torah--neither death nor suffering nor punishment of the animal has any place in the sacrificial system--and (b) there are both atoning and non-atoning sacrifices. Surprisingly, the earliest and most common sacrifices associated with Jesus's death are the non-atoning ones. Nevertheless, when considering the whole NT, Jesus is said to accomplish all the benefits of the entire Levitical system, from both atoning and non-atoning sacrifices and purification. Moreover, all sacrificial interpretations of Jesus's death in the NT operate within the paradigm of participation, which is antithetical to notions of substitution. The sacrificial imagery in the NT is aimed at grounding the exhortation for the audience to be conformed to the cruciform image of Jesus by sharing in his death. The consistent message throughout the entire NT is not that Jesus died instead of us, rather, Jesus dies ahead of us so that we can unite with him and be conformed the image of his death.
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesLamb of the Free Reviews
5.0
“Outstanding.
This book, I think, has permanently shifted how I will think about Atonement (and what this word even means to begin with) and what exactly Jesus’ death accomplished.
The first half of the book unpacks what kipper (atonement) was and is, and importantly what it isn’t. Rillera’s reading and unpacking of the sacrificial system in Leviticus (and other parts of the OT) blew my mind. I was constantly going back and rereading the texts and starting to make sense of things that I usually would just skip over. Very refreshing.
The second half of the book narrows in on the NT, Jesus’ life/death/resurrection/ascension and how the authors understood atonement in relation to those. Which Rillera (convincingly, I think) argues is primarily viewed through the lens of participation and solidarity with humanity. He entered into our suffering to pull us out of it, not just he took the shot on our behalf so we don’t die.
A few flaws emerged while going through this; at times it felt like Rillera could be a bit myopic because of how forcefully he is making his arguments. And I would have also liked for him to engage other perspectives aside from just PSA.
Nonetheless, I overall loved the book. I learned a ton. I didn’t agree with 100% of it, but that’s the fun part of reading different perspectives on things - which Rillera has inspired me to continue digging and learning what else is out there on the subject of atonement :-)”
About Andrew Remington Rillera
Andrew Remington Rillera is assistant professor of biblical studies and theology at The King’s University in Edmonton, Alberta, in Canada.
Douglas A. Campbell
Douglas A. Campbell is a professor of New Testament at Duke Divinity School. He has published six books on Paul including The Deliverance of God (2009), Paul: An Apostle's Journey (2018), and Pauline Dogmatics (2020). He co-directs two prison engagement programs at Duke.
Other books by Douglas A. Campbell
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