Pictures of Atonement: A New Testament Study by Ben Pugh

Abstract

Reviewed by: Pictures of Atonement: A New Testament Study by Ben Pugh Stephen Finlan ben pugh, Pictures of Atonement: A New Testament Study (Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2020). Pp. xvii + 158. Paper $23. The first thing to say about this book is that it is very approachable, coherent, and useful for both church and academic settings. [End Page 333] This is Pugh's third book in a series on atonement, and in this treatment he emphasizes Scripture. He also stresses metaphor, saying, "Metaphor, far from being a frilly, aesthetic superfluity, is in fact the way we always grasp new truths, even scientific ones" (p. xvi). Further, P.'s study "is biblical study for theological results" (p. xvii), rather than an atomistic historical-critical approach. Pugh takes on the apparent dichotomy between an early (Jesus's own) emphasis on an anticipated kingdom and a later (early church) emphasis on cross and resurrection, which has more of a here-and-now focus. He rejects C. H. Dodd's solution that the emphasis on the cross and resurrection was a way of coping with the delay of the parousia. P. argues that the Pentecost event was the source of intense here-and-now experience (p. 7). "Until Pentecost, the 'already' aspect of the kingdom had only been implicit" (p. 12). I find this to be convincing. P. takes the early Christian experience seriously. Pugh seeks to discover a chronology among atonement metaphors, to see if there is a logical development. He addresses the metaphor of "victory" and affirms that Paul did indeed teach that the death and resurrection involved a triumph, not only over "principalities and powers" but also over the powers of death, sin, the flesh, and the law (pp. 16–18). There need not be a sharp choice between the "apocalyptic Paul" and the Paul who thinks in terms of covenant and justification. Similar to victory is the metaphor that builds on images of the redemption of Israel from Egypt and on the ransoming of captives or slaves. P. shares with N. T. Wright the notion that an important image was of a needed rescue from exile. He sees the metaphor of victory as more christological (speaking of incarnation, death, and resurrection), while the metaphor of redemption "focuses on what this does for us—it is soteriological" (p. 44). Gentile ideas play a major role here; aside from Luke, "[t]he New Testament writers seem to be negotiating a compromise with Greco-Roman ideas about propitiating gods, the manumission of slaves, or the ransoming of prisoners of war" (p. 43). In the chapter "Dying and Rising with Christ," P. makes a surprising concession to historical-critical scholarship by allowing that some of Paul's statements borrow broadly from the themes of dying and rising found in the mystery religions. P.'s discussion of dying and rising shows sensitivity to the participationist experience of "renouncing self-reliance and leaning upon Christ alone" (pp. 66–67). The longest chapter deals with the most common metaphor: sacrifice. In considering NT allusions to Levitical sacrifices, P. argues that "sin offering language comes to us wrapped in allusions to Isaiah 53" (p. 83). He is thinking of the silent lamb of Acts 8:32, the healing wounds of 1 Pet 2:24, and the sin offering of Rom 8:3 (p. 102). Chapters on justification and on reconciliation demonstrate more of P.'s careful consideration of, and willingness to draw on, differing scholarly theories. One thing that is absent from P.'s book is any deep consideration of the possibility that some atonement theology is spiritually retrograde, morally inferior, or psychologically unhealthy. In a very weak argument (p. 94), he defends Anselm's propitiatory concept. He admits that some sacrificial ideas can "seem a bit sadistic," preferring to assert that the basic sacrificial idea is gift giving, which enables the NT authors to emphasize the "loving self-gift" of Jesus (p. 103). He recognizes why many scholars recoil from the penal substitutionary idea. Pugh offers a "kaleidoscopic" understanding, drawing on several different theories of [End Page 334] atonement in order to get "big fat Rachmaninovian chords" instead of the "Chopsticks" of insisting on one theory (p. 133...