Rethinking the Atonement

New Perspectives on Jesus's Death, Resurrection, and Ascension

David M. Moffitt

• Publisher: Baker Academic
• Year: 2022
• Print ISBN: 9781540966230
• eBook ISBN: 9781493440955
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Theology

Traditional views of the atonement tend to be reductive, focusing solely on Jesus's death on the cross. In his 2011 groundbreaking book Atonement and the Logic of Resurrection in the Epistle to the Hebrews, David Moffitt challenged that paradigm, showing how the atonement is a fuller process. It involves not only Jesus's death but also his resurrection, ascension, offering, and exaltation.

In the succeeding years, Moffitt has continued to expand and clarify his thinking on this issue. This book offers a more fulsome articulation of his work on the atonement that reflects his recent thinking on the topic. Moffitt continues to challenge reductive views of the atonement, primarily from the book of Hebrews, but he engages other New Testament passages as well. He offers fresh insights on sacrifice and atonement, the importance of resurrection and ascension, Jesus's role as priest, and a new perspective on Hebrews.

This important book brings Moffitt's award-winning and influential scholarship to a broader audience. The book includes a foreword by N. T. Wright.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Endorsements
• Half Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Abbreviations
• Foreword
• 1. Rethinking the Atonement
• 2. Modeled on Moses
• 3. Wilderness Identity and Pentateuchal Narrative
• 4. Isaiah 53, Hebrews, and Covenant Renewal
• 5. “If Another Priest Arises”
• 6. Blood, Life, and Atonement
• 7. Weak and Useless?
• 8. Serving in the Tabernacle in Heaven
• 9. It Is Not Finished
• 10. Observations on Directional Features of the Incarnation and Jesus’s Sacrifice in Hebrews
• 11. Jesus’s Heavenly Sacrifice in Early Christian Reception of Hebrews
• 12. Righteous Bloodshed, Matthew’s Passion Narrative, and the Temple’s Destruction
• 13. The Sign of Jonah and the Prophet Motif in the Gospel of Matthew
• 14. Atonement at the Right Hand
• 15. Affirming the “Creed”
• Author Index
• Scripture and Ancient Writings Index
• Back Cover