easter.

what christians celebrate today has a direct correspondence to what we believe about sin and what we believe about what happened on the cross nearly 2,000 years ago.

for a helpful and readable treatment of both, i’d suggest picking up (or more accurately, downloading) tony jone’s e-book, ‘a better atonement.‘ in this work, tony distances himself from a mob of other progressive theologians and biblical scholars by strongly defending the historical crucifixion and physical resurrection of jesus of nazareth.

dr. jones (think indiana) then summarizes a variety of different understandings of the atonement, encouraging us to stop and consider perhaps the most central question in our faith.

like it or not, atonement theory permeates our preaching, teaching, singing and theology even if and when we don’t realize it. this book will help sort through the different theories of atonement and provide a helpful framework for continued discussion and ecumenical dialogue.