The Abhorrent and Irreligious Nature of the Cross and The Wrath of God

#ReadingRutledge Week 3

Last week we read through Chapters 3 and 4. Here are some highlights for me.

While the cross has become sanitized, scrubbed clean, and elevated as the primary and somewhat sophisticated symbol of the Christian faith, the crucifixion of Jesus was anything but “religious".

According to Rutledge, the crucifixion was:

• hideous

• inglorious

• irreligious

• degrading

• embarrassing

• shameful

• humiliating

• dehumanizing

• wretched

Before we take a deep dive into the theological significance of the death of Jesus, we need to see the cross in its historical context. According to Rutledge:

During the first three centuries, the cross was not the sign in which the emperor conquered. It did not adorn medals and honors. It was not bejeweled, enameled, or worked in precious metal. It was a sign of contradiction and scandal, which quite often meant exile or death for those who adhered to the way of the crucified One. (82)

The significance of the crucifixion was not only that Jesus died for our sins, it was the manner in which he died. The crucifixion was shameful in that Jesus suffered the shame and degradation we heap on each other.

Derek Vreeland @DerekVreeland

Rutledge on the irreligious nature of the crucifixion of Jesus. #ReadingRutledge

In addition to the irreligious nature of the cross, Rutledge lays out her vision of the justice of God which she emphatically describes as God’s work at setting things right.

The Christian gospel is the good news announcement that includes forgiveness, but as Rutledge argues, forgivingness is not enough. For humanity to flourish we need forgiveness no doubt, but we also need justice.

We need forgiveness because it creates space for enemies to become friends, but we need more than pardon, we need a way to make things right. This form of justice is not merely punitive, seeking to punish for the sake of punishment, but restorative, seeking to make things right. If justice is merely punitive, it can stir up the very hatred forgiveness tries to squelch.

Rutledge makes a compelling case that a better word for “justice” would be “rectify.” Imagine if the banner flown during the Protestant Reformation was “rectification by faith” instead of “justification by faith”!

This kind of justice is directly related to the biblical concept of the wrath of God. Rutledge makes the claim that Brad Jersak and I (and others) have made for years—the wrath of God is not literal, but metaphorical language. She writes:

The wrath of God is not an emotion that flares up from time to time as though God had temper tantrums; it is a way of describing his absolute enmity against all wrong and his coming to set matters right. (130)

She continues:

Where is the outrage? It is God’s own; it is the wrath of God against all that stands against his redemptive purpose. It is not an emotion; it is God’s righteous activity in setting right what is wrong. It is God’s intervention on behalf of those who cannot help themselves. (132)

This is a crucial distinction. God is not literally angry, but God does act in order to make things right. God isn’t mad at sinners; God loves sinners. God’s wrath isn’t a description of an angry God looking to have his anger satisfied. The wrath of God is God’s intention to rectify things in response to the corrupting and destroying power of sin.

And speaking of satisfaction, the next chapter, a bridge chapter, which we started last week is on reconsidering Anselm, the ancient witness that emphasized the so-called “satisfaction theory” of the atonement. I have vehemently critiqued that theory (Read more here: https://www.missioalliance.org/penal-substitutionary-atonement-necessary/), and so I am looking forward to see what she has to say about Anselm!

Here is the reading schedule for this week:

Monday, March 6: Pages 156-174
Tuesday, March 7: Pages 175-191
Wednesday, March 8: Pages 191-204
Thursday, March 9: Pages 207-224
Friday, March 10: Pages 224-240
Saturday, March 11: Pages 240-256
Sunday, March 12: No scheduled reading unless you need to catch up on what you didn’t get read this week

I have enjoyed reading some of your quotes and thoughts on social media. Keep it up! Be sure to post with the hashtag #ReadingRutledge.