The Crucifixion of the Warrior God: Interpreting the Old Testaments Violent Portraits of God in Light of the Cross Volume 1 & 2

About this book

Renowned pastor-theologian Gregory A. Boyd proposes a revolutionary way to read the Bible in this epic but accessible study. His "cruciform hermeneutic" stands as a challenge to the field of biblical studies and to all thoughtful Christians. A dramatic tension confronts every Christian believer and interpreter of Scripture: on the one hand we encounter Old Testament stories of God commanding horrendous violence. On the other hand we read the unequivocally nonviolent teachings of Jesus in the New Testament. Reconciling these two has challenged Christians and theologians for two millennia. Throughout Christian history various answers have been proposed ranging from the long-rejected explanation that these contrasting depictions are of two entirely different "gods" to recent social cultural and literary theories that attempt to dispel the conflict. The Crucifixion of the Warrior God takes up this dramatic tension and the range of proposed answers in an ambitious constructive investigation. Over two volumes Gregory A. Boyd argues that we must take seriously the full range of Scripture as inspired including its violent depictions of God. At the same time he affirms the absolute centrality of the crucified and risen Christ as the supreme revelation of God. Developing a theological interpretation of Scripture that he labels a "cruciform hermeneutic " Boyd demonstrates how the Bibles violent images of God are reframed and their violence subverted when interpreted through the lens of the cross and resurrection. Indeed when read in this way Boyd argues that these violent depictions bear witness to the same self-sacrificial nature of God that was ultimately revealed on the cross.