Good Friday: The Crucified Creator

(4 talks, about 12 minutes each)

[...] The problem with a truncated view of the atonement is that it has a truncated view of evil. Jeffrey John makes this comment on the sufferings of Auschwitz:

For me ... this above all is the meaning of the Cross: that God is one with us in our sufferings

And there is a truth in that. But if we stop there, then that truth becomes a falsehood, because we must go on to consider the causes of the sufferings of Auschwitz: what makes men and women, created in the image of God, behave like the very devil?

Furthermore, how should God respond to that? It is not enough that he suffers too, for that simply identifies him with the victim.

If he is going to save sinners, he must also identify with the oppressor. And here, Christ’s relationship with creation as its creator is all-important. [...]

Listen to Talk 1, Talk 2, Talk 3, Talk 4.