Even as theologians and others have become more critical of classic theories of atonement, Brondos maintains, biblical scholars have continued to understand Paul's soteriology based on the language and categories of a thousand years later. In this vital volume he draws the theological consequences of the "new perspective" on Paul for our understanding of the meaning and efficacy of Jesus'' death. Paul, says Brondos, understood Jesus' death primarily as the consequence of his mission of serving as God's instrument to bring about the awaited redemption of Israel, in which Gentiles throughout...

In this masterful survey and analysis of 2000 years of Christian reflection on salvation, theologian David Brondos lays bare the diverse and even competing understandings, their social context and development, and their strengths and weaknesses. Concentrating on eleven of the most important figures, Brondos unfolds each as pursuing a distinctive story of salvation or atonement. The eleven figures include Isaiah, Luke, Paul, Irenaeus, Gregory of Nyssa, Anselm, Martin Luther, John Calvin, Albrecht Ritschl, Karl Barth, Rudolf Bultmann, Jon Sobrino, and Rosemary Radford Ruether.