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The Friday We Call "Good" -- Atonement Contest Results

Posted Mar 21, 08:45 PM | 2 comments | by Editor | Link

By Mark Baker and Tony Jones:

We greet you in the Lord’s name on this Good Friday. It’s the day that we commemorate Jesus’ death on the cross, and its meaning for all time and for all of humanity. As Christians, we call the outcome of this event the “atonement”—that’s the doctrine that stands at the center of the area of theology called soteriology.

But what exactly is atonement? How does it work? These questions lie at the heart of one of the most robust theological discussions in the church over the past two millennia and it is particularly active today. In fact, some have gone so far as to call it the “Atonement Wars.” Others around Emergent have said, “Not so fast!” Instead, the multiple theories of atonement over the centuries complement each other, like a vase full of flowers or the clubs in a golf bag.

In that spirit, we launched Lent with a contest of sorts, in which we asked people send in alternate metaphors for the atonement, different from the ones we often grew up with. (Here’s the initial announcement.) We received several dozen entries, and we’re thrilled to share the winners on this Good Friday.

But before I get to the winners, I want to thank the judges: Mark D. Baker, editor of Proclaiming the Scandal of the Cross: Contemporary Images of Atonement and co-author with Joel B. Green of Recovering the Scandal of the Cross: Atonement in New Testament and Contemporary Contexts, and associate professor of mission and theology at Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary, Fresno, California.

Debbie Blue, contributor to Proclaiming the Scandal of the Cross, author of Sensual Orthodoxy (Cathedral Hill) and From Stone to Living Word: Letting the Bible Live Again (Brazos), and one of the founding pastors of House of Mercy church, St. Paul, Minnesota.

Dan Whitmarsh, contributor to Proclaiming the Scandal of the Cross, and pastor of Lakebay Community Church, an Evangelical Covenant Church in Lakebay, Washington.

Bill Yaccino, director of Catalyst, mobilizing churches for spiritual revolution across Lake County, Illinois. He previously served in various pastoral roles in Illinois and California and in 2005 Bill launched www.WeddingPastorsUSA.org to network pastors willing to bring Christ-like love to couples far from the Church on their wedding day.

(Note: All documents are PDF files, which require Adobe Acrobat Reader to open.)

The Runners-Up:

• “A Dad Who Is Mad” by Paulette Lovelace


• “Atonement and Atonement” by Jenny Warner


• “The Who Cane” by Marty Folsom

The Winner:

• “Three Stories of Grace” by Steve Sherwood

Great job, Steve. And thanks to everyone who sent in submissions!

May God bless you this Easter weekend.

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