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Triune Atonement

Author:	Andrew Sung Park
Published By:	Westminster John Knox Press/Alban Books (Louisville, Kentucky/Edinburgh)
Pages:	130
Price:	£12.99
ISBN:	978 0 664 23347 1

Reviewed by Chris Skilton.

This is an interesting and stimulating read on a familiar subject. The first part offers a brief survey of different theories of the atonement - ransom, Christus Victor (and a modern variation), satisfaction, moral influence, penal substitution and scapegoat. It describes these theories and gives a brief analysis of their strengths and weaknesses. Given that this is all done in thirty five pages, the survey is limited but fair.

The second part is a stimulating account of two complementary sides of the Atonement. Park asserts that Jesus died both for victims and the oppressed and for sinners and the oppressors. He suggests that many of us embrace both of these at different times in our lives and that we need to meet Christ on the cross as both. He addresses the way in which the death of Christ must address the needs of each.  Especially fascinating here was the reference to the Korean concept of ‘han’; “a deep unhealed wound of a victim that festers in her or him...It may be a deep ache, an intense bitterness, or the sense of helplessness, hopelessness or rejection at the individual and collective levels” (p.39).

It would have been good to have had further insights from the author’s heritage and culture to illuminate familiar insights.

The particular strengths of this section are the reflections on the way that the sayings and actions of Jesus throughout his ministry have a bearing on the significance of the work of the cross. There are astute reflections on several difficult passages from the gospels.  I valued his elucidation of the way in which the Resurrection and the work of the Holy Spirit make effective the cross in the life of the believers and the church. However, I wanted to know with more clarity precisely what he meant by “the Holy Spirit and the Paraclete are the same, but the Paraclete can also be distinguished from the Holy Spirit” (p.61).

The final chapter about the Atonement and the natural order is a very different style of writing and, while addressing an important topic, feels like an ‘add on’ for a different book.

The book is written in an easy style and contains a helpful and varied bibliography. It would be a good addition to the library of a minister who wanted to look at the atonement through a fresh pair of eyes.