Reviews for Readings in American History

The average rating for Readings in American History based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2017-08-21 00:00:00 Sheila Otis Excellent, accessible book on the topic of theories of atonement. Neatly summarises a great breadth of information in an extremely clear fashion. Convincingly makes the case that what happened on the cross must be expressed through a wide number of different stories to try and articulate something that would be impossible to fully understand. Holmes makes a strong argument for how, when formulated thoughtfully, penal substitution can be one of these. The author's approach powerfully helps the reader experience how understanding penal substitution as one of these stories can help them personally feel more of the power of what Christ did for them on the cross. also excellent in the way that it summarises and comments helpfully on the current theological debate around penal substitution. Could not recommend more highly to someone interested in the topic.

Review # 2 was written on 2019-09-19 00:00:00 Chris Newton Clear and readable, if a little repetitive. Argues that penal substitution is true in so far as it is a useful “story” for our times about what happened on the cross. In fact, all we can do is describe the cross with such stories because we will never truly understand the mystery of the cross. Has such a narrow definition of PS that he separates it as one amongst many, then argues that it wasn’t really formulated till Calvin and has become less useful since 1800.