Mimesis and Atonement: René Girard and the Doctrine of Salvation (Violence, Desire, and the Sacred)

How are we to best understand the statement of faith that Jesus Christ lived, died and rose again 'for us and for salvation?' This question has animated Christian thought for two millennia: it has also bitterly divided believers, not least in Reformation and post-Reformation disputes about atonement, justification, sanctification and sacrifice. René Girard's Violence and the Sacred (1972) made startling connections between religion, violence and culture. His work has enlivened the theological and philosophical debate once again, especially the question of whether and how we are to understand Christ's death as a 'sacrifice'. Mimesis and Atonement brings together philosophers from Catholic, Evangelical, Orthodox, and Jewish backgrounds to examine the continued significance of Girard's work. They do so in the light of new developments, such as the controversial 'new scholarship' on Paul. "How are we to best understand the statement of faith that Jesus Christ lived, died and rose again 'for us and for salvation?' This question has animated Christian thought for two millennia: it has also bitterly divided believers, not least in Reformation and post-Reformation disputes about atonement, justification, sanctification and sacrifice. Rene Girard's Violence and the Sacred (1972) made startling connections between religion, violence and culture. His work has enlivened the theological and philosophical debate once again, especially the question of whether and how we are to understand Christ's death as a 'sacrifice'. "Mimesis and Atonement" brings together philosophers from Catholic, Evangelical, Orthodox, and Jewish backgrounds to examine the continued significance of Girard's work. They do so in the light of new developments, such as the controversial 'new scholarship' on Paul."-- Provided by publisher "How are we to best understand the statement of faith that Jesus Christ lived, died and rose again 'for us and for salvation?' This question has animated Christian thought for two millennia: it has also bitterly divided believers, not least in Reformation and post-Reformation disputes about atonement, justification, sanctification and sacrifice. Ren Girard's Violence and the Sacred (1972) made startling connections between religion, violence and culture. His work has enlivened the theological and philosophical debate once again, especially the question of whether and how we are to understand Christ's death as a 'sacrifice'. Mimesis and Atonement brings together philosophers from Catholic, Evangelical, Orthodox, and Jewish backgrounds to examine the continued significance of Girard's work. They do so in the light of new developments, such as the controversial 'new scholarship' on Paul."--Bloomsbury Publishing. Cover Half-title Title Copyright Dedication Contents Contributors Preface Foreword 1. Traversing Hostility: The sine qua non of Any Christian Talk about Atonement 2. Jewish Atonement and the Book of Jonah : From Sacrifice to Non-Violence 3. Orthodox Debates in the Twentieth Century on the Question of Atonement 4. Wright, Wrong and Wrath: Apocalypse in Paul and in Girard 5. Paul and Girard Agonistes : Against Theological Violence 6. Salvation through Forgiveness or through the Cross? Raymund Schwager’s Dramatic Solution to a False Alternative 7. ‘Strategies of Grace’: Mimesis as Conversion in Girard and in Theology 8. Violence Unveiled: Understanding Christianity and Politics in Northern Ireland after René Girard’s Rereading of Atonement 9. Sacrifice and Atonement: Strengthening the Trinitarian Aspects of Mimetic Theory Index