November 20, 2023
Nothing is more central to Christian theology than “interpreting the meaning of God as revealed in the crucified Christ,” argues pastor Zahnd (When Everything’s on Fire) in this illuminating reappraisal of the central Christian symbol. But if “all we see... is the raw data of a Galilean Jew executed by the Roman Empire under Pontius Pilate, we have failed to understand it.” Zahnd views the cross as the “place where an old world died” and “an act of redemption... opened the door to a world made new”—a “liminal space of now and not yet” that offers hope for a better world. Drawing on interlocutors including John Coltrane, Søren Kierkegaard, and Jürgen Moltmann, Zahnd’s invitation to be “drawn into a contemplative orbit around” the cross is lucid, gracious, and suffused with erudition and humility (“the only redemptive role for the soldier at the foot of the cross is to confess, ‘Truly this man was God’s son”). It’s a worthy look at a familiar emblem of Christianity.