THE CROSS FROM A DISTANCE
Atonement in Mark’s Gospel
By Peter G. Bolt . Apollos (IVP). 213 pages. £12.99
ISBN 1 84474 049 8
At a time when the doctrine of atonement is increasingly coming under attack from within ‘evangelicalism’ as well as the expected continued attack from without, it is vital that we allow our minds to be better informed, as well as having our hearts transformed, by what the Scriptures actually say on the subject. This book is an invaluable aid which does just that.
Peter Bolt, who lectures in New Testament at Moore Theological College Sydney, is a first rate scholar and brilliant communicator. The title of the book is inspired by the climax of Mark’s account of the crucifixion in which he records that a group of women were watching the events ‘from a distance’. This is the stance we share as readers. It is an event that occurred a long time ago, in a world which, in many ways, is different from our own. And yet when we understand the cross correctly, as presented to us by Mark, that is where we see God close up.
