Models of Atonement: Speaking about Salvation in a Scientific World by George L. Murphy (review)

Intended for pastors and interested laypersons at various levels, this book gives a clear, readable and mainly non-technical introduction to models of the atonement in light of our present scientific age.

In the preface Murphy states, “My purpose here is not to present a ‘scientific theory of the atonement,’ whatever such a thing might be. It is instead to present a way of understanding the atonement that makes contact with a scientific understanding of the world” (6). In general Murphy does a good job of introducing lay readers to the history and theology of the atonement and its application to creation, but does not go as heavily into the scientific dimensions as his title might imply.

The first chapter, “Salvation and Science,” sets up the issues and context for later chapters, especially “. . . the Creator of the universe getting creation back on track after creatures have derailed it” (17). This is the really significant turn that Murphy takes, because most theories of the atonement (historic or contemporary) focus primarily on human salvation and leave out the rest of creation. Murphy demonstrates that this is not only biblically insufficient but also unhelpful in our scientific and environmental age. The new creation achieved through Christ’s reconciliation is for all of creation and not humanity alone.

Murphy proceeds through the next several chapters on the development of atonement theory to show that human sin raises a threat to creation itself, the consequences of which are readily apparent today. Chapters five through seven pick up on the theme of the renewal and regeneration of the creation and how this is possible through the Word and Spirit. While these chapters have a number of helpful expansions linking atonement and the creation, there are few attempts to connect directly with particular scientific issues. This text is not an ecological theology of the atonement.

The last chapter, “Cosmic Salvation,” is in some ways the most intriguing and speculative, but it is underdeveloped. Murphy talks about the meaning of Christ beyond the earth, perhaps for other possible intelligent life as well as for the eschatological fulfillment of the cosmos itself. The current astrophysical theory of the universe ending as a haze of subatomic particles resting in an unimaginably cold (near absolute zero) darkness presents one of the most direct scientific challenges to biblical eschatology and hope. Murphy understands this challenge well, but, perhaps for the sake of length or complexity, in this book he does not fully develop his response to this challenge.

As we face what climatologists and geologists are tending to call the Anthropocene Epoch to signal the human impact on the planet, credible visions of hope, both planetary and cosmic, are desperately needed. Atonement in and for creation and the cosmos drives this theological reflection forward, and Murphy is to be commended for making a contribution to such efforts.