It is ironic that those who love Jesus are so prone to domesticate his cross. The previous post indicated that one way we do this is to use the resurrection as a way of blunting the the raw offense of the cross. Funny little theories of atonement also have the same effect. One of the problems with the theories is that they legislate beforehand how we should understand the cross, and they do this to help us understand it. Legislating how to understand the cross restricts what God is allowed to do. The cross of Jesus does not fit our accepted understanding of God and God's action. Second, in helping us understand the cross the theories run the risk of domesticating it and the God of the cross. Understandability is not something we should easily be able to attach to the cross of Jesus.
