CWG (Chapter 2)

Chapter 2: The True Face of God
In this chapter, Boyd spends over 50 pages to drive home the point that Jesus isn't just a revelation of God, He is THE revelation of God. In the cross (the thematic center of everything Jesus was about), we find the full revelation of God's character. He painstakingly goes through passage after passage highlighting this fact.

Since Jesus is the revelation of God, Christians must read the Old Testament through the lens of Christ. All of Scripture is about Jesus and its interpretation must be subjected to the revelation that is Christ. Jesus was not afraid to set aside Old Testament teachings. He had the authority to do so and His followers must follow suit. Consistently, Christ used this authority to set aside laws that called for violence and replaced them with the law of love.

In some ways, he was the anti-Moses, the anti-Joshua, the anti-David, the anti-Elijah, etc. He was the Messiah no one expected because they were prepared (largely by the Old Testament) for a military Messiah. It is the challenge of Boyd's book to discover how the violent texts of the Old Testament actually testify to the revelation of God through Christ.

Reaction
This chapter was fairly repetitious. Boyd wanted to make the point boldly and strongly. There were some good interpretive insights throughout. He argued his position well. I agree with his approach and am thankful for the new light cast on some familiar texts.

I did appreciate footnote 4 in which Boyd clarifies that when he refers to the revelation of God through the cross of Christ, it should not be thought that he's distinguishing the cross from other aspects of Jesus' life and ministry, but locating the thematic center of such in the event of the cross. This removes an early concern I had about this project.