The Crucified King: Atonement and Kingdom in Biblical and Systematic Theology

“Jeremy Treat brings together what many have rented asunder: the cross of Christ and the kingdom of God. For too long many theological tribes have either preached a message about the cross addressed to individuals and opted out of kingdom business or embarked on a campaign of kingdom-work springing from Jesus kingdom-vision and struggled to treat the cross meaningfully. Treat shows that such a division is absolutely foreign to the biblical texts and to the testimony of the historical church. In a venerable banquet of biblical exegesis, biblical theology, and systematic reflections, Treat shows that Gods reign and Gods redemption are both out workings of the cross of our crucified Lord. Treat brings sanity and sensibility to a controversial topic that should not even be controversial. Judicious, balanced, informative, and compelling!”

“Pastors and theologians often manage to give the impression that the kingdom of God and the cross of the Messiah are divorced or separated. Treat's study of kingdom and cross unveils the exciting marriage between two of Scripture's central concepts. With good writing and clear thinking of the "big picture" variety, Treat produces a dessert-quality dissertation that leaves readers enriched and satisfied. The author will have an important voice in the theological conversations of the next generation of Christian scholars.”

“The Crucified King contributes to the current revivification of the doctrine of the atonement, exploring how the cross and kingdom are necessary and mutually interpretative realities. The cross, he argues, is the inbreaking of God's eschatological kingdom into the present, while it sums up the nature of divine and human servant-kingship. This is a delightful work of biblical and systematic theology, ripe with implications for the church's understanding of the cross of Christ as its basis and goal.”

“I am not aware of a work that has yet set out to weave broken threads back together on the specific themes of kingdom and atonement. Jeremy Treat has achieved this in The Crucified King. In my view at least, it is the work of a skilled worker.... The arguments are deeply and widely informed, the conclusions range from provocative to elating.... I commend the author not only for a seminal work on the heart of the gospel, but for giving us a model for a more comprehensive vision of theological exploration.”

“Treat brings together what many have rented asunder: the cross of Christ and the kingdom of God. For too long many theological tribes have either preached a message about the cross addressed to individuals and opted out of kingdom business or embarked on a campaign of kingdom work springing from Jesus' kingdom vision and then struggled to treat the cross meaningfully. Treat shows that such a division is foreign to the biblical texts and to the testimony of the historical church.... Judicious, balanced, informative, and compelling!”

“Jesus came proclaiming the kingdom of God but then died on the cross. The first great virtue of The Crucified King is that it tackles head-on this great riddle at the heart of the New Testament... The book's second strength is that it reconciles...the penal substitution and Christus Victor theories of atonement. The third strength is that it reconciles the story of redemption (biblical theology) and its logic (systematic theology). Three tensions; three proposed resolutions: blessed are the peacemakers!”