Skewered or Violence Hospitality and the Cross

Skewered!: The Rudest Food Reviews

Author: Michelle Lovric

Featuring more than 600 quotations by famous foodies, this collection presents rude and highly entertaining criticism about cookery. From reviews about pretentious cuisine and lousy waitstaff to comments on vegetables, seafood, and desserts, these notable critics leave no culinary delight untouched and even offer cutting remarks about gourmet masters. Malicious quips, such as Fred Allen's "the coffee tastes like water that has been squeezed out of a wet sleeve" or Mark Twain's "the food would create an insurrection in the poorhouse," give hungry diners a satisfying selection to use for conversation at their next dinner party or meal out. 

Books about: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows or On the Night You Were Born

Violence, Hospitality, and the Cross: Reappropriating the Atonement Tradition

Author: Hans Boersma

The cross is central to understanding Christian theology. But is it possible that our postmodern setting requires a new model of understanding the cross?

Hans Boersma's Violence, Hospitality, and the Cross proposes an understanding of the atonement that is sensitive both to the Christian tradition and to the postmodern critiques of that tradition. His fresh approach draws on the rich resources of the Christian tradition in its portrayal of God's hospitality in Jesus Christ.

Library Journal

Boersma (religious & worldview studies, Trinity Western Univ., British Columbia) here offers a scholarly review and analysis of differing historical and contemporary understandings of God's work of reconciliation in Jesus Christ, particularly with regard to hospitality and violence. He examines and compares three main atonement models: moral influence, penal representation, and Christ as victor. Boersma sees Christ not just as priest and king but also as prophet and teacher and argues that moral influence is an indispensable anchor for the hospitability of God. He asks evangelicals to recover the Catholic emphasis on moral integrity and the visible Church, viewing Christ's death on the cross as "the divine punishment of exile." Further, he sees the Resurrection as God's pure hospitability as illustrated in the parable of the prodigal son. Though well structured and readable, this book is scholarly in tone and would be of interest only to graduate studies faculty, particularly those wrestling with the atonement in its historical and contemporary understanding. Recommended for scholarly theological collections.-George Westerlund, formerly with Providence P.L., Palmyra, VA Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.