Talked about sacrifices today and how it was the NT's chief metaphor for the atonement, or, in Green & Baker's words, the "saving significance" of Jesus' death on the Cross.

I had some difficulty getting across the idea of 'metaphor' as it undoubtedly gives the impression of 'fiction' or 'illustration' or 'half-truth'. But I hope the group understood that all language is metaphor in the sense that we're constantly trying to transcend the 'picture-theory' way of talking, adding richness and meaning to our words. One could even say that without metaphor we couldn't engage, we could hardly speak (see the words in bold?).

Even more so when we're dealing with an event like Calvary. How do you make sense of this? How do you answer when people ask, "Exactly WHY do you thank Jesus for the Cross?" What experiential bridges do we have to connect what 'happened' in the metaphysical world with the crucifixion of a Jewish prophet/teacher? (How do you hold a sun-beam in your hand?)

Colin Gunton, in Actuality of the Atonement, shares some approaches in recent philosophy which hold that:

"...no advance in knowledge of the world is possible without changes in the meaning of words (i.e.) by means of the development of metaphors or other figures of speech..." (p.30)

He quotes Ingolf Dalferth's argument that:

"...the use of metaphor precedes the making of new discovering by, so to speak, providing the linguistic equipment with the help of which the nature of the world may be better understood. We first make our spade, and then we dig." (p.30-31)

Referencing Richard Boyd, Gunton writes that:

"...new language and discovery happen together, with metaphor serving as the vehicle of discovery...metaphors are a way of obtaining "epistemic access" to the world. We comprehend aspects of the world as we find the new words to use in our search for understanding. Metaphor...is not simple a preliminary tool to be discarded when a better way of saying things is found, but 'one of the many devices available...to accomplish the task of accomodation of language to the causal structures of the world" (p.31)

"In the scientific use of metaphor the creaton of the imagination (becomes) the means of expressing truth about the way the world is...the general lesson to be learned is that metaphors are not odd, unusual, improper or merely decorative. They are so pervasive a part of our experience that they are a, if not the, clue to what language is and does." (p.32)

The New Testament gives us quite a few linguistic scaffolds (some of which I'm sure you'd consider primary and others less so): Sacrifice, Redemption/Ransom, Victory/Triumph, Substitute, Rescue/Liberation, Union, Reconciliation, Exodus, Propiation/Expiation, Solidarity, Justification (of both God and Man), Unification of Jew and Gentile, Forgiveness, Debt-Cancellation, Heir-Maker, Perfection, Imputation. (see Glenn Miller's The Great Irruption: The Work of Christ)

See how difficult it was for even the apostles to describe/explain the atonement? It's up to us to keep the metaphors alive. To keep them relevant, meaningful, impactful. So, what's your story? Why would you thank Jesus for the Cross (assuming you would)? And if you wouldn't, why not?