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Theology: Rethinking the Atonement by David M. Moffitt. I have tried to understand the Epistle to the Hebrews. For example, by reading it a bunch of times. The main thing I’d take away is that angels aren’t as good as Christ, which I knew already. I’ve read commentaries, too. I’d work all the way through, following the arguments and explanations beautifully, but then after I finished it would be like my mind was a sieve, nothing retained. The truth is, you can get by as a theologian and a preacher without ever wrapping your mind around Hebrews. But once I started working on my new book on the Ascension, I realized that I couldn’t put it off any longer. And then, by the grace of almighty God, I came across David Moffitt’s Rethinking the Atonement, a great book with a bad title. If I hadn’t heard an interview with him about it, I’d never have picked it up at all, much less gone to it in hopes of finally understanding Hebrews, but it’s hands down the best book I’ve ever read on the topic. And, as the title promises though not at all in the way you’d expect, it really does help you rethink the atonement. Moffitt’s own breakthrough came from realizing that it’s not the moment of slaughter that creates atonement in Leviticus—which means the assumption that it’s the moment of death on the cross that creates atonement, or simply is The Atonement, in the case of Jesus is missing out on a whole lot. Sacrificial bloodshed takes place outside the tabernacle or temple, and then the blood must be brought into the holy place by a priest. That’s where atonement in Leviticus and atonement in Hebrews connect and make sense of Jesus’ movement from cross to heavenly temple by means of the Ascension. Novel: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. Strange as it sounds, I (re)read Frankenstein for the exact same reason I read Rethinking the Atonement, namely as food-for-thought for my Ascension book. The cover I’ve chosen gives you a clue why. “Frankenstein,” as pedants love to point out, refers to the doctor who made the creature, not the creature itself. Obviously, the creature-turned-monster has taken on a life of its own (!) in popular culture, and there’s no undoing it. But what makes the original novel such an exquisite work of horror is not the scary monster, but the kind of person who created it in the first place. The novel is an unfolding of all the doctor’s self-justifications for his vile curiosity and inability to resist the allure of power. The most insightful study I’ve ever read of the novel is the opening chapter of Edward Mendelson’s The Things That Matter, which focuses in on Dr. Frankenstein’s refusal to participate in the universal means of creating new life; highly recommended. But for me, this read-through was much more about understanding Frankenstein as a parable of humans and technology, especially when it comes to the urge to do something about our earthbound bodies. Now you can see where the Ascension connection comes in! Cookbook: Bean by Bean by Crescent Dragonwagon. Somewhere or other I read that Ascension Day was the occasion for the Blessing of the Beans. Being possessed of a juvenile sense of humor, I immediately thought of the German word for Ascension: Himmelfahrt. (Say it out loud.) Then the more mature part of my brain took over and I remembered this beloved cookbook, which I hadn’t looked at in a long time. Maybe because I’d just about exhausted it; I’ve made nearly a hundred recipes from it, so you know this recommendation comes thoroughly vetted. The colorfully self-named author is a wonderful writer, her cookery prose a pleasure to read, and her recipes span the entire globe and the entire range of dietary predilections, from vegan to meatist. She introduces you to beans you’ve never met before, tarts up old beans you’re tired of, and spins new classics out of traditional preparations. There’s even a dessert section featuring the misnamed peanut and its Asian analogue, the adzuki bean.
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