The Cross in the Midst of Creation: Following Jesus, Engaging the Powers, Transforming the World links Christian understandings of creation, atonement, and the biblical principalities and powers. Sharon Delgado asserts that the crucifixion is ongoing as institutional powers diminish human life and destroy creation, and that the resurrection is ongoing as faith overcomes despair and the Spirit equips people to rise in courage and follow Jesus into the heart of the struggle for a transformed world.
This book explores and critiques traditional doctrines and popular teachings about the cross and draws from various stories of Jesus and biblical metaphors to offer life-enhancing perspectives on this core symbol of Christian faith. It presents the cross as a symbol of God's presence throughout creation and undying love as revealed in Jesus; also explored are the path of discipleship, the moral bankruptcy of the dominating powers, engagement through nonviolent resistance, and above all, God's triumph over the powers, offering hope for the world.
It also challenges followers of Jesus to throw off despair and complacency, exposes disempowering and hate-filled teachings that claim to be Christian, and reclaims the gospel as a force for healing, empowerment, and both personal and social transformation.
By participating in the ongoing story of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus and experiencing the tangible presence of the Holy Spirit, we discover the creative power at the heart of this and every universe: the all-encompassing, infinite, eternal love of God.
"Like the gospel writers and Paul, Sharon Delgado cannot speak of the cross or its way without calling by name the powers of domination that wield it. The Cross in the Midst of Creation explicates the freedom of the resurrection in resistance and transformation, and so in hope."
Bill Wylie-Kellermann, author of Principalities in Particular
"This book is a powerful guide to the actual, difficult, beautiful, and empowering gospel story, and a bridge back to a real faith for those with the courage to follow."
Bill McKibben, author of The Flag, the Cross, and the Station Wagon
"With translucent prose, provocative storytelling, and trustworthy biblical scholarship, Sharon Delgado restores to Christians the cross of our salvation in the era of climate's uncreation."
Rose Marie Berger, Sojourners magazine
"Delgado's literate and readable study . . . offers a contextual, liberationist, and intersectional approach that restores the cross to the center of the Christian story--and the church's engagement in peacemaking, racial-social equity, and reparative justice work today."
Ched Myers, coauthor of Healing Haunted Histories