Redemption

Nicholas Roumas is professor of theology at Hellenic College in Brookline, Massachusetts. His research focuses on theologies of the cross and Girardian mimetic theory.

Preface ix Abbreviations xiii Introduction: The Desire for God Is Turned Aside 1 1 Transcendence and Conversion 9 2 The Genesis of Structure and the End of the Age 19 3 The Redemptive Division and Exchange 44 4 The Dialectic of Redemption in Biblical History 53 5 Classic Paradigms of Redemption 79 6 The Sacrifice of Christ and the Imitation of God 112 Epilogue 125 Acknowledgments 127 Notes 129 Bibliography 147 Index 171

"Roumas reframes the doctrine of redemption in this first major Girardian theological work with Eastern Orthodox roots. Redemption is seen as referencing while deconstructing humanity's structural dependence on sacrifice, and is united with conversion. Thus Roumas overcomes von Balthasar's tarring of Girard with a gnostic brush, showing (via an Eastern Orthodox account of saving knowledge) how restoring right understanding is integral to salvation. A significant contribution to theology in a Girardian key." - Scott Cowdell, Research Professor in Theology at Charles Sturt University, and author of Rene Girard and the Nonviolent God "Redemption breaks new ground in the theological understanding of salvation. It provides the first serious integration of Rene Girard's mimetic theory with the rich traditions of Eastern Orthodox theology. At the same time, it brings fresh perspective to models of atonement, with its reading of Gregory of Nyssa and the inverted sacrifice of the cross." - S. Mark Heim, Andover Newton Seminary at Yale Divinity School "This book provides a mimetic soteriology by using Rene Girard's theory of sacrifice for an Orthodox theology of redemption. In unfolding this its author does not follow Girard's early anti-sacrificial attitude but goes even beyond Girard's later understanding of Christian sacrifice by insisting on the necessity of a transformation of the sacrificial roots of human culture. This emphasis on the unavoidability of sacrifice results, however, not in a Christian reactionism but in a critique of growing tendencies toward fundamentalism and nationalism." - Wolfgang Palaver, Professor (retired) at the Catholic Theological Faculty of the University of Innsbruck "This book makes exciting reading for all interested in soteriology, mimetic theory, and Orthodox theology. The author succeeds in applying R. Girard's developed theory of sacrifice throughout the Bible and discovers a structure of transforming archaic sacrifice by subverting it in places where so far no one has discovered it. It is fascinating to see an Orthodox theologian engage Girard's thought. I can't wait to see him engage other Christian theologians who have already applied this thought to soteriology." - Nikolaus Wandinger, University of Innsbruck, president of the Colloquium on Violence and Religion