Forsaken

"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

How should a Christian interpret this passage? What implications does the cross have for the trinitarian theology? Did the Father kill the Son?

Theologian Thomas McCall presents a trinitarian reading of Christ's darkest moment--the moment of his prayer to his heavenly Father from the cross. McCall revisits the biblical texts and surveys the various interpretations of Jesus' cry, ranging from early church theologians to the Reformation to contemporary theologians. Along the way, he explains the terms of the scholarly debate and clearly marks out what he believes to be the historically orthodox point of view. By approaching the Son's cry to the Father as an event in the life of the Triune God, Forsaken seeks to recover the true poignancy of the orthodox perspective on the cross.



Thomas H. McCall (PhD, Calvin Seminary) is professor of biblical and systematic theology and director of the Carl F. H. Henry Center for Theological Understanding at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois. He is the author of Which Trinity? Whose Monotheism? and Forsaken: The Trinity and the Cross, and Why It Matters.

Acknowledgments


Introduction


1. Was the Trinity Broken? The Father, the Son and Their Cross


2. Did the Death of Jesus Make It Possible for God to Love Me? Righteous Wrath, Holy Love and the Heart of the Triune God


3. Was the Death of Jesus a Meaningless Tragedy? Foreknowledge, Fulfillment and the Plan of the Triune God


4. Does It Make a Difference? The Brokenness of Humanity and the Unbroken Work of the Triune God


Conclusion: A Personal Theological Testimony


Name Index


Scripture Index