The Cross, Redemptive Violence, and Solidarity in Suffering

In this dialogue, Rebecca and Brandon delve into Christian history and ask the question: "What does the cross of Jesus say to us about violence, suffering, and sacrifice? " Thanks to Adam Barnard for producing the episode. Thanks to Ryan Newson and Mike Grigoni for the intro music. Excerpts referred to in this dialogue: But he was pierced for our transgressions,     he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him,     and by his wounds we are healed. -Isaiah 53:5 The suffering of the martyrs is the triumph of God. -Jerome We multiply when you reap us. The blood of Christians is seed. -Tertullian It cannot be forgotten that the historic Jesus sought for himself neither death nor resurrection but the proclamation of the Reign of God to the point of death. -Ignacio Ellacuria The fact that Jesus identifies with the oppressed is not a sanctification of oppression, as if it is only in being oppressed that one can find God…the cross is not the end, but a revelatory point on the way to new life, new reality. -Kelly Brown Douglas