Imagining Redemption

David Kelsey offers a groundbreaking exploration of Christian redemption by exploring the story of a series of horrendous events that befell a young boy and his family. Sam, eight years old, was stricken with a puzzling virus that left him physically and psychologically damaged. His family suffered greatly, as well, and his mother eventually committed suicide. In the face of these events, Kelsey asks, What can it possibly mean to say that in Jesus Christ, God "redeems" such situations and events? In answer, he interweaves this family's story with biblical narrative, theology, and the metaphorical application of secular uses of the words redeem and redemption. He identifies three ways in which to imagine redemption, suggesting how Jesus' ministry may be seen as "making up for" the world's bad performance; how Jesus' passion and crucifixion can redeem their personal identities from bondage to distorting powers; and how Jesus' resurrection can be seen as making good on a promise that redeems the family from vicious cycles of interaction that turned their lives into living deaths.