Crushing the Great Serpent: Did God Punish Jesus?

by William L. Hess

What really happened at the Cross? Did the Father really forsake His son and “turn His back” as some claim? How could an all-loving God punish someone innocent for the crimes of the world? By taking a careful look at the Biblical text, Old Testament practices, New Testament terminology, culture, and history, Will Hess seeks to present a clearer view of Christ’s work than what is often popularized and answer some of the biggest questions surrounding the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This work is a must read for anyone who wants to better understand how Jesus defeated our greatest enemy on the most pivotal day in human history.

Genres: Theology

355 pages, Hardcover

Published October 31, 2024

Reviews

[Nathan Bozeman · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you have ever found PSA troubling as a doctrine of the atonement, this book provides a compelling critique against it while also providing a Biblical alternative. God did not punish Jesus. God reconciled broken sinners to Himself through the blood of Jesus, giving us partnership with Him through union with the Holy Spirit.

The only critique I have is, in one instance, he mentioned "God sacrificing Himself to Himself," which can come off a bit modalist, but I'm not going to be too nit-picky. His case was compelling, and I recommend this book to anyone looking for alternative views of the atonement.

[Bryan Rice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book on the atonement on Christ. He does a great job of trying to simply explain an extremely complex subject that’s been debated for centuries. Will gives a consistent, well documented, and wholistic view of Christs triumph rather than Christ’s Punishment.

[Tim Donnelly]

Made it about 100 pages in and DNF. Too many rapid fire assumptions and lacked real depth.

[Leslie Fanchon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Glad I read it.
I’ve been born-again since 1984 and it wasn’t until about 10 years ago when the Calvinist/Reformed surge was happening that I started to hear PSA preached. Though I had heard the courtroom analogy and the ‘great exchange’ of 1 Corinthians 5:21 in the church, it wasn’t with the PSA emphasis on wrath!
.
Hearing preachers like the late RC Sproul, Paul Washer and others screech with glee about God having to punish His Only Beloved Son was an assault on my spirit every time I happened to hear it! And they sure seemed to delight in the gory details!

Apart from their two out-of-context proof texts - Psalm 22:1 & Isaiah 53:10 — and the lyrics of a Getty song
🎵the Father turned His face away 🎵
which was plucked out of Habbakuk’s prayer — I found no foundation for this doctrine in the whole of scripture — and I’ve read from Genesis to Revelation many times.
They say God must pour out His wrath — it’s the only just way to forgive sinners. But what about that wrath? If it was “poured out” on our Lord Jesus at the cross why does the Bible fortell of the wrath of God to come in places Revelation?

I’m astonished that so many people believe PSA! I don’t think they have thought it through but just believed what their pastors have passed on or a popular preacher from the radio said.

If you want to see something really shocking look up the artwork called PROPITIATION by Chris Powers! I just learned about it at a conference. The image is of Christ on the cross and behind Him is a rage of orange and yellow 🔥 fire! Directly in front of Him is a man with his arm to his brow to bar the light of the fire. The man is not burned because he is shielded by Christ. I know there is a wrath yet future for the unbelieving but this image was presented as the gospel.

Watching Will on Church Split and Warren on Idol Killer has been a real respite!

I wanted to get Will’s book to have something solid to refer to. I read small portions at a time to think about what I was reading and I underlined most of the pages! Lol!

I appreciated the briefs on the church fathers but was getting bogged down by it so stopped with Hilary.

I liked the summation - the good news presented in the Classical View. This is the Gospel I responded to with faith! The good news of the one and only God who loved me, a terrible sinner, Who forgave me my sins, offered me a new life in Christ and eternal life in His Holy Kingdom. What a Savior!

— 72 year old grandma from Idaho!

[Julius · Rating 5 out of 5]

Crushing the Great Serpent gives a very approachable and compact overview of atonement theology, giving fair and deserved criticism one of the most widespread atonement models, the satisfaction vicaria, or the penal substitutionary atonement.

The greatest strength of the book is how it is aimed at the laypeople, yet it is unapologetically detailed in its exegesis and overview of differing problems the PSA presents, as well as giving a run down to the differing voices of the Early church.

I wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone who wishes to unlearn harmful theology about the nature of the Christian God, as well as be reintroduced to the unlimitedly loving deity of the Bible, who humbles himself to humanity and through his blood ransoms us from death and purifies us to be able to be in participation with the living God.

[Joshua · Rating 5 out of 5]

thoroughly examination of atonement

William Hess does an excellent and thorough job of examining the atonement. He examines the history, interpretation, and philosophical underpinnings of penal substitution leaving it wanting in all categories. But he does not leave reader there. He gives an alternative view of atonement that exalts God’s character, connects the biblical theological context of scripture, and makes sense of specific passages that often overlooked. He also examines the passages typically used to justify a PSA reading of scripture and carefully analyzed them and breaks them down to show that they may have been misunderstood, misinterpreted, and sometimes mistranslated.

It’s a wonderful work and I highly recommend if you have any misgivings with Penal Substitutionary Atonement. .