Enacting Atonement: The Narrative Logic of Sacrifice and Sonship in Leviticus

by Roy McDaniel

Discover the story of salvation in Christ through Levitical rituals

Atonement lies at the heart of the Christian faith. In Christ's work of atonement, we are reconciled to God, enabled to draw near to him, and can see his glory. Through studying the Levitical burnt offering, Roy McDaniel takes readers on a deep exploration of Leviticus 1:1-9 in this thought-provoking volume, part of the Studies in Christian Doctrine and Scripture series from IVP Academic. Using elements of narrative analysis like setting, plot, and hero, McDaniel shows how the Levitical burnt offering is a ritual recapitulation of the narrative of Israel’s election and deliverance as depicted in Genesis and Exodus, and how in doing so, it proclaims the atoning work of Christ.

At the heart of this work lies the "logic" of atonement, present in the Levitical burnt offering, an idea that contributes to the doctrine of atonement by demonstrating how Christ's incarnate sacrifice is rooted in his eternal identity as God the Son.

In Enacting Atonement, Roy

Provides a coherent account of atonement centered on the eternal identity of the Son,Shows how Levitical sacrifice can inform the church's doctrine of atonement by modeling a careful theological exegesis of Leviticus, andExplores questions about the meaning of sacrifice and its relationship to the being and attributes of God.Whether you’re a scholar, student, pastor-theologian, or a layperson seeking deeper understanding, Enacting Atonement invites you to uncover the rich tapestry of God's redemptive narrative in the Levitical ritual.

264 pages, Paperback

Published November 4, 2025

Reviews

[Scott Bielinski · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is theology that sings.

Enacting Atonement pulls together varied threads for a tapestry of brilliant theology. Switching the metaphor, McDaniel paints with rich colors - deep trinitarian theology, the best kind of biblical theology, narrative device/literary theory, and attentive exegesis - to show the wonderful beauty of Leviticus. In it, Christ’s mission of grace is prophetically preached through the burnt offering.

In sacrifice, the offering takes the place of the filial offeror, who, through this sacrifice, returns to God through death. This system points towards Christ, the Eternal Son of God, who becomes the perfect filial offering and offeror. Through His death, resurrection, and ascension, we participate in the full filial movement of the Son to His Father. And so His atonement moves us from grace to glory, beatifying glory.

[Sanjuro · Rating 3 out of 5]

A deeply enriching read, full of sound exegesis and excellent insights, that also delves into theoretical spaces that disrupt the carefulness of the overall argument. When McDaniel sticks to Leviticus and reads it closely, the book shines. McDaniel's reading of Leviticus and the burnt offering is energizing and clarifying. If the book were limited to that alone I'd recommend it everyone I know who cares about a careful reading of Scripture. I also think McDaniel's insights on most of the ways that Jesus fulfills the burnt offering is insightful, especially where he builds on Moffitt's work, and his concluding thoughts about atonement are clarifying, especially considering that this is a currently fraught debate.

For me, the problems with the book are also many, especially where McDaniel tries to extend his arguments beyond exegesis of texts or the clearer aspects of typology and into the categories of systematic theology. For example, McDaniel does not merely try to explain how the burnt offering offers compelling evidence for the doctrine of original sin, but he tries to read that doctrine into the logic of the sacrifices themselves in a way that is unconvincing. That the sacrifices had to do with sin is clear, but that the author of the text of Leviticus or the first hearers of these laws would have thought about anything resembling "original sin" as a doctrine is uncertain and, I would argue, unlikely. McDaniel's continued appeal to "original sin" as directly found in the logic of the texts was never convincing for me.

McDaniel also made a few interpretive moves that I found unconvincing and some of them were not really all that important to his argument anyway. For example, he critiques Richard Hays on "reading backwards" (pg. 81), and I think Hays has the better of that argument without even having to answer McDaniel's critiques.

My biggest critique with the book was the way that McDaniel tried to connect the filial status of Jesus to the filial status of the supplicant of the Levitical offerings, and then to read Jesus into Leviticus as the supplicant. Yes, Jesus is son-of-God. And yes, Israel was son-of-God. But, when McDaniel tries to nit-pick some of the language of both Leviticus and Hebrews to directly connect Jesus to the supplicant of Leviticus, I think he misuses the wording of both texts (see, especially page 87, which I think is full of missteps and eisegesis). Some of the language that talks about Jesus' willingness is used by McDaniel to assert Jesus as supplicant, which is even more jarring because there are really good arguments that in some of these instances Jesus' willingness indicates very much not that he is the supplicant, but that God-the-father is, and it is the father who offers a willing son in a way that correlates to the supplicant in the Levitical texts.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book, and I'll refer to the core arguments regarding the burnt offering, atonement, Leviticus, and Hebrews often. It's typically when McDaniel tried to bridge exegesis with systematic-theological categories that I found him reaching and unconvincing. The core arguments of the book are helpful, and the book is well written.