A Second Adam: How the Doctrine of Recapitulation Helps Make Sense of the Atonement

by Cody Cook

The idea of Jesus initiating a second humanity and new creation by His incarnation, death, and resurrection is an important but often undervalued emphasis in the New Testament (especially in Paul) and in patristic theology (particularly in Irenaeus). In A Second Adam, Cody Cook presents this doctrine, called Recapitulation, as a biblical, ancient, and ecumenical model of the atonement which is simultaneously more balanced than the more popular models while also getting us to their most important insights.

Christus Victor, Satisfaction, Penal Substitutionary, Liberation, and theosis models of soteriology are shown to be imbalanced when taken as central models, but can all be held in harmony when starting from Recapitulation. This model is shown to have great promise for future ecumenical dialogue as well as for challenging the imbalances of all of the major Christian traditions.

Genres: Theology

83 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 2, 2015

About the author

Cody Cook is a theologian living in Cincinnati, Ohio. He has written on the atonement, the history of skepticism, the relationship between spiritual and political power, Christian views of hell, and ecclesiology.

You can check out his articles, podcasts, debates, and other materials at www.cantus-firmus.com. He's also a regular contributor at The Libertarian Christian Institute (www.libertarianchristians.com).

Reviews

[Matt Koser · Rating 5 out of 5]

So good! Easy read. Short book. Deep content. Irenic tone.

Cook discusses 3 main perspectives of the atonement: Penal Substitutionary Atonement, Christus Victor and Recapitulation. He argues that Recapitulation is the only one through which the other 2 make sense. Elevating any other atonement theory will blur out others.

Recapitulation is the truth that “all humanity was united under the head of Adam—the representative of all mankind who had fallen into sin and death and was therefore separated from and at enmity with God…. The good news…is that in Christ there is a new head, a new Man who, by His never-ceasing union with God, places those who are united to Him in a new relationship with God” (4). This explanation of the gospel inherently has implications for our union with one another and God’s intention for all of creation.

Not only does this perspective have the broadest biblical support, according to Cook, it also was the primary focus of the early church (see Irenaeus, Athanasius, Gregory of Nazianzus).

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My ⭐️ rating criteria
- 1 star: I absolutely did not like or totally disagreed with the book and would recommend that no one else read it
- 2 stars: the book was below average style or content, wouldn’t read it again, but wouldn’t beg people not to read it necessarily
- 3 stars: a fine book, some helpful information (or a decent story, for the handful of novels I read), didn’t disagree with too much, enjoyed it decently well
- 4 stars: a very good book, information was very helpful, mostly agreed with everything, was above-average enjoyable to read
- 5 stars: life-changing book, I enjoyed it more than most other books, I want to read it again in the future, I will be telling everyone to read it for the next few weeks

[Derek Kreider · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really loved this book. There was a ton of solid information in a small package, all laid out very logically.

One aspect I like about this book is the approach to refuse polarization. The author does a great job of recognizes pros and cons in two competing systems of atonement. So often denominations force one to take a hard and fast line on every doctrine under the sun, so I appreciated the ability of this book to honestly explore the atonement with questioning rather than certainty. I've always liked Wright's approach to the atonement which views the true answer as multifaceted rather than one clear theory being right, and this book mimics that.

I would be interested to read Craig's book on penal substitution. I've wanted to do that for some time now, but I really wonder how he'd view recapitulation. Anyway, that's an aside. This is a great book to get you into the atonement discussion.

[Chris Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

A clear recap of the Recapitulation Theory of Atonement. Both compelling and convincing.