{"id":317,"date":"2024-03-31T22:40:37","date_gmt":"2024-03-31T22:40:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/104.193.40.20\/greggfriend-wp\/?p=317"},"modified":"2026-02-08T22:41:26","modified_gmt":"2026-02-08T22:41:26","slug":"the-wood-between-the-worlds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/greggfriend.com\/?p=317","title":{"rendered":"The Wood Between The Worlds"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"354\" height=\"550\" src=\"http:\/\/104.193.40.20\/greggfriend-wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/image-50.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-318\" srcset=\"https:\/\/greggfriend.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/image-50.png 354w, https:\/\/greggfriend.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/image-50-193x300.png 193w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 354px) 100vw, 354px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>During Lent, I read <em>The Wood Between the Worlds: A Poetic Theology of the Cross.<\/em> by Brian Zahn. Brian explores the theological interpretations of what happened on the cross. Last year, during Lent, I read <em>The Crucifixion: Understanding the Death of Jesus Christ<\/em> by Fleming Rutledge which also explores the theological interpretations of what happened on the cross (<a href=\"https:\/\/greggfriend.com\/f\/what-happened-on-the-cross\">https:\/\/greggfriend.com\/f\/what-happened-on-the-cross<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Brian&#8217;s book is less dense than Fleming&#8217;s book. Brian&#8217;s book adds a new perspective to Fleming&#8217;s deep theological richness. Fleming and Brian may not agree on a few details, but for the most part they are in agreement in re-examining the meaning of the cross.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Gemini&#8217;s AI describes Brian&#8217;s book this way<strong> &#8220;Zahnd breaks away from limited views of Christ&#8217;s sacrifice as punishment or mere individual salvation. Instead, he paints a vivid picture of the cross as a multifaceted act of love with universal implications. Through insightful metaphors and a captivating writing style, Zahnd invites you to encounter the profound mystery of the cross anew.&#8221;<\/strong> I like how Gemini&#8217;s AI used the word &#8220;paint&#8217; because this book brings out the theological interpretations with the eye and ear of an artist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I would agree with both Fleming and Brian in their fresh look at the cross. I would differ some with Brian in where he goes with the application of these fresh theological interpretations of cross to the church&#8217;s life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Overall, I would recommend this book especially for those who really appreciate artistry in all forms.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>During Lent, I read The Wood Between the Worlds: A Poetic Theology of the Cross. by Brian Zahn. Brian explores the theological interpretations of what happened on the cross. Last year, during Lent, I read The Crucifixion: Understanding the Death of Jesus Christ by Fleming Rutledge which also explores the theological interpretations of what happened [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":318,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-317","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/greggfriend.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/greggfriend.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/greggfriend.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greggfriend.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greggfriend.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=317"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/greggfriend.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":319,"href":"https:\/\/greggfriend.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317\/revisions\/319"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greggfriend.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/318"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/greggfriend.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greggfriend.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greggfriend.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}