The book traces the Bible's main salvation story through God's liberating acts, the testimony of the prophets, and Jesus's life and teaching. It then takes a closer look at Jesus's death and argues that his death gains its meaning when it exposes violence in the cultural, religious, and political Powers. God's raising of Jesus completes the story and vindicates Jesus's life and teaching.

The book also examines the understandings of salvation in Romans and Revelation that reinforce the message that salvation is a gift of God and that Jesus's "work" has to do with his faithful life, his resistance to the Powers, and God's vindication of him through resurrection.

The book concludes that the "Bible's salvation story" provides a different way, instead of atonement, to understand salvation. In turn, this biblical understanding gives us today theological resources for a mercy-oriented approach to responding to wrongdoing, one that follows God's own model.

Ted Grimsrud is Professor of Theology and Peace Studies at Eastern Mennonite University. Prior to teaching at EMU beginning in 1996, he served 10 years as a pastor in Mennonite churches in Arizona, Oregon and South Dakota. His PhD is from the Graduate Theological Union. He is especially interested in the connection between Christian theology and pacifism. He teaches classes in theology, peace studies, ethics, and the Bible. Grimsrud blogs at thinkingpacifism.net. He has a website that gathers his writings at peacetheology.net.