In today's theological landscape the significance ofthe cross has become strongly affirmed and radicallyquestioned. This exciting volume gathers theologiansand historians who have thought through these criticaland constructive issues: Do traditional understandingsof the cross valorize suffering or violence? Are the oldersoteriological models, which see redemption as a kind ofransom or debt satisfaction, fitting for the contemporaryworldview? Do they produce a piety that acquiesces inneedless suffering, or does the cross precisely meet themassive suffering and injustice of today's world?Following an expert introduction to the issues and optionsby editor Marit Trelstad, each author addresses theChristian symbol of the cross in the context of currenttheological, sociological, political, or environmental issues.