Southwestern Journal of Theology 2024 Book Award (Honorable Mention, Church History / Historical Theology / Biography) Although Jesus's work of redemption is often viewed as a singular event, a careful examination of Scripture reveals that the Messiah began his redemptive work just after the fall and will continue it to the end of the world. In the spirit of Jonathan Edwards's History of the Work of Redemption , distinguished theologian Gerald McDermott traces the progress of redemption throughout the Bible and Church history. This book connects the dots surrounding Israel, redemption by the Jewish Messiah, secular and sacred history, the world religions, and Jewish-Christian worship through liturgy and sacraments. It shows how Jesus as Messiah was redeeming throughout Old Testament history, and it carries that story up through the last two millennia. McDermott contends that it is only through a historical examination of the Messiah's redemption amid the turmoil of the world and the worship of his people that one can best see God's beauty. "Following the promptings of Jonathan Edwards, McDermott has written an admirably ambitious and theologically astute account of God's redemptive plan, from the inner counsels of God before creation to the consummation of all things in the age to come. A New History of Redemption brings readers into the fullness of the historical career of the gospel." -- R. R. Reno , editor, First Things "Taking his cue from Jonathan Edwards's uncompleted History of the Work of Redemption , McDermott has written an ambitious and far-reaching treatment of God's work of redemption. A rare work that communicates the comprehensive scope and providential impulse of redemption not merely in the biblical narratives but through the present day." -- Alastair Roberts , Theopolis Institute "Christianity is at bottom a religion of redemption, in which the working of God's will is revealed, and the fallen world restored, through his deeds and presence in the passages of history. In this marvelous and remarkably accessible work, McDermott traces that working, seeking to recover and build on the work that Jonathan Edwards so nobly advanced in his own unfinished History of the Work of Redemption , the story of how man came to say yes to God's eternal invitation. The writing even has some of the flavor of Edwards's: rigorous and crisp in its argumentation, but lavish and loving in its evocations. This is a book for every kind of reader." -- Wilfred McClay , Hillsdale College "The supersessionist misunderstanding of God's narrative set Christians on a path of falsehood for centuries. In our times, brave theologians, among whom McDermott is a trailblazing leader, are working to correct critical theological errors passed down to today's Christians, errors that continue to be contradicted by the events of the current era of history. A New History of Redemption is nothing less than a retelling of God's grand narrative with an eye to correcting these errors. Any honest reconciliation between the Jewish and Christian faith communities demands that we reassess the inherited theological positions that each of our faiths holds regarding the other. This book represents a major step in that direction." -- Rabbi Pesach Wolicki , Ohr Torah Stone's Center for Jewish-Christian Understanding and Cooperation, Jerusalem "A tour de force" Taking inspiration from Jonathan Edwards, Gerald McDermott traces the redeeming work of the Messiah in the Bible and in Church history up through the new heavens and new earth. "This is a book with a bold agenda--to complete and extend an unfinished masterpiece by America's greatest theologian. In these pages Jonathan Edwards comes alive in a new way, and we see how the drama of redemption informs all that he wrote--his history, theology, and exegesis. At once scholarly and edifying, this is a tour de force!" -- Timothy George , Beeson Divinity School, Samford University "McDermott is well known as a Jonathan Edwards scholar. Now he has stepped into the role of updating the great theologian's work by offering his own account of the history of redemption. But this is no mere rehash of Edwards. Instead, McDermott works to bring out the astounding beauty of redemption (a much-neglected category in Protestantism) for a new generation. A very encouraging volume." -- Carl R. Trueman , Grove City College "Audacious, sweeping, magisterial, and highly distinctive--at a moment in history when understanding the global is essential, McDermott gives us both a deep history and a wide-ranging global view of God's restoration of the world that expands our minds and enriches our faith. Fascinating reading." -- Os Guinness , author of Magna Carta for Humanity "McDermott's voice carefully unites the Reformed tradition with key Roman Catholic theologians to write an ecumenically compelling theology of God's redemption, from before creation to the end of time. He pays special attention