On this program, I talk with Fleming Rutledge about her new book, The Crucifixion: Understanding the Death of Jesus Christ (Eerdmans, 2015), and the themes and motifs surrounding the topic in the history of biblical interpretation. While theologians and preachers have often focused exclusively on concepts such as atonement or justification, Rutledge highlights many other biblical motifs and themes of no lesser value and importance.

Ordained to the diaconate in 1975, Rutledge received her Master of Divinity degree from Union Theological Seminary in New York and was one of the first women to be ordained to the priesthood of the Episcopal Church in January 1977. Widely recognized in the United States, Canada, and in the UK not only as a preacher and lecturer but also as one who teaches other preachers, Rutledge is an expert on the intersection of Biblical theology with contemporary culture, current events and politics, literature, music, and art. She has often been invited to preach in prominent pulpits such as the Washington National Cathedral, the Duke University Chapel, Trinity Church in Boston, and the Harvard Memorial Chapel. She is the author of many books, including God Spoke to Abraham: Preaching from the Old Testament and The Battle for Middle-earth: Tolkien's Divine Design in The Lord of the Rings, both published by Eerdmans.

A native of Franklin, Virginia, Rutledge graduated from Sweet Briar College in 1959, magna cum laude with highest honors in English. In May 1999, she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from Virginia Theological Seminary in May 1999. Fleming and her husband, Reginald, celebrated their 55th anniversary in 2014. They live in New York state and have two grown daughters and two grandchildren.