Ronnie takes on a view of the cross now known as "Penal Substitution." While honoring the image of Jesus as a substitute and sacrifice for sin (more about that will be forthcoming in this series), Ronnie outright rejects the idea of a furious, Puritan-like God whose murderous anger must be assuaged only by blood. Adapting a a line from Jonathan Edwards, Ronnie says, "Not for one more minute longer will I believe in a God who, 'not only hates us, but who holds us in the utmost contempt; who wants nothing more but to trample us down as the mire of the streets.' That God is inconsistent with Jesus of Nazareth."