Beginning with the observation that the salvific nature of Jesus' death is frequently rejected as a starting point in theology, this article (1) recalls some often forgotten analytical distinctions and (2) analyses the contemporary soteriological positions of Rene Girard, Sarah Coakley, Marit Trelstad, Jan-Olav Henriksen, and the author himself The concluding constructive section sketches a soteriological position based on a narrative ontology in which Jesus' death is embedded in broader stories of the Son and Trinitarian salvation history, which at the same time also form the canon of human becoming.