Options on Atonement in Christian Thought

Options on Atonement in Christian Thought
Author: Stephen Finlan
Publisher: Liturgical Press
Total Pages: 164
Release: 2007
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9780814659861

In his previous book, Problems with Atonement, Stephen Finlan compellingly argues that the doctrine of atonement has been more a stumbling block to a true understanding of the relationship between God and humanity than a genuine explanation of how we relate to God and God to us. Options on Atonement reprises these arguments briefly, then looks more closely at the solutions to the problem offered by a variety of modern interpreters. Finlan's focus in this volume is on revelation, on the gradual human absorption of and interpretation of revelation received from God, the maturing of human cultures, and especially the light shed by modern family systems psychology. At a time when public debates rage over the notion of evolution in the natural world, this book asserts that our understanding of divine revelation is likewise subject to evolution. If religion itself does not evolve, the author asserts, we are left only with an unsatisfactory choice: to remain mired in the past, or to repudiate all that is past, including our Scriptures. Will that be our choice? Or can we resolve to examine our traditions, including that of the atonement, in the light of new knowledge? Stephen Finlan chooses to do just that.

Past Event and Present Salvation

Past Event and Present Salvation
Author: Paul S. Fiddes
Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press
Total Pages: 256
Release: 1989-01-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9780664250362

How can an event that has taken place in the past have an effect upon the human experience of salvation in the present? In examining one of the essential questions of the Christian faith, Paul S. Fiddes explores the limits as well as the gains to be made in speaking about crucifixion as a historical event, and considers the relationship of the crucifixion to the continuing process of God's saving activity. He considers the relevance of a past act of atonement to such areas of practical experience as forgiveness, liberation, and suffering.

Problems with Atonement

Problems with Atonement
Author: Stephen Finlan
Publisher: Liturgical Press
Total Pages: 156
Release: 2005
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9780814652206

"Examines the origins and outcomes of the Christian doctrine of atonement : its biblical foundations, development, and theological questions surrounding it, including questions about its relationship to the Incarnation"--Provided by publisher.

Atonement

Atonement
Author: Eleonore Stump
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 557
Release: 2018
Genre: Atonement
ISBN: 0198813864

"The doctrine of the Atonement is the distinctive doctrine of Christianity. Over the course of many centuries of reflection, highly diverse interpretations of the doctrine have been proposed. In the context of this history of interpretation, Eleonore Stump considers the doctrine afresh with philosophical care. Whatever exactly the Atonement is, it is supposed to include a solution to the problems of the human condition, especially its guilt and shame. Stump canvasses the major interpretations of the doctrine that attempt to explain this solution and argues that all of them have serious shortcomings. In their place, she argues for an interpretation that is both novel and yet traditional and that has significant advantages over other interpretations, including Anselm's well-known account of the doctrine. In the process, she also discusses love, union, guilt, shame, forgiveness, retribution, punishment, shared attention, mind-reading, empathy, and various other issues in moral psychology and ethics."--

Embracing an Alternative Orthodoxy Participant's Workbook

Embracing an Alternative Orthodoxy Participant's Workbook
Author: Richard Rohr
Publisher: Church Publishing, Inc.
Total Pages: 119
Release: 2014-04-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1606741497

• 5-to-10-week study for adults and young adults with appealing video format that prompts engagement and response. • Each participant uses his/her own journal for study and reflection. Each program in this series features two components sold separately: (1) A DVD with five 10-15 minute presentations (one per group), in this case showing Fr. Richard Rohr interacting with a small group of adults, and (2) a participant workbook containing all the material needed by class participants as well as for the facilitator (one each). In this edition, Richard Rohr explores five topics central to Franciscan theology and practice: Atonement Theory Eco-Spirituality The Christ who Existed before Christianity Orthopraxy vs. Verbal Orthodoxy (Living Like Jesus) Mysticism over Moralism DVD sold separately- item 846863020065

Sacrifice and Atonement

Sacrifice and Atonement
Author: Stephen Finlan
Publisher: Fortress Press
Total Pages: 254
Release: 2016-06-03
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 150640197X

Beneath the commonplace affirmation that Jesus “paid for our sins” lie depths of implication: did God demand a blood sacrifice to assuage divine anger? Is sacrifice (consciously or unconsciously) intended to induce the deity to show favor? What underlies the various metaphors for atonement used in the Bible? Here, Stephen Finlan surveys psychological theories that help us to understand beliefs about sacrifice and atonement and what they may reveal about patterns of injury, guilt, shame, and appeasement. Early chapters examine the language in both testaments of purity and the “scapegoat,” and of payment, obligation, reciprocity, and redemption. Later chapters review theories of the origins of atonement thinking in fear and traumatic childhood experience, in ambivalent or avoidant attachment to the parents, and in “poisonous pedagogy.” The theories of Sandor Rado, Mary Ainsworth, Erik Erikson, and Alice Miller are examined, then Finlan draws conclusions about the moral responsibility of appropriating or rejecting atonement metaphors. His arguments bear careful consideration by all who live with these metaphors and their effects today.

All Set Free

All Set Free
Author: Matthew J. Distefano
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 143
Release: 2015-09-30
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1498234593

What is the ending to the human drama? Will all be reconciled to God in the end? Does God demand an altar, a corpse, and blood? Or, rather, is the Christian God set apart from all the other gods throughout history? All Set Free sets out to answer some of the more difficult questions Christians today are faced with. It will challenge the Augustinian understanding of hell and the Calvinist understanding of the atonement; replacing them with a more Christ-centered understanding of both doctrines. This book will also use the work of Rene Girard in order to reshape how many understand "what it means to be human." Then and only then should we ask: "Who is God?" Come explore what has become Matthew's theological pilgrimage to this point. Come discover the God of peace.

God's Being in Reconciliation

God's Being in Reconciliation
Author: Adam J. Johnson
Publisher: A&C Black
Total Pages: 231
Release: 2012-03-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0567638332

A survey of unity and diversity in Christ's saving work, read and interpreted through the lense of the theology of Karl Barth.

Christus Victor

Christus Victor
Author: Gustaf Aulen
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 182
Release: 2003-09-05
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1725254174

Gustaf Aulen's classic work, 'Christus Victor', has long been a standard text on the atonement. Aulen applies history of ideas' methodology to historical theology in tracing the development of three views of the atonement. Aulen asserts that in traditional histories of the doctrine of the atonement only two views have usually been presented, the objective/Anselmian and the subjective/Aberlardian views. According to Aulen, however, there is another type of atonement doctrine in which Christ overcomes the hostile powers that hold humanity in subjection, at the same time that God in Christ reconciles the world to Himself. This view he calls the "classic" idea of the atonement. Because of its predominance in the New Testament, in patristic writings, and in the theology of Luther, Aulen holds that the classic type may be called the distinctively Christian idea of the atonement.

Saving Power

Saving Power
Author: Peter Schmiechen
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
Total Pages: 390
Release: 2005
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9780802829856

Jesus' death and resurrection are undeniably central to the Christian faith. But how, precisely, is their significance to be understood? Concerned to reinvigorate the church's teaching on the cross, the resurrection, and salvation -- the atonement -- Peter Schmiechen here invites readers to rediscover the wealth of the Christian tradition. In "Saving Power he makes ample use of primary sources to unpack ten distinct theories of atonement, welcoming aspects of each rather than championing only one. Along the way, he demonstrates that while most Christians assume the basic theme of atonement to be sin and forgiveness, other powerful themes -- liberation from oppressive powers, reconciliation in the face of division, and the hope of resurrection in the face of death, for instance -- also deserve to be studied and preached. Affirming orthodox teaching while offering a positive take on marginal views, "Saving Power is a crucial resource for anyone who seeks a fuller understanding of Christ's work.