Theology Of Atonement Research Articles

REVIEWS

REVIEWS

Mel Gibson?s The Passion of the Christ Seen Through Jewish Eyes

Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ has stirred up long simmering tensions between Christian, and Jews. This article, by someone of the Jewish faith who has for many years worked at a Presbyterian seminary, discusses Gibson’s morbid—almost pornographic—fascination with violence, Gibson’s theology of sin and atonement, and the dangers of Gibson’s disparaging and inflammatory portrayal of Jews through the use of despicable stereotypes. Gibson’s violence drenched Christianity is contrasted with a more tolerant Christianity rooted in love and justice.

Penal substitution and the possibility of unconditional hospitality A shortened version of this paper was delivered to the Evangelical Theology Group meeting at the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion (23 November 2002). I particularly value the feedback that I received on this paper from Dr Craig Allert, Dr Kent Clarke, and Dr Doug Harink.

Traditional atonement theories (and especially penal readings of the atonement) are being challenged because they seem to be based on divine violence and thus seem to condone or contribute to human violence rather than enable human practices of hospitality. In the face of such criticism, this paper argues that attempts to eliminate all violence from atonement theology do not contribute to the flourishing of hospitality but imply an erasing of boundaries necessary to counter unjustified violence and to safeguard the possibility of God's eschatological hospitality. Specifically, the paper critiques three stepping stones used in the defence of non-violent theories of the atonement. They are (1) the definition of violence as inherently negative, to which the paper opposes the possibility of the Augustinian notion of justified violence as an act of love; (2) the ‘fall model’ of Constantinianism which erroneously regards penal atonement theories as the outcome of the fourth-century Christianizing of the Roman Empire; and (3) the abandoning not just of penal atonement theories, but necessarily of each of the three main models, since each defends God's involvement in violence. The paper then argues that a penal aspect is indispensable to safeguard both God's absolute eschatological hospitality and its incarnation in human relationships.

Theology of atonement in the feast calendar of the temple scroll

Theology of atonement in the feast calendar of the temple scroll

Keeping Salvation Ethical: Mennonite and Amish Atonement Theology in the Late Nineteenth Century. By J. Denny Weaver. Studies in Anabaptist and Mennonite History 35. Scottdale, Pa.: Herald, 1997. 316 pp. $19.95 paper.

Keeping Salvation Ethical: Mennonite and Amish Atonement Theology in the Late Nineteenth Century. By J. Denny Weaver. Studies in Anabaptist and Mennonite History 35. Scottdale, Pa.: Herald, 1997. 316 pp. $19.95 paper.

Rehabilitation of Atonement?

SummaryThe doctrine of atonement is one of the cornerstones of Christian belief. At the same time it has been heavily attacked by the Enlightenment. In this article, the status quaestionis is described in the Anglo-Saxon theology of atonement, two centuries after the Enlightenment made its claim for a more rational approach of Christian Doctrine, particularly regarding the metaphors used in the doctrine of atonement. In the second part of the article, recent contributions to this debate, such as the books of Vernon White, Paul Fiddes, Mary Grey, Michael Winter, and especially Colin Gunton, are discussed. Their approaches attempt to rehabilitate atonement. Special attention is paid to the altered view of the metaphors in the doctrine of atonement, including victory, judgement, and sacrifice.

Book Review: A Theology of Atonement and Paul's Vision of Christianity. By Anthony J. Tambasco. (Zacchaeus Studies: New Testament). A Michael Glazier Book. Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press. Pp. 115. f5.99

Book Review: A Theology of Atonement and Paul's Vision of Christianity. By Anthony J. Tambasco. (Zacchaeus Studies: New Testament). A Michael Glazier Book. Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press. Pp. 115. f5.99

Universal and Particular in Atonement Theology

The unique philosophical problems of Christianity derive from the fact that it is not a philosophy, but a gospel. That is to say, its teaching and institutions are distinctively what they are by virtue of their relation to particular divine acts rather than because they are primarily a general teaching or philosophy. Whatever general teaching there is is rooted in particularities. It is not, then, difficult to come to a provisional understanding of the reference of the ‘particular’ in the title. Christianity as a particular religion, distinct from other religions and philosophies, is a distinctive way of appropriating what is believed to be salvation, deriving from a centre in a specific pattern of divine action. That centre, to be sure, gives rise to a range of conceptions of salvation sharing a family resemblance, but is none the less common to all those that are recognisably within the Christian fold.

Theology of Atonement

Theology of Atonement

Theology of Atonement

Theology of Atonement

Theology of Atonement

Theology of Atonement

Theology of Atonement

Theology of Atonement