The news site of the Anglican Church Southern Queensland: nourishing and connecting our faith community

Atonement

Friday December 27

Have we shrunk the mystery of atonement into words?

“Given the difficulties surrounding commonly-held atonement theories, then, perhaps we should quietly shove the whole thing under the carpet and focus on nicer aspects of our faith? I believe we need to lift up that carpet…Perhaps we may discover a few dusty lumps, long pushed out of sight by all but dusty theologians, which, when polished, show gleams of gold,” says The Ven. Dr Anne van Gend

Keeping the irony in atonement

“So how do we talk about Jesus’ death in a way that keeps the irony necessary for a crucifixion to be good news? Perhaps we begin by leaving to one side all the theories and staying with the narratives in the gospels. The basic structure of those narratives is that Jesus returns from death and seeks out relationship with those who in one way or another participated in his death, starting with those most intimate to him,” says Dr Peter Kline from St Francis College

Icon featuring Greek text 'Hagios Paulos', which is translated as 'Saint Paul' (Courtesy of Pixabay)

Romans 8: God’s ‘for-us-ness’

“For Paul, God’s raising Jesus from the dead was not confined to raising Jesus from the dead. It is inherently an act of ‘for-us-ness’ with a definite future,” says The Rev’d Canon Dr Ivan Head as St Paul’s Feast Day is marked on 29 June