Sacrifice and Christus Victor

I find that seminary has three parts to it. 1st you come in with your own ideas and are able to defend them, they are clear and boundaries are demarcated through experience in and of your local church. then you start considering other parts (this would be part two) and you start hearing the logic and views of your classmates. meanwhile you're in another setting with other ways of doing and view the Christian Tradition. This leads to confusion and boundaries start to bleed. the third stage is just before you graduate you realize what you used to believe and claim it again, only this time, more loosely as you're able to consider other points of view.

applying this to my understanding of atonement, it would look like this:

1. i came in thinking that these two models at hand (Jesus as sacrifice and victor) were awful and bad theology.In the words of James Allison, i thought that these atonement theories set up "God and his Son in some sort of consensual form of S&M- one needing the abasement of the other in order to be satisfied, and the other loving the cruel will of the Father." I would have claimed, as Allison does that these theories "have done more to contribute to atheism among ordinary people than any number of clerical scandals, and that if being a believer means believing this, then it is better to be among the non-believers."

2. I have examined these more closely and tried to consider their Christology and historical import as seen in the previous post on the matter.

3. Where I'm at now sees how others view and i even see a place where we intersect. an email conversation with DPS proved quite fruitful in coming to this conclusion. he suggested two books, Susan Bond's The Trouble with Jesus and J. Denny Weaver's The Nonviolent Atonement. DPS claimed that you can't be a universalist without being in the Christus Victor model, or believe apokatastasis without it in some form. it's just what form that is important. in the next few posts, i'll talk about my interactions with Bond and Weaver and where i stand. hope you'll stick around!

LAST SEMESTER! The Class Schedule

This last semester, I'm taking World Religions, Christology, and Ministerial Ethics.

World Religions won't be all of the world's religions, which is a shame... but we will study Islam, Taoism, and Buddhism (specifically Tibetan Buddhism).

Christology has a great reading list and one of my fave professors. Books by Marcus Borg, John Dominic Crossan, Katheryn Tanner, and Rudolf Bultmann. Already some of my fave authors/theologians. looking forward to exploring the many thoughts out there about who Jesus is.

Ministerial Ethics is more about how to be an effective administrator and ethically do budgets and such. seems like a continuation of Pastoral Ethics... which largely focused on how to be a good sounding board and pastoral councilor.

i'll keep you posted on how the classes are going and maybe post some insights and such about them.

the real focus of this semester is getting ready to find a call. This Wednesday i head to my home church to discuss my ordination paper. in brief: they read the paper, ask questions about it, and decide if they will recommend me to Church and Ministry. C&M reads and asks me about the paper and then decides whether to recommends status to potomac board of directors. After i'm recommended twice, i am then labeled "authorized to enter the search and call process" meaning "able to circulate his profile to find a church that will have him as their minister." it's an exciting time! i'll keep you posted on that.

keep me in your thoughts and prayers for this Wednesday. i'm expecting no surprises here and am looking forward to being in my home church again and having a conversation about my theological positions and sense of call.