This week, we've been examining several different perspectives on the Atonement. What's the best way to describe what actually happened on the cross? Chrisus Victor says that it was about Jesus gaining victory over demonic forces. Penal Substitution focuses on God's wrath and Jesus standing in our place. The Healing View says that Jesus opens up the way for wholeness and healing in our spirits, bodies, and minds. The Kaleidoscopic View says we need some aspects of all of the other three.
Regardless of which view we want to emphasize, the important thing is that Jesus' death made a way for our relationship with God to be restored, and we have the opportunity to live into that restoration here and now through the power of the Holy Spirit!
*All assignments will be available to see on Canvas, sometimes submitted digitally, other times submitted on paper*
Gospel of Matthew Journal Entries (various due dates; details on Canvas)
Guided Notes on various atonement views
Atonement Theories Quiz- completed in class Fri. Oct. 30th
WHAT'S NEXT?
Next week, students will begin work on an essay in class that asks them to explain the theories of the Atonement that we've been studying, as well as which theory they find to be most helpful. They will have several full class periods next week to work on this essay.
We will also begin a new unit on the Resurrection. Did Jesus really rise from the dead? Was it all made up? Were the disciples just hallucinating? Why is the resurrection a core Christian doctrine, and how might it be transformational for our lives? All this and more coming up!