Atonement Theories

 

I have a vague memory of learning about the different atonement theories while taking a course in theology. Atonement theories are theological explanations that seek to understand the significance and effects of the atonement, which refers to the reconciliation or mending of the relationship between humanity and God through the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ. I remember it being eye-opening and mind-boggling, but I didn’t store it away as something to remember because it didn’t affect my relationship with God or others. I still believed in Trinity God (Father, Son, Holy Spirit), and I still believed in the miraculous and saving power of Jesus’s life and death…so my philosophy of the atonement theory wasn’t something that I stressed over.

 

For the past three days, however, it’s been on the forefront of my mind. I’ve been thinking about it, talking about it, dreaming about it, and struggling with it. So for those of you who want to join me in my quest to know and sit with various atonement theories as held by different traditions and denominations of Christianity, then read on.

 

Remember: All of these are real theories that have been upheld and believed in Christianity throughout history. There will be some that resonate with you and some that you think are flat out wrong, but try to understand why someone may believe what you cannot…and remember that, in the end, these are all theories that try to help us understand what is beyond our comprehension: God.  

 

1. Ransom Theory:

• This theory suggests that Jesus' death was a ransom paid to Satan to release humanity from bondage. The idea is rooted in passages that speak of Christ giving his life as a ransom for many.

2. Satisfaction or Substitutionary Atonement:

• This theory, developed by Anselm of Canterbury, emphasizes the idea that Jesus' death was a satisfaction of the divine justice offended by human sin. It involves the concept of Jesus serving as a substitute, taking on the punishment that humans deserved.

3. Moral Influence Theory:

• Proposed by theologian Peter Abelard, this theory emphasizes that the purpose of Christ's death was to morally influence humanity. Jesus' sacrifice is seen as a demonstration of God's love, inspiring people to repent and turn toward God.

4. Christus Victor (Victorious Christ) Theory:

• This theory views the atonement as Christ's victory over the powers of sin, death, and Satan. It emphasizes the triumph of Jesus' resurrection and the defeat of evil forces.

5. Governmental Theory:

• Developed by Hugo Grotius, this theory posits that Jesus' death serves a governmental purpose. It maintains that God, as the divine ruler, uses Christ's sacrifice to demonstrate the seriousness of sin and uphold moral order.

6. Penal Substitutionary Atonement:

• Similar to Satisfaction Atonement, this theory asserts that Jesus' death was a substitution for the penalty of sin. Jesus took on the punishment on behalf of humanity, satisfying the demands of divine justice.

7. Recapitulation Theory:

• This theory, associated with theologian Irenaeus, sees Jesus as recapitulating or redoing human history in a way that brings salvation. Christ becomes the new Adam, representing humanity in a perfect way.

8. Scapegoat Theory:

• This theory draws parallels with the Old Testament practice of the scapegoat. Jesus is seen as the sacrificial scapegoat who takes on the sins of humanity, removing them and reconciling people with God.

 

Which theory or theories resonate with you? What have you been taught? Which theory presents you with a new thought? Which theory does NOT sit well with you? I’d love to have a conversation…as long as it’s civil! 😊

 

A Tale of Two Cat Rescues

 

My Facebook feed is full of animal rescue videos.

I’m a sucker for a good rescue story,

Although I admit that some of them make me sad.

I don’t understand what part of someone thinks that throwing animals in dumpsters is at all okay.

But that’s not my point.

My point is that I watch a lot of animal rescue videos 😊.

 

Recently, I saw two different cat rescues,

Both from trees.

 

In one of the videos,

The cat gets so scared of the rescuer

That he decides he would rather just jump out of the tree!

I think it was a 20-foot drop,

Limbs flailing in the air,

But the cat was okay!

 

In the other video,

The cat was 50-feet high,

Literally shaking from exhaustion,

And completely relieved when his rescuer showed up.

He immediately climbed into the rescuer’s arms,

Began purring,

And happily let the rescuer put him into a mesh sack so that he could safely make the descent.

 

Two cats stuck in similar situations;

Two very different reactions to someone coming to help.

 

It makes me wonder:

Am I the first cat who was afraid to, or simply didn’t, accept help when it was offered?

Or am I the second cat who embraced help when it came?

Both cats were okay in the end,

But it seems to me that the second cat had a slightly safer journey than the first,

Who went on a great adventure!

 

I’m pretty sure that Annie the Cat would jump if someone came to rescue her from a tree.

She’s not a stranger-truster.

It would be ugly.

I would cry and scream and deem her dead.

Because I am her opposite.

Vulnerable. Trusting. Always putting safety first.

 

What about you?

Do you accept help? Or do you remain independent?

Do fall into safe arms? Or do you try to do things yourself?

 

Oh God: Help us to know who we are and then to be willing to try something different if needed. Help us to know when to accept help and when to go at it alone. Help us to know when to leap and when to fall into open arms. And help us, God, not to let fear lead to make bad decisions. Amen.

Beloved

 

My dad bangs on the wall each morning to make sure I’m awake.

Sometimes I am. Sometimes I’m not.

Sometimes I immediately get up. Sometimes I forget.

Sometimes I make it downstairs while breakfast is still cooking. Sometimes I make it downstairs after it’s done.

Sometimes dad is sitting at the table doing his morning devotionals. Sometimes he’s moving about.

Sometimes we have a morning conversation. Most of the time we do not. Because I’m really very bad at mornings!

 

Last Wednesday, as I was sleepily trying to get myself together,

Dad said, “I want to read you something from my Nouwen book. It’s quite profound.”

And so he read:

 

“One of the greatest dangers in the spiritual life is self-rejection. When we say, ‘If people really knew me, they wouldn’t love me,’ we choose the road toward darkness. Often we are made to believe that self-deprecation is a virtue, called humility. But humility is in reality the opposite of self-deprecation. It is the grateful recognition that we are precious in God’s eyes and that all we are is pure gift. To grow beyond self-rejection, we must have the courage to listen to the voice calling us God’s beloved sons and daughters, and the determination always to live our lives according to this truth.” (Henri Nouwen, Bread for the Journey)

 

Then my dad added, “We are God’s beloved children.

I think I fail to accept that sometimes.

And I think that not accepting it has caused me to make a lot mistakes and feel a lot of heartache and depression over the course of my life.”

My dad is 81.

 

I didn’t say anything in the moment because I was running late.

I was also moved with emotion.

Because I completely understood.

 

Later, though, I sent my dad a text:

 

“The sermon last Sunday was on being God’s beloved children. It’s very, very different theology than Southern Baptist theology, and it’s taken me years and years of therapy and hard work to reprogram my brain to accept that I am God’s beloved child over I am a sinner. We may be sinners, but if we believe that we ARE sin at our core, then we believe that we are bad. But if we believe that we are God’s beloved, then we believe that we are loved, regardless of sin. I’m glad that Nouwen made you think.”

 

Friends: However old you are, 18, 46, 64, 81, and anywhere in between, know this:

In the beginning, God created humankind and called humankind good.

You are good. Even though you sometimes do bad things.

You are beloved. Even though your nature holds capacity for sin.

Christ’s forgiveness is but a heart’s cry away.

The Spirit’s grace is never-ending.

God’s love extends to all.

And that all includes all of who you are.

 

Oh God: Grant us the courage to listen to the voice calling us your beloved sons and daughters, and help us find the determination to live our lives according to this truth. Amen.

Pets

 

 

One of my friends had to have her dog put down last week.

The dog lived a good life.

She was well-loved and taken care of.

She brought joy to my friend and all who knew her.

But it was time for her to go.

She could barely stand up.

She was sleeping all the time.

Her bowels had left her.

Putting her down was the right thing to do.

Yet it was so hard.

And my friend cried.

And I cried, too.

And then I went through all my pictures and celebrated the dog’s life.

And I memorialized her in a tin art,

Because that’s all I knew to do.

 

I read an article about an Hispanic author who wrote a book for Day of the Dead.

I briefly talk about Day of the Dead in October when discussing Hispanic Heritage Month,

So I decided to buy the book.

Come to find out, the book is written to remember a pet.

And my goodness it is sad!!

Both Shauna the Art Teacher and I cried as we looked through the beautiful pages,

And we didn’t even read the text!

Later, when showing the book to another friend,

I cried again.

It’s just so sad.

 

Pets provide us with snuggles.

They provide us with talk therapy.

They provide us with companionship.

And they reduce our stress by making us slow down to pet them.

 

Pets become part of our lives.

They reserve and move into a special place in our hearts

That will never be forgotten,

Even after they leave.

 

Bullet the Dog is 19 now.

He will likely leave soon.

His devotion to my dad and the happiness that he’s brought for so many years

Is something that can’t be replaced.

 

Annie the Cat is three-ish now.

Hopefully she’ll live a long life

And learn how to control her razor claws

As she continues to become domesticated

And demand turkey and pets.

 

Tell me about your pet.

Tell me something that brings you joy.

Tell me something you remember about a pet who has gone before you.

I think sometimes it’s hard to remember because it hurts.

But life is kept alive through memory…

And our pets deserve that,

For they are a gift from above.

 

Amen.

 

My Checkbook is Balanced

 

I may be one of the only people in the modern world who still balances her checkbook.

But I do.

I don’t like looking at my balance online because it’s deceptive.

It makes me think I have more money than I have.

I must always keep $1000 in my checking account to avoid a service charge.

If I go below $1000 at any given point in the month,

Even if it’s just for an hour,

Then I am charged a service charge

And it immediately makes me grumpy.

I know I could switch banks.

I know the SECU or USAA are good options.

But that’s not the point 😊.

The point is that it makes me grumpy.

 

Being the super busy traveler that I was last Fall,

I didn’t balance my checkbook for a couple of months;

Therefore, I didn’t see the flashing zero in my ledger book and

Let my balance go below $1000 last week.

 

True to form.

It made me grumpy.

 

So I was grumpy while waiting in line at the ATM to deposit the money needed to regain $1000.

And then I got even grumpier when I did something I don’t normally do:

I looked at the receipt left by the person in front of me.

He had over $14000 in his account!!!

What?!

$14000???!!!

That’s over six months of take home pay for me!

Yes. That’s right. After taxes, retirement, and various other expenses come out of my check,

My paycheck is just over $2000 per month.

After taking out all of my fixed monthly expenses,

I have less than $200 per month to spend.

I figured this out the other night while balancing my checkbook and updating my budget sheet.

It stressed me out.

And going below $1000 made me grumpy.

And then I find the random receipt of someone who has $14000 sitting in his checking account.

And my stressed out, grumpy self,

Tired from returning to work where I, as a teacher, absorb the emotional energy and trauma of 500 little ones for whom I am responsible,

Started crying,

For me, and for all the people struggling to make ends meet;

For me, and for all the teachers whose pay far from respects the work that we do;

For me, and for all the people who will never see anything close to $14000 in their checking accounts;

For me, and for all the teachers who sometimes feel demoralized when they dwell on just how unfair it is to not get a raise for nine years after teaching for fifteen.

 

Recently, I have been writing about how goodness abounds.

And I believe that it does.

And I am abundantly fortunate that I have the resources that I need to help ends meet.

But sometimes goodness is temporarily overshadowed by stress and grumpiness

Because sometimes life simply isn’t fair.

 

Dear God: When life’s inequality, stress, and grumpiness begin to overwhelm, help us to feel what we’re feeling, name it, and move through it. Help us to find the good—even if it’s in something as small as the checkbook being balanced—and help us to use that good to get by. God, there have always been rich and poor. Help the rich use their riches for good and help the poor to find the resources that they need to get by. Help each of us to be good stewards of our time and money and help us to have the faith to pray and believe, “Give us this day our daily bread.” Amen.

It's God

 

One of the things that Heidi the Librarian and I like to do in Charleston is a Secret Food Tour. We meet our group and guide at a designated location and then visit five lesser-known eateries around the town.

 

In 2022, our guide was a guy who had quite a few ear piercings.  

I don’t remember his name, but I remember talking with him about his piercings and trying to decide which piercing I should get next.

I decided on my second lobe piercing.

 

In 2023, our guide was a girl who had just moved South.

She was a musical theatre person, and she had come to the area for a show.

Before that, she was Shug in the Color Purple in Boston.

I don’t remember her name, but I remember talking with her about The Color Purple and tearing up together as we discussed the deep emotion of the show.

I told her how I’d been taken aback when the actress playing Shug in the 2023 NC Theatre version of the show had to stop singing because she was crying during the finale and the curtain call.

I’d never seen an actor or actress that overwhelmed with genuine emotion,

But it moved me and I told my guide that much.

She understood.

She, herself, had been moved by that same emotion.

It’s the same emotion that I felt watching the movie version of The Color Purple.

It’s hope.

And forgiveness.

And redemption.

And love.

 

It’s God.

 

I think sometimes we want God to move in big ways—

Ways that are obvious and cannot be denied.

 

But I think most times, God moves in small, quiet ways—

Ways that are commonplace and can be reduced to good luck or coincidence if we let them.

 

In the Old Testament, God didn’t speak to Elijah in the storms,

Rather God spoke to Elijah in a whisper.

 

In the New Testament, God didn’t come to earth with fanfare,

Rather God came as a helpless baby.

 

Our food tours in Charleston were just passing tours.

I will never see those guides again.

Yet I will remember them,

Especially the 2023 guide,

Because of the ways they shed light into my life.

 

Dear God: May we see you in the people around us and may we be you to all whom we meet—whether be in passing or whether it be for a lifetime. May we use our voices to whisper love and may we use our resources as hope. Help us to see you in the small things—to rejoice in the goodness that you are, even when life is hard and circumstances far from easy. Open our eyes that we may see and connect our tears as they fall. Amen.  

Goodness Abounds (Part Two)

I had just gone upstairs to take my afternoon nap when I heard the doorbell ring. When I opened the door, there was a man whom I didn’t know waiting on the sidewalk.

 

Long story short, the man was Andrew the Roofer who had come to collect his check. As he came into the house, he noticed the piano to the right.

 

As he waited for my mom to write the check, we chatted about music. He explained that he didn’t appreciate having to take piano lessons as a kid, but he now appreciates knowing music theory and being able to play the piano.

 

He said, “If Dan weren’t asleep, I’d play a little song for you.” I said, “Oh, it won’t matter. He can’t hear the piano all the way back in his room.”

 

And so, after Andrew the Roofer got his check for the hard, physical labor of roofing, he, mom, and I went to the music room where he sat down and began to delicately play the keys.

 

He played for at least ten minutes, becoming more and more comfortable the longer he played,

clearly enjoying himself and the momentary escape that the music gave him.

 

Having no idea that my mom is practically a professional pianist, he asked her to play a little for him. She, of course, blew him away. He sang along to the melodies he recognized and when she finished playing, he just said, “Wow. You didn’t miss a beat,” and then requested Greensleeves 😊.

 

Mom once had a busy UPS worker stop for a moment on the porch to listen to her play, but she’d never had a roofer come into the house to sit at her piano and play for himself!

 

As Andrew the Roofer was leaving, he said, “This has inspired me to get out my keyboard and play more often.” I smiled. And after he left, mom and I looked at each other and said, “That was weird. And neat.”

 

And it was.

The power of music had spoken.

And I got to bear witness.

 

…

 

A few months ago, Barb The Art Teacher gave me some tins that she’d collected from her Aunt Pat. On Thursday night, as I lay in bed trying to sleep, I thought to myself, “You should make B something with her Aunt Pat’s tins.” B texted me the next morning to tell me that her Aunt Pat had died the night before. Coincidence? Maybe. But I can’t help but think not.

 

And so I went into the studio and began to peruse Aunt Pat’s tins. I deconstructed some things and pondered what I could make, but nothing spoke to me until suddenly it did. Early in our careers, B and I sat outside of our classrooms on the picnic tables behind the school and had a pomegranate seed spitting competition. A few years later, it became a joke with B and me that “Art is not art unless you put a bird on it.” One of Aunt Pat’s tins had a pomegranate on it. Another had a bird.

 

When I put them together, it was as if it was meant to be.

The power of art had spoken.

And I got to bear witness.

 

…

 

As we enter 2024, may we bear witness to

Music and

Art and

Goodness and

Light.

 

God IS goodness.

And goodness abounds.

 

Amen.