Last year some people from my church presented me with this little card they picked up in England - facetiously suggesting that it might be an idea around here! I tried it out but there were no takers! But this is a new year - a new Easter...
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So how do we deal with Easter these days. I HAVE LONG SINCE GIVEN UP THE ATONEMENT THEORY, DOCTRINE, call it what we like. THAT JESUS SOMEHOW WAS SACRIFICED FOR MY SINS MAKES LITTLE SENSE of the events as the Gospels portray them. Dies as a victim of injustice, yes. But THE IDEA OF A GOD SOMEHOW DECIDING TO CREATE A BEING FOR THE PURPOSE OF KILLING HIM MAKES NO SENSE TO ME. The Old Testament cannot even be invoked it seems to me - Isaac was not sacrificed. THE WHOLE NOTION OF A SACRIFICIAL BEING IN MY CULTURE TURNS ME OFF rather than attracts me towards him. Therefore Easter needs a rethink for me. I'm still re-thinking! I'm also hoping that this coming Saturday at our Green Dale day I might get some help with my thinking as we have a conversation together on how we make sense of JESUS WITHOUT ATONEMENT as the metaphor. As I prepare to head for the northern hemisphere for a while to do some more thinking, I'm hoping that space without the pressure of work will provide me with some room for insights. I'm looking at some of the reasons why my own generation called baby boomers find religion hard to the point of irrelevance much of the time. And the generations beyond us have done the same. Is it now such a hollow shell that it is more chocolate than filling? Maybe yes for many. FUNDAMENTALISM IS LIKE THAT FOR ME - A SHAM AND A HOLLOW SHELL THAT IS UNABLE TO SPEAK TO MY REALITY. I'm seeing that St Ninians has a part to play in being a safe place to explore notions that make sense to people. I'm encouraged to see we are slowly growing. EASTER WITHOUT ATONEMENT. Thinking aloud. Anyone out there?
Hi there Here's an interesting thought from the excellent Good Friday resource on the Giardian website on my blog: There’s nothing like a little redemptive violence to bring us all together. So is this the way God works? Is this God’s plan, to become a human being and die, so that God won’t have to kill us instead? Is it God’s prescription to have Jesus suffer for sins he did not commit so God can forgive the sins we do commit? That’s the wrong side of the razor’s edge. Jesus was already preaching the forgiveness of sins and forgiving sins before he died. He did not have to wait until after the resurrection to do that. Blood is not acceptable to God as a means of uniting human community or reconciling with God. Christ sheds his own blood to end that way of trying to mend our divisions. Jesus’ death isn’t necessary because God has to have innocent blood to solve the guilt equation. Redemptive violence is our equation. Jesus didn’t volunteer to get into God’s justice machine. God volunteered to get into ours. God used our own sin to save us. ("'The Passion of the Christ' -- Reflections by S. Mark Heim") Cheers Martin
2 comments:
So how do we deal with Easter these days. I HAVE LONG SINCE GIVEN UP THE ATONEMENT THEORY, DOCTRINE, call it what we like. THAT JESUS SOMEHOW WAS SACRIFICED FOR MY SINS MAKES LITTLE SENSE of the events as the Gospels portray them. Dies as a victim of injustice, yes. But THE IDEA OF A GOD SOMEHOW DECIDING TO CREATE A BEING FOR THE PURPOSE OF KILLING HIM MAKES NO SENSE TO ME. The Old Testament cannot even be invoked it seems to me - Isaac was not sacrificed. THE WHOLE NOTION OF A SACRIFICIAL BEING IN MY CULTURE TURNS ME OFF rather than attracts me towards him.
Therefore Easter needs a rethink for me. I'm still re-thinking! I'm also hoping that this coming Saturday at our Green Dale day I might get some help with my thinking as we have a conversation together on how we make sense of JESUS WITHOUT ATONEMENT as the metaphor.
As I prepare to head for the northern hemisphere for a while to do some more thinking, I'm hoping that space without the pressure of work will provide me with some room for insights. I'm looking at some of the reasons why my own generation called baby boomers find religion hard to the point of irrelevance much of the time. And the generations beyond us have done the same. Is it now such a hollow shell that it is more chocolate than filling? Maybe yes for many. FUNDAMENTALISM IS LIKE THAT FOR ME - A SHAM AND A HOLLOW SHELL THAT IS UNABLE TO SPEAK TO MY REALITY. I'm seeing that St Ninians has a part to play in being a safe place to explore notions that make sense to people. I'm encouraged to see we are slowly growing.
EASTER WITHOUT ATONEMENT. Thinking aloud. Anyone out there?
http://outthere.blog.co.nz/
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Hi there
Here's an interesting thought from the excellent Good Friday resource on the Giardian website on my blog:
There’s nothing like a little redemptive violence to bring us all together. So is this the way God works? Is this God’s plan, to become a human being and die, so that God won’t have to kill us instead? Is it God’s prescription to have Jesus suffer for sins he did not commit so God can forgive the sins we do commit? That’s the wrong side of the razor’s edge. Jesus was already preaching the forgiveness of sins and forgiving sins before he died. He did not have to wait until after the resurrection to do that. Blood is not acceptable to God as a means of uniting human community or reconciling with God. Christ sheds his own blood to end that way of trying to mend our divisions. Jesus’ death isn’t necessary because God has to have innocent blood to solve the guilt equation. Redemptive violence is our equation. Jesus didn’t volunteer to get into God’s justice machine. God volunteered to get into ours. God used our own sin to save us. ("'The Passion of the Christ' -- Reflections by S. Mark Heim")
Cheers
Martin
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