Categories
atonement history

Abelard – The Look of Love

In the previous post we looked at the Satisfaction Theory of the atonement. As we saw, this was developed by Anselm who drew heavily from the honour based culture of the middle ages in which he lived. Now we turn to look at a theory which does not seem have its focus in any cultural setting at all, and as such has a timeless, culture -free quality to it.

When I first heard about this theory I reacted in a strongly negative way. In my youthful ignorance it seemed faintly ridiculous. I flatter myself by thinking I have grown up since my mid 40s! Either way I am less black and white in my thinking , and a lot happier as a result…

Categories
atonement history

The Creeds

I have become increasingly interested in how the beliefs of Christianity developed. Yawn yawn… Sure, history is cool, but more important to me is how our following of Jesus is to be understood and lived out in a society has changed so dramatically since the documents we use were written. There are gigantic shifts going on – scientific, technological, cultural. Some of the most basic assumptions about our nature are shifting. Our understanding of the universe we live in has mushroomed (though it is still tiny, tiny mushroom in my opinion).

In this post I consider the role of the Creeds – and ask ‘should they even have a role?’ These creeds are short(ish) statements which encapsulate what Christians believe and in some cases were written over 1500 years ago. They are widely used – and by ‘widely’ I mean ‘all around the world’ kind of widely.