Theology http://www.cis.org.uk/forum/categories/theology/feed.rss Thu, 17 May 12 02:05:02 +0100 Theology en-CA Resurrection of the Body: Does it Matter? http://www.cis.org.uk/forum/discussion/44/resurrection-of-the-body-does-it-matters- Thu, 29 Mar 2012 18:22:47 +0100 exchemist 44@/forum/discussions
I find it hard to resist the thought that, while this may have been culturally important for some reason at the time of St. Paul, it is something that a modern theologian would be tempted to discard or marginalise as inessential. 

One of these days my son will ask me about it and I need to give him an answer I feel comfortable to stand behind. Any guidance appreciated.
]]> Atonement http://www.cis.org.uk/forum/discussion/4/atonement Wed, 28 Sep 2011 17:24:38 +0100 Simon 4@/forum/discussions
I have previously characterised the common penal substitution view of the atonement - as favoured by many evangelicals - as:

"God sacrificing himself to himself to allow himself to change the rules that he himself made".

When I made this comment on the CiS email list the main complaint people had was that I was not taking the doctrine of the trinity seriously enough. Thing is I worry that theologians have got themselves tied up in too many knots about the trinity to the point that they seldom clarify anything. My simplistic "scientists" view is that "God the Father" is the label we give to God's creator/sustainer role, "God the son" is the label we give to his human incarnation in Jesus, and "God the spirit" is the name we give to his moving within people and the church - perhaps God's immanent aspect.

Given this understanding of the trinity, I maintain that penal substitution makes no sense as a theology of atonement.

Simon

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