DESCRIPTION: This is a 6-unit seminar designed for PhD and ThM students in the CATS program, also offered at the 500-level as a 4-unit course open to five MDiv/MA students by written permission. It is a critical examination of some of the most important recent texts on the doctrine of the atonement with an emphasis on the close reading of particular texts and the retrieval of the theology of these works for the purpose of articulating and defending a constructive understanding of the work of Christ today.

SIGNIFICANCE FOR LIFE AND MINISTRY: The atonement is one of the central and defining doctrines of Christianity. It is therefore of fundamental importance that the formation of any Christian theologian provide an opportunity for sustained reflection upon this topic.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: Students completing this course will have demonstrated their ability to (1) analyze critically and assess the contribution of the authors studied to the doctrine of atonement; (2) offer a reasoned response to various proposals offered by these theologians in light of tradition and current intellectual milieu; and (3) begin to formulate their own systematic/constructive views on the atonement in light of this reading.

COURSE FORMAT: The seminar will meet weekly for three-hour sessions. Appointed members will introduce the week's readings by giving a critical analysis with comment. All members are expected to study beforehand the required readings for the week and take part in the discussion.

REQUIRED READING (SELECTIONS FROM THE FOLLOWING TEXTS):

Joel Green and Mark D. Baker, eds., Recovering the Scandal of the Cross (InterVarsity Press, 2000), 232 pp. ISBN: 9780830815715. Retail price: $17.00.

Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics IV.1, trans. Geoffrey Bromiley and T. F. Torrance (T&T Clark, 1961) (Available online via Fuller Library e-resources).

Jürgen Moltmann, The Crucified God (Fortress Press, 1993), 364 pp. ISBN-13: 978-0800628222. $25.00.

Thomas F. Torrance, The Atonement (IVP Academic, 2009), 489 pp. ISBN-13: 978-0830828920. $40.00.

Richard Swinburne, Responsibility and Atonement (Oxford University Press, 1989), 224 pp. ISBN-13: 978-0198248491. Price: $50.00.

John Hick, The Metaphor of God Incarnate: Christology in a Pluralistic Age, 2nd ed. (Westminster John Knox, 2006 [1993]), 204 pp. ISBN-13: 978-0664230371. Price: $25.00.

J. Denny Weaver, The Nonviolent Atonement, Second Edition (Eerdmans, 2011), 362 pp. ISBN-13: 978-0802864376. Price: $28.00.

Mark Heim, Saved from Sacrifice: A Theology of the Cross (Eerdmans, 2006), 360 pp. ISBN-13: 978-0802832153. Price: $30.00.

Hans Boersma, Violence, Hospitality, and the Cross: Reappropriating the Atonement Tradition (Baker Academic, 2006), 288 pp. ISBN-13: 978-0801031335. Price: $28.00.

Linda Peacore, The Role of Women's Experience in Feminist Theologies of Atonement (Pickwick Publications, 2010), 254 pp. ISBN-13: 978-1556358036. Price: $28.00.

In addition, readings will be made available on e-reserves to supplement particular topics with relevant secondary material.

James Beilby and Paul R. Eddy, eds., The Nature of Atonement: Four Views (IVP Academic, 2006), 208 pp. ISBN-13: 978-0830825707. Price: $20.00.

Oliver D. Crisp, ed. A Reader in Contemporary Philosophical Theology (T&T Clark, 2009), 392 pp. ISBN-13: 978-0567031464. $44.95.

Steven T. Davis, Daniel Kendall and Gerald O'Collins, eds., The Redemption (Oxford University Press, 2004), 384 pp. ISBN-13: 978-0199288755. Price: $50.00.

Paul S. Fiddes, Past Event and Present Salvation (Westminster John Knox, 1989), 254 pp. ISBN-13: 978-0664250362. Price: $30.00.

Stephen Finlan, Options on Atonement in Christian Theology (Liturgical Press, 2007), 147 pp. ISBN-13: 978-0814659861. Price: $17.95.

R. S. Franks, The Work of Christ (Thomas Nelson, 1962) 708pp. (No current ISBN or price - out of print.)

Girard, The Scapegoat (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1989), 232 pp. ISBN-13: 978-0801839177 Price: $25.00.

Colin E. Gunton, Actuality and Atonement: A Study of Metaphor, Rationality and the Christian Tradition (T&T Clark, 1988), 236 pp. ISBN-13: 978-0567080905. Price: $55.00.

Hugo Grotius, A Defence of the Catholic Faith Concerning the Satisfaction of Christ Against Faustus Socinus. English translation available at http://yoel.info/sitemap.htm.

Charles E. Hill and Frank A. James III, eds., The Glory of The Atonement: Biblical, Theological and Practical Perspectives (IVP Academic, 2004), 495 pp. ISBN-13: 978-0830826896. Price: $32.00.

Robert W. Jenson, Systematic Theology, vol. 1: The Triune God (Oxford University Press, 2001), 256 pp. ISBN-13: 978-0195145984. Price: $35.00.

Brad Jersak and Michael Hardin, eds., Stricken by God? Nonviolent Identification and The Victory of Christ (Eerdmans, 2007), 527 pp. ISBN-13: 978-0802862877. Price: $32.00.

V.-M. Kärkkäinen, One with God: Salvation as Deification and Justification (Liturgical Press, 2004). 144 pp. ISBN: 0814629717. Retail price: $16.95.

Gregory MacDonald, The Evangelical Universalist (Cascade Books, 2006), 201 pp. ISBN-13: 978-1597523653. Price: $24.00.

Gerald O'Collins, Jesus Our Redeemer: A Christian Approach to Salvation (Oxford University Press, Price: 2007), 292 pp. ISBN-13: 978-0199203130. Price: $29.99.

John Owen, The Death of Death in The Death of Christ. Available through the ethereal library: http://www.ccel.org/ccel/owen/deathofdeath.html.

Wolfhart Pannenberg, Systematic Theology , vol. 2 (Eerdmans, 1992), 515 pp. ISBN-13: 978-0802837073. Price: $55.00. Ch. 11.

Hastings Rashdall, The Idea of Atonement in Christian Theology, Being the Bampton Lectures for 1915 (Macmillan and Co., 1919),502 pp. Available through at http://books.google.com.

John Sanders, ed., Atonement and Violence: A Theological Conversation (Abingdon Press, 2006), 170 pp. ISBN-13: 978-0687342945. Price: $25.00.

Darrin W. Snyder Belousek, Atonement, Justice and Peace: The Message of the Cross and the Mission of the Church (Eerdmans, 2012), 684 pp. ISBN: 978-0802866424. Price: $55.00.

Jon Sobrino, Jesus the Liberator: A Historical-Theological Reading of Jesus of Nazareth (Orbis, 1994), 308pp. ISBN-13: 978-0883449301. Price: $34.00, Part II: The Cross of Jesus.

Alan Spence, The Promise of Peace: A Unified Theory of Atonement (T&T Clark, 2007), 144 pp. ISBN-13: 978-0567031181. Price: $29.95.

Kathryn Tanner, Christ the Key (Cambridge University Press, 2010), 322 pp. ISBN-13: 978-0521732772. Price: $31.00. Ch. 6 (available through e-reserves).

Derek Tidball, David Hilborn, and Justin Thaker, eds., The Atonement Debate (Zondervan, 2008), 368 pp. ISBN-13: 978-0310273394. Price: $18.99.

Marit Trelstad, ed., Cross Examinations: Readings on the Meaning of the Cross Today (Fortress Press, 2006), 340 pp. ISBN-13: 978-0800620462. Price: $22.00.

1. All members of the seminar are expected to have studied the set readings for the week. Each week designated members of the seminar will introduce discussion, giving a brief background of the readings, summarizing the key issues, and offering a reasoned response. Each of these student seminar papers will be graded (20% overall course mark).

2. At the end of the quarter each member will present a paper on one of the topics covered by the seminar (25 pages for PhD and ThM students; 15 pages for master's students = 40% overall course mark).

3. There will also be a take-home examination that is due at the end of finals week (three questions for PhD/ThM students; two questions for MDiv/MA students = 40% overall course mark).