Fall 2012/Pasadena
TH867/569
Crisp
TH867/569: CONTEMPORARY PERSPECTIVES ON THE ATONEMENT. Oliver Crisp.
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.
RECOMMENDED READING:
- 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.
ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:
- 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).
- 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).
- 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).
PREREQUISITES: At the master's level, three of the following MDiv core
requirements: STA, STB, STC, PHIL, and written permission of the professor.
RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: Elective for MDiv/MA.
This ECD is a reliable guide to the course design but is subject to modification. (July 2012)