Stephen Finlan
Author
Language
English
Formats
Description
"Beneath the commonplace affirmation that Jesus 'paid for our sins' lie depths of implication: Did God demand a blood sacrifice to assuage divine anger? Is sacrifice (consciously or unconsciously) intended to induce the deity to show favor? What underlies the various metaphors for atonement used in the Bible? Here, Stephen Finlan surveys psychological theories that help us to understand beliefs about sacrifice and atonement and what they may reveal...
Author
Language
English
Formats
Description
Many ministers instinctively recoil from "washed in the blood" theology, but they hesitate to discuss the subject. This book is useful in showing how the "purchased by the blood" idea is out of step with Jesus, who taught that God reaches the pure in heart without any sacrificial payment. The sacrificial metaphors used by the Apostle Paul have been taken far too literally and turned into an imagined "mechanics" of salvation in which God is "paid off."...
Author
Language
English
Formats
Description
Do bullies have free rein in our churches? Who are the bullies? What is scapegoating? Is it possible to practice the mercy and forgiveness demanded by Gospel ethics while also protecting people from emotional and professional damage? These are some of the questions that Stephen Finlan seeks to answer, looking for an ethic of behavior that is both spiritually valid and psychologically wise. He seeks responses to bullying that are both "wise" and "harmless"...
Author
Language
English
Description
To Unite the Scattered Children of God is an accessible exploration of hope for the spiritual uniting of humankind, in worship and in other ways, from Isaiah on down to present times. Several prophets shared this hope: "Many nations shall join themselves to the Lord on that day, and shall be my people" (Zech 2:11). To an even greater degree, Jesus set in motion a universalizing power. Jesus and Paul inspired hope for the uniting of Jews, Samaritans,...
Author
Publisher
Liturgical Press
Pub. Date
[2007]
Language
English
Description
"In his previous book, Problems with Atonement, Stephen Finlan compellingly argues that the doctrine of atonement has been more a stumbling to a true understanding of the relationship between God and humanity than a genuine explanation of how we relate to God and God to us. Options on Atonement reprises these arguments briefly, then looks more closely at the solutions to the problem offered by a variety of modern interpreters. Finlan's focus in this...
Author
Publisher
Liturgical Press
Pub. Date
[2005]
Language
English
Description
"Examines the origins and outcomes of the Christian doctrine of atonement : its biblical foundations, development, and theological questions surrounding it, including questions about its relationship to the Incarnation"--Provided by publisher.