Understandings of Atonement

The idea of atonement understood in a broad sense as reconciliation and restoration of the lost unity between God and humans is at the heart of the church’s life and ministry to the world. The purpose of this course is to inform and broaden the students’ contemporary theological vision by encounter with the treasures available in the Christian tradition. We will explore major images and theories of atonement, starting with biblical themes, moving into the Patristic, Medieval and Reformation theories and then finishing with a select number of modern proposals. We will trace major shifts which occurred in the understandings of atonement from one period to another.

Course Syllabus