Atonement

The next LOAM session will be spread over two Mondays, 6 and 13 July. As usual coffee will be available from 7.15pm, start at 7.30pm and finish with Compline at 9pm. All are welcome. Our subject will be Atonement.

Atonement is putting things right with God, at-one-ment with Him. Christians all agree that our relationship with Him is flawed and damaged by sin; by definition sin is what separates us from God. We agree that atonement was achieved by the Life, Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

But for nearly 2000 years we have been debating how this was achieved, and we sill cannot agree over this. Was Jesus’ death on the cross a substitutional punishment required by a righteous God, or a debt paid to God or the devil on our behalf because we couldn’t pay it ourselves, or simply an act of love? These are arguably the most important questions in the whole of theology, for the answer we reach will direct our thinking on all other aspects of Faith and Relationships.

In these sessions we will explore and discuss the ideas of past and present, and what each tells us about God and Humanity. We’ll also look at some hymns. For those who would like to prepare, a reading pack will be available from Sunday 28 June.

Although it is obviously desirable to attend both sessions this is not essential and those unable to come to both will be welcome at either one.