What happened on Calvary? For any Christian this gets to the heart of things so debates like these are useful. See what you think.

When I was a seminary student the atonement battle, as we were taught it, was between CH Dodd, who turned propitiation (the wrath of God pacified) into expiation (the sin of humans removed), and LL Morris, whose dissertation was published and republished and republished as The Apostolic Preaching of the Cross. Morris was a strong defender of propitiation and the atonement as an act in which God offered a substitutionary sacrifice that absorbed the punishment due to humans. Leon Morris’ work was then recaptured in John Stott’s The Cross of Christ. This atonement theory is at the core of how many evangelicals understand the gospel itself. I have myself weighed in on this debate with some elbowing for expanding our view of the atonement so that one metaphor does not dominate the whole show.

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If God is all-powerful and Creator, is there even such a thing as a “miracle” in God’s economy? A useful reflection from Dr. McKnight. What do you think?

[A]part from the charismatic types, who do claim more miracles than many of us are comfortable with, most of us don’t do or see miracles. Back again, we claim to follow Jesus and Jesus did miracles and we want to be disciples and the original disciples did miracles. So…

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A good piece. See what you think.

A thoughtful piece. See what you think.

I’ve talked to a lot of young (and not so young) Christians about their disappointment in the church. Many have been hurt by the church. Many more hurt for others who have borne the brunt of the church’s injustices and failures.

Some of those I’ve talked to have been subject to criticism or suspicion because they have loved art, or music, or words, or peace, or people that the church has rejected or merely overlooked.

They have felt compassion for the outsiders spurned by the church.

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