Just 500 years or so after the death of Christ, the first monks arrived on Skellig Michael, an island 12km from Ireland's south west coast, lying at the very edge of the then known world. The monastery that they established in this inhospitable environment remains one of the most remarkable testaments to human faith on earth. The island was the westernmost sacred site along a long line of ancient pilgrimage places running from Mount Carmel in Palestine through Greece, Italy and France to Ireland.
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11 April: 2nd Sunday in Eastertide
'Atonement' as 'At-one-ment' - an Alternative Orthodoxy of Redemption
11 April: 2nd Sunday in Eastertide
'Atonement' as 'At-one-ment' - an Alternative Orthodoxy of Redemption
Image: 'Christ in Prayer' by El Greco. Courtesy of the National Gallery, Prague.
Amid the joys of Easter, many still struggle with the idea that Jesus had to die for our sins as a sacrifice to appease a wrathful God.
Franciscan theology offers an alternative, non-violent, atonement theory. First developed by Franciscan philosopher and theologian, Duns Scotus, eight centuries ago, this alternative orthodoxy has never been deemed heretical by the Catholic church. Despite the fact that the Church has never rejected the Franciscan position, it has remained a minority view. It is synopsised by Richard Rohr: ‘The terrible and un-critiqued premise of many “substitutionary atonement theories” is that God demanded Jesus to be a blood sacrifice to “atone” for our sin-drenched humanity’…The Franciscan theory of atonement is that ‘Jesus did not come to change the mind of God about humanity, He came to change the mind of humanity about God.’
In a short but engrossing radio interview, Pat Coyle, Director of Irish Jesuit Communications, discusses what she perceives to be the serious inadequacies of the current and prevailing atonement theory linked to Jesus’ death on the cross on Good Friday, sharing the Franciscan view that the truest atonement theory is that of ‘at-one-ment’. In the loving, self-emptying death of Jesus all human beings are united with God, in whose image and likeness they are made. (Note, if playing on a smaller mobile device, you may need to select 'download' to listen.)
Augustinian friar and Biblical scholar, Kieran O’Mahony, also challenges the traditional narrative of redemption in a 45 minute online lecture. Drawing extensively on the Gospel of John, he shares the Franciscan belief, stating that ‘God sent his Son in an act of self-emptying and loving service, setting us free from the power of death and sin’.
Amid the joys of Easter, many still struggle with the idea that Jesus had to die for our sins as a sacrifice to appease a wrathful God.
Franciscan theology offers an alternative, non-violent, atonement theory. First developed by Franciscan philosopher and theologian, Duns Scotus, eight centuries ago, this alternative orthodoxy has never been deemed heretical by the Catholic church. Despite the fact that the Church has never rejected the Franciscan position, it has remained a minority view. It is synopsised by Richard Rohr: ‘The terrible and un-critiqued premise of many “substitutionary atonement theories” is that God demanded Jesus to be a blood sacrifice to “atone” for our sin-drenched humanity’…The Franciscan theory of atonement is that ‘Jesus did not come to change the mind of God about humanity, He came to change the mind of humanity about God.’
In a short but engrossing radio interview, Pat Coyle, Director of Irish Jesuit Communications, discusses what she perceives to be the serious inadequacies of the current and prevailing atonement theory linked to Jesus’ death on the cross on Good Friday, sharing the Franciscan view that the truest atonement theory is that of ‘at-one-ment’. In the loving, self-emptying death of Jesus all human beings are united with God, in whose image and likeness they are made. (Note, if playing on a smaller mobile device, you may need to select 'download' to listen.)
Augustinian friar and Biblical scholar, Kieran O’Mahony, also challenges the traditional narrative of redemption in a 45 minute online lecture. Drawing extensively on the Gospel of John, he shares the Franciscan belief, stating that ‘God sent his Son in an act of self-emptying and loving service, setting us free from the power of death and sin’.