On Not Taking Lent out on Our Bodies

By Jodi Belcher (she/her/hers) in Building Faith on Feb 07, 2023

Bad Blood: Christian theology and civil war

Diana Butler Bass

Good Friday Message: “Why Was Jesus Tortured to Death?” Or, Death to Our Toxic Ideas of Why Jesus Lived and Died

by Bret Myers

Traci Smith (of Faithful Families) shares a video series on Atonement Theory. See A Theology of the Cross and Children: Beyond Substitutionary Atonement with Laura Alary; Rethinking Original Sin: A Conversation with Traci Smith and Danielle Shroyer; and Understanding and Sharing a Theology of the Cross with Children: Beyond Substitutionary Atonement with Daneen Akers and Herb Montgomery.

At-One-Ment: Ending the Sacrificial Pattern

Introduce Atonement Theory and its drawbacks with Carl Krieg's Jan. 7, 2022 article in Progressive Christianity; The Big Lie traces the phenomenon of the wealthy and powerful controlling 'the message" since Jesus' day - and subverting Jesus' life to that of "sacrificial atonement" to maintain their power.

Follow this up with preaching supported by Girardian Reflections on the Lectionary, a Bible Study group for preachers seeking to dismantle atonement theologies while "preaching the Gospel of One New Humanity" (Eph. 2:15).

Engage the whole congregation in the transformation with any number of resources from this list - and those you'll find developing in this lib guide.