Tonight our instructor began by defining Soteriology as, the saving work of Christ. There are three aspects of this work, Apolutrosis or redemption, Katallasso or atonement, and Hilasterion or expiation. Each of these is equally supported biblically and traditionally. Then he did a quick review of the various heresies; Arianism, countered by the council of Nicea I, believed that Jesus was a creature, Monophysites, countered by the council of Chalcedon, believed that Jesus had only one divine nature, Nestorianism, countered by the council of Ephesus, believed that Jesus was two separate persons, and Monothelites, countered by the council of Constantinople, believed that Jesus had only one will. The problem with each of these beliefs is that each of them compromises salvation. Each of them missed the main understanding that God didn't just get close to (or experience) being man, He became man.
Our instructor went on to describe sin as a misuse of freedom. He also pointed out that although the church has described who Jesus Christ is, it has not tried to describe salvation, because the way in which Christ interacts with us is a mystery. We will not be able to fully grasp the concept of salvation until it is fully experienced by us. Essentially, any God that can be fully defined is not the true God. Salvation remains an object of hope, and an actualization of reality, and it does not mean simply "not going to hell". Jesus remains our example, because by saying this is who Jesus is, we are able to say this is who man is. The positive traits of Jesus reveal the negative traits of man.
Those who need redemption were (and are) slaves and prisoners. Redemption is the price paid by someone else, because redemption cannot be paid by oneself; it is a gift. The point is that everyone is a slave or a prisoner if they choose not to follow God's will for their lives. True freedom is deciding to follow God's will in total submission (there's that paradox again). Exodus is the story of a people liberated from bondage, but the people's freedom came from their acceptance and understanding of God's law. Jesus manifests what life in total obedience to God looks like; the perfect image of love that reached its height on the cross. The final lesson of the cross is that it is the ultimate manifestation of love, without reservation or calculation of the cost. God is love. At the top of the scale is Agape (God's love for us) and at the bottom of the scale is Eros (our struggle with desire) and in the middle, where the two meet, we find Jesus. When God's love for us meets our desire for God, Jesus will determine everything else in our lives. All we have to do is expose ourselves to God's love.
A garden is an image of living in communion, with a gardener and an architect who work together to keep it beautiful. When sin comes in to the garden it breaks that communion, which is symbolic of the basic problem in humanity. We cannot hope to be like God by ourselves, we need each other because when communion fails others and/or God, our image and likeness is scattered. Why did Jesus have to die? Anselm, in his book Cur Deus Homo, asked, “Why didn't God just forgive us?” After all, there are lots of other options as to how God could have saved us. His conclusion was because nothing would have changed. Sin is a breakdown of our primary relationship with God. When that happens everything comes unraveled, resulting in spiritual death, not biological death. Forgiveness doesn't restore the relationship, reconciliation is required. God's dignity and honor is seen by us in His love of and for the world. The sin of man was an offense against God's honor that demanded an infinite repair, and because man is finite and because he committed an infinite offense, someone who was both infinite and finite (divine and human) had to stand as our representative to repair the offense.
This points to the sacrament of reconciliation, because without the sacraments man would be back to where Adam and Eve started. With the sacraments God restores more than what was lost, because His Grace is greater than the loss. The Theology of Representation suggests that Jesus stood in for us on the cross, and we must stand up with Jesus here on earth. Through the sacrament of reconciliation, which is a dialog between sinner and priest, man is empowered and can authentically say, "I am sorry". All sacraments connect us with the passion of Jesus, because they connect us with the love of Jesus. Why did Jesus have to die the cross? Death by crucifixion was not for citizens, but was for rebels, bandits, and runaway slaves (those who fall outside the law as explained in Deuteronomy). All death is awful, but a brutal death on the cross captures the significance of the death. Old age is a process that can be endured, and Jesus didn't wait for old age. His death was given to us as a love offering. We've heard it said that, "Outside of Christ there is no salvation", but is anyone really outside of Christ? Jesus died on the cross, suspended between heaven and earth which reveals to us his identity. He died with his arms outspread to welcome both the Hebrews and the Gentiles. Jesus entered into the horrors of death so that we could enter in the glory of life.
Jesus' ministry is full of healing, cleansing, forgiveness, and touch. The fear of contamination, and desire for cleansing developed a language of disease or contamination. Groups, then and now, are labeled as "other", and often called "a cancer on society" or "vermin" to justify genocide, or cleansing. Obviously, then and now, the source of the problem is never the "other". Both Testaments point to sin as a disease, and recognize that you (me) are the source of the contamination. We should never blame "others". If you cannot offer forgiveness to others then you have not fully accepted forgiveness for yourself. The use of sprinkled blood to cleanse is counterintuitive, but it was because blood is life! This very early instinct was later confirmed by science; blood circulates oxygen which is breath or spirit or life. The language of Jesus' death was that He died on the same night as the Passover lambs are being slaughtered. He died and gave his blood to save us. The cross is the theological conclusion of this sacrifice. Yet the key is not the destruction of victim, it is in encouraging the community. The cross is salvific because of God's overflow of love, a cruciformed life is a life shaped by the love of the cross.
The Trinity, or Tri Unity, suggests that life or existence is like a play or drama. The author is God the Father, the director is God the Spirit, and the star of the show is God the Son. The players are us. God's Son saves us by making us co actors with him, letting us know the script because without the script we don't know the author's intention, and without knowing the author's intention we can't follow direction, and without following direction we can't contribute to the drama. God gives each of us a role in the play, a new identity, and we become a new person. A vocation is not a career; it is a calling, or something that happens to us. It is not a decision. Our role is a variation of Jesus' role; our Christian life should include the aspects of redeemer, reconcilator, and healer. The Sacraments help to configure our belief in Christ, and in the Eucharist we are given the body of Christ so that we can become the body of Christ. Suffering isn't something only to be endured; it can also be an offering to God. We all have a mission or role as Christians, our job is to figure out how God is calling us, and to know why God has put us here.
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