From Methodist minister David Felten in Fountain Hills, AZ (where I worked for 16 years and lived in nearby Scottsdale):
“For those who, like me, are so over the whole substitutionary atonement thing, here’s some encouragement from 12th-century theologian Peter Abelard (who opposed Anselm and the whole bloody, guilt-ridden satisfaction theory that still dominates most churches):"
“Christ died neither because a ransom had to be paid to the devil, nor because the blood of an innocent victim was needed to appease the wrath of God, but that a supreme exhibition of love might kindle a corresponding love in the hearts of [all] and inspire them with the true freedom of [being children] of God.”
May your Easter celebration not be about a once-upon-a-time story, but a rising up of hope in world entranced by despair. ~ Robin Meyers & Bruce Sanguin
Felten is author of Living the Questions.