Online School Of Pastoral Ministry
Atonement:
The Transforming Power
of Suffering Love
With Dr. Margaret Turek
Six Tuesdays from 7 PM to 8:00 PM, (PST)
Beginning Tuesday, February 20, 2024
Course Description:
“In this way the love of God was revealed to us: …that he sent his Son as expiation for our sins” (1 Jn 4:9-10). The theme of atonement takes us to the very heart of the mission of Jesus Christ. Atonement is the form that the love of God takes in his Son, Jesus Christ, under sin-wrought conditions – a love than which no greater can be conceived. It should be cause for concern, therefore, that a conspicuous characteristic of much of contemporary catechesis and theology is the absence of efforts to understand the Cross of Christ as a work of atonement.
In this course, Dr. Turek argues for the central importance and perennial value of the mystery of atonement, even as she explains the modern aversion to it. Drawing insights from the writings of Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI, as well as Hans Urs von Balthasar and St. Therese of Lisieux (among others), she presents a compelling vision of the Cross event as a dramatic epiphany, shaped in response to sin, of the staggering love of God for us, while we were yet sinners (Rom 5:8). This vision not only takes account of the gravity of sin and its consequences, but also provides a clear illumination of the radically forgiving, passionate and powerful nature of God’s redeeming love. In addition, the course spells out a renewed spirituality of atonement in which we personally participate in the atoning mission of Christ.
FIRST CLASS:
FEBRUARY 20, 2024,
@ 7:00 PM
Topics of Class Sessions:
- Class 1 (February 20, from 7 PM to 8:00 PM, PST)
What We Get Wrong about the Doctrine of Atonement - Class 2 (February 27, from 7 PM to 8:00 PM, PST)
Forgiveness and Atonement in the OT: the Interplay of Love that Bears Sin Away - Class 3 (March 5, from 7 PM to 8:00 PM, PST)
Forgiveness and Atonement in the NT: the Atoning Mission of the Son of God - Class 4 (March 12, from 7 PM to 8:00 PM, PST)
Forgiveness and Atonement in the NT: The Cross as a Dramatic Epiphany of the God who is Love (1 Jn 4:9-10) - Class 5 (March 19, from 7 PM to 8:00 PM, PST)
“Be imitators of God as beloved children”: Called to be Co-atoners in Christ (Eph 5:1) - Class 6 (March 26, from 7 PM to 8:00 PM, PST)
“He Emptied Himself” (Phil 2:7): Spiritual Almsgiving and Atonement
Required text:
Margaret M Turek, Atonement: Soundings in Biblical, Trinitarian, and Spiritual Theology (Ignatius Press, 2022).
ATONEMENT
Soundings in Biblical, Trinitarian, and Spiritual Theology
by Margaret M. Turek S.T.D.
This book presents the chief insights concerning the mystery of atonement in the works of four theological guides: John Paul II, Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI, Hans Urs von Balthasar, and Norbert Hoffmann.
The author argues for the central importance and perennial value of a theology of atonement, even as she explains the modern aversion to it. The book’s central aim is to deepen our understanding of the biblical claim that God shows himself to be love precisely by sending his Son as atonement. “In this is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins” (1 Jn 4:10).
The book develops a compelling vision of atonement as a process that originates from and is engendered by God’s own power to love. This vision not only takes account of the gravity of sin and its consequences, but also provides a clear illumination of the wholly gratuitous, radically forgiving, passionate and powerful nature of God’s redeeming love for mankind.
Distinct from the majority of theological accounts of atonement, which focus almost exclusively on the role of Christ, this book highlights the role of God the Father in the atoning mission of the Son.
About the Professor
Margaret M. Turek, S.T.D.
Academic Dean
Professor of Dogmatics
Chair of Dogmatics
St. Patrick’s Seminary & University
Dr. Margaret Turek is Academic Dean and Professor of Theology at St. Patrick’s Seminary & University in Menlo Park, California. She earned a Doctor of Sacred Theology degree at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland, where her thesis director was Cardinal Christoph Schönborn who, with Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, was co-editor of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Prior to her graduate studies, she received spiritual formation as a Carmelite for six years. Her new book, Atonement: Soundings in Biblical, Trinitarian, and Spiritual Theology, is published by Ignatius Press.
SELECTED ARTICLES AND PRESENTATIONS
Article: “Catholic Faith, Fiction, and Film” in Catholic San Francisco Magazine, December 2023.
The Bible Timeline Show: “Genesis 22:1-19,” a 90 minute discussion with Jeff Cavins (forthcoming February 25, 2024).
Book chapter: “Is God still Father if the Son is Atonement (1 John 2:2)?” in Margaret M. Turek (ed.) The Mystery of the Atonement. Humanum Academic Press (forthcoming spring 2024).
Article: “Diagnosing the Modern Aversion to a Biblical Theology of Atonement” in Church Life Journal: A Journal of the McGrath Institute of Church Life, University of Notre Dame, July 15, 2022.
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