I BELIEVE

Hell: Will it be eternal conscious torment, or will God eventually redeem everyone somehow? All Christians must affirm the words of the Creed, believe that Jesus will come and be the judge. Sin and punishment are very real and have serious consequences in the Christian vision. But what will that look like, exactly? Dr. Joseph Clair and Dr. Brian Doak duke it out in this week’s debate.

“…and he will come to judge the living and the dead.” Despite being a massively frequent biblical theme, God’s judgment sometimes gets little airplay in Christian circles today. Why? And what does judgment entail and require? What does it look like in the Bible? Dr. Doak takes us through several scenes of Judgment, from the book of Genesis through the New Testament.

“Jesus saves”—yes, but how? Today we have a DEBATE, between Dr. Javier Garcia and Dr. Nijay Gupta on the question of “atonement.” How does God become “at one” with humanity? How can Jesus save us? Dr. Garcia promotes an idea called “penal substitution,” and Dr. Gupta promotes a “participatory” model that leads to “theosis.”

Today we’re talking about Jesus’ death and resurrection by thinking about ATONEMENT: All Christians must agree that Jesus reconciles us to God; but how did Jesus reconcile us to God, exactly? Dr. Garcia talks about three major models for thinking about this question.

Jesus rose again—does it matter? What is God’s problem with death? Are we trying too hard to figure theology out? And what about people who have been treated horribly in colonial situations in order to “spread the Gospel”?

Death, be not proud—Christ is risen! Dr. Nijay Gupta talks about four serious implications of the resurrection.

Our panel convenes to discuss the creedal phrase “crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to the dead.” We reflect on Jesus’ betrayal by Judas and numerous other things. Dr. Gupta recommends a song.

Jesus not only suffers—he also dies. Why does he have to die, though? Why would God allow his only Son to be tortured and abused in such a way? Dr. Melissa Ramos takes us on a journey into God’s love, as strong as death…

We’re back with a new format for this spring—DEBATE! Dr. Brian Doak and Pastor Dominic Done take up two different approaches to the problem of evil and duke it out: Is the problem of suffering more like a school or a battle? Is suffering primarily for teaching us lessons, or primarily to be fought against?

We’re back for the spring, continuing our lectures through the Apostles’ Creed! This week Dr. Brian Doak takes on the phrase, “…suffered under Pontius Pilate.” Did Jesus really have to suffer? How should Christians think about suffering—indeed, the larger “problem of evil”—in the world today in light of our profession that God is “good” but also “all powerful”?