2021 Costan Lectures: "Christ as Holy Sacrifice"

3737 Seminary Road,Alexandria VA 22304

27 April, 2021

Description

Given by the Rev. Kate Sonderegger, Ph.D., the William Meade Chair of Systematic Theology at VTS Presented by the Office of Dean Ian MarkhamChrist as Holy Sacrifice Lecture 1: A Cyrillian Christology Today Lecture 2: The Ministry of Christ as Sacrifice Lecture 3: The Death of Christ as Hallowing Sacrifice Due to COVID-19 gathering protocols, only 20 tickets per day are available to hear the series in person. We highly encourage you to view the simultaneous live stream on our Facebook page. You do not need a ticket to view the live stream. Everywhere in the ancient world, in the nations and empires that surrounded tiny Israel and Jacob, and in nations as yet unknown by Holy Scripture, sacrifice has been the centerpiece of religious and national life. Sacrifice -the ritual slaughter and roasting of animals and also of grains for harvest —has been the definition of cultus, the hallowing of people and creatures before God. The Covenant People too lived by sacrifice. The central activity of the Temple, the Levites and Priests made holy a people for a Holy God, so that He may dwell in their midst. In much of Christian history, the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ has been considered a sacrifice; indeed the final or consummate sacrifice. But in more recent days, this sacrificial account of Christ’s death has been found wanting: violent, perhaps; uncomfortably close to appeasement or propitiation; superstitious or magical; an open doorway to abuse. These lectures will hope to endorse and recommend sacrifice as the Personal Work of Christ, the Temple made without hands, and ward off, as best they can, the objections to this view.