Theology professors say atoning death is outdated By John H. Adams The Layman Online Monday, November 11, 2002 MINNEAPOLIS – Two theology professors, echoing one of the central themes of the ReImagining God conference that the highest governing body of the denomination declared to be beyond the bounds of the Christian faith, said at the national conference of the Covenant Network that the atoning death of Jesus Christ is an outdated doctrine. Not the cross, but "the incarnation itself may be redemptive," said Anna Case-Winters, associate professor of theology at McCormick Theological Seminary. "He became as we are that we may become as he is – the incarnation that accomplishes our salvation.'' In an affirming response to Case-Winters' paper, Paul Capetz agreed. "What about atonement? We don't need any more crucifixions." Nonetheless, Capetz said the cross is important to Christianity as a "symbol of the faith" – not as the redemptive work, but as a reminder that suffering is a part of the Christian life. Both Case-Winters and Capetz have been prominent in the left flank of the Presbyterian Church (USA). Case-Winters was appointed by controversial moderator Jack B. Rogers to be chair of the 214th General Assembly's Committee on Confessions and Theology. She serves as a PCUSA delegate to the World Alliance of Reformed Churches. She is the author of God's Power: Traditional Understandings and Contemporary Challenges, in which she says the Biblical view of an all-powerful God as well as the use of such terms as King and Father for God promote male superiority. Capetz, a theology professor at the United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities, is known to Presbyterians because he forfeited his ordination to protest the prohibition against ordaining practicing homosexuals – which he says he is. At one time, Capetz was considered to become the successor to evangelical titan John H. Leith at Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, Va.. But he was not chosen because of his commitment to a homosexual lifestyle. Both Case-Winters and Capetz quoted what Delores Williams, another theology professor (Union, New York), told the 1993 ReImagining Conference. ""I don't think we need folks hanging on crosses and blood dripping and weird stuff," Williams said. Case-Winters repeated the argument that some radical feminists have against the atonement: That it is child abuse for a father to sacrifice his son and serves to foster abuse in today's world. She also had a beef with the righteous wrath of God. "It's not a matter of God's anger causing God to turn from us, but we turn from God," she said. The theological views of Case-Winters and Capetz – which are far off the center of Reformed doctrine and classical Christian understanding – reflect the Covenant Network's growing kinship with "progressive theology" – the notion that culture continues to enlighten Scripture. Capetz emphasized that point when he addressed the issue of atonement. He said Jesus was crucified and died in a time when many religions practiced animal sacrifice because they were influenced by the culture of their times. "Read the Scripture in context," Capetz said. "Insisting on an atonement for the remission of sin provided for an end to the sacrificial system. Paul uses the word sacrifice metaphorically."

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