<p>This is a talk that I have wanted to bring to Gospel Conversations for ages. Ben Myers is the Director of the Graduate Research School at Alpha Crucis - the large Pentecostal college/university in Sydney. He has a deep background in literature (his PhD was on Milton) and also a rich grasp of the Patristic era. About ten years ago he gave a wonderful talk at a major evangelical conference in Los Angeles in which he introduced the Patristic model of the atonement. It shook everyone up at that conference in a good way - they were tasting a whole new way of thinking about the Cross and the atonement model of the early church fathers. And - surprise, surprise - it was NOT a model of penal substitution. It was not so much that they disagreed with that model, but rather that it did not cross their minds. They were, theologically, altogether elsewhere. </p><p>This is that talk - but split into two parts (this is part one) and delivered as a dialogue between Ben and me (a format which Ben prefers). It is a fitting climax to our series on ‘Cross and Creation’. Ben has the unusual gift of erudition and conciseness so I think many of you will find this most enlightening. </p><p>As a brief postscript, I am starting a second doctorate and Ben will be my supervisor/fellow traveller. In essence I am doing it at my wife’s urging (‘get your ideas down in a disciplined way’) and to take the vision of human creativity that I developed in my first doctorate (on ‘the Two Roads to Truth’) in a business context, and roll them into their theological implications. So Ben and I have a background of some indepth conversations. I will keep you posted on my progress. The broad topic will hover around ‘In an era of Artificial Intelligence, what is unique about humanity and how we think? Towards a theology of ‘rationality’. </p><p>In this dialogue, I clumsily mention a verse in Job about how God longs to keep us, his beloved, from death. I could not recall the reference during the discussion. It was Job 14:14 - 15 “If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my service I would wait, till my renewal should come. You would call, and I would answer you; you would long for the work of your hands.” </p> <br/><br/>Get full access to Gospel Conversations at <a href="https://gospelconversations.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4">gospelconversations.substack.com/subscribe</a>
