This Lent (2026), Pastor Mike is leading a class on Sunday mornings at 7:45 to talk about everyone’s favorite topic: sin! “Sin” is one of those words we don’t usually like to talk about. Unfortunately, our quietness means the conversation about sin is dominated by a particular view of sin that doesn’t really reflect the God our church proclaims. In this class, learn to think about sin and God’s remedy for sin in a different way. Each session will build on the others, so if you miss one, they’ll be posted here not long after Sunday.
Session 1 (Feb. 22): Sin—Overview & Introduction
There was an issue with the recording this week; it cut out about halfway through the class. I’ll do my best to have this addressed for next week. This week has been an introduction and overview, so hopefully you won’t have missed too much. My apologies!
Session 2 (Mar. 1): Sin in the Hebrew Scriptures
Session 3 (Mar. 8): Sin in the Greek Scriptures
Session 4 (Mar. 15): Sin’s Solution—The Atonement
Session 5 (Mar. 22): Sin and the Christian Life
Bibliography (Click to view)
- Aulén, Gustaf. Christus Victor: An Historical Study of the Three Main Types of the Idea of Atonement. Translated by A. G. Herbert. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2003.
- Beck, Richard. Unclean: Meditations on Purity, Hospitality, and Mortality. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2011.
- Devine, Patricia G., Patrick S. Forscher, Anthony J. Austin, and William T.L. Cox. “Long-Term Reduction in Implicit Race Bias: A Prejudice Habit-Breaking Intervention.” Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 48.6 (2012): 1267–78. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2012.06.003.
- Gupta, Nijay K., and John K. Goodrich, eds. Sin and Its Remedy in Paul. Contours of Pauline Theology. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2020.
- Klawans, Jonathan. Impurity and Sin in Ancient Judaism. Oxford University Press. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.
- Moffitt, David M. Rethinking the Atonement: New Perspectives on Jesus’s Death, Resurrection, and Ascension. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2022.
- Plantinga, Cornelius. Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be: A Breviary of Sin. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1995.
- Sklar, Jay. Sin, Impurity, Sacrifice, Atonement: The Priestly Conceptions. Hebrew Bible Monographs 2. Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2005.
- Wells, Samuel. A Nazareth Manifesto: Being with God. Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley Blackwell, 2015.