How Does Christ Save Us? Making Sense of the Atonement | Prof. Ross McCullough

The Thomistic Institute

Prof. Ross McCullough systematically explores the major models of the atonement-including Christus Victor, ransom theory, and divinization-showing how each interprets Christ’s saving work and how Aquinas’s distinctions can help organize these diverse approaches into a coherent theological architecture. This lecture was given on October 16th, 2023, at University of Texas, Austin. For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events. About the Speaker: Ross McCullough is an assistant professor of theology at George Fox University and faculty fellow in the George Fox University Honors Program. He has academic publications on the doctrine of hell, the Eucharist, the hermeneutics of Scripture, and liberation theology. Dr. McCullough's first book, Freedom and Sin: Evil in a World Created by God reconciles traditional Christian commitments to, on the one hand, God causing all that is and, on the other, God in no way being responsible for sin. Dr. McCullough lives with his wife and four children in Newberg, Oregon. Keywords: Atonement Models, Christus Victor, Divinization, Historical Theology, Passover Typology, Ransom Theory, Salvation in Christianity, Systematic Theology

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The Thomistic Institute exists to promote Catholic truth in our contemporary world by strengthening the intellectual formation of Christians at universities, in the Church, and in the wider public square. The thought of St. Thomas Aquinas, the Universal Doctor of the Church, is our touchstone.

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