Over the past week, theLAB has been granting unprecedented access to one of the best academic symposiums for biblical studies and theology in the UK, the St Andrews Symposium on Atonement. Today we cover the third and final day of the event (see also the recap, Day One and Day Two), which featured three plenary addresses back-to-back with no intervening parallel session.
The plenaries included Carol Newsom (Emory University), Catrin Williams (University of Wales), and N. T. Wright (University of St Andrews). We hope you enjoy this opportunity to experience the symposium through pictures, and we hope to publish some of the papers here on theLAB in due course.
(And please let us know in the comments below if you would like to see more coverage of other events like this in the future, whether they be in Scotland, Germany, Finland, or the USA.)
Carol Newsom opens her plenary titled, “When the Problem is Who You Are, Not What You’ve Done: Spiritual Transformation as an Alternative to Atonement.”Carol Newsom engages with questions during the following Q&A.Carol Newsom during the Q&A.Catrin Williams opens the symposium’s penultimate plenary address on “Sin, Sacrifice, and Salvation: Another Look at the Gospel of John.”Catrin Williams holds the floor in the beautiful Upper College Hall.N. T. Wright begins his concluding plenary address, “Get the Story Right and the Models Will Fit: Victory through Substitution in ‘Atonement Theology.'”Wright explaining his narrative framework approach to atonement.Simon Dürr (University of St Andrews), one of the symposium organizers, moderated Wright’s Q&A.N. T. Wright’s rhetorical mastery was fully on display.Laura Robinson (Duke University) during Wright’s Q&A.Wright fielding challenges during the Q&A.Philip Alexander (University of Manchester) questions Wright during the Q&A, accompanied by his wife Loveday Alexander (University of Sheffield). She presented a paper earlier in the symposium on “Priesthood and Sacrifice in Philo of Alexandria.”Wright responded with deftness and aplomb to some pressing questions from the floor.Logan Williams (University of Durham) challenges Wright’s narrative framework, suggesting the idea of manifold Jewish understandings of Israel’s “story” in Second Temple Judaism.Wright closed out his comments with an emphasis on the importance of atonement for the Christian life.Simon Dürr ends the symposium with words of gratitude and praise for all in attendance, and especially the plenary speakers.
Dr. Tavis Bohlinger is the Creative Director at Reformation Heritage Books. He holds a PhD from Durham University and writes across multiple genres, including academia, poetry, and screenwriting. He lives in Grand Rapids with his wife and three children.
Tavis Bohlinger
Photos by Tavis Bohlinger
Matthew Stanley
James-Michael Smith
Kelly Cross
Blake Adams