EAUK & Theological School hold Chalke-Atonement Symposium

The debate on atonement among UK Evangelicals may be further heated as the Evangelical Alliance has decided to hold another theological symposium on the topic in partnership with the London School of Theology.

The controversial debate among conservative Evangelicals was sparked up by the book written by Rev Steve Chalke, The Lost Message of Jesus. The book directly challenges the idea of penal substitution, which is believed by a vast majority of Evangelicals in the UK.

Penal substitution suggests that God had to punish people for their sins, but Jesus took their place, and God punished him instead by sending him to the cross. Rev Chalke suggested it causes people to misunderstand God as harsh, censorious and ungracious. However, as revealed by His son Jesus Christ, the image of God is love.

The Evangelical Alliance UK (EAUK) has been sternly opposing the viewpoint of Rev Chalke, and it recently organised a public debate in Westminster.

Earlier this month, EAUK announced it would organise a "follow-up symposium" on Atonement with the London School of Theology (LST) next year.

The London School of Theology, formerly the London Bible School, is known for its conservative stance. Lecturer Dr Anna Robbins, who sternly opposed Rev Steve Chalke at the Westminster debate, also belongs to the school.

With all these unfavourable factors being against Rev Chalke, many have questioned whether this symposium will be effective in drawing a conclusion to the controversial issue on Atonement as it seems that the context of the event has already been aligned with one side.

In fact, recently some theological experts have suggested that the Evangelical Alliance had "raised the stakes" with its criticism of the Baptist minister, and suggested that there was little point in having the public symposium which the Alliance is organising, if the organisation had already ruled out Rev Steve Chalke's viewpoint in this way.

Rev Chalke's ministry has also been affected by the current debate. Conservatives have withdrawn funding from his charity Oasis Trust, and others have publicly suggested that he can no longer be called an "Evangelical".

The symposium will be held at LST from Wednesday 6th to Friday 8th July 2005. Keynote addresses will be delivered by Professors I Howard Marshall and Joel B Green. Other speakers and seminar leaders will be drawn from across the Evangelical spectrum and will be announced shortly.