Atonement

In the past I have been fairly outspoken against the widely held protestant evangelical doctrine of "penal substitutionary atonement". The following is a conversation I had with a young Evangelical student where I explain why I think the understanding of this doctrine is critical for Christian belief.

Kathryn – April 24th

Hi Simon,

I'm sorry for the very random message from a random person.

I'm interested to hear your views regarding the alternative to penal substitution and how this is Biblically justified. I can only see one Gospel, one Saviour, one cross and only one way of being at peace with God. It concerns me that either myself or others have missed the biggest point the universe could ever miss.

I hope you can answer my question,

Kathryn

Simon - April 24th

Hi Kathryn,

Check out the atonement page on wikipedia for a bit more of a historical perspective and perhaps some of the links (although many of the articles still need a fair amount more effort).

Essentially it boils down to what exactly is meant by the words "saved by the blood of Jesus". It has been argued by some fairly eminent scholars (my favourite is Rene Girard) that the story of the bible is a story AWAY from sacrifice. It starts with Abraham NOT sacrificing Isaac, followed by the Jews substituting animals for people, the realization by the prophets that sacrifice alone does not bring righteousness, and culminates in Jesus being the "final sacrifice". Thus there is a progressive revelation echoing the words of Hosea 6:6 (For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.) In this view the important aspect is not the sacrifice per se, but rather the revelation by mankind that sacrifice is not necessary for a relationship with God. Indeed the death of Jesus showed once and for all that it is not sacrifice that will redeem man, but rather a pure heart obedient to the will of God. This is a progressive gospel interpretation that emphasizes love rather than empire building and favouritism.

The penal substitution theory is sort of heading in the right direction by coming up with a reason why sacrifice is no longer required, however in my (and many orthodox scholars) opinion PS goes a little bit too far by emphasizing Gods wrath rather than his love. Although I do not think it should be thrown out completely, UCCF has been a little bit naive in not recognizing the sheer amount of parallel scholarship within the area of atonement theories.

Perhaps the best summing up of why Jesus died is provided by the following hymn:

When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ my God!
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.

See from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down!
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.

Kathryn - April 24th

Thanks for getting back to me,

I had a look at the wikipedia page and it was very helpful.
I wonder if the prophets were aware that sacrifice didn't bring about righteousness because the sacrificing of animals was not good enough. It was temporary forgiveness and therefore incomplete. If sacrifice is not necessary for a relationship with God then why sacrifice at all? Why does it feature in the Bible and why would Jesus claim to die for our salvation if this were not so? Also, in an absence of sufficient sacrifice, then the gospel is not the gospel. Jesus only did a half job and Christians are still in rebellion against Him. It implies that we can somehow make our own way to God, much like a Muslim or Buddhist.

What do you take from the words 'when I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of glory died'? For me, these words from Hebrews sum it up: the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse the consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!

In regard to God's wrath, what do you think of it? I think God is entirely just to be angry towards sin, the cross is the greatest act of love because of the seriousness of the situation. If God were not angry, then the cross looses its 1) purpose and 2)indication of how great God's love is.

Also, are there any passages regarding the cross which claim that the blood of Christ doesn't redeem man? Surely the pure heart follows the forgiveness, because I for one and no other human being can claim that for themselves.

Kathryn

Simon April 25^th

"If sacrifice is not necessary for a relationship with God then why sacrifice at all?"

I think in order to understand this we have to look at the anthropology of religion and try to understand how power manifests itself in and through religion. We are getting onto quite complex ground here which has taken up many books, however for a short introduction I would highly recommend Girard's article found at:

http://www.firstthings.com/article.php3?id_article=3856

This is more NT based (it is titled "Are the gospels mythical?") so I would recommend the book "Violence Unveiled" by the American scholar Gil Bailie for a better exposition.

In brief, religion historically is most often used as a tool to exert power, either over other people or (less efficiently) over nature. Thus when one group of people feel out of control, they evoke the help of their God to get back into control. Evoking supernatural help can take a variety of forms, but most commonly involves some form of ritual. Not surprisingly if supernatural help is needed really badly, the worshiper is prepared to go to great lengths in their ritual, culminating with human sacrifice. This theme is seen over and over in pretty much every culture in the world.

Christianity, however, is different. The story of Abraham sacrificing Isaac to God is powerful not because Abraham was prepared to sacrifice Isaac (sacrificing children to gods was quite common at the time) instead the revelation for Abraham was that an animal was "just as good". Following on from this Moses proposes a law based entirely on merit (the first ten commandments) however since the Israelites were not in the position to adopt a system completely absent from ritual, Moses then codifies a law using ritual sacrifice in order to back up the moral law of the ten commandments. Fast forward to the prophets and we find the effectiveness of the sacrificial law breaking down, and hence the revelation of the greatest prophet (son of God) Jesus - read Hebrews 10.

The important thing to remember is the travesty of spilling Jesus' blood. Jesus was completely innocent, and yet he was killed by humans involved in power struggles. But the shock of his death, the real power of the cross, was in exposing mankind sinfulness. When we look at Jesus, when we see his blood spilt, we cannot help but see how we brought about his innocent death in order to satisfy our own sins. The power of the cross is twofold - the exposure of our sinful nature AND the love of a God who was willing to sacrifice himself for our sins.

Kathryn - April 25th

So just to clarify, do you believe that you are a sinner and forgiven only through Jesus? If not, then how?

Simon - April 25th

Yes I do believe I am a sinner and in need of forgiveness. Jesus shows me my sins and then forgives me. He also shows me that I am forgiven by grace, not by trying to curry favour with God through works (or sacrifices!).

If anything you are probably right in accusing me of holding too high an estimation of God's love, grace and purpose. The only thing I deny is that God is wrathful towards the creation he designed. Sacrifice is in the bible for the purpose of subverting man's power-lust, not providing some form of cosmic magic.

Incidentally Bishop tom Wright has just published an essay commenting on the recent going ons from a theological perspective:

http://www.fulcrum-anglican.org.uk/news/2007/20070423wright.cfm?doc=205

Kathryn - April 25th

I totally agree that forgiveness is all through God's grace. But I am still confused as to why you need forgiveness if God isn't wrathful. No wrath = no need for forgiveness and God wouldn't be a loving God if he didn't stand against the evil that is sin. Our little brains aren't big enough to understand what an offence sin is to him, therefore we cant really understand his full anger towards it, but by having some appreciation of it we can then begin to grasp what an absolute act of love and forgiveness his sacrifice was.

I would argue that someone who acknowledges God's wrath therefore acknowledges him as a God of greater love and grace than someone who didn't.

Simon - April 26^th

I think it is important here to draw a distinction between evil and sin:

1) Evil is something that happens outside of God's perfect purpose. Thus by definition God is opposed to (hates?) all things that are evil. However it is important to realise that evil is a CONSEQUENCE of some human activity, and thus no person is evil.

2) Sin is the human activity that produces evil. A sin is thus a bad choice that gives a result contrary to God's will. God made us with the capacity to sin simply because sin is a necessary part of free-will. The important thing to realise is that sin is a potential, not a metaphysical position.

Hopefully you will see the consequences of these definitions. If a man sins, they produce evil. God hates the evil and is sad that the person sinned. However this has nothing to do with wrath against the man who sinned. God made us with the capacity to sin, and thus it would be crazy if he blamed us for having something he gave us. The revelation of Jesus is one of forgiveness for our sins coupled with strength to help us sin no more. This is indeed the good news of the gospel - God knows us, loves us, and wants to help us "sin no more".