SOTERIOLOGY--

SALVATION

THEORIES OF
ATONEMENET
THEORIES OF ATONEMENET

– Karl Runia
– To write a book on the subject of atonement is a hazardous to write an article is even
more hazardous.
Atonement is unfathomable in this life
Theories of atonement abound
The Christian church has never taken an official stand on the atonement
Orthodoxy position on the person of Christ but not on the work of Christ
 THEORIES OF ATONEMENET

– Gerhard Forde
– The church in America is sorely split between the children of Anselm
(Satisfactory of substitutionary sacrifice) and the children of Abelard (moral
influence theory)
– Frank A. James
– “The atonement has proven difficult for Christian theologians to adequately
problem the full depth of the meaning of this doctrine with a single all-
encompassing theory . . .. It is complex and multifaceted and has therefore defied
Christian consensus”
 EARLY CHURCH FATHERS
SUBSITUTIONAL THEORY

– Clement of Rome
Because of the love God has for us, Christ gave his blood for us and his flesh and his life for our
lives. His suffering on our behalf become an example for Christians
– Justin Martyr
Christ took upon himself the curse of the entire human race
– Melito
Redemption by means of sacrifice
Gen 22 as an example
 EARLY CHURCH FATHERS
RECAPITULATION THEORY

– Irenaeus of Lyons
– Christ summed up in himself the long line of the human
race.
– Recapitulate all the life events of fallen humanity
– What lost in Adam we could recover in Jesus Christ
– Reversal of sinful course and curse
 EARLY CHURCH FATHERS
RANSOM THEORY

– Origen
– Matt 20:28; Mk 10:45
– Set atonement in the context of the controversy between forces of good and evil

– Gregory of Nyssa
– Christ’s divine was hidden behind his human flesh so that accepting Christ as a
ransom, Satan would be like a fish that swallowed the hook with the bait.
 MIDDLE AGES
SATISFACTION THEORY

– Anselm of Canterbury Cur Deus Homo

– Place atonement in the context of sin
– Satisfy a principle in the very nature of the Father
– Restore God’s dignity
 MIDDLE AGES
DEMONSTRATION OF GOD’S LOVE

– Peter Abelard
– Emphasizes on the divine at the expense of divine justice, holiness, and righteousness.
– Human problem is not that we have violated God’s law and God will punish us
– Human problem is attitudes which keep us away from God
– Separation and alienation from God
– We don’t realize that disobedience separates us from God
– We don’t realize that in spite of all that has happened God loves us
– Christ’s death is to demonstrate God’s love for us
REFORMATION AND POST-REFORMATION
PENAL SUBSTITUTION THEORY

– REFORMERS
– Focused on the Law
– His death needs to be more than a revelation
– It needs to revel the unchanged nature of the law
– He died to maintain the sacredness of the law
– It is a revelation as well as a redemption
 REFORMATION AND POST-REFORMATION
PENAL SUBSTITUTION THEORY

– Martin Luther
– Christ became the sacrifice and curse by dying on the cross as
substitute for sinful human beings. He died as a sacrifice for
original sin and other sins and to propitiate God’s wrath
– Formula of Concord
“It is their duty to believe that Jesus Christ has expiated all their
sins and made satisfaction for them. He has also obtained
remission of sins, righteousness before God, and eternal life,
without the intervention of any merit on their part.”
 REFORMATION AND POST-REFORMATION
PENAL SUBSTITUTION THEORY

– John Calvin
– Prophet, King and Priest
– As a Priest Christ reconciles sinful people to God by his sacrificial death
– Atonement is necessary because of God’s righteous wrath against sin
– Atone work of Christ intervened into human nightmare. Involve in this
work is substitution, cleansing, expiation-remove the liability to suffering
punishment through satisfication) and propriation (appeasing the divine
wrath)
– Christ became a curse for human race by decree of God.
 REFORMATION AND POST-REFORMATION
PENAL SUBSTITUTION THEORY

– Belgic Confession
– “We believe that Jesus Christ is ordained with an oath to be an
eternal high priest. He presented himself on our behalf before the
Father, appeased his wrath by his full satisfaction, offered himself
on the tree of the cross, and pored out his precious blood to purge
away our sins. He suffered all this for the remission of our sins”

– Synod of Dort (TULIP)

 REFORMATION AND POST-REFORMATION
GOVERNMENTAL THEORY

– Hugo Grotius (A jurist in Dutch Republic, a philosopher and Arminian Theologian and
Apologist)
– God as a ruler of his government declared sin should be punished by death and sinners should be punished by death
and so sinners should die.
– But when sin entered God didn’t want them to die.
– He relaxed that rule and accepted the death of Christ instead
– “Among all the attributes of God, love of the human race stands first. Therefore, though he could justly punish the
sins of all people by a worthy and legitimate punishment-that is, eternal death-and though he was moved to do so,
God willed to spare those who believe in Christ. But when it was determined to spare them, either by instituting or
not some example against so many and so great sins, God most wisely chose that way by which the greatest number
of his attributes could be manifested at the same time. These were both his mercy and his severity, or hatred of sin,
together with his concern for upholding the law.”
– The death of Christ is an example of sin and the lengths to which God could go to uphold the moral order of the
universe.
 REFORMATION AND POST-REFORMATION
EXAMPLE THEORY

– FAUSTUS SOCINUS
– He rejects the idea that God punishes sin by meting out judgement
– God is merciful thus he forgives sin without demanding that his justice is satisfied. Divine my and justice are a matter
of the will, so God can simply choose to exercise his justice
– God chose to exercise is mercy. Christ did not offer himself as satisfaction to God
– Jesus was not God himself but holy man equipped with the power of God as a model for all humanity to follow. Jesus’
life is a powerful example that moves people to break away from sin.
– Christ sacrifice is moved from objective reality to subjective influence on people—it moves them to receive the
forgiveness of God, which he wills to exercise instead of justice
 MODERN THEORIES OF ATONEMENT

– B. B. Warfield
– There is no such thing as a modern theory of the atonement because all the theories are found in
history.
– Protestants embraced the panel substitutionary theory and defended it against many criticisms.
– Friedrich Schleiermacher
– Religion is a feeling of absolute dependence on God
– Christianity is not about doctrines and beliefs, but about the heart, nurturing the intuitive
awareness of being united with and dependent on.
– Christ redeemed humanity from this sinful power by providing the supreme example of a man
in whom the intuitive sense of dependence on God was nurtured
 20TH CENTURY THEORIES OF
ATONEMENT
– Gustaf Aulén –Christus Victor
– The central theme is the idea of the atonement as a divine conflict and victory
– Sin is central to all the powers and are directly in relation to in
– Death is closely connected to sin, where sin reigns death reigns
– The law the demands of the law leads people away from God and deeper into sin
– Demonic forces includes complex principalities, thrones, dominions that rule in this
present evil age but Christ prevailed over them.
Theory God’s Basic Goal Object Key Verses Proponent
attribute
Recapitulation Omnipotence Reverse the Fall Satan Rom 5:15-21 Irenaeus
Ransom Wisdom Defeat Satan Satan Mark 10:45 Origen
Moral Love Show God’s Humanity Rom 5:8; 5:17- Pelagius,
Example love to us 19 Abelard
Necessary Majesty Pay the debt of God 1 John 2: 1 Anselm
Satisfaction sin
Optional Mercy Restore the Humanity Luke 19:10 Aquinas
Satisfaction sinner
Substitution Justice Appease wrath; God 2 Cor 5:21; Rom Calvin
release mercy 3:21-25
Governmental Sovereignty Keep moral God and Isa 42:21 Grotius
order Humanity
Mystical Oneness Unite us with Humanity Eph 4:3-4; 5:30- Schleiermacher
God 32