Bible AtonementBible Atonement

• Dealing with sin• Improving human behavior• Universal issue• Jesus’ life and role• Who or what changed?• Intent and extent

Why This Subject ?Why This Subject ?

• Unconditional Love

• No Judgment

• Immutable God

• Too legalistic and egocentric

Understanding AtonementUnderstanding Atonement

• Not so simple- multiple terms and aspects

• Reflect on the nature of God

• Different views are a matter of emphasis and literal vs metaphorical word usage.

• Historical development

Ransom Theory of AtonementRansom Theory of Atonement

• Earliest view

• Delivered from Satan

• Elevated Satan

Recapitulation TheoryRecapitulation Theory

• Irenaeus• Christ as the new Adam, who systematically undoes

what Adam did. Thus, where Adam was disobedient concerning God's edict concerning the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, Christ was obedient even to death on the wood of a tree.

• Irenaeus borrows his notion of recapitulation from ancient rhetoric: A summing up

• Christ is "the Father's 'summary statement," as well as the "Logos of the Father, the logic or purpose in and through which the whole divine economy (purpose) is conceived and implemented."

Satisfaction or Commercial TheorySatisfaction or Commercial Theory

• Anselm

• Sin offends God's honor

• Honor must be repaid by an abundance of honor by a human being

Penal Substitution TheoryPenal Substitution Theory

• Protestant Reformers revise satisfaction theory to develop Penal Substitution

• Jesus' pays the penalty• The issue is God's Justice and Holiness, not

honor. Sin is lawbreaking• Prevailing fundamentalist view• Criticism

– What makes penalty transferrable– What about mercy– Maximizes Christ. Minimizes the Father

Moral Example of Moral Influence Moral Example of Moral Influence TheoryTheory

• Atonement does not address itself to God at all• Aimed instead at man's moral improvement• The example of God' Love impels men to

change persuasively. • Identified as liberal• Eastern Orthodoxy• Unless Christ’s death actually does something, it

is not really a demonstration of divine love

Government TheoryGovernment Theory

• God is the moral authority and sin challenges the moral order

• To maintain that order sin must be addressed in a justifiable way

• Christ suffered to demonstrate the seriousness of sin and provide the basis for God to overlook sin and still maintain His authority

• The point of punishment is not retribution but deterrence

Victory TheoryVictory Theory

• Because of their sin people rightly belong to Satan, the fathers reasoned.

• Devil Ransom Theory • In the end Christ's atoning work means victory.

The devil and all the hosts of evil are defeated. Sin is conquered.

• This view must be treated with some care else we will finish up by saying that God saves simply because he is strong, in other words, in the end might is right.

Leon MorrisLeon Morris

• Book- Atonement, Its Meaning, and Significance• Atonement- the answer to sin and separation• …the cross meets the need. But the NT does not say

how it does so. • Theories of the atonement are legion as men in different

countries and in different ages have tried to bring together the varied strands of scriptural teaching.

• …the church has never laid down an official, orthodox view. To this day no one theory of the atonement has ever won universal acceptance.

Three Main Categories of Three Main Categories of UnderstandingUnderstanding

• Effect on the Believer

• Effect on God

• Victory- effect on other than believer or God.

• Combinations involve the matter of emphasis

Summary for MorrisSummary for Morris

• we need all the vivid concepts: redemption, propitiation, justification, and all the rest. And we need all the theories. Each draws attention to an important aspect of our salvation and we dare not surrender any.

• Even when we put them all together, we will no more than begin to comprehend a little of the vastness of God's saving deed.

Mark Mattison- Auburn UniversityMark Mattison- Auburn University

• Penal Substitution- Criticism– Payment to God involves no mercy– Atonement terminology is metaphorical, not literal.

Payment is not legal action. Ransom is not a literal transaction.

– Little words make a difference-”for” doesn’t always mean as substitute

– Substitution versus Participation. Christ dies so men won’t or both die together (Romans 6).

– Contingent on man’s obedience and not God’s Will– Emphasis on justice eliminates any reasonable

meaning to words like grace and mercy– Transforms God somehow

Effects of Penal Substitution Effects of Penal Substitution EmphasisEmphasis

• Diminishment of God and man

• Church as administrator of appeasement plan- leads to self congratulatory judgmentalism

Conclusion for MattisonConclusion for Mattison

• …atonement is vast and deep.• …it may not be possible to articulate the "perfect" theory

of the Atonement • This does not mean that Jesus' death was some ethereal

financial transaction going on "behind the scenes." It is an act of sacrifice in which we, his followers, are caught up as we die to sin and live to God.

• Atonement is not just about getting saved for the afterlife. It's about becoming reconciled with God, others, and ourselves.

More Nuanced Concepts of More Nuanced Concepts of AtonementAtonement

• Non-literal

• Non-transactional

• Not driven by God’s ill will but sovereign will

• Change in perception, not reality

• More attuned to newness of “kainos” not “neos”

Further CommentFurther Comment

• The multiple terms of atonement invite, beg for differences of emphasis and opinion.

• The ready admission of no standard theory lends support to the right to view it differently.

• I seek new ways to view it, ones reflecting the purposeful God of unconditional love.

Atonement TerminologyAtonement Terminologyand Metaphorsand Metaphors

• Knowledge• Repentance• Faith• Confession• Baptism• Sustenance• Cleansing• Healing• Victory• Redemption• Grace• Mercy• Love• Light• Resurrection• Life• Rebirth• Forgiveness• Righteousness• Salvation• Propitiation• Reconciliation• Covering

• Remission• Justification• Atonement• Restoration• Peace• Freedom• Joy• Kingdom• Judgment• Destruction• Eternal life• Abundant life• Fruitfulness• Harvest• Maturation• Gospel• Deliverance• Sight• Marriage• Oneness/Unity

ForgiveForgive

• Forgive- to cease to feel resentment against. To pardon as in relieve from the need for punishment or restitution. To grant relief from payment for. To excuse.

• Rendered by two different Greek words in KJV, Strong’s 863 (forgive or leave, let) and 5483 (forgive or give).

Strong’s 863Strong’s 863

• Generally translated as other than “forgive”

• Variously means to abandon, omit, leave, let, permit

Strong’s 5483Strong’s 5483

• Both Strong's and Vine's seem to agree that 5483 does not mean overlooking or pardoning malfeasance as typically taught in Orthodoxy’s forgiveness. This word seems to reflect a spontaneous benevolent act driven solely by the nature of the benefactor. This idea is reinforced by the observation that in Galatians 3:18 (For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise), the word "gave" is 5483.

ExcuseExcuse

• Suggested synonym of forgive

• Implies extenuating circumstances

• Unconditional love is the ultimate, universal extenuating circumstance. There is no love without forgiveness.

JustifyJustify

• Justify- showing something to be just, right, or reasonable. To judge, regard, or treat as righteous and therefore worthy of salvation- religious definition. To be that which constitutes sufficient grounds ( as for doing, being, saying, or preferring something). It carries the emphasis that the grounds satisfy both conscience and reason. God’s righteousness is sufficient grounds for unconditional love.

ReconcileReconcile

• Reconcile- restore to friendship or harmony. To make consistent or congruous. To cause to accept something unpleasant. The former disharmony does not demand that God was ever upset.

RestoreRestore

• Restore- to give back. Renew- make new again. Bring back into existence or use. To return to a former or original state.

RestoreRestore

• Biblical restoration as seen in prophecy (Joel 2:25, Psalms 71:20, Matthew 17:11, Acts 1:6) is often taken to mean the return of former external circumstances- re-established nation state, religious system and practices, and /or a Garden of Eden type physical utopia with no pain or suffering to endure. Naturally this is not the only possible view of restoration. Restoration can mean the renewal of internal (mental/spiritual) circumstances or awareness.

PeacePeace

• Peace in our common language almost always conjures up a picture of physical security. In contrast I believe that peace as a biblical promise reflects peace of mind. This peace entails freedom from inadequacy, insecurity, and guilt, the most pervasive of human emotions. This biblical peace is a form of individual consciousness, the awareness of basic worthiness and a new reaction to the risk of loss. This form of peace would allow human societies ultimately to achieve a much enhanced physical security, but that is a by-product of peace, not peace itself.

Eastern OrthodoxyEastern Orthodoxy

• The Orthodox approach to sin and how to deal with it is never "legalistic". Following rules strictly without the heart "being in it" does not help a believer with his salvation. Sin is not about breaking some set of rules; rather, it is the name for any behavior which "misses the mark," that is, fails to live up to the higher goal of being like God.

• Thus, in the Orthodox tradition sin is not viewed as a stain on the soul that needs to be wiped out, but rather as a pervading sickness or a failure to achieve a goal. Sin, therefore, does not carry with it the guilt for breaking a rule, but rather the impetus to become something more than what we are. Because each person's experience is unique, dealing with one's sinful habits needs individual attention and correction. The ultimate goal for this process is to become more Christ-like in one's actions.

A Personal OpinionA Personal Opinion

• The Many Expressions of God's Work in Christ are metaphors for recognition, awareness, and consciousness

A New ViewA New View

• Payment- paying the price of unconditional love• Resurrection- arising to abundant life out of the old mindset• Redemption- an act of validation, establishing mankind’s inherent

worth• Forgiveness- is the ability to forgive myself and relinquish fear,

inadequacy, and guilt• Reconciliation- re-confirming man’s true relationship with God.

Eliminating the appearance of disharmony• Atonement (at-one-ment) recognizing unity with God as a present

reality not something to be achieved• Justification is that which explains and justifies God’s

graciousness. God is justified, not man. Unconditional love justifies all that God does. Justification establishes God’s honor and glory, not man’s acceptance by God.

• Restoration- regaining a previous awareness outside human history