Little Essay on Atonement
Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2018 5:57 pm
I tried to write a little essay on atonement theology for my congregations. It's difficult to keep things simple and still communicate very deep theological paradigms. I used the Unholy Trinity of Sin, Satan, System as an organizing paradigm. Feel free to provide feedback.
A Simple Summary of
Complex Atonement Theories
Quite obviously, there is something not quite right with reality (to put it mildly). Indeed, there are numerous problems. Satan and humans are in rebellion against God and the world that God created is suffering as a result. How has God responded to this rebellion and brokenness? Certainly God’s response was not to give up on creation. Instead, God has taken drastic steps to reconcile rebellious humanity to their original purpose.
This reconciliation of humanity is accomplished through the good news of Jesus Christ and, most especially, through His death on the cross. Through Jesus’ death, we can be ‘at-one-with’ God again. But how does atonement work? How does the death of Jesus solve the problem of SIN, SATAN, and the broken SYSTEMS of this world? Below you’ll find some of the leading theories of atonement… simply put.
The SIN Problem
Fallen humans sin. Sin is not part of God’s original intention for human beings. Something had to be done to eliminate sin from God’s people. The following theories attempt to explain how Jesus solves the sin problem.
Sacrifice
Under the Old Covenant, there was a sacrificial system that included a way to get rid of sin. Sins could be transferred (symbolically) from a representative human to an animal which would then be slaughtered. Its blood brought new life to the sinning community. Under the New Covenant, Jesus offers himself as the once-for-all, final sacrifice (this is emphasized in Hebrews). Our sins are dealt with by being transferred to Jesus and his blood brings new life to his people.
Satisfaction
About 1,000 years after Hebrews was written, Anselm considered a slightly different way that Jesus addresses the sin problem. For Anselm, human sin dishonored God. It put God in the awkward position of needing to satisfy justice while simultaneously extending loving mercy. God’s honor is satisfied by Christ’s offering.
Penal Substitution
About 500 years after Anselm, another variation of handling the sin problem became popular. Many of the Protestant Reformers taught that sin was an offense to God which demanded punishment (death). Gracefully, God offered His own Son to bear that punishment. Jesus served as our substitute and suffered the penalty for sin.
The SATAN Problem
Satan is a rebellious spiritual creature who is called, in Scripture, the ‘god of this world’ and the ‘ruler of this age.’ Something had to be done to end his reign. The following theories attempt to explain how Jesus solves the Satan problem.
Christus-Victor
For the first 1,000 years of church history, it seems the primary way of talking about how the atonement works was to speak of it as a military victory of sorts. Jesus conquered Satan, Sin & Death. Christ proved victorious. Christians are no longer under the rule of Satan. Sin no longer reigns in them. They no longer need to fear death because they will share in Jesus’ resurrection life. This motif was brought back to prominence in the 20th century by Gustaf Aulen.
Ransom
A particularly important word for the early church in understanding Christ’s victory was the word ‘ransom’. The idea here is that Satan, in a sense, owned the world and its people. He was their ruler. If God wanted the world and humanity back, He’d have to pay a ransom price. The price demanded by Satan was Jesus. The Father and Son agreed to these terms. But Satan had made a foolish exchange, for he had no ability to keep Jesus’ captive. Satan lost his prisoners and his ransom price (Jesus). The power of death had lost its sting.
The SYSTEM Problem
The world is broken. It is run by systems which are fed by sin and led by Satan. Something had to be done to begin the reparation of this world. The following theories attempt to explain how Jesus solves the System problem.
Recapitulation
Some of the earliest writers on atonement spoke of Jesus un-doing the damage caused by Adam and re-doing humanity the way it was meant to be. Whereas Adam sinned, Jesus was sinless. Whereas Adam died and stayed dead, Jesus died and rose again. We are given two paths to choose from: The path of Adam (sin and death) and the path of Jesus (righteousness and life). We choose whether to be ‘in Adam’ or ‘in Christ’. Those who are ‘in Christ’ are the beginning of the new world… the new system. Christ took on flesh so that the fleshly realm might be restored.
Moral Magnet
Shortly after Anselm, Peter Abelard objected to both Christus-Victor and Satisfaction theories. According to Abelard, Jesus didn’t need to die in order for God to forgive sinners. And Jesus didn’t need to die in order to defeat Satan. Instead, Jesus died to demonstrate the amazing love of God. Dying on the cross was God’s way of showing how far He’d go to reach us. This love draws us in, like a magnet. We become lovers and this changes the world (and systems) one lover at a time.
------------------
As you can see, there are a lot of different ways to think of the atonement. Each of these perspectives contains truth. Each way of looking at atonement can be stretched so far as to produce theological error or neglected too often so as to produce theological anemia. We do not necessarily need to choose between them. Since the problem is tri-fold (Sin, Satan, Systems), it makes sense that the solutions will be manifold as well.
I recommend that the church familiarize itself with these varied ways of looking at the atonement question (how does God solve the problems that we face?). We can be confident that Jesus is the solution even as we learn exactly how He solved and solves the complex problems of Sin, Satan, and Systems.
A Simple Summary of
Complex Atonement Theories
Quite obviously, there is something not quite right with reality (to put it mildly). Indeed, there are numerous problems. Satan and humans are in rebellion against God and the world that God created is suffering as a result. How has God responded to this rebellion and brokenness? Certainly God’s response was not to give up on creation. Instead, God has taken drastic steps to reconcile rebellious humanity to their original purpose.
This reconciliation of humanity is accomplished through the good news of Jesus Christ and, most especially, through His death on the cross. Through Jesus’ death, we can be ‘at-one-with’ God again. But how does atonement work? How does the death of Jesus solve the problem of SIN, SATAN, and the broken SYSTEMS of this world? Below you’ll find some of the leading theories of atonement… simply put.
The SIN Problem
Fallen humans sin. Sin is not part of God’s original intention for human beings. Something had to be done to eliminate sin from God’s people. The following theories attempt to explain how Jesus solves the sin problem.
Sacrifice
Under the Old Covenant, there was a sacrificial system that included a way to get rid of sin. Sins could be transferred (symbolically) from a representative human to an animal which would then be slaughtered. Its blood brought new life to the sinning community. Under the New Covenant, Jesus offers himself as the once-for-all, final sacrifice (this is emphasized in Hebrews). Our sins are dealt with by being transferred to Jesus and his blood brings new life to his people.
Satisfaction
About 1,000 years after Hebrews was written, Anselm considered a slightly different way that Jesus addresses the sin problem. For Anselm, human sin dishonored God. It put God in the awkward position of needing to satisfy justice while simultaneously extending loving mercy. God’s honor is satisfied by Christ’s offering.
Penal Substitution
About 500 years after Anselm, another variation of handling the sin problem became popular. Many of the Protestant Reformers taught that sin was an offense to God which demanded punishment (death). Gracefully, God offered His own Son to bear that punishment. Jesus served as our substitute and suffered the penalty for sin.
The SATAN Problem
Satan is a rebellious spiritual creature who is called, in Scripture, the ‘god of this world’ and the ‘ruler of this age.’ Something had to be done to end his reign. The following theories attempt to explain how Jesus solves the Satan problem.
Christus-Victor
For the first 1,000 years of church history, it seems the primary way of talking about how the atonement works was to speak of it as a military victory of sorts. Jesus conquered Satan, Sin & Death. Christ proved victorious. Christians are no longer under the rule of Satan. Sin no longer reigns in them. They no longer need to fear death because they will share in Jesus’ resurrection life. This motif was brought back to prominence in the 20th century by Gustaf Aulen.
Ransom
A particularly important word for the early church in understanding Christ’s victory was the word ‘ransom’. The idea here is that Satan, in a sense, owned the world and its people. He was their ruler. If God wanted the world and humanity back, He’d have to pay a ransom price. The price demanded by Satan was Jesus. The Father and Son agreed to these terms. But Satan had made a foolish exchange, for he had no ability to keep Jesus’ captive. Satan lost his prisoners and his ransom price (Jesus). The power of death had lost its sting.
The SYSTEM Problem
The world is broken. It is run by systems which are fed by sin and led by Satan. Something had to be done to begin the reparation of this world. The following theories attempt to explain how Jesus solves the System problem.
Recapitulation
Some of the earliest writers on atonement spoke of Jesus un-doing the damage caused by Adam and re-doing humanity the way it was meant to be. Whereas Adam sinned, Jesus was sinless. Whereas Adam died and stayed dead, Jesus died and rose again. We are given two paths to choose from: The path of Adam (sin and death) and the path of Jesus (righteousness and life). We choose whether to be ‘in Adam’ or ‘in Christ’. Those who are ‘in Christ’ are the beginning of the new world… the new system. Christ took on flesh so that the fleshly realm might be restored.
Moral Magnet
Shortly after Anselm, Peter Abelard objected to both Christus-Victor and Satisfaction theories. According to Abelard, Jesus didn’t need to die in order for God to forgive sinners. And Jesus didn’t need to die in order to defeat Satan. Instead, Jesus died to demonstrate the amazing love of God. Dying on the cross was God’s way of showing how far He’d go to reach us. This love draws us in, like a magnet. We become lovers and this changes the world (and systems) one lover at a time.
------------------
As you can see, there are a lot of different ways to think of the atonement. Each of these perspectives contains truth. Each way of looking at atonement can be stretched so far as to produce theological error or neglected too often so as to produce theological anemia. We do not necessarily need to choose between them. Since the problem is tri-fold (Sin, Satan, Systems), it makes sense that the solutions will be manifold as well.
I recommend that the church familiarize itself with these varied ways of looking at the atonement question (how does God solve the problems that we face?). We can be confident that Jesus is the solution even as we learn exactly how He solved and solves the complex problems of Sin, Satan, and Systems.