To the doctrine of substitution, it might be objected that:-
1. It is unnecessary, since God could forgive sinners without any additional condition or requirement. But God is not only perfect love, desiring the salvation of the sinner, but also perfect justice. The Puritans used to say that there are three things that even God cannot do: he cannot die, lie, or deny himself. And for God to simply turn a blind eye to sin would be for him to deny his own nature.…
As the pages of this blog testify, I gladly affirm the doctrine of penal substitution (PS).
The line I have tended to take is that this doctrine is one of a number of equally-valid and equally-important facets of atonement as taught in Scripture. It takes its place alongside images such as ransom, reconciliation, ‘Christus Victor’, and so on.
I have been aware that a significant body of evangelicals regard PS as the pre-eminent account of the atonement. …
As a Licensed Reader within the Church of England, it is of some interest and importance to me to know whether the doctrine of penal substitution is an Anglican doctrine.
Well, the doctrine is not clearly espoused in the Prayer Book of 1662, to which all clergy must assent. The nearest it comes to it is this:
‘…who made there (by his one oblation of himself once offered) a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world.’…
I guess that most people who claim to be evangelicals would affirm the doctrine of penal substitutionary atonement (PSA) – the belief that Christ died in our place, bearing the penalty for our sins.
What is less clear is how many of these would argue that PSA is just one of a number of equally important images of the atonement, and how many think that it is the central, dominant, or controlling image.
Of course, more important than such a head-count would be investigating the reasons why people do, or do not, consider PSA to be central. …
One of the frustrations of reading Recovering the Scandal of the Cross, by Joel Green and Mark Baker, is that although they claim to be criticising the doctrine of penal substitution in some of its more popular (and cruder) expressions, they actually tend to train their artillery on other targets.
So I appreciated the opportunity to read this post by Morgan Guyton, who discusses ‘four cringeworthy claims of popular penal substitutionary theology’. (Guyton says that he was motivate by listening to a sermon by Steven Furtick, but I have been unable to track down that particular sermon).…
‘Must we imagine the atonement in penal substitutionary terms?’
This is the question addressed by Joel Green in his contribution to The Atonement Debate. I summarise some of the main points before adding a few comments of my own at the end.
Green begins by quoting the Apostles’ Creed, noting that in it the early church testifies to both the historicity and the centrality of the crucifixion of Jesus, but does not address the question of how Christ’s death is salvific. …
I have been revisiting the debates about the theology of atonement that surfaced in the early 2000s.
Steve Jeffrey (one of the authors of Pierced for our Transgressions), notes some of the ways in which defenders of the doctrine of penal substitution needed to raise their game:-
‘In Christ alone’ (Stuart Townend and Keith Getty) is a fine Christian song.
But what about the words that stick in the throats of many:-
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied.
Please don’t tell me you won’t sing these words because you unwilling to think or speak of God’s wrath, and wish to sing only of his love. The song as a whole does a great job in exploring the various dimensions of Christ’s death and resurrection. …
Derek Tidball outlines six pastoral issues which are often raised as objections to the doctrine of penal substitutionary atonement (PSA), but which, actually, count in its favour.
Proponents of PSA can seem to so emphasise the sinfulness of sin that the poor sinner despairs of ever being rid of a sense of guilt and self-loathing.
Correctly understood, however, PSA does not leave people in this abject situation. …
‘With God all things are possible’ (Matthew 19:26). ‘Nothing is impossible with God’ (Luke 1:37)
So why doesn’t God simply forgive sinners, without need of any atonement? Why can’t he just let bygones be bygones?
After all, he can do anything, can’t he?
Well, setting aside the obviously absurd (God cannot create a two-sided triangle), we note with Puritan Thomas Brooks that there are three things that God cannot do:- he cannot die; he cannot lie; and he cannot deny himself.…
