THE PROBLEM OF THE ATONEMENT
Statement of the Problem.
"And he [the risen Jesus] said to them
'O foolish men, and slow of heart to believe all the prophets have spoken!
Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and
enter into his glory?'
And beginning with Moses and all the prophets,
he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself."
(Luke 24:25-27)
Ever since the risen Jesus asked this question of the two disciples
on the road to Emmaus, thoughtful Christians have been attempting to answer it.
This question is an important one for all Christians.
It is important not only because our Lord Himself raised it
but also because He took the time to answer it.
This question of Jesus raises the central problem of Christian theology
- the problem of the atonement: why must Christ die for the salvation of men?
This problem of the necessity of the atonement is the major problem of the
Christian doctrine of salvation.
Here we will examine this central problem of Christian theology.
- First, the history of the problem
will be analyzed to determine the major historical solutions. The
classic type
of the atonement will be examined in the
theology of Athanasius
and the differences between the classic type
and the Latin type will be
clarified.
Click here for a
summary of the classic solution.
Then the differences between the classic type and the
ransom theory
of the atonement will be examined.
- Then it will be shown how in the
Latin type
the meaning of the death of Christ has been misunderstood and obscured
in Christian theology by the Greek-Roman concept of justice: giving
to each what he has merited. It was this concept of justice that gave
Martin Luther
so much trouble and lead to his rediscovery of the meaning of
the righteousness of God in Paul's letter to the Romans.
This concept of justice, which has
misunderstood
and obscured the meaning of the
righteousness of God
as well as the love of God, has lead to the legalistic
misunderstanding of the death of Christ.
- Next the Biblical doctrine of Christ's death will be presented
to show how it solves the problem of the necessity of the atonement,
Why Christ died. Christ died so
that God could raise Him from the dead, and thus save man from death, sin
and wrath. Christ's death and resurrection provided salvation
from death to life,
from sin to righteousness, and
from wrath to peace with God.
These
three aspects of salvation
has been accomplished in the death and resurrection of Christ.
Finally, in conclusion the Biblical doctrine of Christ's death will be
summarized
to show how it solves the problem of the necessity of the atonemnet,
and what is the
practical consequents of the Biblical solution.
Appendix:
In the following word studies, the meaning of the Biblical words used
by Biblical writers to explain Christ's death will be examined:
righteousness,
reconcilation,
redemption,
propitiation, and
forgiveness.