THE WORK OF CHRIST: AulenSession 5

Questions:• What are the various

“atonement theories” for depicting the significance of Christ’s work?

• What difference do these make for our experience of God in our lives?

Objectives:• To understand what lies

at the heart of the three major atonement theories: the “Latin,” the “humanist,” and “Christus victor.”

• To critically evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of each position.

REVIEW

NT CHRISTOLOGIES

MARK: Jesus as the crucified

Son of God

JOHN: Jesus as the Word

made flesh

MATTHEW: Jesus as the revealed

Torah, the Wisdom of God

LUKE: Jesus as the Spirit-

empowered prophet

PAUL: The

proclamation of the cross and resurrection

PATRISTIC DOCTRINES OF ATONEMENT

CHRIST THE VICTOR AND THE DOCTRINE OF

RECAPITULATION

CHRIST THE GIVER OF INCORRUPTION AND DEIFICATION

CHRIST OUR VICTIM (THROUGH THE SACRAMENTS)

CHRIST THE ILLUMINATOR

(AND EXAMPLE)

PATRISTIC DOCTRINES OF ATONEMENT (Cf. Aulen)

CHRIST THE VICTOR AND THE DOCTRINE OF

RECAPITULATION

Cf. “Christus Victor”

CHRIST THE GIVER OF INCORRUPTION AND DEIFICATION

Cf. “Christus Victor”

CHRIST OUR VICTIM (THROUGH THE SACRAMENTS)

Cf. “Latin”

CHRIST THE ILLUMINATOR

(AND EXAMPLE)

Cf. “Humanist”

ANSELM

The “rights of the devil” theory of redemption

“We also commonly say that God was bound to strive with the devil by justice, rather than by force, in order to set man free. On this showing, when the devil killed Him in whom there was no reason for death, and who was God, he would justly lose his power over sinners. Otherwise God would have done unjust violence to him, since he was justly in possession of man; after all, he did not seize man by violence, but man handed himself over to him freely.” (Anselm)

“As for saying that he came to conquer the devil for you, in what sense do you dare to assert that? Does not the omnipotence of God reign everywhere? How, then, did God need to come down from heaven to defeat the devil?” (Anselm)

A rational account of the atonement.

“Every inclination of the rational creature ought to be subject to the will of God . . . . this is the sole and entire honor which we owe to God, and God requires from us.” (Anselm)

“[E]veryone who sins must repay to God the honor that he has taken away, and this is the satisfaction that every sinner ought to make to God” (Anselm)

“[Moreover,] if it is not fitting for God to do anything unjustly or without due order, it does not belong to his freedom or kindness or will to forgive unpunished the sinner who does not repay to God what he took away.” (Anselm)

“Therefore either the honor that was taken away must be repaid or punishment must follow. Otherwise, God will be either unjust to himself or powerless to accomplish either” (Anselm)

“God requires satisfaction according to the greatness of the sin . . . . Therefore, you do not make satisfaction unless you repay something greater than that for the sake of which you were obliged not to commit the sin.” (Anselm)

“Strong and immortal in power, man freely accepted the devil’s temptation to sin, and thus justly incurred the penalty of mortality; now, weak and mortal as he made himself, he ought through the distress of death to conquer the devil, so as not to sin at all. But this is what he cannot do as long as, through the wound of the first sin, he is conceived and born in sin.” (Anselm)

The Original SinRaphael

WHY CHRIST MUST BE DIVINE:“But this cannot be done unless there is someone to pay to God for human sin something greater than everything that exists, except God.”

“If he is to give something of his own to God, which surpasses everything that is beneath God, it is also necessary for him to be greater than everything that is not God.” (Anselm)

WHY CHRIST MUST BE HUMAN:“But no one ought to make it except man; otherwise man does not make the satisfaction.” (Anselm)

WHY A GOD-MAN IS NEEDED:“If then, as is certain, that celestial city must be complete from among men, and this cannot happen unless the aforesaid satisfaction is made, while no one save God can make it and no one save man ought to make it, it is necessary for a God-Man to make it.” (Anselm)

AULEN

THEORIES OF ATONEMENT:The “Latin” view

The “Humanist” view“Christus victor”

THEORIES OF ATONEMENT

“CHRISTUS VICTOR”

“LATIN” “HUMANIST”

LATINJesus Paid It All - Kristian Stanfill

By Passion Worship Band from the album Everything Glorious

I hear the Savior say, "Thy strength indeed is small;Child of weakness, watch and pray, Find in Me thine all in all."

Chorus:Jesus paid it all, All to Him I owe;Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.

Lord, now indeed I find Thy power and Thine alone,Can change the leper's spots And melt the heart of stone.

And when before the throne I stand in Him complete,"Jesus died my soul to save" my lips shall still repeat

O Praise the one who paid my debtAnd raised this life up from the dead O Praise the one who paid my debtAnd raised this life up from the dead O Praise the one who paid my debtAnd raised this life up from the dead O Praise the one who paid my debtAnd raised this life up from the dead

HUMANISTI Have Decided to Follow Jesus

S. Sundar Singh

I have decided to follow Jesus;I have decided to follow Jesus;I have decided to follow Jesus;No turning back, no turning back.

Though I may wonder, I still will follow;Though I may wonder, I still will follow;Though I may wonder, I still will follow;No turning back, no turning back.

The world behind me, the cross before me;The world behind me, the cross before me;The world behind me, the cross before me;No turning back, no turning back.

Though none go with me, still I will follow;Though none go with me, still I will follow;Though none go with me, still I will follow;No turning back, no turning back.

Will you decide now to follow Jesus?Will you decide now to follow Jesus?Will you decide now to follow Jesus?No turning back, no turning back.

CHRISTUS VICTOR

John of Damascus (c. 686-c.754)• #361: “The Day of Resurrection!• #363: “Come, You Faithful, Raise the Strain”

Martin Luther (1483-1546)• #370: “Christ Jesus Lay in Death’s Strong Bands”• #503: “A Mighty Fortress is Our God”

John Wesley (1707-1788)• #373: “Christ the Lord is Risen Today”

PATRISTIC DOCTRINES OF ATONEMENT (Cf. Aulen)

CHRIST THE VICTOR AND THE DOCTRINE OF

RECAPITULATION

Cf. “Christus Victor”

CHRIST THE GIVER OF INCORRUPTION AND DEIFICATION

Cf. “Christus Victor”

CHRIST OUR VICTIM (THROUGH THE SACRAMENTS)

Cf. “Latin”

CHRIST THE ILLUMINATOR

(AND EXAMPLE)

Cf. “Humanist”

THEORIES OF ATONEMENT “LATIN” “HUMANIST” “CHRISTUS

VICTOR”STRUCTURE • What is the big

picture?SIN • What are we saved

from?SALVATION • What are we saved

for?CHRIST • Who is Jesus Christ?

• What did, does, and will Christ do for us?

GOD • Who is God? • What does all this

have to say about God’s character?

STRUCTURE:“Latin” view

A discontinuity of divine operation

“the satisfaction is offered by Christ as man,

as the sinless Man on behalf of the sinners.”

A continuity in the order

of merit and justice

“the legal order is unbroken”

STRUCTURE:“Humanist” view

“The reconciliation is the result of some process that takes place in human beings, such as conversion and amendment.”

“Christ’s work is no longer thought of as the work of God for [humanity’s] salvation: He is rather the perfect Example, the Ideal Man, the Head of the race.”

STRUCTURE:“CLASSIC” VIEW

A CONTINUITY OF DIVINE OPERATION

“GOD ACCOMPLISHES ATONEMENT IN CHRIST;

GOD IS RECONCILED WITH THE WORLD”

A DISCONTINUITY IN THE ORDER OF MERIT AND JUSTICE

“THERE IS NO SATISFACTION OF

GOD’S JUSTICE, FOR THE RELATION OF MAN TO GOD IS VIEWED IN

THE LIGHT, NOT OF MERIT AND JUSTICE, BUT OF GRACE.”

SIN: “Latin” view

An objective power standing behind human beings. Aulen’s critique: “the merits of the satisfaction made

by Christ for man’s default are treated as transferred or imputed to men. Here, then, plainly, the direct personal relationship between God and

the sinner is obscured.” Forgiveness is regarded negatively.

SIN: “Humanist” view

The idea of sin is weakened.Aulen’s critique: This theology fails to maintain the radical hostility of God to evil, and God’s judgment

on sin.

SIN: “Classic” view

Sin is a whole series of evil powers—death, the devil, the law, the curse. “If

salvation is a deliverance both from sin and from death, and an entrance

into life, this of itself forms a safeguard against the degradation

either of the idea of sin to a moralistic level, or of the idea of the

forgiveness of sin to the level of a mere remission of punishment.”

SALVATION: “Latin” view“The actual atonement consists in the offering of satisfaction by Christ and God’s acceptance of it; with this act men have nothing to do except in so far as Christ stands as their representative. Justification is a second act, in which God transfers or imputes to men the merits of Christ; here, again, there is no direct relation between Christ and men. Next, we have sanctification, a third act with no organic connection with the preceding two.”

MATTHIAS GRÜNEWALDDate :c. 1501

SALVATION: “Humanist” view“The observation of the lack of direct relation between Christ and man, which is typical of the Latin doctrine, led to an effort to show along psychological lines what are the features in the portrait of Christ which actually exercise influence upon men. Christ is therefore set forth as the perfect example, the ideal man, the realization of human perfection; but the consequence is that the share of God in the process of salvation becomes secondary.”

SALVATION: “Classic” view

“The victory of Christ over the powers of evil is an

eternal victory, therefore present as well as past.

Therefore Justification and Atonement are really one

and the same thing. Justification is simply the atonement brought into

the present, so that here and now the blessing of

God prevails over the curse.”

The Resurrection of Christ (1611-12),) Rubens

SALVATION: “Classic” view

Salvation is positive: forgiveness of sins, union

with God, deifying of human nature, etc. Luther

even reverts to the language of the

“deification” of human nature. “When Christ

overcomes the tyrants which hold mankind in

bondage, His victory brings with it the Divine

blessing, justification, grace, life; the note of

triumph rings out.”

The Resurrection of Christ. Grunewald

CHRIST: “Latin” view

“God is no longer the direct agent in the atoning work. Christ as man makes atonement on man’s behalf.”

Crucifixion (Città di Castello Altarpiece)

CHRIST: “Humanist” view

Christ is treated as simply the “Pattern Man.” Although this position attempted to emphasize the humanity of Christ, “the Christ presented in their teaching was a peculiarly abstract and unreal Christ, an idealized humanity, and actually became in effect a sort of intermediary between God and mankind.”

CHRIST: “Classic” view“The conflict and triumph of Christ is God’s own conflict and triumph; it is God who in Christ reconciles the world to Himself. The incarnation is the necessary presupposition for the atonement, and the atonement the completion of the incarnation . . . . Christ is set forth as the man in whom God both reveals His essence and carries out his work of deliverance and atonement.”

GOD: “Latin” view

“God seems to stand more at a distance; for the satisfaction is paid by man, in the person of Christ, to God.” “the abstract ‘retributive justice’ here takes the place of the personal ‘wrath,’ so that, as it were, God is felt to be more remote.”

GOD: “Humanist” view

“The intention is to set forth a ‘purified,’ ‘simple’ conception of God, whose characteristic is an unchanging love.”But “God stands still more at a distance; as far as He is concerned, no atonement is needed, and all the emphasis is on man’s movement to God, on that which is accomplished in the world of men.”

GOD: “Classic” viewGod is manifested in conflict with evil on the stage of history. The atonement is the divine victory over the powers that hold men in bondage. Yet these very powers express his own judgment on sin. Divine love prevails over wrath, blessing overcomes the curse, by the way of divine self-oblation and sacrifice. “the atonement is a movement of God to man, and God is closely and personally engaged in the work of man’s deliverance.”

“LATIN” VIEW

“It concentrates its effort upon a rational attempt to explain how the Divine Love and the Divine Justice can be reconciled. The Love of God is regulated by His Justice, and is only free to act within the limits which Justice marks out. Ratio and Lex, rationality and justice, go hand in hand; but it was just these two which Luther refused to recognize as finally decisive in matters of Christian faith.”

MATTHIAS GRÜNEWALDDate :c. 1501

“HUMANIST” VIEW“In its treatment of the Atonement it smoothes away all the oppositions with which the classic type abounds; all is made rationally clear; even the Love of God becomes rational. Further, it must be observed that this humanizing theology is penetrated from end to end by an idealistic philosophy, and seeks to interpret the Christian faith in the light of a monistic and evolutionary world-view.”

“CLASSIC” VIEW

“God is at the same time the Reconciler and the Reconciled. His is the Love and His the Wrath. The Love prevails over the Wrath, and yet Love’s condemnation of sin is absolute.”

“CLASSIC” VIEW“the fundamental idea that the Atonement is, above all, a movement of God to man, not in the first place a movement of man to God. We shall hear again its tremendous paradoxes: that God, the all-ruler is the Infinite, yet accepts the lowliness of the incarnation; we shall hear again the old dualistic message of the conflict of God with the dark, hostile forces of evil, and His victory over them by the Divine self-sacrifice; above all, we shall hear again the note of triumph.”

Resurrection, Grunewald

“For [Luther] the God of revelation (Deus revelatus) is altogether not to be identified with the God of reason. The point is seen clearest of all when we are shown that Deus revelatus is at the same time Deus absconditus, who cannot be comprehended in the categories of human thought.”

PATRISTIC DOCTRINE OF ATONEMENT

CHRIST THE VICTOR AND THE DOCTRINE OF

RECAPITULATION

Cf. Christus Victor

CHRIST THE GIVER OF INCORRUPTION AND DEIFICATION

Cf. Christus Victor

CHRIST OUR VICTIM (THROUGH THE SACRAMENTS)

Cf. Latin

CHRIST THE ILLUMINATOR

(AND EXAMPLE)

Cf. Humanist

REVIEW: NT CHRISTOLOGIES

MARK: Jesus as the crucified

Son of God

JOHN: Jesus as the Word

made flesh

MATTHEW: Jesus as the revealed

Torah, the Wisdom of God

LUKE: Jesus as the Spirit-

empowered prophet

PAUL: The

proclamation of the cross and resurrection