Atonement
Guest Speaker - Rev. Kim Jenne
Atonement
For you, what part of Jesus’ life was most important in redeeming humanity?
God becoming human in the Incarnation (Christ’s birth)
Jesus teaching us and performing miracles (Life and Teaching)
Jesus dying on the cross (Crucifixion)
Jesus rising from the dead (Resurrection)
Based on your answer, you are able to see where you might want to study more on the Atonement chart. Note that the theologians mentioned are jumping-off points for discussion, not the end-all authorities on these theories:
If you believe that the locus of atonement is that God became human, then you might study:
• Christus Victor. Popularized by Irenaeus, Jesus’ life is a victorious struggle against evil. While many would place this at the Resurrection, Irenaeus would place the locus at the Incarnation and God existing before time as part of the Trinity.
• Incarnational Atonement. Popularized by Fredrick Schleiermacher, something about the way Jesus is invites us into ideal humanity, made possible simply because of the Incarnation. God becoming flesh atones humanity in that instant, and all that matters is that God became human. This is also one of the stated ponderings in the Hacking Christianity article “Christmas, Not Lent, Should be about Atonement.”
If you believe that the locus of atonement is Jesus’ life and teachings, then you might study:
• Moral Exemplar. Popularized by Abelard, Jesus’ life and death is a powerful enough example of love and obedience to influence sinners to repent of their sins and improve their lives.
• Solidarity. Popularized by Tony Jones and Jurgen Moltmann, Jesus’ life stands as testimony that he always stood with the marginalized, the poor, the prostitutes and the tax collectors. His death was the result of his life. We are called to identify with Christ’s suffering and to stand with those whose experience of being forsaken parallels Christ on the cross.
• Healing Servant. Popularized by some interpretations of John Wesley (though his own atonement is much harder to pin down*), this perspective sees sin as disease and grace as healing, referencing Christ as the Great Physician.
If you believe that the locus of atonement is Jesus’ death on the cross in the crucifixion, then you might study:
• Penalty Satisfaction/Substitution. Popularized by Augustine/Anselm, the death of Jesus on the cross is the paying of a debt (or satisfying a debt) caused by humanity’s sinful nature offending God’s honor. Also framed as Jesus taking the place (substituting) for humanity on the Cross.
• Last Scapegoat. Popularized by Rene Girard, tribal human societies needed a release valve to let off the pressure of increasing rivalry and violence, so a scapegoat victim is sacrificed, thus relieving the pressure of violence. Jesus’ death as a “visible victim/scapegoat” shows the injustice and inherent immorality of the scapegoating system on display.
If you believe that the locus of atonement is Jesus’ resurrection and triumph over death, then you might study:
• Ransom Captive. Popularized by Origen, Jesus’ death is the ransom paid to the devil (or evil powers) to free humans from the bondage of sin. Its locus is the Resurrection as that’s when the Devil was tricked and he didn’t have any control over Christ at all. RC has gained some traction in the post-modern world when you substitute “Satan” with “the powers” as popularized by Walter Wink and Gustav Aulen.
In the end, no one atonement theory may be sufficient to understand the acts of God through Jesus Christ to reconcile the world to God’s self. But in the studying of different theories and areas of focus, one confronts exactly what one believes about Jesus’ birth, life, death, and resurrection and perhaps by illuminating what is most important a stronger constructive theology can be made.
What the Wesleys taught about atonement:
Both John Wesley , in his sermons, and Charles Wesley, in his hymns, used a variety of images to explain what Jesus achieved on the cross — including substitionary atonement. Methodism’s founders also emphasized God’s wondrous love.
“Both John and Charles Wesley set a precedent for Methodists of refusing to limit themselves to only the ‘penalty satisfaction’ model,’” said [Dr. Randy] Maddox, the Duke professor. The Wesleys used a range of biblical allusions, he said, “to stress that Christ not only dealt with the ‘penalty’ of our sin but also brought healing power to deliver us from the ‘captivity’ of sin and enable us to walk in newness of life.”
The Wesley brothers considered one aspect of atonement nonnegotiable, and it is still an essential part of the movement they founded, said the Rev. Jason Vickers, president of the Wesleyan Theological Society. He is an ordained United Methodist elder and professor of theology and Wesleyan studies at United Methodist-related United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio.
“Whatever it is Christ undertakes in his death and resurrection, however Christ’s death accomplishes salvation,” Vickers said, “we’ve always said that Christ undertakes his saving work for all — not just for the elect, not just for the rich, not just for certain people. He died for all.”
“The Path to Salvation”: Wesley’s Via Salutis
Creation — original perfection; image of God (natural, political, moral)
Fall — loss of image of God
Incarnation and Atonement — the person and work of Christ
Original Sin — human beings apart from God’s saving grace
• “entire corruption” of human nature leads to actual sin (outward and inward)
• the “natural man” is captive to both the guilt and the power of sin
Prevenient Grace — “the dawning of salvation”
• illumines reason
• awakens affections
• empowers will
Repentance — “the gate of salvation”
• self-knowledge = mind/reason
• conviction of sin = heart/affections
• desire for change = will/intentionality
Justification — “present salvation”
• by faith alone; hence instantaneous — “saving grace”
• pardon/forgiveness — cancels guilt of sin (past)
• “relative change” — “for us” — external relationship — “favor of God”
• basis/agency: the work of Christ (Atonement)
Regeneration (“New Birth”) — “present salvation” |
• by faith alone; hence instantaneous — “saving grace”
• transformation/renewal — breaks power of sin (present)
• “real change” — “in us” — internal nature — “image of God”
• basis/agency: the work of the Holy Spirit
• sacrament: Baptism
Sanctification — “continuing salvation”
• process of growth; gradual development — “sanctifying grace”
• “God’s action, our reaction” — “spiritual respiration”
• “one who is born of God does not commit sin” — outward sin overcome
• “repentance of believers” — inward sin “remains, but does not reign”
• sacrament: Lord’s Supper
• context: the life of the Societies — “disciplined fellowship”
• works of piety; works of mercy; use of the means of grace
• cultivation of the “fruits of faith” — “by their fruits . . .”
Entire Sanctification/Christian Perfection — “full salvation”
• by faith alone; instantaneous — “perfecting grace”
• freedom from sin (outward and inward)
• presence of love of God and of the neighbor
• “holiness of heart and life”
Resurrection and Last Judgment
• “as to the least of these, so to me”
Glorification — “final salvation”
• final perfection; “from glory to glory”; “the fellowship of the saints”
Resources:
A Better Atonement: Beyond the Depraved Doctrine of Original Sin - By Tony Jones