The Atonement Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Compelling voices charge that the theological notion of “sacrifice” valorizes suffering and fosters a culture of violence by the claim that Christ’s death on the Cross paid for human sins. Beneath the ‘sacred’ violence of sacrifice, René... more

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- Systematic Theology, Asceticism, Rene Girard, The Atonement

The gap between systematic theologians and biblical theology is often wide. Here is an attempt to apply principles of biblical theology and exegesis to the systematic theology of the atonement, especially in reference to the Arminian Baptist Thomas Grantham. This is a response paper to J. Matthew Pinson's presentation in New Orleans, 2008. The paper was published in this e-journal: http://www.baptistcenter.com/Documents/Journals/JBTM%208.1%20Spring11.pdf, pp. 29-33.

- by James Leonard
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- Biblical Theology, The Atonement, Gospel of Matthew, Arminianism

We owe to Karl Barth's masterful treatment of the doctrine of reconciliation in the fourth volume of the Church Dogmatics a sketch that is at once beautifully clear and remarkably comprehensive. It is not without shortcomings, however. This paper contains in seminal form some of the ideas developed further (and somewhat differently) in Ascension Theology and Theological Negotiations.

- by Douglas Farrow
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- Irenaeus, Christology, The Letter to the Hebrews, The Atonement
- by Darrin Snyder Belousek
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- Christianity, Peace and Conflict Studies, Patristics, Systematic Theology
- by Charles R . Hall
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- New Testament, Textual Criticism, Hermeneutics, Biblical Studies

General Theme - an attempt to explain "fittest" and "fitness" language with a nod toward evolutionary theory to note how Jesus Christ in his flesh flipped that understanding on its head. In essence, the fittest does not survive, but... more

- by Ben Fulford
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- The Atonement
- by Per Grande
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- Theology, The Atonement, Mimetic Theory, René Girard
- by Peter Martens
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- Systematic Theology, Anabaptist Theology, The Atonement, Peace & Conflict Studies

What is sacrifice? I give a five-part answer: it is (1) a voluntary choice (2) to forgo or lose or give away (3) something costly, perhaps supremely costly, (4) as an expressive action, where (5) what is so expressed typically is or includes devotion or loyalty to something exalted.
By examining their expressive force, I divide sacrifices into political and personal. I give 3 examples of each type. Examination of these examples suggests that political sacrifices typically express solidarity, protest, defiance, hope, and (where, as in my 3 examples, they are Christian) imitation of Christ. Personal sacrifices typically express love or the supremacy of justice, and also (where, as in my 3 examples, they are Christian) imitation of Christ.
So what is it to imitate Christ's sacrifice? To know that we need to know what Christ , and/or the NT authors, thought he was doing at the Cross. On the basis of an examination of Jesus' career as a preacher and prophet, I suggest that his sacrifice can be seen as, in my sense, a political sacrifice.
Can it also be seen as a personal sacrifice? Can we say, and mean literally, the words so revered in Christian tradition, that "Jesus died to save me from my sins"?
My answer is that we can't--UNLESS we accept the framework of sacrificial offering of the strictly ritual sort that the NT writers presuppose, and which is most clearly and fully spelt out in Hebrews.
Thus the traditional affirmation comes at a cost; it is only available on condition that we accept an intellectual background that is very foreign indeed to most modern people. The alternative, for anyone who wants to count herself a Christian but can't buy this foreign intellectual framework, is to stick with seeing Jesus' sacrifice as political, as an act of radical solidarity with us; or to see it as a luminously polysemous, but not entirely articulable, symbol, like an artwork--an "icon" as I call them. Neither of these options is simply *giving up on faith*. But both are clearly short of what the NT authors actually meant when they affirmed that "Jesus died for our sins".

- by Sophie Grace Chappell
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- Philosophy, Philosophy Of Religion, Theology, New Testament

A survey of primary texts showing the early recognition of resurrection as a necessary, saving effect founded upon Christ's universal atonement. This paper is a copy of the pages from Piedmont International University's (now Carolina... more

- by Scott A Smith
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- Theology, Patristics, The Atonement, Soteriology

Het is gebruikelijk geworden om verschillende soorten beelden voor verzoening te onderscheiden. Maar hoe kom je van die veelheid aan beelden die iets laten zien van de betekenis van het kruis bij een samenhangende verzoeningsleer? In dit artikel wordt onderzocht welke combinaties van beelden voorkomen in het Nieuwe Testament. Gebaseerd op deze inventarisatie worden conclusies getrokken die van belang zijn voor de ontwikkeling van de verzoeningsleer.

- by Hans Burger
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- Systematic Theology, The Atonement

1. Justification of the universe (rationality and the value of the universe). 2. Nihilistic variant of "redemption" (Mainländer, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Camus, Sartre). 3. Gnostic-idealistic variant of "redemption" (Hegel, Martinetti). 4. Gnostic-syncretic variant of "redemption" in the New Age. 5. Philosophical aspirations and theology of cosmic redemption.

- by Krzysztof Zenon Wisniewski
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- Religion, Gnosticism, Anthropology, Philosophy
- by Andrei Orlov
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- Jewish Studies, Ritual, Jewish Mysticism, Apocalypticism

Once saved, always saved - The plea for eternal security of believers. 1. We cannot know for sure who is saved or not. 2. Good work does not mean faith, even though faith implies good work. 3. Whoever drives away from faith did not... more

Once saved, always saved - The plea for eternal security of believers.
1. We cannot know for sure who is saved or not.
2. Good work does not mean faith, even though faith implies good work.
3. Whoever drives away from faith did not fully – or even at all – come to Jesus.

- by Ricardo Diegue
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- Philosophy, Philosophy Of Religion, Theology, Systematic Theology

Anselm’s “satisfaction” theory of atonement posits that Christ’s death on the cross functioned as a gift to God on behalf of humanity to restore the order of justice subverted by sin. Especially in recent years, the theory has been criticized for obscuring God’s mercy. If God’s forgiveness is only available after such a sacrifice has been offered, Anselm’s critics argue, it is not forgiveness at all. While this criticism is a compelling objection, it does not seem to apply to Anselm’s own thought as expressed in Cur Deus Homo. While many “Anselmian” theories posit Christ’s death as transforming God by way of propitiation, Anselm himself envisions satisfaction in the opposite way, as an act by which a changeless God mercifully transforms humanity to conform to creation’s proper order. But even if the criticisms of a merciless God are misplaced, the corresponding calls for considering alternative theories of atonement have warrant. Not only is “satisfaction” an ambiguous symbol, given such widespread (albeit unfair) associations, but Anselm himself seems to grant little soteriological value to Christ’s life, ministry, and resurrection. The most promising remedy is to situate satisfaction theory within a larger, “person-centered” framework for thinking about atonement, an underappreciated move made by Thomas Aquinas which remains worthy of our attention today.

- by Brandon R Peterson
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- Violence, Satisfaction, Thomas Aquinas, The Atonement

This honours thesis explores the intertextual connections between Psalm 49 and Mark 8-10, focussing especially on the concept of ransom in each passage. It also explores the implications of Isaiah 53's substitutionary metaphor, also being... more

- by Dan Wu
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- Synoptic Gospels, Intertextuality, The Atonement, Book of Psalms
- by Paul Gavrilyuk
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- Theology, Historical Theology, Systematic Theology, Philosophical Theology

Uses Social Identity Theory (SIT) to study the Didache community’s identity formation, including showing an instance of “group polarization.” The group holds on to a symbolic Jewish identity, but evinces its Christian identity in its practice of Eucharist, baptism in the name of the Trinity, and affirmation of Jesus as Messiah. Notably, however, there is no atonement teaching , nor any mention of Jesus’ death.

- by Stephen Finlan
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- Early Christianity, The Atonement, Social identity theory, Christian Identity

What metaphysical account of human nature must be given in order to make sense of T.F. Torrance’s doctrine of atonement? Here I argue the account which best makes sense of Torrance’s doctrine of atonement is one in which Christ instantiates an abstract universal human nature and the rest of humanity participates in an abstract universal human nature. In defending this thesis, I examine Torrance’s doctrine of atonement and his use of the anhypostasia–enhypostasia distinction. I conclude by defending the significance of the an-enhypostasia distinction for abstract universal theories of Christ’s human nature

- by Chris Woznicki
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- Theological Anthropology, Christology, The Atonement, T.F. Torrance

A Critique of the Thesis of Alexander Kalomiros on the River of Fire at the Last Judgement

- by Vladimir Moss
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- Orthodox Theology, The Atonement, Doctrine of Justification, Dogmatic theology
- by Brian Schroeder
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- Religion, Philosophy, Philosophy Of Religion, Humanities

الكفارة في العهد القديم الكفارة في نصوص العهد القديم الكفارة غطاء وطلاء للحماية الكفارة كفدية، أيْ حماية الكفارة تطهير وتقديس الكفارة محو ومغفرة الكفارة غطاء تابوت العهد مراسم يوم الكفار مقدمة عن الأعياد يوم الكفارة العظيم ملاحظات عن يوم الكفارة سنة اليوبيل مَن الذي يكفر؟ لماذا الكفارة الكفارة وانجماع كل شيء في المسيح متى كانت الكفارة؟ ما أو مَن هو الكفارة الكفارة وشركة الطبيعة الإلهية

- by Silvy Nassrat
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- The Atonement, Atonement Theory, Atonement theology, Thiology

At what point did Jesus begin to save us? The Cross? The Resurrection? His ministry? Was it the moment Christ became incarnate in the womb of Mary? I will make the case that Jesus' saving work begins in the incarnation and not exclusively... more

- by Paul Walker
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- Anabaptist Theology, The Atonement, Soteriology, Incarnation of Christ
- by Robert Hinckley
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- Theology, Liturgy, Ritual, Hebrew Bible

Atonement (kpr) as it is defined within the Levitical system is often conceived of in a manner which is roughly correct in terms of its gist, but quite mistaken in terms of its specifics. It can more accurately, I believe, be summarised as follows. (1) The purpose of the sacrificial system is not, for the most part, to deal with ‘moral transgressions’, but to purify the Tabernacle (and those associated with it) when a very specific type of transgression occurs, namely an unintentional transgression or a transgression of a ceremonial nature. (2) The blood of OT sacrifices is not normally applied to ‘sinners’; rather, it is applied to those who serve in the Tabernacle, or to the vessels or altar of the Tabernacle, or to the Tabernacle itself. As mentioned above, its primary concern is the purification of God’s sacred space. (3) The sins of believers are completely forgiven in the OT; hence, David can confidently proclaim, “As far as the east is from the west, so far does [the LORD] remove our transgressions from us”, and Paul can ground the doctrine of justification in David’s statements of his forgiveness (Rom. 4.7-8 cf. Psa. 32.1-2). The OT believer does not obtain forgiveness through sacrifices (or even through ‘sacrifices infused with Christ’s power’). He obtains forgiveness in exactly the same way as the NT believer, namely through faith in God insofar as God has revealed himself. (4) The sense in which the OT sacrificial system foreshadows the sacrifice of Christ is, therefore, as follows: just as specific animal sacrifices put right specific ‘ceremonial issues’ in OT times, so now Christ’s sacrifices deal with all sin, be it ceremonial or moral, intentional or unintentional. As such, Christ’s is a better sacrifice than the OT’s in every conceivable way.

- by James Bejon
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- Christianity, Theology, New Testament, Systematic Theology

In this paper, we seek to establish that evangelicals possess the theological truths needed to bring comfort, hope and truth to survivors of abuse, predicated on a proper understanding of justice as seen in the atonement and character of the Triune God. We examine the claim that penal, substitutionary understandings of the atonement are pictures of abuse and argue that, properly understood, these understandings of the atonement instead provide a basis for rejecting the power dynamics that underlay all forms of abuse.

- by Jacob Denhollander
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- Domestic Violence, Sexual Abuse, Trinity, The Atonement
- by Robert Falconer
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- The Atonement, Doctrine of Justification, Theology of the Cross, N.T. Wright

Explores how C.S. Lewis drew from early Christian theologians Irenaeus (130 - 200 AD) and Athanasius (297 - 373 AD), especially on the doctrine of the atonement. Also explores how Lewis drew together theological statements to fit like... more

- by Mako Nagasawa
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- Christianity, Theology, Patristics, Historical Theology
- by Daniel V Munoz
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- Theology, Systematic Theology, Biblical Studies, Mediation
- by Chris S Stevens
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- Christianity, Christology, The Atonement, Soteriology
- by Emily Rowell Brown
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- Systematic Theology, The Atonement, Karl Barth, Christian Theology
- by Dr Steve Burnhope
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- The Atonement
- by Hans M Moscicke
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- Synoptic Gospels, Matthew's Gospel, The Atonement, Leviticus

This study investigates Paul's atonement theology in Romans with particular emphasis on Rom. 3:21-26 and concludes that a representative-participatory model best explains Paul's atonement concept. "Representative" denotes Christ's function as the new Adam, the federal head of a new humanity freed from sin. "Participatory" denotes that, just as Christ entered into our humanity and shared in our death, so we must participate in his death if we are to enter into the new humanity founded by his resurrection. Aspects of Rom. 3:21-26 that are analysed include the plight (Rom. 3:23), δικαιο-terminology, the πίστις Χριστοῦ debate, redemption, the meaning of ἱλαστήριον and the πάρεσις of former sins. It is argued that, while Rom. 3:21-26 is concerned more with the "that" of the atonement than the "how," it does offer hints of a representative-participatory model, which are further developed in other texts, especially Rom. 8:3-4, Gal. 3:13 and 2 Cor. 5:21. Paul's interpretation of the atonement was multivalent and it is not claimed that the model offered here exhausts it. However, it is argued that Paul's thought is inconsistent with a penal substitution model of atonement, particularly in its understanding of the relationship between Jesus's death and God's wrath.