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Mar 23, 2021 · #1 The Moral Influence Theory. One of the earliest theories for the atonement is the Moral Influence theory, which simply taught that Jesus Christ came and died in order to bring about a positive change to humanity. This moral change comes through the teachings of Jesus alongside His example and actions.
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The history of the various theories of the atonement is made up of differing views on the biblical themes of ransom, redemption, propitiation, substitution, and Christ as moral example.
Apr 25, 2024 · Throughout church history, several different views of the atonement, some true and some false, have been put forth by different individuals or denominations. One of the reasons for the various views is that both the Old and New Testaments reveal many truths about Christ’s atonement, making it hard, if not impossible, to find any single ...
Feb 9, 2024 · The theories of atonement offer diverse perspectives on the nature and purpose of Christ's redemptive work. Each theory provides a unique framework for comprehending the significance of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection, shedding light on the multifaceted dimensions of atonement.
- Ransom Theory
- Recapitulation Theory
- Satisfaction Theory
- Moral Influence Theory
- Penal Substitution Theory
- Scapegoat Theory of Atonement
“Ransom” comes from Mark 10:45: “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for man.” And from 1st Timothy 2:6: “Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people.” Ransom theory was the predominant theory of atonement for Christianity’s first thousand years. Most church fathers held to...
Irenaeus (130-202) came up with the recapitulation model of atonement, held chiefly by Orthodox denominations. According to the recapitulation model, Christ experienced all stages of life, including all that we as sinners face, only that his obedience replaced the rebellion of Adam, our ancestor. In that sense, Christ was a “second Adam” who recapi...
The satisfaction theory of atonement holds that Christ redeemed humanity by making satisfaction for humankind’s disobedience through his supererogatory obedience. But what does that mean? In the days of Anselm of Canterbury,most of Europe lived in a feudal society whereby commoners submitted to a knight responsible for protecting the area in which ...
In Hebrew, we have a saying mocking those who repeat things they see others do: “Monkey follows human.”While we, Israeli-Jews, say it to scorn one another, truth be told, we learn by imitation. After all, is that not what raising children and discipleship are all about? Extensive research showed: Other research showed that “children learn about the...
In the 16th century, hundreds of years after Anselm, Europe changed, and people started challenging the ideas of previous societies. A well-known example is the Protestant Reformation led by Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, and others. Penal Substitution was developed during the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century by Martin Luther and John Calvin. H...
Although not historical, a new and rising model of atonement is that of René Girard (1923-2015), a French historian, literary critic, and philosopher of social science, delved deeply into anthropology, particularly the mechanisms of societal violence and mimetic desire — the notion that humans desire objects or statuses primarily because they obser...
The Atonement raises a number of different interrelated philosophical questions: 1) Why did Christ die on the cross? 2) How does Christ dying make it possible for our sins to be forgiven? 3) If God is omnipotent, why couldn’t God forgive our sins without Christ dying? A theory of the Atonement is an attempt to answer questions like these three.
The brief summarizations below offer a broad survey of atonement theories. Two critical and necessary aspects of atonement are the sinfulness of man and the substitutionary nature of atonement. If a theory does not include these truths, it is deficient and likely heretical.
