SALVATION: Objective and Subjective Flashcards
Atonement
an English word that means “reconciliation”; atonement refers to the work of Christ by which he brought humanity and God together in spite of humanity’s sinfulness and God’s holiness
Irenaeus
Against Heresies (recapitulation)- the concept of Christ’s saving work for humanity as recapitulation; belief that Christ Jesus became incarnate “for our salvation”; Jesus’ life, death of ChristChrist “recapitulated” the life of Adam and by each act reversed Adam’s disobedience so that humanity itself could have a new beginning. Christ, according to Iraneus, was our “second Adam,” new head of the human race; Christ sacrificial death=Adam’s disobedience; tree of knowledge vs. tree of death, the cross
Athanasius – On the Incarnation
Athanasius’ classic defense of Christ’s deity; premise- Jesus’ saving work is staked on his being God incarnate, both truly human and truly divine; emphasized the necessity of the incarnation for salvation and worked out further the idea of saving incarnation– that the unity of humanity and divinity in Christ actually transforms human existence by overcoming death
The “ransom” view
(Athanasius); the cross of Christ as a ransom, a sacrifice for sins, a conquest and a reconciliation of God and humanity; humanity has a cost for rescue that needs to be paid; ransom language is in the Gospel Mark; ransom view may give Satan too much power (“Satan-ward”)
The “satisfaction” view-
belief that Christ’s death was “satisfaction” paid by the sinless man of Jesus to the honor of God; like a feudal contract; Anselm; humanity owes a debt only humanity can pay, but humanity can’t pay it; only God can pay it; because we sinned and because we owe God everything; lesser offended a greater (debt of honor); medieval concept; unfitting of God to make turtles or angels pay for the sins of human kind; God-man is needed (fully God and able to pay; while also fully human); (direction of action- divine justice); entirely about the justice of God (Satan does not play into this); (God-ward view)
moral influence theory (Abelard)
sin distances us from God; cold/distant heart; comes from Abelard’s passage on Romans in a commentary; how do you fix the problem?; Greater love has no man than that, he lays down his life for friends; hearts are changed; this is more than moral exemplarism; God’s love leaves room for transformation and divine action; for some, Christ is not the first things that “moves them”; this omits the idea of divine justice
Anselm – Cur Deus Homo
book about the atoning work of Christ; attempt to explain rationally the necessity of Christ’s death as Godman for the salvation of humanity; only through Christ has God saved humanity
Christus Victor
Luther’s image/metaphor of Christ as victor; also atonement theory of the early church; one in which the Son of God invades the territory of Satan and conquers sin, death, and Satan by his death and resurrection; revived by Scandanavians in 21st century (1920s); also revived by Greg Boyd; (Satan-ward view)
fish hook theory
the flesh of Christ makes Christ seem week, but his Divine nature made him able to save (divine deception?)
recapitulation- (Aerenius);
Christ’s obedience undoes Christ’s obedience (typological/ interpretation/ allegorical interpretation); adopted by the early church as a way to interpret Scripture; 4 levels- literal, tropological-moral interpretations, allegorical/typlogical- seeing X in OT, analogical- eschatological view with layers of hope
Abelard / Moral Influence-
reduces the cross to a moral example; rather God does not so much need payment of a penalty and certainly does not need to deal with the devil; God needs sinful people to repent and throw themselves at his mercy; sinners don’t until Christ enters the picture as the divine-human mediator who demonstrates God’s great love and who, by laying down his life for humanity, causes a change in sinners’ hearts so that they are drawn towards God
Penal substitution-
we are guilty, but Jesus steps in instead; OT sacrifice; spotless lamb; or scapegoat metapophor; Calvin and Reformed theologians’ model of atonement; “In some ineffable way, God loved us and yet was angry toward us at the same time, until he became reconciled to us in Christ”; (John Edwards, Charles Spurgeon, and Billy Graham);
The “sacrificial” view- (Augustine)
asserts the vicarious sacrifice of Christ for human sins and for humanity’s salvation; can seem dreadfully unjust; problem- blood thirstiness; but, Christ was sent because he loved us; What about Father (who wants to punish) and Son (who wants to save)?; the Trinity?; salvation comes by way of the Father through the Son; Moffitt view- we misunderstand sacrifice; sacrifice is the offering in Leviticus (presentation of blood in the most Holy place); Jesus is both sacrificial victim and high priest of heaven
Pluralism
belief that all the prophets and mediators of all the great world religions provide equal access to “the Real”– whatever God may be behind the many masks and faces of the gods
Objective
means that in the cross event something was actually achieved on behalf of humanity by God in Christ; atonement itself happened outside of the individual human subject even if it remains to be realized and appropriate by him or her/Subjective (256)- means that the cross makes possible or enables a necessary response within the human person needing salvation and that the actual benefit of Christ’s death is in that response
