I wrote a blog piece earlier this week in which I suggested that the good news of the gospel cannot and should not be reduced to the declaration that Jesus died to pay the penalty for our sins. In the process I questioned whether the doctrine of penal substitutionary atonement (PSA), which is a fairly detailed elaboration of how it is Christ’s death saves us from the consequences of sin, is in fact an accurate representation of the teaching of the New Testament. My piece was denounced by a few of my fellow Baptist pastors, who boldly declared that not only is PSA the correct way to interpret the New Testament statements about Christ’s death, but that it constitutes the heart of the Christian gospel.
Really? Somebody had better tell that to the apostle Paul. Given he is the writer most closely associated with PSA, it would be reasonable to assume that if PSA is the heart of the gospel it would stand out boldly in his summaries of the gospel. Likewise, one might expect it would feature heavily in his evangelistic preaching. Now he discusses dimensions of the gospel right throughout his letters, but on three occasions he pauses to define the content of his gospel: in Romans 1, in 1 Corinthians 15, and in 2 Timothy 2. I have reproduced the texts below (NRSV translation). I also tracked down and include below the two sermons of Paul’s that are recorded in the book of Acts. Not a single one of Paul’s gospel summaries nor his Acts sermons comes close to describing the gospel in terms of PSA. There’s no discussion of propitiation or expiation, no mention of Christ bearing the wrath of God upon the cross, no elaboration of how it is that his death serves to save.
Did Paul understand that PSA is the mechanism by which God saves us? That’s a debate for another day. Even if I for the moment grant that it is, surely Paul’s own summaries of the gospel and his preaching of the gospel should relieve us of the notion that PSA is the heart of gospel. For Paul the gospel seems to focus on the glorious news that God raised Jesus from the dead, with a myriad of spin-off implications for us today. That we are deeply and truly loved. That even the deepest pits of despair cannot extinguish the possibilities of hope. That life has purpose and meaning. That death, disease, violence, and all those things that plague our lives and our world are not the final word, That injustice will finally be overturned. And on and on it goes.
From Romans 1
Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2 which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures, 3 the gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh 4 and was declared to be Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for the sake of his name, 6 including yourselves who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.
From 1 Corinthians 15
Now I would remind you, brothers and sisters,[a] of the good news[b] that I proclaimed to you, which you in turn received, in which also you stand, 2 through which also you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message that I proclaimed to you-unless you have come to believe in vain.3 For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, 4 and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters[c] at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.
From 2 Timothy 2
Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David-that is my gospel, 9 for which I suffer hardship, even to the point of being chained like a criminal.
From Acts 13
So Paul stood up and with a gesture began to speak:
“You Israelites, and others who fear God, listen. 17 The God of this people Israel chose our ancestors and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with uplifted arm he led them out of it. 18 For about forty years he put up with[c] them in the wilderness. 19 After he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance 20 for about four hundred fifty years. After that he gave them judges until the time of the prophet Samuel. 21 Then they asked for a king; and God gave them Saul son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, who reigned for forty years. 22 When he had removed him, he made David their king. In his testimony about him he said, ‘I have found David, son of Jesse, to be a man after my heart, who will carry out all my wishes.’ 23 Of this man’s posterity God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised; 24 before his coming John had already proclaimed a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. 25 And as John was finishing his work, he said, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. No, but one is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of the sandals[d] on his feet.’
26 “My brothers, you descendants of Abraham’s family, and others who fear God, to us[e] the message of this salvation has been sent. 27 Because the residents of Jerusalem and their leaders did not recognize him or understand the words of the prophets that are read every sabbath, they fulfilled those words by condemning him. 28 Even though they found no cause for a sentence of death, they asked Pilate to have him killed. 29 When they had carried out everything that was written about him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. 30 But God raised him from the dead; 31 and for many days he appeared to those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, and they are now his witnesses to the people. 32 And we bring you the good news that what God promised to our ancestors 33 he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising Jesus; as also it is written in the second psalm,
‘You are my Son;
today I have begotten you.’
34 As to his raising him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, he has spoken in this way,
‘I will give you the holy promises made to David.’
35 Therefore he has also said in another psalm,
‘You will not let your Holy One experience corruption.’
36 For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, died,[f]was laid beside his ancestors, and experienced corruption; 37 but he whom God raised up experienced no corruption. 38 Let it be known to you therefore, my brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you; 39 by this Jesus[g] everyone who believes is set free from all those sins from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses. 40 Beware, therefore, that what the prophets said does not happen to you:
41 ‘Look, you scoffers!
Be amazed and perish,
for in your days I am doing a work,
a work that you will never believe, even if someone tells you.’
From Acts 17
22 Then Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, “Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way. 23 For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, ‘To an unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. 24 The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, 25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. 26 From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, 27 so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him-though indeed he is not far from each one of us. 28 For ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said,
‘For we too are his offspring.’
29 Since we are God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold, or silver, or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals. 30 While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”
Three cheers Scott.
It’s surely time to pick apart the idea that God had to torture and kill Jesus before he could ‘save’ or forgive people. This thinking, I believe, has allowed, no, more than that, has fostered and sanctioned violence , discrimination and abuse of anyone who is not deemed ‘right’ or ‘good enough’ by so called ‘Christians ‘. When we see God ‘ the Father’, as a monster so-ready to punish and inflict pain, it gives us incentive to do the same.
Jesus shows (in these last days God has spoken to us by his Son!) that love, kindness, grace, forgiveness, compassion is the way to live because we are made in the image of a God who has these qualities.
Thinking people want a way to live not a set of dogmas that don’t make sense. A God who has to punish for his/her own satisfaction is not good news and I (and many others) do not understand the Gospel of the Kingdom of God like that.
‘Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world’ and ‘God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their sins against them’ makes sense of a loving God and the stories Jesus tells.
The people around us, so filled with the terror of living, need to hear a Jesus story of love and peace not another horror deity story of hatred and pay-back.
‘God so LOVED’!
Thanks Jenni
Hi Rev. Higgins, I was reading your blog post and admit I was a little perplexed by the scriptures you chose to back up your argument. For instance, in 1 Corinthians 15 the passage literally states that Christ died for sin: “For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.”
Also, in Acts 13 the verse seems to mention Christ dying for sin as central to the gospel: “Let it be known to you therefore, my brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you; by this Jesus everyone who believes is set free from all those sins from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.”
Would you mind elaborating a little more on these texts, and why you argue that they show Paul did not believe in PSA? Also, do the Gospels themselves not also say that Christ died for sin? I have been a regular reader for the past two years, and have greatly appreciated the articles that you write. Thank you for your time.
Hi Chris, I am not arguing that neither Jesus nor Paul believed in PSA. I am arguing that they did not equate preaching the gospel with preaching PSA. Regarding the passages I quote:
1. 1 Cor 15 says that “Christ died for our sins”, which means that Christ’s death was on account of our sin.It is used elsewhere in the new Testament with the same sense. This is consistent with many interpretations of the death of Christ, including PSA. It does not in an of itself teach PSA. It is sometimes claimed that the meaning of the preposition, “huper” is substitution. Not only is this untrue (see for example LSJ lexicon). it would not make sense. PSA says that Christ died in our place, not that he died in place of our sin.
2. Acts 13 places forgiveness of sin as part of the gospel. This is not the same as making PSA part of the gospel. The gospel declares that through Christ God forgives us our sin. PSA is a theory as to how God is able to do this
Hi Rev. Higgins, thank you for your reply. If you don’t mind further questions, it sounds like you’re getting at a different understanding of the Crucifixion whereby Christ died because of the sin of the people who killed him, and not because he was a “divine sacrifice” for sin (ie, he underwent God’s punishment for sin in our place). Is this correct? If so, would the primary purpose of the Gospel still be to say that Jesus wants humanity to repent of its sins by following Him, even though he wasn’t meant as a “divine sacrifice?” A campus minister and I got into a discussion about the piece you wrote January 14th, and I’m very interested in your thoughts.
Hi Chris, I gladly accept that one of the images the New Testament gives us is that Christ ‘s death was a sacrifice for sin. This calls us to recognise that our sin has created a breach between God and us and that God took action to heal that breach through the death of Jesus.
Penal substitution is one way of explaining how it is Christ’s sacrifice is effective. It argues that just. as the animal suffered the death the sinner deserved, so Jesus suffered the death we deserved, God poured out wrath upon the sacrificial victim, who therefore bore the penalty in the worshippers place.
This is not the only, nor, I suggest, the most obvious explanation of what was happening in sacrifice. It is possible for example the sacrificial texts ( early chapters of Leviticus) see the significance of sacrifice is threefold. First the offender is paying a penalty for their wrongdoing. It was costly to provide a lamb or other animal and so it was equivalent to paying a fine. Second, one of the great emphases in the sacrificial accounts is the purifying effect of the sprinkling of blood. This would suggest that the sacrifice was not effective because animal die in place of the worshipper but because the blood was seen to purify that which was unclean. Third, some of the sacrificial passages describe the aroma of the burning sacrifice as pleasing to God, Somehow this is seen as having a soothing effect on God.
So I would argue that it’s entirely consistent to say Christ’s death was a sacrifice for sin without buying into a particular notion of the mechanics of sacrifice.
Thank you Rev. Higgins, this helps me a lot. Just one more question: I am quoting your article from Jan 14th below:
“Unsurprisingly, Jesus’s message gained him followers and opponents. He was talking about a dramatic transformation of society that demanded the privileged and the powerful lay aside their privilege and power for the sake of the poor and the vulnerable. It was not a message well received. The powerful conspired together to crush Jesus. Their rage was poured out upon him in crucifixion. And as people observed what appeared to be the inevitability of the powerful violently crushing any who dared to challenge the system, many fell back in with the seeming inviolability of what it is and joined in the ridicule of the One who had misled them. Here on the wheels of history it appeared that Jesus was just another deluded prophet.
Yet there was something deeper going on. God was refusing to play by the rules of violence and power. God’s reign would not be achieved through the triumph of violence. God would absorb every vindictive blow, every greedy grasp for power, every hateful curse and meet it with love and forgiveness. Incredibly, Jesus’s prayer was ‘Father forgive them.’
This did not mean a capitulation to the inevitability of violence, for beyond the violence and hate came the resurrection. God raised Jesus to new life. He would be the one who would lead humankind into the new era of God’s reign, the one who modeled for them the pathway of love and grace, and the one who would someday return to bring history to it’s conclusion. On that day time would be up for all those who refused to abandon violence; who refused to cease exploiting and oppressing poor; who ignored the hungry, the wounded, the hurt, the broken; who could not bring themselves to embrace justice, love and peace.”
How would you say that your understanding of Jesus’s death as sacrifice for sin fits into the narrative you describe here? This narrative seems to indicate that the purpose of Christ’s death was to defeat humanity’s destructive nature, by showing that God is greater than any evil humanity can commit (perhaps similar to when Martin Luther King declared to his white supremacist adversaries that “we shall match your capacity to inflict suffering by our capacity to endure suffering. We will meet your physical force with soul force. Do to us what you will. And we shall continue to love you.”).
Hi Chris, I think there are multiple ways we can understand the work of Christ on the cross that are different but compatible rather than mutually exclusive.
Hi Rev. Higgins, I can see how that makes sense. Thank you very much for your time and conversation. I always enjoy hearing your perspective on these issues.
Hi Scott, I being reading your writings for awhile now and always hesitated to comment, but what I wonder if you should concentrate on how Jesus suggested we live our life and live by he’s example. Whether he was born again or died for our sins, or we get eternal life are just human constructs when I feel it’s his message from his living experiences that should be listening too? I mean no offence and are off topic, sorry. What counts more his message or the writings after his death?
Hi James,
Welcome to the discussion. I’m delighted you posted and you have caused no offence at all. This blog post had its origins a few days back when I wrote another piece suggesting that those of us who are part of the church need to have a far better way of articulating what Jesus means and why Jesus is significant than what we’re currently doing. So your comments are very on topic. I think your observation is very interesting.
Most of us within the churchgoing Christian tradition will want to suggest that Jesus’s teachings had their origins in God, with the result that what he said both about living life now and for the future matter.
Nonetheless, while I might not construct things quite the way you have, I think you point to something very important. 50 years ago there was a strong belief by many Australians in an afterlife and for that generation figuring out how it was Jesus got you into heaven was a very pressing matter. Yet I suspect that few people today, certainly of our generation and down, have any great sense of anxiety about what lies beyond death. To this generation their interest in Jesus will be ,as you suggest, the relevance of his sayings for everyday life.
Thanks Scott. A few years ago I learn that there are many theological views on this and that PSA is a problematic perspective when God’s preeminent quality is claimed to be compassionate love. It seems to me that PSA derives from an (early) OT view that there had to be payment for every wrong-doing, and this leaked into the NT. Note Abraham was considered right with God due to his faithful (though flawed) following of God’s calling.
I note that Jesus is described as the Lamb of God. Lambs were not used for sin offerings. In Exodus the blood of the lamb was used to identify those to be passed over when death inevitably otherwise came.
I remain open to being challenged by further insights on this.
I just discovered your blog, Scott. Thank you! Regarding PSA, I have found Nonviolent Atonement by J. Denny Weaver helpful. Maybe you have, as well. If not, I recommend it.
Here is Penal Substitutionary Atonement from God
Isaiah 53:1-12 (NKJV)
1 Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
2 For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him.
3 He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
4 Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth.
8 He was taken from prison and from judgment, And who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; For the transgressions of My people He was stricken.
9 And they made His grave with the wicked– But with the rich at His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was any deceit in His mouth.
10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, And the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand.
11 He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, And He shall divide the spoil with the strong, Because He poured out His soul unto death, And He was numbered with the transgressors, And He bore the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors.
I pray God brings into your life, some people who actually believe God’s word, so you can understand and be saved. Tim
Hi Tim,
Yes, Isaiah 53 can be read in a way that makes sense of a doctrine of penal substitution, but it is by no means the only nor even the more natural reading of the text. See for example, the relevant section in Craig Belousek’s Justice, Atonement and Pearce.
I am surprised at your final sentence. I appreciate your concern for my salvation, but am somewhat bamboozled by the assumption that anyone who doesn’t offer a penal substitutionary interpretation of scripture (which pretty much rules out all Christians prior to the Reformation and a whole lot since) doesn’t believe in God’s word. It is however a striking demonstration of conviction that you are so committed to your reading that you have turned your back on that greatest of all Reformation insights, that we are justified by faith alone, and replaced it with the notion that we are justified by our intellectual assent to a 16th century formulation of atonement alone. As for me, I am happy to trust in the love, grace and generosity of Christ for my salvation.