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HOUSMAIL
HM114A
7 February 2004 THEORIES OF
THE ATONEMENT – PART 1 This
article has turned out to be a bit longer than I usually like to write for
HOUSMAIL. Consequently it will be split into shorter parts. That way readers
won’t have to absorb quite so much at a sitting. This first part will briefly
address some things which seem to prevent many of the more popular acclaimed
theorists from seeing things clearly from a truly Biblical perspective. DIVINE
WISDOM OR "GREAT SWELLING WORDS"? Over
my lifetime (now nearly 72 years) my study of this subject has led me to read
many more long wordy articles than I could possibly hope to remember
individually. Especially, since starting to research specifically for this
paper, I have been amazed at the huge number of mutually exclusive,
contradictory, and confusing "theories" invented over
the centuries, by the so called "scholars" of the Church. What
Jesus managed to convey to "Babes" in just a few one line verses,
these men have "padded out" to numberless pages of abstract theory,
far beyond the capacity of the average layman! It’s sometimes called
"metaphysics". (My layman’s
paraphrase derived from what the Dictionary says that "big word"
means would be something like -- "when two people speculate
theoretically about something, and the hearer does not understand what is
said, and the speaker himself does not know what he is saying"!) Our
best chance of "getting it right" will be to keep it as short and
as uncomplicated as Jesus did! My personal approach is that if my 12 year old
grandchildren cannot follow what is being taught about this subject, it
probably needs "revision" until they do! THEORY
VS. BIBLE FACT It
is significant that amongst themselves, theologians refer to all of these
different versions as "Theories of the Atonement".
"Theories" is indeed the correct word to describe most of it! It
comes into our English language from the Greek word "THEORIA". (contemplation,
or speculation) It usually describes a speculative
conclusion which has been designed to "fit" and "explain"
certain evidence but is not necessarily itself PROVEN FACT. (The theory
of Evolution is a good example of this process in action.) In the case of the
"Doctrine of the Atonement", most of these theories go far beyond
what is actually written in the Scriptures, using complicated abstract
"logic" to develop dogmatic conclusions, long on rhetoric, but
short on Scriptural support. It
has been very comforting to remember that sitting at the feet of such men is
NOT the Bible’s recommended way to seek the simple uncomplicated wisdom of
God! (1 Corinthians 1:17-31) We need to remember Paul: "The wisdom of this world is
folly with God". (1 Corinthians 3:19) Far better says James, to go to the very top -- to God Himself
-- to ask your own prayerful questions. (James 1:5-8) Answers are guaranteed! A
WRONG FOUNDATION Most
of these theories have their roots in Scripturally unsupportable views of an
inherited defiled human nature which is supposed to have been changed
somehow, as a consequence of the Adam’s disobedience in Eden, and passed on
genetically to his descendants. They attempt to explain what has happened to
reverse the effects of that "fall". And of course if they are
attempting to explain something which never happened, and therefore does not
exist, their complicated "great swelling words" are doomed to
failure! These
unscriptural views of Human Nature include Roman Catholic "Original
Sin", Calvin’s "Total Depravity", and various other versions
of Protestant "Inherited Sin Nature". Some of the Christadelphians
I grew up amongst call it "Sin-in-the flesh"; others reject that
term but retain something they call -- (genetically inherited) "Sinful
Nature"; and still others reject BOTH! And as many can testify, if you
dare to confess publicly to belief in the wrong version of those
in the wrong place, at the wrong time, in the hearing of the wrong audience,
you can get yourself disfellowshipped about the differences! Sad isn’t it,
that what Jesus has done to reconcile men to God, and to each other, has been
abused by carnal men as an excuse to make war on their fellows! The
situation is further complicated by attachment to Non-Biblical Trinitarian
theology, which attributes to Jesus a second immortal divine nature,
incapable of experiencing the unconscious oblivion of REAL Biblical Death.
Many also say that this alleged second divine nature rendered Him incapable
of REAL temptation, and incapable of actually sinning. What a farce that
makes of the Gospel records! If that were really true, how could you ever
trust them as a revelation of THE WAY to find God? (John 14:8) And
if that is not enough to make you question their foundation, there is also
the so called "gospel" which offers the false hope of instant
transport of immortal souls to Heaven at the moment of death, -- almost
universally accompanied by the terribly mistaken belief that the vast
majority of men are already burning in endless torment in the fires of hell! What
a low view of God these men have! Fear of endless torment cannot, and does
not, generate love. How could it possibly be true that the God whose love is
revealed in the Bible, especially through the Cross, would deliberately
create men, born with a genetic defect which renders them totally incapable
of obedience, and then punish them for endless eternity, for what they could
not help doing? Would that be "love"? Would that be
"justice"? I think not! Such a God would be a monster,
and unworthy of the love to which the most important commandment of Gospel
calls us! But PRAISE GOD! The Scriptures confirm that He is not like that at
all! He is indeed in every way, worthy of our love and respect. KEEPING
IT IN PERSPECTIVE In
analysing any theory of the Atonement, what we need to keep in view, is God’s
goal -- which is to turn us from enmity towards Himself, and
our fellow men, and become disciples, allowing Jesus to teach us how to truly
obey the TWO great commandments of the Gospel. Only so can we be made ready
for the Bible’s conditional promise of transformation from
mortality to immortality, and an eternal inheritance in the Kingdom of God,
which is to be established on this earth, when Jesus returns from Heaven. (Matthew 28:19-20) In
order to achieve that, our beliefs about the Atonement must become far more
than lip service to mere theory! What we say we "believe" must
become a life transforming love for God and His Son, leading to real moral
conversion, and renewal of our minds and hearts. (Romans 12:2) If it does not do
that, it is useless! God
willing, Part 2 of this article will follow soon, with brief details of some
of the better known of these false theories, and a rebuttal which will
attempt to highlight some of the main difficulties associated with them. This
is one of a series of papers on this topic. It should be read in company
with: *
HM113 What do You
Mean - Atonement? *
HM114B Theories
of the Atonement - Part 2 - False Theories *
HM114C The
Lamb of God and the Ransom Allon |