We run our website the way we wished the whole internet worked: we provide high quality original content with no ads. We are funded solely by your direct support. Please consider supporting this project.

Penal Substitution View of Atonement: Did God the Father Just Need to Vent?
In this video blog, Greg outlines the penal substitution view of atonement which says that the Father poured out his wrath on Jesus instead of us so that we could be forgiven. This view is very common and you might even be nodding your head in agreement with that description. However, this view creates some pretty serious problems when it’s examined more closely. Today, Greg will explore some of those problems, and then he’ll present the Christus Victor view in a video blog on Thursday. Stay tuned!
Category: Essays
Tags: Atonement, Essay, Forgiveness, God, God's Wrath, Jesus, Penal Substitution View of Atonement, Picture of God, Sin
Topics: Atonement and The Cross
Related Reading

Quotes to Chew on: God’s Love When We Rebel
“Despite the fall and its consequent curse, however, God’s love was not deterred. God is love. God doesn’t stop being God simply because the humans he created have rebelled against him. God does not abandon his goal of having others share in the eternal, ecstatic dance of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The world…

Part 2: Disarming Flood’s Case Against Biblical Infallibility
Image by humancarbine via Flickr In this second part of my review of Disarming Scripture I will begin to address its strengths and weakness. [Click here for Part 1] There is a great deal in Disarming Scripture that I appreciate. Perhaps the most significant thing is that Flood fully grasps, and effectively communicates, the truth that…

Christus Victor Atonement and Girard’s Scapegoat Theory
Many of the major criticisms of Crucifixion of the Warrior God that have been raised since it was published four weeks ago have come from folks who advocate Rene Girard’s understanding of the atonement. A major place where these matters are being discussed is here, and you are free to join. Now, I have to…

The Rule of Love
The traditional confession that Scriptura sacra sui ipsius interpres (“Sacred Scripture is its own interpreter”) presupposes that there is one divine mind behind Scripture, for example. Moreover, Church scholars have traditionally assumed that Scripture’s unity can be discerned in a variety of concepts, motifs, themes and theologies that weave Scripture together. And to speak specifically of the…

The Cruciform Way of the Lamb
In this video, Greg offers insight into how to read the Bible with the cross at the center of the revelation of God, thereby reframing how we interpret the violent and nationalistic passages of the Old Testament. Travis Reed from The Work of the People did a series of interviews with Greg a while ago and…

Sermons: Resurrection Principle
Is the resurrection of Jesus true? The entire Christian faith rests on if is or not. In this short sermon clip, Greg Boyd goes through a few historical proofs as to why this is true. It is important to remember Christ’s resurrection and the meaning, purpose and principle behind it. In the full sermon, Greg…