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
God Became a Zygote
Has the Christmas story become so familiar that you’ve lost any sense of how spectacular it is? The great creator of the universe became a microscopic zygote. The all-powerful being who spoke the stars into existence came in a very small and vulnerable way. He crossed an infinite distance to become one of us. You can watch…
A Brief Theology of Sin
We were created for unbroken, loving fellowship with God. We see this in the creation story. As we share in this unbroken, trusting fellowship with God, we participate in the very love that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit share throughout eternity. We also read in the creation story that sin ruptured this fellowship and sidetracked…
Drum Roll Please: Greg’s Final Critique of Bart Ehrman’s Article
This is the ninth and final of several videos Greg put together to refute Bart Ehrman’s claims published in the article What Do We Really Know About Jesus? Thanks for hanging in there for this last one. I know it was a long wait, but the holidays got inordinately busy for Greg. In this segment, Greg talks…
What About the Arizona Anti-Gay Bill?
HumanSeeHumanDo via Compfight The recent anti-gay bill in Arizona which was passed last week by the state’s Legislature and now sits on the desk of the Governor, would allow companies to deny service to or discriminate against gay people based on the religious beliefs of the business owner. In response, Greg has tweeted: “The governor…
Rethinking the Resurrection
As much as every other aspect of Jesus life and ministry, I submit that the resurrection must be understood in light of the cross. This event was not anything like the resuscitation of a random corpse. It was the resurrection of the Incarnate Son of God who had fulfilled the human side of the God-human…
When Jesus Questioned the Father
Though the sinless Son of God had perfect faith, we find him asking God the Father to alter the plan to redeem the world through his sacrifice—if it is “possible” (Matt. 26:42). As the nightmare of experiencing the sin and God-forsakenness of the world was encroaching upon him, Jesus was obviously, and understandably struggling. So,…