The Clergyman is Expected to be a Kind of Human Sunday: Substitutionary atonement - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Substitutionary atonement - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: Technically speaking, substitutionary atonement is the name given to a number of Christian models of the atonement that all regard Jesus as dying as a substitute for others, 'instead of' them. It is thought to be expressed in the Bible in passages such as 'He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness,'[1 Pet. 2:24] and 'For Christ also died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God.'[1 Pet. 3:18] (although other ways of reading passages like this are also offered).

There is also a less technical use of the term 'substitution' in discussion about atonement when it is used in 'the sense that [Jesus, through his death,] did for us that which we can never do for ourselves'.

Ransom and Christus Victor theory

The ransom and Christus Victor theories present Jesus as dying to overcome (supernatural) powers of sin and evil. In this model, the devil has ownership over humanity (because they have sinned) so Jesus dies in their place to free them. The doctrine is that Jesus gave himself as a ransom sacrifice in behalf of the people. (Matthew 20:28) This is known as the oldest of the theories of the atonement, and is, in some form, still, along with the doctrine of theosis, the Eastern Orthodox Church's main theory of the atonement.

Satisfaction and penal substitution

The widest held substitutionary theory in the West is the penal substitution model. Both the penal theory and Anselm's satisfaction theory hold that only human beings can rightfully repay the debt (to God's honour [Anselm], or to God's justice [penal substitution]) which was incurred through their wilful disobedience to God. Since only God can make the satisfaction necessary to repay it, therefore God sent the God-man, Jesus Christ, to fulfil both these conditions. Christ is a sacrifice by God on behalf of humanity, taking humanity’s debt for sin upon himself, and propitiating God’s wrath.

 

pro·pi·ti·ate

prəˈpiSHēˌāt

 

verb

gerund or present participle: propitiating

win or regain the favor of (a god, spirit, or person) by doing something that pleases them.

 

"the pagans thought it was important to propitiate the gods with sacrifices"

 

synonyms:

appease, placate, mollify, pacify, make peace with, conciliate, make amends to, soothe, calm e    "my attempts to propitiate you are useless"      There are a number of other substitutionary theories of the atonement besides the four described above. A few are listed below: Governmental theory: Initially introduced by Hugo Grotius (17th century. Other proponents include John Miley, Albert Barnes, Charles Finney, J. Kenneth Grider, the New Divinity (or 'Edwardean Divinity') school, and possibly Jonathan Edwards [although this is debated].) The theory states that God is 'ready to forgive, and needs only to have such an arrangement made that He can do it safely as to His government'. 'Every act of rebellion denounces the law. Hence, before God can pardon rebellion, He must make such a demonstration of His attitude toward sin....' Jesus' death did this—it demonstrated God's hatred of sin—and thus God's law (his rule, his government) is upheld (people see that sin is serious and will lead to death), and God forgives people who recognise this and respond through repentance. The governmental theory rejects the notion of penal substitution, but is still substitutionary itself in that Christ, in his exemplary sufferings, substituted for believers and the punishment they would otherwise receive. John McLeod Campbell (The nature of the Atonement [1856]): 'Campbell rejects the idea of vicarious punishment [...And] Taking a hint from Jonathan Edwards, ...develops the idea that Christ, as representative and complete man, was able to offer a vicarious repentance to God for men.' Vincent Taylor (The Cross of Christ [1956]): '...in St. Paul's teaching Christ's death is substitutionary in the sense that He did for us that which we can never do for ourselves, but not in the sense that He transfers our punishment to Himself...' . While rejecting as pagan the notion that Jesus' death propitiates the Father , he talks of Jesus' sacrifice as vicarious, representative and sacrificial , and says that for Jesus 'sacrifice is a representative offering in which men can share, making it the vehicle or organ of their approach to God' . Taylor called this theory the 'Sacrificial Theory' vicarious   (vɪˈkɛərɪəs, vaɪ-)   — adj   1.  obtained or undergone at second hand through sympathetic participation in another's experiences   2.  suffered, undergone, or done as the substitute for another: vicarious punishment   3.  delegated: vicarious authority   4.  taking the place of another   5.  pathol See endometriosis (of menstrual bleeding) occurring at an abnormal site

 "The clergyman is expected to be a kind of human Sunday.  Things must not be done in him which are venial in the week-day classes.  He is paid for this business of leading a stricter life than other people.  It is his raison d'etre...  This is why the clergyman is so often called a "vicar"Mhe being the person whose vicarious goodness is to stand for that of those entrusted to his charge."

~(Samuel Butler)~



 

Isaiah 53:1-12

English Standard Version (ESV)

 

53 Who has believed what he has heard from us?^[a]
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
² For he grew up before him like a young plant,
and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
and no beauty that we should desire him.
³ He was despised and rejected^[b] by men;
a man of sorrows,^[c] and acquainted with^[d] grief;^[e]
and as one from whom men hide their faces^[f]
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

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 pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds 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;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he opened not his mouth.
⁸ By oppression and judgment he was taken away;
and as for his generation, who considered
that he was cut off out of the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of my people?
⁹ And they made his grave with the wicked
and with a rich man in his death,
although he had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in his mouth.

¹⁰ Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him;
he has put him to grief;^[g]
when his soul makes^[h] an offering for guilt,
he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;
the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
¹¹ Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see^[i] and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
make many to be accounted righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.
¹² Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,^[j]
and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,^[k]
because he poured out his soul to death
and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
and makes intercession for the transgressors.