Category Archives: Atonement

Long time readers will recall that I’m a Michael J. Gorman fan. I did a lengthy series a while back based on his Inhabiting the Cruciform God: Kenosis, Justification, and Theosis in Paul’s Narrative Soteriology — which is truly a … Continue reading →

In the last post, I introduced the idea that God became King of the nations via the cross and the resurrection. It is, indeed, a major theme of the four Gospels, as described by N. T. Wright in How God … Continue reading →

This idea of “gods” and “powers” is profoundly disturbing, of course. After all, Christians have long insisted on monotheism. The classic text is, of course, the Shema — (Deu 6:4 ESV)  4 “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the … Continue reading →

We’ve taken this detour through the “powers” to better understand why the early church fathers would imagine that the atonement is all about God’s defeat of the powers, authorities, princes, etc. — especially Satan. That seems foreign to modern ears, but … Continue reading →

We’re continuing to consider materials from the book God’s Rivals: Why Has God Allowed Different Religions? Insights from the Bible and the Early Church, by Gerald R. McDermott. We’re not presently concerned with his principal argument, that is, the significance of … Continue reading →

As mentioned in the last post, the scriptural notion of “powers” and “authorities” is routinely ignored in our Bible studies. And yet the Christus Victor theory of atonement is based on God’s victory over the powers in Jesus by means of … Continue reading →

Christus Victor Christus Victor is a phrase I imagine very few of my readers are familiar with. In fact, I’ve had to do a little study on it myself … because we in the Churches of Christ don’t spend much … Continue reading →

I posted two extensive comments in reply to comments of Price and Guy in my most recent post. I’m reposting edited versions of my comments here. I follow with a couple of reflections. One of my problems with Reformation era … Continue reading →

Ransom The explanation for how the atonement works found in Matthew and Mark is found in — (Mat 20:26-28 ESV)  26 “It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant,  27 … Continue reading →