Defending Substitution: An Essay on Atonement in Paul (Acadia Studies in Bible and Theology )

by Simon Gathercole

Publisher:

Baker Academic

, 2015

Overview

In recent decades, the church and academy have witnessed intense debates concerning the concept of penal substitution to describe Christ’s atoning sacrifice. A number of theologians, New Testament scholars, and authors of popular Christian literature have taken issue with the concept, claiming that it promotes bloody violence, glorifies suffering and death, and inevitably amounts to divine child abuse. On the other hand, others have defended penal substitution, arguing that the concept plays a pivotal role in classical Christian doctrine.

In this volume, world-renowned New Testament scholar Simon Gathercole offers an exegetical and historical defense of the traditional substitutionary view of the atonement. Gathercole provides critical analyses of various interpretations of the atonement and places New Testament teaching in its Old Testament and Greco-Roman contexts, demonstrating that the interpretation of atonement in the Pauline corpus must include the concept of penal substitution. Professors and students of New Testament and early Christianity, the history of Christian doctrine, and contemporary systematic theology will value this work.

In the Logos edition, this volume is enhanced by amazing functionality. Important terms link to dictionaries, encyclopedias, and a wealth of other resources in your digital library. Perform powerful searches to find exactly what you’re looking for. Take the discussion with you using tablet and mobile apps. With Logos Bible Software, the most efficient and comprehensive research tools are in one place, so you get the most out of your study.

Key Features

• Provides an exegetical and historical defense of the traditional substitutionary view of the atonement
• Sifts through the intense debates in recent decades over penal substitution
• Pays careful attention to the Old Testament and Greco-Roman contexts for atonement

Contents

• Exegetical Challenges to Substitution
• The Tübingen Understanding of Representative "Place-Taking"
• Interchange in Christ
• Apocalyptic Deliverance
• The Omission or Downplaying of "Sins"
• "Christ Died for Our Sins according to the Scriptures" (1 Cor. 15:3)
• The Importance of 1 Corinthians 15:3-4
• "According to the Scriptures"
• Substitution in 1 Corinthians 15:3
• Excursus: An Objection--Why, Then, Do Christians Still Die?
• The Vicarious Death of Christ and Classical Parallels (Rom. 5:6-8)
• The Translation of Romans 5:6-8
• A Sketch of the Exegesis
• Vicarious Deaths in Classical Tradition
• The Comparison in Romans 5:6-8

Top Highlights

“In other words, what will be argued in this book is that when Christ died bearing our sins or guilt or punishment, he did so in our place and instead of us. In a vital sense—as Luther put it—when Christ was bearing our sins, that meant that we were not bearing our sins and do not have to do so.” (Page 17)

“I am defining substitutionary atonement for the present purposes as Christ’s death in our place, instead of us. The ‘instead of us’ clarifies the point that ‘in our place’ does not, in substitution at least, mean ‘in our place with us.’” (Page 15)

“The sins, therefore, are put on the head of the goat, but these sins are then carried away rather than punished in the goat.” (Page 19)

“For Gese and his school, atonement takes place not through substitution but through a special kind of identification.” (Page 31)

“First, such theological criticisms neglect the obvious fact that the death of Christ is not that of a third party but is the ‘self-substitution of God.’²⁴ Outside of a context of high Christology or of the doctrine of the Trinity, substitution might of course be open to such charges as those leveled above.” (Pages 24–25)

Praise for the Print Edition

In this short exploratory study Simon Gathercole draws on a range of classical as well as biblical sources to argue that for Paul, at least, the notion of substitution remained central.

—N.T. Wright, research professor of New Testament and early Christianity, University of St. Andrews, Scotland

Can Christ’s work of atonement be substitutionary in nature? Though Reformation Protestantism has replied in the affirmative, much recent scholarship has tended to have a negative view of this atonement motif. Simon Gathercole is to be congratulated for intervening in this debate with a short, clear, and lively book that argues the case for a substitutionary motif from a biblical perspective, and with an eye to both the Christian tradition and recent debates in the literature.

—Oliver D. Crisp, professor of systematic theology, Fuller Theological Seminary

In this little book, Simon Gathercole carefully and convincingly dismisses false dichotomies. The death of Christ is presented in the Bible as both representative and substitutionary. These learned and lucid lectures use the prism of modern disputes to take us to the heart of Pauline teaching on the cross. I highly commend it.

—Mark Dever, pastor, Capitol Hill Baptist Church, Washington, DC

Product Details

• Title: Defending Substitution: An Essay on Atonement in Paul
• Author: Simon Gathercole
• Series: Acadia Studies in Bible and Theology
• Publisher: Baker Academic
• Print Publication Date: 2015
• Logos Release Date: 2015
• Pages: 128
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subjects: Atonement › Biblical teaching; Bible. N.T. Epistles of Paul › Criticism, interpretation, etc; Bible. N.T. 1 Corinthians 15 › Criticism, interpretation, etc
• ISBNs: 9781441223128, 9780801049774, 1441223126, 0801049776
• Resource ID: LLS:DFNDNGSBSTTTN
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-29T23:17:19Z

About Simon Gathercole

Simon Gathercole is senior lecturer in New Testament studies in the faculty of divinity of the University of Cambridge and fellow and director of studies in theology at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge. A leading British New Testament scholar, he has written hundreds of articles and several groundbreaking volumes, including The Preexistent Son: Recovering the Christologies of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, The Gospel of Judas: Rewriting Early Christianity, The Composition of the Gospel of Thomas, and The Gospel of Thomas: Introduction and Commentary. He is also coauthor of How God Became Jesus: The Real Origins of Belief in Jesus’ Divine Nature—A Response and Heaven on Earth. He also coedited Divine and Human Agency in Paul and His Cultural Environment.