The atonement of Christ is rightly viewed as a central aspect of the Christian religion. Its true significance and even its necessity, however, has been debated throughout church history and it still continues to this day. Here are some of the traditional views that have been held throughout the history of the church:
Christus victor - this view, held by many of the early church fathers, saw fallen humanity in bondage to Satan. In order to redeem us, Christ agreed to give his life as a ransom by dying on the cross. Satan took the bait, as it were, and agreed to the trade. However, in so doing, he sealed his defeat, because the power of Christ’s death and subsequent resurrection actually destroyed the powers of darkness. Readers of C.S. Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe may find this depiction familiar in his story of Aslan giving his life for Edmund and in so doing, defeating the White Witch.
Satisfaction theory – in the eleventh century, a bishop by the name of Anselm wrote a book entitled, Cur Deus homo? (lit. “Why the God man?”). In this work, Anselm spoke of the necessity of the incarnation of Christ as well as the purpose and intent of the atonement. He spoke of humanity’s estrangement and hostility with God being the result of having offended his honor. Instead of a ransom being paid to Satan, Christ was to offer his life to an offended God; his death was a payment for humanity’s debt in order to restore the honor due his name. This view has been criticized in contemporary discussions due to its heavy reliance upon Anselm’s own social assumptions of the feudal system.
Moral influence theory – Abelard, a contemporary of Anselm, did not view God as needing any sort of appeasement in order to reconcile humanity to him, but rather placed the blame upon human hostility that they have towards God and each other. Thus, he spoke of the atonement as God’s ultimate demonstration of love towards his creatures. The purpose of the atonement, therefore, is to serve as an example of selfless love, which then changes people’s hearts to no longer want hostility, but reconciliation. This view, unlike the others, is purely subjective, that is, the atonement does not accomplish anything outside of people’s lives (e.g. satisfying God’s justice or defeating the powers of darkness), but only has effect in the hearts of people. Also, the atonement is not strictly necessary, since it was merely a demonstration of God’s love and a free act of his will.
Feminist theory – in contemporary discussions of the atonement, perhaps the most radical and blunt theory is that which says the atonement is nothing more than a case of divine child abuse. For God the Father to have his Son die on the cross is cruel and unusual, they say. Further, they suggest that the doctrine of the atonement has been used to exploit people (women especially), by suggesting that humble submission in the face of suffering has redemptive value. Despite all of this theory’s obvious faults, I do not think that we should so easily dismiss it. If a view does not see the atonement as absolutely necessary in order to satisfy God’s justice, then I believe that it is subject to the feminist critique.
Reformed view - the atonement, according to this view, is of “consequent absolute necessity,” that is, since God has determined to redeem fallen humanity, the cross of Christ was the only way. It is not a case of divine child abuse since, according to the pactum salutus (“covenant of peace”), the Son voluntarily agrees to give his life for the people whom the Father has chosen. Like Anselm’s theory, this was done in order to make satisfaction towards God (cf. Heidelberg Catechism #12-17), but unlike his view, this was to meet his justice, not some other arbitrary standard. Christ also defeated the powers of darkness on the cross and though his Spirit, he applies the benefits of his death and resurrection towards all of the elect.
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