-- Dave
----- Begin Included Message -----
Date: Mon, 3 Jun 1996 22:31:08 -0500
X-Sender: kbmill@pop.ksu.edu
Mime-Version: 1.0
To: Dave Koerner 818-354-8820 <davidk@nicmos.jpl.nasa.gov>
From: kbmill@ksu.ksu.edu (Keith B Miller)
Subject: Re: Substitutionary Atonement
Dave Koerner wrote:
>In the New Testament world of commerce, a ransom was the price that had
>to be paid to buy back a pawned object or to liberate a slave. Thus, Christ
>is seen as the ransom given to liberate us all from the slavery of sin.
>BUT IT HAS BEEN AN EXTRAORDINARY MISUNDERSTANDING TO VIEW THIS ACT OF
>RANSOMING IN MORE THAN METAPHORICAL TERMS, AS IF IT WERE SOME NECESSARY
>PAYMENT DEMANDED BY GOD. [Upper case mine] On the contrary, "the redemption
>wrought by Christ" is ITSELF "the gift of God" (Romans 3:24). We have no
>reason for supposing that the New Testament intended to press the metaphor
>any further than did the Old Testament...
I am very unclear about the distinction you are making between the concept
of Christ as a ransom and substitutionary atonement. The image of Christ
as "our Passover" and the extensive analogy between the sacrifice of Christ
and the Yom Kippur temple service in Hebrews seem to demand a substitionary
understanding.
Also, a literal Adam is not necessary for a substitionary understanding of
Christ's death and resurrection. All that is required is the reality of
our own sin and rebellion against god.
In Christ:
Keith
Keith B. Miller
Department of Geology
Kansas State University
Manhattan, KS 66506
kbmill@ksu.ksu.edu
http://www.ksu.edu/~kbmill/
----- End Included Message -----