Anselm on the Atonement

In Book I of Cur Deus Homo (Why the God-Man?), Anselm aims to show the impossibility of man’s achieving salvation for himself. In Book II, he seeks to show that Jesus Christ, the God-Man, is the necessary means of salvation. His exposition of salvation through the God-Man is characterized by a serious attempt to hold …

Take your sin to Christ. He has made atonement for sin.

Leviticus 1:1-2:16 Jesus Christ, ‘the Lamb without blemish’, has ‘made atonement’ for sin through the shedding of His ‘precious blood’(1:3-5; 1 Peter 1:18-19). This offering of Christ - He ‘loved us and gave Himself up for us’- is ‘a pleasing odour to the Lord’, ‘a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God’(1:9,13,17; Ephesians 5:2). Read of …

When He comes, our glorious King… Hallelujah! What A Saviour!

Numbers 15:1-41 We read of offerings for ‘atonement’(25,28). We think of Christ: He went ‘outside the camp’ for us (35-36; Hebrews 13:12) - to bring us forgiveness (25,28). We are to ‘be holy to our God’, the God of our redemption (40-41). Obedience to God is of the utmost importance: We need to be reminded …

Athanasius on the Atonement

Are there two unreconciled theories of the atonement in Athanasius? Do the writings of Athanasius contain two theories of the atonement - a ‘physical’ theory which teaches that, through Christ’s assumption of humanity, mankind is clothed in the incorruption and indestructibility that is inherent in Christ the Word and a ‘legal’ theory which maintains that …

Jesus died for us.

What do we mean when we say, "Jesus died for us"? Who are the "us" for whom Jesus died? A number of years ago, I read a paper, written by Dr Alan C. Clifford. It was entitled, "Atonement for all, salvation for  some." It had the sub-title: "Authentic Calvinism: A Clarification." In this paper, Dr …

John McLeod Campbell on the Atonement (1)

We begin with the charges brought against McLeod Campbell by the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1831: “the doctrine of universal atonement and pardon through the death of Christ, as also the doctrine that assurance is of the essence of faith and necessary for salvation are contrary to Holy Scripture and to …

John McLeod Campbell on the Atonement (2)

This post is not about McLeod Campbell and the Westminster Confession of Faith. Whatever else we may say about the Westminster Confession of Faith, we must say this: it is our subordinate standard. I stress the word "subordinate". Neither the Westminster Confession of faith nor McLeod Campbell should be set on the same level as …