Defending Substitution: An Essay on Atonement in Paul

by Simon Gathercole, Craig A. Evans (Editor), Lee McDonald (Editor)

Overview

In recent decades, the church and academy have witnessed intense debates concerning the concept of penal substitution to describe Christ's atoning sacrifice. Some claim it promotes violence, glorifies suffering and death, and amounts to divine child abuse. Others argue it plays a pivotal role in classical Christian doctrine. Here world-renowned New Testament scholar Simon Gathercole offers an exegetical and historical defense of the traditional substitutionary view of the atonement. He 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 substitution.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780801049774
Publisher:	Baker Publishing Group
Publication date:	05/19/2015
Series:	Acadia Studies in Bible and Theology
Pages:	128
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Simon Gathercole (PhD, University of Durham) 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, England. A leading British New Testament scholar, he has written several groundbreaking books.

Table of Contents

Introduction
The Importance of Substitution
Defining Substitution: Christ in Our Place
Criticisms of Substitution
1. Exegetical Challenges to Substitution
The Tübingen Understanding of Representative "Place-Taking"
Interchange in Christ
Apocalyptic Deliverance
The Omission or Downplaying of "Sins"
Conclusion
2. "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
Conclusion
Excursus: An Objection—Why, Then, Do Christians Still Die?
3. 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
Conclusion
Conclusion
Indexes