“Penal Substitution: 2 Years Later and We Still Cant Get No Satisfaction” Andrew Jones

From the Tall Skinny Kiwi: Penal Substitution: 2 Years Later and We Still Cant Get No Satisfaction

It was October 7th, 2004 and we were sitting on highly-elevated pews in a London church, waiting to hear Steve Chalke explain and defend his issues with the theory of penal substitution that he outlined in his book “The Lost Message of Jesus” – a book that actually never mentions the term “penal substitution”. The term, btw, refers to a theory of the atonement developed by Calvin and the Reformers and built on the Satisfaction Theory of Anslem. One of the tension points is whether Paul or the writers of the gospels held a view of the atonement similar Reformation theologians . Did they place a judge's wig on God the Father? Are we reading Paul through Calvin? Are we clouding Isaiah 53 with our modern concept of a Western legal system?

Andrew gives an interesting overview of the international discussion going on about penal substitution. Reading this reminded me of a quote by Ravi Zacharias that Neil Craigan posted this week.

"Jesus didn't come to make bad people good. He came to make dead people live."

With Jones, I believe in the "penal substitution" aspect of atonement, but it isn't limited to that. It boggles my mind that there are people spending hours of debate, writing books and articles, about whether atonement should be limited to just this concept. Yet one more reason not to go to seminary.  🙂