The Scandal of the Cross (4)

The meager paragraphs that follow are hardly sufficient to address the issues at hand. This is more of a “for your information” kind of a post, listing what is out there, and giving us a starting point from which to dialog. Most of you can feel free to read this, say “Oh that’s nice” and move on. It is, however, what I have been musing on lately and so it goes on this blog. If you have the time or inclination, I would love to discuss just how terribly important all of this is, but I doubt that you do. I certainly don’t seem to, as is evident by the frequencies of the posts here lately.

In the last post on the scandal of the cross, we looked at the variety of biblical words and images used to describe what Christ did on the cross. In this post I want to look at the variety of theological motifs available to the church. These motifs have been developed to answer some basic questions.

Why did Christ have to die?

Why did he have to die on a cross?

How does Christ death on a cross save us?

What happened on the cross, spiritually and theologically?

God forgave sins before Christ died. Why then was Christ death necessary? Why doesn’t an all powerful God simply forgive people, without any of this death nonsense?

For the Christian, that the cross saves is not in doubt. But questions about how and why, may still remain, particularly if one chooses to question the Sunday School answers she was given as a child. The answers that follow are theological in nature, not apologetic. Meaning that they are meant to help Christians understand the nuances of what they believe, not convince unbelievers of the truths contained within. What follows is foundational, and academic. It might seem dry, but these are the historical building blocks from which pastors, missionaries and others work. This post gives you access to a few short descriptions, so that we can work from the same sheet of music.

Below I am only going to give you some titles and short descriptions of different perspectives. Its up to you to look into these in-depth if you are so inclined.

Cristus Victor as Recapitulation.
Iraneaus (130 - 202) was one of the first to put forward a theological understanding of the death of Christ. From his perspective, Jesus conquers the devil on the cross, largely by tricking him. As a prize he wins back the rights to humanity. The devil thinks he is defeating Christ by killing him, but in actuality, because the devil does not know the rules, he is sealing his own fate.

Christus Victor as Ransom
Gregory of Nyssa (335-394) taught that Jesus offered himself as ransom for humanity. He gave himself up to the devil, but the goodness of Christ was too much, and the devil lost his grasp, losing his prize as well as his prisoners.

According to both of these perspectives Christ conquers the Devil.

Satisfaction Model.
Created by Anselm (1033-1109) during the middle ages, this model relied heavily on Medieval imagery. Anselm rejected any notion of the devil being owed anything. Rather, Christ offers himself as satisfaction to God for the debt that sinful humanity owed to God.

This model is very similar to penal substitution models that developed later, but due to the different settings they developed in, are in fact, very different. The satisfaction model draws on the obligations that people in various positions owed to each other during the middle ages. For instance, surfs had obligations to the Lord of the manner, and he in turn had obligations both to his surfs to provide protection, and to a king above him, providing the required payments of various goods. Likewise, Jesus satisfies the debt we owe to God, by dying on the cross.

In contrast, the penal substitution model, draws on a system of courts and justice, different than a system of debt and obligation common in the middle ages.

Moral Influence Model
Abelard (1049-1142) was the first to bring this perspective to bear. He first rejects all other notions as described above. He then simply states that it was Christ love for humanity that brought him to earth. Offering us an example of how we ought to live. That he was killed was simply an outgrowth of this, and in his death also he showed us how to behave. In his life and death Jesus drew humankind unto himself by his selfless example, causing us to repent and love God.

Penal Substitution Model
Charles Hodge (1797 - 1878) was one of the first proponents of this model, the most common perspective taught today. It is basically very simple. God would like to live with us all happily ever after, but because of our sins, and because he is holy and just, he cannot. As a solution, God sends his son to earth to suffer the punishment we deserve. Because Jesus paid our penalty, God can now regard us as holy, and commune with us. Many of us have heard the story of the judge that pronounces one guilty of all their sins, but then says, “if you accept the payment that my son has offered” he will bear your guilt and you may go free.

The main difference between this model and the Satisfaction model is that in the latter, Jesus pays a debt we owe, but in the former, Jesus steps in to take the punishment we deserve.

In the coming final post on this topic, we will look at the implications for these models and the one’s found in the Bible detailed in the earlier post.