The human deception is to believe that one is capable of saving themselves because their sin is not that bad; however, because of sins power, there is not any effort or means of people saving themselves. The only way of salvation is belief in Jesus Christ and his work upon the cross. Yet this self-saving thought continues to this day and was greatly influenced by a British monk name Pelagius.1 He believed that people were not born sinful, some could live a sinless life, and ultimately, Christ’s sacrifice on the cross was unnecessary. First of all, Pelagius was fully aware of humanity’s potential to do good and become better greater than depraved; however his view was based on a denial of original sin. His teaching proclaimed, “All people …show more content…
The word atonement means reconciliation8 and refers to Christ’s life and death as the means of healing the broken relationship between God and man as the result of humanities sin and rebellion.9 However, the greatness of Christ’s atonement cannot be summed up in one sentence because of the greatness of all it accomplished on behalf of every sinner. Therefore, theologians have developed seven major theories of atonement and essentially all of them are needed in order for one to grasp the power of the cross. They are as follows: • Recapitulation Theory: Christ fulfilling what Adam, Israel and all of us were unable to do. Jesus became the new Adam, Israel and us in his life and death and has made way for us to join in what he is doing in the world. In other words, Christ became what we are so that we can become who he is. The negative is that we can take this too far and begin to believe we are divine or worse yet, we have become God. • Ransom Theory: about Christ paying a debt owed to Satan which keeps all of creation and humanity held captive. Yet through the death of Christ the ransom has been paid and creation and humanity have been liberated. The challenge with this theory is thinking God would owe Satan anything or that God was not powerful enough over …show more content…
The challenge with this theory is it can lead to legal rabbit trails and be interpreted from our western legal systems and ideas. • Substitution Theory: Christ taking our place and died a death that we no longer have to die; much like the Old Testament sacrificial system in which a goat died instead of the guilty one. However, the substitution theory stops show of explaining the fullness of atonement in what we get instead of death—new life. • Representation Theory: Much like substitution theory in that Christ represents the life we should have lived. We both die and rise to life and Jesus died and rose to life so that we can be included in his life.10 However Representation stops short of the fullness in Atonement because it lacks focus on the life we are to live now that Christ has risen. • Penal Substitution Theory: God is holy and cannot remain just by letting humanities sin go unresolved—there is a debt to be paid. Therefore, Christ satisfied God’s holy justice through by becoming the God/man and dying on the cross. Penal Substitution can put the Father and Son at odds with one another leading to a separation of the Trinity. The Father was angry, but the son was okay with what we had done to sin against the
One of the main principles of Christianity is the belief in both the divinity and humanity of Jesus, that these two natures are combined harmoniously in one being. In general, all modern Christians believe that Jesus was human, he was considered to be “The Word was made flesh” (John, I: 14). However, Jesus was more than just a human, despite being subjected to pain, suffering and death like all other human beings, he was sinless and also possessed the power to heal and to defy death in order to ascend, both body and spirit, into heaven. He was all man and all God, a combination of these two elements, remaining distinct but united in one being. The deity of Jesus is a non-negotiable belief in Christianity, which is referred to in many parts of scripture, “God was revealed in the flesh” (I Timothy, 3:16). The Christian faith does not perceive Jesus as God but rather a reincarnation of God, a mysterious deity who is the second person of the Holy Trinity. Throughout history, controversy has surrounded the issue of the humanity and divinity of Jesus, leading to the formation of Docetism, the belief that Jesus was fully divine but not fully human, Arianism, that Jesus was superior to all of creation, but less divine than God, and Nestorius, that there were two separate persons within Jesus. This the proportion of the divine and human within Je...
The traditional Christian answer to why God allowed the death of Christ is for the absolution of humanity’s sin. However, this begs the question, as an omnipotent God why was it necess...
...terpretations and understandings about what Salvation is and its significance to to Christianity, an adaptive nature that allows for modern Christianity to develop and grow, the very definition of a living and dynamic religion.
Since atonement theories are based on one’s interpretation of Scripture, as a result there is a vast amount of differing opinions throughout sects of Christianity. Theories can be split into two categories, subjective theories and objective theories. The former focuses on the humans response to the divine, while the latter focuses on what God has done and has to do. During Bach’s time, Lutheran orthodoxy, which focused on objective theories, and Lutheran pietism, which focused on subjective theories, were at odds with each other. One can view Bach’s St. Matthew’s Passion as a successful attempt to bridge the two.
We know that Christ is someone unique and distinct in many ways from every other man, especially in his incarnation. This word Incarnation basically means `made flesh'. This passage shows the unique and miraculous events which were involved in Christ's incarnation.
This paper will look at definition of baptismal regeneration the biblical justification surrounding baptismal regeneration; it will also look at the different doctrinal view on baptismal regeneration also the views from the early church fathers like Irenaeus, Augustine and theologian Jonathan Edwards.
In transition, the last two lines of the verse “Be of sin the double cure; Save from wrath and make me pure.” (850), are very significant. They capture the fulfillment of Old Testament prophesies and refer to what is often called the double imputation. In this, our sins were laid upon the pure, unblemished Christ, which he then in turn absorbed the punishment of God’s wrath for the sake of mankind. The relationship between Toplady’s concepts and biblical verse are once again evident in this encounter. Referring back to the Bible for an explanation, the first book of Peter reads: Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, having dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. (The Holy Bible, 1 Pet. 2:24) This passage correspondingly defines double imputation as being a justification by grace through faith alone. Therefore, loosely translated,
That we are all descendants of the first human being, which God created, Adam. And that we all live through Adam’s sin; therefore, we all live with his guilt (Enns, P., 2012). Thus, we as humans were born into sin and slavery, but Got sent his only son, Jesus Christ who saved us and set us free from that misery. So we are now set free from God 's condemnation of his law and no longer have to fear death anymore (Scott, J., 2001). I perceive that since Jesus died on the cross for us in a sense, we died with him too, and were risen as brand new from death just as he was. So now we are to live our life to resemble the kind of person Jesus was that is the ultimate fight we have in this world as human beings (Mills, A. M., 2010). "For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless the death [principle] reined from Ada until Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the likeness of Adam 's transgression, who is a figure of him that was to come" (Rom. 5:13,
righteous wrath except by faith and the sacrament of the blood of Christ.”10 Calvin and Luther
Alongside a plot that deals with a series of unhappy events, Ian McEwan’s Atonement explores the concept of reality in the fragile equilibrium of human existence. McEwan’s mastery of narration helps to shape his reader’s comprehension that reality is subjective. McEwan’s employment of shifting focalization and presentation of a single event approached from several character perspectives and use of both third and first person narration all contribute to this conclusion.
A foundational belief in Christianity is the idea that God is perfectly good. God is unable to do anything evil and all his actions are motives are completely pure. This principle, however, leads to many questions concerning the apparent suffering and wrong-doing that is prevalent in the world that this perfect being created. Where did evil come from? Also, how can evil exist when the only eternal entity is the perfect, sinless, ultimately good God? This question with the principle of God's sovereignty leads to even more difficult problems, including human responsibility and free will. These problems are not limited to our setting, as church fathers and Christian philosophers are the ones who proposed some of the solutions people believe today. As Christianity begins to spread and establish itself across Europe in the centuries after Jesus' resurrection, Augustine and Boethius provide answers, although wordy and complex, to this problem of evil and exactly how humans are responsible in the midst of God's sovereignty and Providence.
In other words, Jesus, although perfect and blameless in all His ways, took on the title criminal and died as such. He was crucified on a cross at Calvary. No other God has died for his people. Jesus drank the cup of wrath that was reserved for mankind (Matthew 26:39). Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” The death and resurrection of Jesus purchased victory over death for humanity, if they choose to accept Him as their Lord and Savior (1 Cor. 15:55). Those who cling to the Gospel, either in sharing it or receiving of it, must believe that Jesus’ death is the only route to attain salvation. He is the only way, truth, and life (John 14:6,
Gilles’ first argument emphasizes the “intuitiveness of original sin in the sense of radical doubt of human goodness as distinct from a doctrine in its early modern context” (Gillies 399). In contrast to Gilles Javed argues that “Hamlet has been placed in the most agonizing circumstances that a human being can be placed in”(Javed 328). In that section of Gillies’ essay he talks about “intellectual intuitiveness of original sin in late Elizabethan England” (Gillies 399). Gillies refers to religious reformers, such as Luther and Calvin, views on original sin as well as philosophers, such as Socrates.
In the modern society lived in today, all too often do people justify his or her faults with the famous phrase, “I’m only human.” It is used to imply an idea of an inborn flaw of human character; thus, conveying a human weakness. This imaginary stain on the human condition is what the renowned Saint Augustine states is a product of original sin.
The early church fathers regarded Jesus as fully divine first, and then worked their way ‘down’ to his humanity. Their approach is considered to be Christology ‘from above’; wherein they presuppose the divinity of Jesus, seemingly disregarding the historical life and context of Jesus of Nazareth. Wolfhart Pannenberg was not comfortable with this interpretation of Jesus, thus he created his own theology, holding to the ‘from below’ approach. He argues that Christology must begin with the historical Jesus and center upon his resurrection, not his incarnation, as proof of his deity. It is through his resurrection that he is the Second Adam and is able to bring salvation to the world. Yet his argument is incorrect as he inadvertently leaves room for the possibility of Jesus failing and for someone else whom God elected to have been the Messiah.