The Atonement Part 11: Atonement History and The Church Fathers

PSA advocates claim that this theory was there from the beginning, and this is witnessed by the church fathers. Yet the Church Fathers don’t really have modern atonement theories when they speak about the cross. They use phrases like “Jesus died for us”, “Jesus shed his blood for us”, they connect the cross with forgiveness, Jesus freeing humanity from a curse, Jesus as a ransom, Jesus as the 2nd Adam, etc. Though they use this “biblical language” do they mean what PSA has defined them as.

Many pin a fully formed view of PSA on John Calvin in the 1500s. Calvin was a lawyer and interpreted the Bible through a legal lens. Though Calvin did have most of the PSA building blocks in place he never systematized it like the modern atonement theory school does. This didn’t happen until Charles Hodge wrote his systematic theology set in 1871. This was the first time PSA was but together in print as a theory.

The building blocks came into being with Augustine. Paul Vendredi notes this with his 17 historical claims of PSA. 3 were made by Augustine, 9 were Anselm, and 5 are the modern atonement schools built on and expanded upon Calvin. (Check out Idol Killer’s Youtube for more on this).

The 17 Claims:

1. Original Sin

2. Total Depravity / Inability

3. Infant Depravity

4. Sin is an Infinite Offense

5. Sin is a Debt we owe

6. Infants also owe this Debt

7. Animal Sacrifices

8. God could Cancel the sin debt by His will...

9. But, God cannot Forgive a Sin without punishing the Sinner

10. Death Must be Painful

11. "Propitiation"

12. Substitution

13. God pours out His Wrath

14. Jesus Became a Literal Curse

15. The Father turned His back on Christ

16. Old Testament Sacrificial System

17. Ransom Paid TO God

Conclusions:

• The early church used biblical language to talk about the cross… retribution must be read into them

• Healing was the focus and not legal metaphors in all of these

• A major focus is on death, sin, and the devil’s defeat and these 3 concepts are connected.

• The results of their defeat are a rescue and restoration of the image of God.

• Until Augustine’s 3 foundational points (original sin, Total depravity, and infant depravity) the early church had nothing to build PSA upon, so it is a fallacy to show that they taught it.

• PSA has no historical leg to stand on. Most often they read PSA into ransom and then back into other theories like recapitulation taking them out of their context and projecting onto the language of the Church Fathers.