Concluding Christus Victor

In Conclusion to our Christus Victor exploration we began last month:

When I began blogging this subject I said that my desire was to examine the theology of the atonement as it is expressed by three men: Gustaf Aulen, Greg Boyd, and N.T. Wright. I spent most of our discussion examining Aulen’s book Christus Victor since it is here that this view received its formal name and current recognition. Then, throughout, I touched on Christus Victor as it is succinctly expressed by Greg Boyd in the Nature of the Atonement: Four Views; I chose to reference this book because of its succinct nature, but for a more in-depth study of Boyd’s perspective I recommend his God At War ©1997. All of this has left me with little room to continue on to our third personality - N.T. Wright - due to the nature of blogging I feel it is time to move on to a fresh subject and perhaps return to Christus Victor from a different angle at a later date.

However, before we move on I want to ask one more question: so what? Why does all this matter? What is the ‘dif’ between whether one holds to the view of Christus Victor or Penal Substitution? Unfortunately, this question is far too enormous to attempt a thorough answering here, but as a concluding statement (and in spite of the previous paragraph) allow me (in keeping with my original intention) to refer to N.T. Wright.

It is important to note here what was implied throughout this discussion; that Penal Substitution and Christus Victor are not two answers to the same question, but rather, each seeks to answer the question it is assumed to have been asked.

“… theories of the atonement”, says Wright, “of the meaning of the cross, are not simply a set of alternative answers to the same question. They give the answers they give because of the questions they ask. If the questions is, How can I get to heaven despite the sin because of which I deserve to be punished? the answer may well me, Because Jesus has been punished in your place. But if the question is, How can God’s plan to rescue and renew the entire world go ahead despite the corruption and decay that have come about because of human rebellion? the answer may well be, Because on the cross Jesus defeated the powers of evil, which have enslaved rebel humans and so ensured continuing corruption. Please note, these and other possible questions and answers are not mutually exclusive” (N.T. Wright, Surprised by Hope, ©2008, p.199).

The point of the previous paragraph is to say that there is nothing wrong with the Substitution view itself - it is not a case of ‘either/or’ but rather of ‘both/and’. The Substitution view answers the question it is asked, yet it is not large enough to answer the question posed to the Christus Victor view; on the contrary, the Christus Victor view is large enough to answer the question posed to the Substitution theory and its own question while at the same time it does not carry the "insurmountable" problems of a penal system (as Boyd put it).

So where does Wright stand on the issue? In his book, Evil and the Justice of God ©2006, Wright makes this statement: “I find myself compelled toward one of the well-known theories of atonement, of how God deals with evil through the death of Jesus, not as a replacement for the events or the stories nor as a single theory to trump all others, but as a theme which carries me further than the others toward the heart of it all. I refer to the Christus Victor theme, the belief that on the cross Jesus has won the victory over the powers of evil” (p.95). So let there be no mistake, N.T. Wright holds to the Christus Victor view of atonement, a view which permeates all of his writings (which I have read so far).

So what is the point? He goes on to say “we have tended to see what we call ‘atonement theology’ in one box (having to do with personal salvation from personal sin), and ‘the problem of evil,’ including so-called natural evil and the general wickedness of the world, in another box” (p.103) - the point being that we have narrowed the atonement to a personal experience for the salvation of an individual soul, and we keep it altogether separated from the so-called problem of evil in the world. We are satisfied saying “when I die I’ll go to heaven” and yet we as Christians are ill-equipped to appropriately tackle the question as to why there is so much evil (any kind of evil) in the world.

Since the disaster that befell the Chapman family (see my May 11 blog) I have heard more then a few Christians gasp and wonder how such a thing could happen to a Christian family. One lady even said, “Why would this happen? I suppose we’re not supposed to question God, but thank God that God is good and no evil will happen to us”. I wondered how could she make such a cold, condemning and illogical statement, as though because ‘God is good’ she and her friends and family will be spared from any evil, yet for whatever evil fell on the Chapman family (for example and by implication) must mean that they are not one of “us” - someone worthy of the good Gods protection against evil. Its poor theology and goes to show as an example just how ill-equipped we are to address such problems while holding on to many of our current systems of atonement.

But the Christus Victor view of the atonement fills in these gaps: “As I said there, I am inclined to see the theme of Christus Victor", says Wright, "the victory of Jesus Christ over all the powers of evil and darkness, as the central theme in atonement theology, around which all the other varied meanings of the cross find their particular niche” (p.114). Yes Christ came and died to save humans from our sins which separate us from God, but more then that, he came and died to make the world to rights, to redeem the cosmos - and this he accomplished by ‘binding the strong man’ - “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil” (1 Jn. 3:8).

The cross is not about retreating (going to heaven) ... it's about redemption, restoration, and renewal. Not about a bodiless future, but a resurrected one - one that provides answers to the problem of evil and hope to a fallen creation. Christ is that Hope - We are that body - Today is that day!

Live victorious!

Derek