A short introduction to Christus Victor

A short video explaining the Christus Victor theory of the atonement as oppose to the penal substitution.

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• xtranormal

[Magnulus76]

I hesitate to call Christus Victor a "theory". Rather its an attitude, that the Gospel is firstly seen as God's victory over evil, having cosmic implications. Ransom, on the other hand, is indeed a theory of the atonement, one that is not synonymous.

[stitch99]

@MrTMarshy

Touche, Sir. Touche.

[MrTMarshy]

‘(In the first part of the letter) God's wrath is revealed against all ungodliness and wickedness, and by the end of Romans 3, in accordance with the 'justice' of God, those who were formerly sinners and under God's wrath are now justified freely by grace through faith. To put it somewhat crudely, the logic of the whole passage makes it look as though something has happened in the death of Jesus through which the wrath of God has been turned away.'

[MrTMarshy]

b) Agreed but I think penal substitution is implied in places. For example, in some sense at least, 'the punishment that was on him brought us peace' (Isaiah 53). Also, I think it's there in Romans 3:25-6. Commenting on these verses, N.T Wright says the following:

[MrTMarshy]

a) As you say, 'most versions of Christus Victor say that Christ did take man's sins on himself.' I wasn't responding to Gutaf Aulen, I was responding to the video which actually contained the line, 'Jesus wasn't so much taking our sins on himself' (1 Peter 2:24)

[MrTMarshy]

I actually agree with both your points. Note that I never said I advocate penal substitution. I made no mention of God's wrath for example. Instead, I said that Christ 'died the death that we deserved and rose out of the grave.' In other words, he took the consequences, rather than the punishment for our sins. In direct response to your points:

[stitch99]

@MrTMarshy

See, the thing with that is

a) Most versions of Christus Victor say that Christ did take man's sins on himself, just in a different way. Rather than taking the death that was meant for man, Jesus took our sins in his death to purify us (see Hebrews).

b) There's no place in the Bible that spells out a penal substitution atonement. There are a lot of references to sacrifice, but it never says that sin sacrifices are satisfying God's wrath.

[MrTMarshy]

'...there seems to be precious little written about Christus Victor...'

That's because it's not true. Really sad to hear people rejecting the fact that Jesus took their sin on the Cross. It is true that Christ defeated death through the cross but only because he died the death we deserved and rose again out of the grave. The wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

[stitch99]

Christus Victor, Baby!

[shadantul]

Thank you for this video... there seems to be precious little written about Christus Victor...