Martyrological theory of atonement

A big title for a small post.

Revelation 1:4 summarizes Jesus’ work with three phrases: faithful witness, firstborn out of dead, ruler of kings of the earth. That is, He was faithful to death, rose again, and was exalted over all.

Now, in the context, Cur Deus Homo ? Assume John’s notion of “witness” from his gospel, with its background in the Isaianic (and generally prophetic) divine lawsuit. Jesus had to die because that was the limit of faithful witness. He carried the Father’s case to the cross, and because He had served faithfully as the Father’s witness, the Father pronounced a verdict of “righteous” at the resurrection, and made His righteous one Firstborn and Ruler.

If we developed that further, what would a “witness” theology of the atonement look like?

Next
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE

Ethics of Rhetoric in Times of War

R. R. Reno

What we say matters. And the way we say it matters. This is especially true in times…

How the State Failed Noelia Castillo

Itxu Díaz

On March 26, Noelia Castillo, a twenty-five-year-old Spanish woman, was killed by her doctors at her own…

The Mind’s Profane and Sacred Loves

Algis Valiunas

The teachers you have make all the difference in your life. That they happened to come into…