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House SD Dth Thesis THEORIES OF ATONEMENT AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOTERIOLOGICAL PARADIGMS: IMPLICATIONS OF A PENTECOSTAL APPROPRIATION OF THE CHRISTUS VICTOR MODEL by SEAN DAVID HOUSE submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF THEOLOGY in the subject SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY at the UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA SUPERVISOR: PROF E VAN NIEKERK NOVEMBER 2011 Student Number: 3600-206-2 I declare that THEORIES OF ATONEMENT AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOTERIOLOGICAL PARADIGMS: IMPLICATIONS OF A PENTECOSTAL APPROPRIATION OF THE CHRISTUS VICTOR MODEL is my own work and that all the sources that I have used or quoted have been indicated and acknowledged by means of complete references. November 1, 2011 SEAN DAVID HOUSE DATE i SUMMARY Atonement theories have great implications for the soteriological paradigms associated with them, but their significance has not always been recognized in the formulation of theological systems, the lack of dogmatic definition by ecumenical council encouraging diversification and isolation from other doctrinal loci. The strongest coherence between an atonement model and soteriology can be seen in the reformed tradition, and its theory of penal substitution has become the standard accepted by many non-reformed protestant groups, including classical pentecostalism. Tensions persist in the theological system of pentecostalism because of its pairing of penal substitution with the soteriological paradigm of its foundational symbol of faith, the full gospel of Jesus as savior, sanctifier, baptizer with the Spirit, healer, and coming king. This vision of salvation is broader than that of protestant orthodoxy, which through its atonement theory deleteriously separates the death of Christ from his work in life and strictly limits the subjects and nature of salvation, specifically to addressal of elect individuals’ sins. It is proposed that this tension within the pentecostal system be relieved not through a reduction of its soteriology but a retrieval of the Christus victor model, the atonement theory of the ancient and Eastern church. As reintroduced to the Western church by G. Aulén, this model interprets the saving work of Christ along two lines: recapitulation, the summing up and saving of humanity via the incarnation, and ransom, the deliverance of humanity from the hostile powers holding it in bondage. In a contemporary, pentecostal appropriation of this model, aid is taken from K. Barth’s concept of nothingness to partially demythologize the cosmic conflict of the Bible, and pentecostalism reinvigorates the Eastern paradigm of salvation as theosis or Christification via the expectation of the replication of Christ’s ministry in the Christian. The study shows Christus victor can give a more stable base for a broader soteriology that is concerned with the holistic renewal of the human person. To demonstrate the developed model’s vigor and applicability beyond pentecostalism, the study closes by bringing it into conversation with the concerns of three contemporary theological movements. KEYWORDS: Pentecostalism; atonement; soteriology; Christus Victor; Christology; work of Christ; recapitulation; ransom theory; Reformed theology; Wesleyanism; salvation; healing; fourfold gospel; liberation ii Dedicated to the memory of Prof. J. Rodman Williams 1918-2008 Theologian, Charismatic and Reformed, whose Renewal Theology awakened my love for systematics and first introduced me to the victory of Christ. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS With warm gratitude, I acknowledge the help of many who have inspired and supported me in this work: –My supervisor, Prof. E. van Niekerk, for encouraging me to pursue my Doctor of Theology and supporting this line of research that has so greatly interested me –Rev. Scott Norling and Rev. Dr. P. N. S. Chandrabose, founders of Gospel Mission of India, for their unstinting support that made this endeavor possible –My colleagues and students at Bethel Bible College, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, India, for their understanding and affection –My wonderful wife, Lydia, our parents, and our dear children, Katie and Matthew, for their love, patience, and encouragement iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Summary........................................................................................................................ii Acknowledgments.........................................................................................................iii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Thesis: Pentecostal Soteriology and the Problem of Atonement Theology ......1 1.2 Stimuli................................................................................................................3 1.3 Goals and Contributions of the Study................................................................4 1.4 Methodology and Approach ..............................................................................4 1.5 Scope and Limitations........................................................................................5 1.6 Terminology and Conventions...........................................................................7 CHAPTER 2: HISTORICAL NEGOTIATIONS OF ATONEMENT AND SALVATION 2.1 The Unsystematic Development of the Doctrine of the Work of Christ ...........8 2.1.1 Atonement Theories and Soteriological Paradigms: Methodological Concerns and Definitions ............................................9 2.1.2 An Overview of the Forms of the Work of Christ...............................13 2.2 The Victory of Christ: Atonement and Salvation in the First Christian Millennium.....................................................................17 2.2.1 The Problem in the Divine-Human Relationship according to Eastern Theology .................................................................................19 2.2.2 The Triumph of the Life and Death of Christ......................................23 2.2.2.1 Recapitulation and Incarnation................................................24 2.2.2.2 Christ the Conqueror................................................................28 2.2.3 Eastern Christian Soteriology ..............................................................31 2.2.4 Weaknesses and Challenges ................................................................34 iv 2.3 The Satisfaction of the Father: Anselm and the Approximation of a Western Atonement Dogma......................................................................36 2.3.1 The Fall and Redemption in the West..................................................37 2.3.2 Critical Evaluation ...............................................................................44 2.4 Moral Influence and Abiding Dissent..............................................................53 2.5 Excursus: Christus Victor and the Anabaptist Tradition .................................55 CHAPTER 3: THE SYSTEMATIC INTERSECTION OF ATONEMENT THOUGHT AND SOTERIOLOGY: REFORMED STANDARDS AND PENTECOSTAL TENSIONS 3.1 The Theological Milieu of Classical Pentecostalism: American Evangelicalism ................................................................................59 3.2 Atonement and Salvation in the Reformed Tradition: The Perfecting of Reformation Standards........................................................61 3.2.1 The Antecedent of Salvation: Sovereign Grace...................................63 3.2.2 The Axis of the Tulip: Limited Substitutionary Atonement................66 3.2.3 Penal Substitution and the Limitation of Salvation .............................72 3.2.3.1 The Limited Subjects of Salvation...........................................73 3.2.3.2 The Limited Nature of Salvation .............................................78 3.3 The Soteriological Expansion of Revivalism and the Resultant Tensions in Atonement Doctrine ...............................................87 3.3.1 The Wesleyan Contribution.................................................................89 3.3.2 Theological Evolution in Revivalism after Wesley.............................96 3.3.3 Ongoing Tensions within the Classical Pentecostal System .............103 CHAPTER 4: REVISIONING PENTECOSTAL SOTERIOLOGY THROUGH APPROPRIATION OF A CHRISTUS VICTOR MODEL OF THE ATONEMENT 4.1 The Theological Matrix .................................................................................111 4.1.1 Scripture, Hermeneutic, and Narrative ..............................................112 4.1.1.1 Redemption as Cosmic Conflict ............................................119 4.1.1.2 Defining the Demonic............................................................126 4.1.1.3 Problem Texts........................................................................135 4.1.1.3.1 The Servant Song of Isaiah 52.13-53.12.................136 4.1.1.3.2 The Cry from the Cross...........................................141 v 4.1.1.3.3 “Made to Be Sin”: 2 Cor. 5.21 and Related Texts .............................................................144 4.1.2 Pentecostal Values and Resources.....................................................146 4.2 Renewal Christus Victor: A Pentecostal Negotiation of the Work of Christ .........................................................................................150 4.2.1 The Fall: Bondage, Estrangement, Corruption ..................................151 4.2.2 The Remedy of God in Christ............................................................159 4.2.2.1 From Person to Work.............................................................161 4.2.2.2 The Victory of the Cross and Beyond....................................168
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