Defending Substitution: An Essay on Atonement in Paul (Acadia Studies in Bible and Theology) Paperback – May 19, 2015

Multiple atonement theories have always been postulated in the Christian Church, each aiming to shed light on what the death of Jesus signifies for it's adherents, as well as connecting its correspondence to the deeply-rooted cultic themes of blood sacrifice, priestly office and temple worship so embedded in Old Testament history and narrative. Our modern-day context is no different, with numerous interpretations again at odds, and continued strife within the Evangelical world wrestling with what the death of Christ and His 'at-one-ment' means for our proclamation of the Gospel.Broader Christianity today aims to distance itself from the violent motifs of the Old Testament, along with a punitive character of the atonement which has colored much of the conservative Christian witness regarding its teachings and tellings of the death of Christ. Some Christian schools of thought are embracing a less-punitive, and even non-violent perspective on the atonement, akin to more classically liberal (German) Christian thought. Others follow a more participatory model of the atonement, following Barth, Torrance and others, seeing atonement more intently through the lens of incarnation.Enter British Biblical and New Testament Scholar Simon Gathercole. In a concise 100+ page book, Gathercole begins Chapter 1 by revisiting the current dialogue on atonement, discussing the "Tubingen School" of 'Representative Place-Taking' from the critical pens of Hartmut Gese and Otfried Hofius; Morna Hooker's "Interchange" theory; and J. Louis Martyn's "Apocalyptic Deliverance" paradigm. Each school of thought is critical of a substitutionary view of the atonement. Gathercole carefully evaluates each position, and finds them wanting as it pertains to Apostle Paul's constant discussion of human "sins" (Plural). Gathercole sees each current school of scholarship marginalizing this issue in Paul's writings.Turning from a generous and irenic critic of the previously mentioned scholars, Gathercole takes up two brief exegetical case studies with 1 Cor. 15:3-4 (Chapter 2) and Rom. 5:6-8 (Chapter 3). Gathercole opens up 1 Cor. 15:3-4, bringing Paul's use of Isaiah 53 and his phrase "Christ Died For Our Sins" together to highlight the substitutionary character of atonement. He shows how the passage is highlighting Christ's dealing with "Our Sins" as one "On Behalf Of Us", and "On Behalf of Another". Gathercole also reveals how the issue of "Our Sins" (plural) is dealt with by Christ in a transformative way, taking us from Old Testament Promise (Prophets) to New Testament Fulfillment (Gospels).In Chapter 3, Gathercole continues building his argument by illustrating from Rom. 5:6-8 Apostle Paul's use of the "vicarious death" motif from well-known Greco-Roman literature of the time to explain the character of Christ's death. In ancient literature, there are a number of known instances where friends or loved ones actually did voluntarily die "In the Place Of" the other person. Gathercole highlights the use of Paul's contrasting statements, that while "Christ died for the ungodly", "scarcely will anyone die for a righteous person", to build his conclusion, namely, that Christ died for people who HATED Him (Rom. 1:30). Gathercole shows how this further illustrates the incredibly virtuous (and vicarious) nature of Jesus' death for us.While this book is fairly technical, it is concise, easy to follow, and a very helpful and irenic approach in arguing for the substitutionary nature of Christ's atoning death. Whether you are a church layperson, volunteer, or a Gospel minster, this book is immensely encouraging and Gathercole is a joyful read as an academic. Highly recommended.

Excellent exegesis!!! Makes a great argument from scripture for the fact that Christ’s death was a penal substitution for our sins. Denying that claim would simply require denying the clear evidence from scripture. A great and fast read (only took me an afternoon) that will edify your life

Basic to the evangelical approch to the doctrine of the atonement but does not deal with its early sourece

Summary: Gathercole defends the oft-maligned doctrine of substitutionary atonement, responding to the criticisms and challenges raised and demonstrating from key biblical texts that it can be argued from scripture that “Christ died in our place.”The idea of “substitution”, that Christ died in our place, for our sins has come in for criticism from many quarters. Some claim this amounts to “divine child abuse.” Others argue that substitution has not necessarily been the church’s understanding of how Christ’s death on the cross atoned for human sinfulness. In this brief “essay”, Simon Gathercole engages this criticism and gives a modest but important argument for the biblical foundations of the idea of substitution.First of all he contends that substitution is important both for our theological grasp of the gospel, the message of Christ and also pastorally vital in providing Christians assurance of their pardon before and acceptance by God. He defines substitution as “Christ’s death in our place, instead of us.” and sets this apart from other views such as representation and satisfaction. He also defends this idea against various criticisms, particularly that this is immoral by arguing that this was fully an act of Jesus own will, out of love for us, and not forced upon him.Then he engages three exegetical challenges to substitution. The first is that of Harmut Gese proposing the atonement occurring through “representative place taking.” The second is Morna Hooker’s idea of “interchange” in which Christ becomes what we are so that we become what he is. The third is J. Louis Martyn’s idea of apocalyptic deliverance from Sin. In addressing this latter, he also provides textual evidence that Christ died not only for Sin but for the sins of people. In engaging each of these theories he shows what is of value in our understanding of the work of Christ, what is problematic or actually suggestive of substitution, and at the same time approaches these in such a way that substitution need not exclude other insights into the nature of Christ’s death.The latter part of the book is concerned with careful exegesis of two key texts, I Corinthians 15:3, and Romans 5:6-8. In the first, he argues for the substitutionary understanding of the idea that Christ died for us, and makes a compelling case that the scriptures according to which this is so include Isaiah 53, where the idea of the servant’s death for Israel is, on the basis of his word study, very clear. In his study of Romans 5:6-8, he takes a very different approach in arguing that the idea of one who would scarcely die for a good man has parallels in the literature of Paul’s day. He appeals to the tale of Alcestis, and also to Philonides, Epictetus, and Seneca for proposing similar “substitutionary” ideas.In between these two chapters, he includes an excursus on the question of why, if Christ’s death is indeed substitutionary, do Christians still die. His argument considers various senses of “death” and argues that while we die, we do not perish.In concluding, he argues for the continuing importance of substitution and that this idea, along with representation, and liberation might be understood as part of Paul’s thought. Perhaps the most winsome aspect of the “defense” he makes is that it is an argument for the “inclusion” of substitution rather than for the “exclusion” of other ideas.This is a short book, only 128 pages with bibliography and indices. The reason for this is that it is more or less a transcript of Gathercole’s Hayward Lectures at Arcadia University. This concise and readable account, while not covering with the depth some might want all the texts and theories of the atonement, serves as a theological resource for adult education in a variety of contexts, both lay and seminary, around this important Christian doctrine. Above all, it graciously argues why substitution matters, how it may be defended, and pastorally, how important these truths are to proper Christian confidence._____________________________________Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Don’t know why, but I’m occasionally a sucker for articles/books on atonement theology. I suppose it’s out of a curiosity that this idea has retained its full vigour (in Christian circles anyway) down to our present day. An Old Testament example of an ANE deity who was appeased by (child) sacrificial substitutionary deaths as a form of februation was the Ammonite pyro-god Molech. In fact as Gathercole himself points out, the Old Testament could sometimes be rather negative towards the concept vicarious death.In Defending Substitution, Dr. Gathercole stresses that the understanding of Christ’s death as substitutionary (in our place for our sins) represents the earliest strand in understanding his crucifixion by his followers. As select examples taken from the earliest Christian writings (Paul’s letters), Gathercole focuses almost exclusively on two passages and unpacks the substitutionary understanding of Jesus’ death embedded in I Corinthians 15:3 and Romans 5:6-8. His arguments for the former follow standard apologetics, while for the latter passage, he offers the argument that Paul was likely familiar with stories of vicarious deaths from classical Greek literature. He then proceeds to detail examples of well-known Greco-Roman stories of the day that Paul might have worked off of. Although possible, it’s maybe not slam dunk, at least in my armchair opinion.So in my view, Dr. Gathercole’s “Defending Substitution” would be of interest solely to those who are attracted to Christian apologetics. If apologetics is not your cup of tea, then your time might be better spent on slaying the next boss in your favorite MMORPG.

To the average Christian (like me) it is blindingly obvious that the Bible teaches substitutionary atonement. Then the scholars weigh in and tell you it's not so straightforward and you think, "What am I missing?" Then Simon Gathercole weighs in and shows you actually it is that straightforward, you aren't missing anything - the cross includes more than substitution but definitely not less.I really enjoyed reading this book. Gathercole commences with the popular alternative views to substitution: representative place-taking; interchange; apocalyptic deliverance. He shows that these views are scriptural but not exhaustive views of the cross-work of Christ. They can't account for all the scriptural data particularly because they fail to account for the issue of sins (plural).His second chapter looks at 1 Corinthians 15:3. He shows that this verse draws from Isaiah 53 - a passage that is explicitly substitutionary (after all, it's with His stripes we are healed not with His stripes we are scourged). He also shows that the verse draws a contrast with those in the Old Testament who died for their own sins. 1 Corinthians 15:3 uses similar language to these OT passages thus giving substitutionary force to the verse - Christ died for sins, but they were ours. "The default Old Testament position would be 'he died for his sins' or 'we died for our sins.' The miracle of the gospel, however, is that he died for our sins." (Loc 1480)There is an explanation of why believers die if Christ died as their substitute. Gathercole points out that the sense in which believers die is different than the sense in which Christ died. In His death He bore the penalty for sins, which believers will never pay.The third chapter deals with Romans 5:6-8. Verse 7 proves that when Paul talks about Christ's death for us it is obviously in a substitutionary sense (the way one man would die for another). The really interesting thing about this chapter is the evidence he produces that Paul was drawing on the well-known work by Euripides about Alcestis dying for her husband, Admetus. Clearly her death was a substitutionary death, and Paul not only makes the comparison but draws the contrast - Christ didn't die for a family member who loved Him and displayed virtue, He died for sinners.This shows that while Paul drew his doctrine from the scriptures (1 Cor. 15:3 from Isa. 53) he was prepared to draw his illustrations from things well known in the culture - a helpful point for the preacher to remember.This was an enjoyable read, and edifying too. Admetus' father said to him, "I have no obligation to die on your behalf." I think of how the Lord Jesus Christ could say the same to us, yet He did it anyway.The simple, straightforward truth of substitution rests on the rock-solid foundation of Scripture. This book proves that.

No problems first class.