I recently preached on the atonement and talked about the idea that God wants to be one with us. Atonement ideas talk about the different images that Scripture uses to talk about how Jesus unites us with God. There are lots of different images that Scripture uses, and I talked about several of them: Jesus comes and dies in our place, Jesus is a ransom for sin, Jesus defeats the powers, Jesus is light that overcomes darkness, Jesus heals us, cleanses us, sacrifices himself for us. There are mountains of books written on this, so I just want to point ot several that have been helpful for me.
From the early church:
Irenaus (130-202) was a foundational early Christian thinker. He
talks
about Jesus as coming to be a second Adam, a new head of humanity (an idea that comes to be known as "recapitulation", which means "to re-head").
Gregory of Nyssa (335?-394?) is an early and important thinker on the atonement. He wrote about Jesus' work in several places, and you can find those. I find
this resource
helpful, as it selects quotes about atonement from his work intending to teach faith to others.
Athanasius (296?-373) is equally early and important. His work
On the Incarnation
is a classic in Christian theology and looks at how and why Jesus comes to earth to live and die and rise again. If you are interested, this is a great work.
Augustine (354-430) is always interesting, and has a lot to say. His work
On the Trinity
might be his clearest work on atonement (and--as an added bonus--is also very compelling theological work on the Trinity!).
Anselm
is much later (he was bishop of Canterbury from 1093-1109), and is a hinge figure in atonement thinking. He develops the idea of a "satisfaction theory" of the atonement. For Anselm, Jesus comes to satisfy God's honor, which is offended by human sin. His work,
Why Did God Become Man?
is a groundbreaking atonement work.
From the Reformation:
Martin Luther (1483-1546) was a great reformer who wanted to help the church more faithfully follow Jesus. He has a lot to say about atonement in various places, but
here
is a sermon that points to penal substitution, the idea that Jesus came to die in our place to pay our legal debt to God because of our sin.
Jean Calvin
(1509-1564) is another of the great reformers and the father of what becomes Reformed Theology. His writing is foundational for lots of American theology, and much of what we assume about the atonement comes from his thought describing penal substitution. His
Institutes
are the best place to learn his thought, but (to be honest) I don't much like reading them. I wish I could find something that distills his thought a bit, and if you find something let me know.
More recent thinking:
PP Waldenström (1838-1917) is a key thinker in the founding of the Covenant (our denomination). He
questioned
the idea of penal substitution and argued that God is love and is constantly pursuing us in love, not with wrath.
Gustaf Aulén
(1879-1977) was another Swedish theologian who questioned the hegemony of penal substitution. His book
Christus Victor
helped revive attention on the older view of God winning victory over sin and death.
René Girard
(1923-2015) was a creative and important 20th century thinker. His views on mimetic desire and scapegoating helped us think about new possibilities in atonement thinking. I can't even begin to summarize his thought, which is very complex and sometimes difficult to follow. If you want to start down this rabbit trail,
take a look.
Hans Boersma
was a professor of mine at Regent College (he is now teaching elsewhere) and his book
Violence, Hospitality, and the Cross
was another important work in the modern conversation around atonement. He argues that Christus Victor, Penal Substitution, and Moral Influence are all valid ways of describing what's happening in Jesus, and we need all of them. For Boersma, they all fit under Irenaus' Recapitulation theology.
The Anástasis Center
is a community dedicated to rethinking atonement, especially focused around the idea of atonement as healing. Started by Mako Nagasawa, it is a movement to focus on God's justice as restorative and Jesus' work as healing. I am intrigued by what they are doing and recommend taking a look at their
website.
Brian Zahnd, Fleming Rutledge, NT Wright, Peter Leithart, James Cone, and others are helping to frame our understanding of what Jesus has done. Take a look and see what helps you to watch and witness Jesus. (And forgive me for leaving out so many great thinkers and faithful Christians!)