![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/821\/2021\/06\/world-3043067_1280-1024x666.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nIn my last entry<\/a>, I discussed a ridiculous Paul Washer quote about how God saves us from<\/em> himself, by<\/em> himself, and for<\/em> himself (his simple and stupid way of summarizing his atonement theory). Because I didn\u2019t really offer a better understanding of salvation in that piece, in this entry, I\u2019m going to do just that.<\/p>\n Unbeknownst to some, the Gospel isn\u2019t synonymous with Calvin\u2019s (and by extension, Washer\u2019s) penal substitutionary atonement theory. In fact, when thinking about atonement (how so-called sinners are reconciled to God), there are many theories. There\u2019s Christus Victor, Moral Influence, Satisfaction, Recapitulation, Ransom, Scapegoating, Penal Substitution, and others (including different variations of the ones I just mentioned). For our purposes, we are going to keep things super simple and not really label things.<\/p>\n Now, put most simply, this is how I understand Christian salvation: God, in the form of Jesus, came to live as one of us to show us three things, 1) what God is like, 2) how we are to treat one another and, 3) how not to treat one another. Let\u2019s break these three things down a bit.<\/p>\n The first part of this is the theological one. Forever, we have misconstrued what God is like. We have assumed God is sacrificial, that God is violent, that God demands quid pro quo. We have justified our wars with God on our side (to paraphrase Bob Dylan). In short, God has always been on the side of the victors. Jesus, however, expanding on his Jewish prophetic tradition, reorients these assumptions. Jesus tells us that God is for all people, especially the oppressed. God is not a blessing and cursing God (like Deuteronomy 28 says) but a blessing God . . . full stop (see Matthew 5). God is a peacemaker, not a warmonger.<\/p>\n By believing that God is like this, we are, in a way, saved. We are saved from our sacrificial systems that only demand more and more blood. We are also saved from bad thinking. When Jesus tells people to repent, he means for them to change their mind. That\u2019s what the Greek word metanoia means. Changing our mind about God can be salvific, especially if the God we believe in is a monster (like the one Washer promulgates).<\/p>\n This second point is the anthropological one. In addition to reorienting our view of what God is like, Jesus offers us an example of what humans are to be like. In many places throughout the gospels, Jesus says to \u201cfollow me.\u201d Newsflash, literalists: he means it. He wants people to follow him in how he treats others. He wants us to show empathy for the downtrodden, for the oppressed, for the vulnerable, for the scapegoated. For the mimetic theorist, this is really, really important.<\/p>\n What mimetic theory teaches us is that our desires are derived by the perceived desires of others. This ultimately leads to violence (I\u2019ve discussed this ad nauseam in many<\/a>, many<\/a> places). With Jesus, however, we have a model who doesn\u2019t really engage in negative (or unconscious) mimesis. Instead, as he states all throughout John\u2019s Gospel, he consciously only does what he sees the Father doing. In other words, the non-rivalrous Father is his model. In turn, Jesus can then be our model as he moves us away from treating others with malice and disdain. Like Point I, this too becomes salvific in that it saves us from being both the scapegoated and scapegoaters.<\/p>\n Point III is very similar to Point II, but it focuses on the negative. Jesus\u2019 life and mission, among other things, was an example of how to be truly human. The response to Jesus, then, is what not<\/em> to do. When someone like Jesus comes along and subvert the power systems that run shit, we\u2019ve got to do our best to listen. If we don\u2019t, we\u2019ll end up scapegoating (perhaps even killing) messengers of God. This is not a good thing. But for Jesus, it was super predictable. He understood the powers and principalities. He predicted his death, not because he had God in his ear a la\u00a0Cyrano de Bergerac, but because he understood how human beings behaved. We are THAT predictable.<\/p>\n Knowing this, then, becomes salvific. We can be spared by the powers and principalities we allow to run things, often at the expense of our own human flourishing. The problem, of course, is that those at the top like the status quo (I\u2019m talking to you, old straight white dudes). But just remember, there will always be prophets to call y\u2019all on your shit.<\/p>\n Of course, these three points don\u2019t include the ultimate salvific punchline: the Resurrection. Now, say what you want about the Resurrection (was it literal, bodily, spiritual, or whatever?), but I for one affirm it in some regard. I don\u2019t know how the metaphysics work, but I don\u2019t need to. For me, the Resurrection is the confirmation that Jesus\u2019 life \u2013 what he taught us about God and how he treated those around him \u2013 is worth following. Put most simply, the Resurrection is the vindication of the victim. It\u2019s also the rejection of the traditionally sacrificial (God takes our sacrifice of death and turns it back into a living sacrifice). Furthermore, the Resurrection also removes the neurotic death anxiety that plagues the human mind (to learn more about that, do some research on Ernest Becker). How so? If we affirm and trust it, we no longer have to fear death because upon Jesus\u2019 return, he only breathed the Spirit of Shalom. Take solace in that.<\/p>\n Now, much more could be said about atonement, but that\u2019s enough for now. If you want to read more, I\u2019ve got plenty of books on the topic<\/a>. I hope you enjoy them more than I enjoy reading Paul Washer quotes. It\u2019s a pretty low bar, but hey, whatever.<\/p>\n Peace!<\/p>\n If you wanna get to know me better, please follow me on social media. I\u2019m pretty active on all platforms:<\/p>\n Facebook<\/a><\/p>\nI. What God is Like<\/h3>\n
II. How To Treat One Another<\/h3>\n
III. How Not To Treat One Another<\/h3>\n
\n