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{"id":3002,"date":"2011-04-13T10:57:45","date_gmt":"2011-04-13T15:57:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tonyjones\/?p=3002"},"modified":"2015-03-13T16:58:13","modified_gmt":"2015-03-13T21:58:13","slug":"a-question-about-penal-substitution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tonyjones\/2011\/04\/13\/a-question-about-penal-substitution\/","title":{"rendered":"A Question about Penal Substitution"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

from Wikicommons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

So, in the wake of all the Love Win<\/em>s<\/a> kerfuffle, I received an email from someone who listened to the radio interview<\/a> I did with Michael Horton. \u00a0And the question he asked was this: Are penal substitution and universalism mutually exclusive?<\/em><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how we got there. \u00a0On the interview, I asked Mike if understanding the atonement via the penal substitutionary theory was essential for a person to be considered a Christian. \u00a0He answered that yes, it is. \u00a0Other metaphors that explain the atonement are important, and even biblical, he said, but the penal substitutionary understanding is the most widely attested in scripture.\u00a0 It is necessary and primary.\u00a0 All other metaphors explaining the atonement take a back seat.<\/p>\n

OK, let\u2019s say, hypotehtically<\/em>, that Mike is right about this.\u00a0 Let\u2019s say that Jesus did die as a sacrifice, to mitigate God\u2019s wrath against every human being, wrath that was kindled because our sins of disobedience against God.<\/p>\n

Couldn\u2019t a penal substitutionary understanding of the atonement also be championed by univeralists?\u00a0 Couldn\u2019t a universalist affirm that Jesus did, indeed, die to take the stain of Original Sin from us, to appease God\u2019s divine sense of judgment, and to open the gates of heaven to all people<\/em>?<\/p>\n

The obvious counter to this is that Paul said that one must believe in her heart and affirm with her lips, \u201cJesus is Lord\u201d (Romans 10:9-10).\u00a0 But universalists have to answer for this verse regardless of how they understand the atonement.<\/p>\n

So, I put it to you, are penal substitution and universalism mutually exclusive?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"