Position · 1931

Christus Victor

The view that the atonement is above all Christ’s victory over the powers that hold humanity captive: sin, death and the devil.

Swedish Lutheran bishop Gustaf Aulén named and defended it in Christus Victor (English translation 1931). He argued that it was the main view of the early church fathers and of Martin Luther, and that later Western “Latin” theories focused too narrowly on satisfying God’s justice. Holders say it keeps the cross and resurrection together and is close to Eastern Christian thinking. It has gained support among some evangelicals and Anabaptists who are uneasy with Penal Substitution. Critics argue that it explains what the cross defeated but not how it deals with human guilt.