Topic

Atonement

How the death and resurrection of Christ reconcile people to God, and what exactly the cross achieved.

No ecumenical council defined a single theory, so several models sit side by side. Penal Substitution holds that Christ bore the penalty for sin in our place. Christus Victor presents the cross and resurrection as Christ’s victory over sin, death and the devil. Other models stress Christ’s example of love or his satisfaction of God’s honour. Many theologians combine models, and the question of which one is central became a sharp debate among evangelicals in the 2000s.