Evaluate whether Jesus had to die (12 marks)
3 large paragraphs
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Atonement and reconciliation
Actors enact the Crucifixion
The events leading up to the arrest and crucifixion of Jesus are well-told by the Gospel writers, as are stories of the Resurrection. But why did Jesus die?
In the end the Roman authorities and the Jewish council wanted Jesus dead. He was a political and social trouble-maker. But what made the death of Jesus more significant than the countless other crucifixions carried out by the Romans and witnessed outside the city walls by the people of Jerusalem?
Christians believe that Jesus was far more than a political radical. For them the death of Jesus was part of a divine plan to save humanity.
The death and resurrection of this one man is at the very heart of the Christian faith. For Christians it is through Jesus's death that people's broken relationship with God is restored. This is known as the Atonement.
What is the atonement?
The word atonement is used in Christian theology to describe what is achieved by the death of Jesus. William Tyndale introduced the word in 1526, when he was working on his popular translation of the Bible, to translate the Latin word reconciliatio.
In the Revised Standard Version the word reconciliation replaces the word atonement. Atonement (at-one-ment) is the reconciliation of men and women to God through the death of Jesus.
But why was reconciliation needed? Christian theology suggests that although God's creation was perfect, the Devil tempted the first man Adam and sin was brought into the world. Everybody carries this original sin with them which separates them from God, just as Adam and Eve were separated from God when they were cast out of the Garden of Eden.
So it is a basic idea in Christian theology that God and mankind need to be reconciled. However, what is more hotly debated is how the death of Jesus achieved this reconciliation.
There is no single doctrine of the atonement in the New Testament. In fact, perhaps more surprisingly, there is no official Church definition either. But first, what does the New Testament have to say?
New Testament images
The New Testament uses a range of images to describe how God achieved reconciliation to the world through the death of Jesus. The most common is the image of sacrifice.
For example, John the Baptist describes Jesus as "the lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world". (John 1:29)
Here are some other images used to describe the atonement:
a judge and prisoner in a law court
a payment of ransom for a slave's freedom
a king establishing his power
a military victory
And here are some examples of how the New Testament explains the death of Jesus:
'For the Son of Man himself did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many'.
Words attributed to Jesus in Mark 10:45
'Drink all of you from this', he said. 'For this is my blood, the blood of the covenant, which is to be poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.'
Words attributed to Jesus in Matthew 26:28
Well then, in the first place, I taught you what I had been taught myself, namely that Christ died for our sins, in accordance with the scriptures...
Written by Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:3
How have later writers and theologians interpreted the Biblical accounts and theologies? In varied, and sometimes conflicting, ways.
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Theories of the Atonement
Theories of the Atonement
Theologians have grouped together theories of the atonement into different types. For example, in Christus Victor (1931) Gustaf Aulén suggested three types: classical, Latin and subjective.
More recently in his book Christian Theology: An Introduction Alister E. McGrath groups his discussion into four central themes but stresses that these themes are not mutually exclusive. His four themes are:
The cross as sacrifice
The cross as a victory
The cross and forgiveness
The cross as a moral example
The cross as sacrifice
The image of Jesus' death as a sacrifice is the most popular in the New Testament. The New Testament uses the Old Testament image of the Suffering Servant (Isaiah 53:5) and applies it to Christ.
The theme of Jesus's death as a sacrifice is most drawn out in the Letter to the Hebrews. The sacrifice of Christ is seen as the perfect sacrifice.
In the biblical tradition sacrifice was a common practice or ritual. In making an offering to God or a spirit, the person making the sacrifice hopes to make or mend a relationship with God.
St Augustine too wrote on the theme of sacrifice:
By his death, which is indeed the one and most true sacrifice offered for us, he purged, abolished and extinguished whatever guilt there was by which the principalities and powers lawfully detained us to pay the penalty.
Augustine - The City of God
He offered sacrifice for our sins. And where did he find that offering, the pure victim that he would offer? He offered himself, in that he could find no other.
Augustine - The City of God
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