Re How Does Jesus Save, September
Dr. John Vissers is a creative teacher and successfully lifts out the church’s answer to this question over the centuries. As he does so, both the question and the responses are in straightforward enough terms that they can be understood.
The subtitutionary theory is explained, then critiqued. Like other theories it is only one model for understanding. The theory dates back at least to the 12th century, and probably even as far back as the fourth. A number of texts can be cited to show that some biblical writers may even have had an understanding something like this. Of course, there are many pictures in the Bible, leading us to openness and imagination in how we articulate this stuff. There are a thousand questions of the spirit out there; I’m not hearing people ask, How Does Jesus Save?
I wonder how seriously such a theory can be taken in the 21st century and whether its promulgation might not do more distorting than clarifying for contemporary minds. We now understand that we developed over the years by a process of evolution. Descriptions of Jesus’ work that ignore this factor are difficult to incorporate into the experience of today’s world.
Four theories of Jesus’ work are presented as a kind of supermarket of choices by which we can mix and match from the God-understanding of past ages. It was helpful once, so people said, but is it helpful now? Does the subtitutionary theory have any bearing on present reality? Perhaps it is time to move on with a new framing of how Jesus makes a difference in our lives, lest he be consigned to the museum.
