The following is a summary/notes of Mark Murphy’s article, “Not Penal Substitution but Vicarious Punishment.” (Faith and Philosophy, 26.3, 2009) Summary: PSA fails for conceptual reasons. Punishment is an expressive action so it is not transferable. A relative of PSA, VP, is conceptually coherent. Under VP, the guilty person’s punishment consists in the suffering ofContinue reading “Not Penal Substitution But Vicarious Punishment”
Tag Archives: PSA
A Penal Substitutionary Doctrine of Atonement (Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview Pt. 1)
I just picked up the 2nd edition of William Lane Craig & J.P. Moreland’s Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview (PFCW) – I immediately flipped over to the chapters dealing with philosophical theology – and in some cases what I would call Analytic Theology. The chapter I gravitated towards first was the chapter on Atonement.Continue reading “A Penal Substitutionary Doctrine of Atonement (Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview Pt. 1)”
Does Karl Barth Hold to a Version of Penal Substitution?
It’s a sort of tricky question. How does Barth understand Penal Substitution? I was once told that Barth definitely saw PSA in Isaiah, but that he believed that it is not taught in the New Testament. The debate sort of rages on – does Barth have some version of Penal Substitution? And if he doesContinue reading “Does Karl Barth Hold to a Version of Penal Substitution?”
Penal Substitution? Two Objections and Responses
Penal substitution takes a lot of flack these days. Many of the objections that come up against PSA have focused on this theories assumptions about what justice is. However, many of these objections are based upon what we tend to think justice is. But as Donald Macleod has said, It would be certainly perilous toContinue reading “Penal Substitution? Two Objections and Responses”
Atonement (Part 4): A Wright Account of the Atonement
Today we continue our journey into a Wrightian (just made that word up) account of the atonement. Once again this is not necessarily Wright’s own view neverthless it takes some of his work and applies it to Penal Substitutionary Atonement. _____________________________ N.T. Wright’s Christology and Biblical Narrative One theologian that gives the Reformed tradition (althoughContinue reading “Atonement (Part 4): A Wright Account of the Atonement”
