Atonement theories A Critique

There is no truth of the holy Scriptures that has not been perverted by man, and this is especially true of the doctrine now before us, and these perversions of it are accepted as true in many religious denominations of this day. Modernism, as might be expected, is especially prominent in the advocacy of the perverted forms of the atonement. We believe that the chief cause of most of the erroneous theories of the atonement is man’s unwillingness to recognize and admit what God declares of his sinfulness.

The meaning of the atonement is that God could not give himself to man in such a way as to disregard moral conditions and obligations. The integrity of God’s character and of his moral government of the world must be sustained even at infinite cost to himself. He could not give himself to man, nor could he receive man into his favor without regard to moral conditions. Hence before man can be received and forgiven, he must confess and repudiate his sins. —W. T. Connor, Christian Doctrines, p. 99. Broadman Press, Nashville, Tennessee, 1949.

This last sentence in this quotation lies, we believe, at the root of every false theory of the atonement, for man, being unwilling to confess and repudiate his sinfulness, is constrained to formulate a theory of the atonement which will allow him to maintain his pride and self-sufficiency, while giving the appearance of being biblical in his beliefs on this great doctrine.

Read more