VHC 8: Atonement, Violence, and Victory

In this chapter, Boersma puts Christus Victor, recapitulation, and representation all together. He summarizes by saying, "Christ's obedient life and his teaching, as well as his representative punishment on the cross, are what constitute the battle against Satan. It is by these means that Christ brings about victory" (181-82).

Boersma starts by summarizing Aulen's Christus Victor motif. By overemphasizing the role of Incarnation in atonement, though, Boersma (through Eugene Fairweather) says that Aulen does not take seriously our being reconciled to God (as opposed simply to God's reconciliation to us). "Hospitality is not true hospitality if it does not leave room for the genuine acceptance and participation on the part of the guest" (185). Boersma also criticizes Aulen for emphasizing only the Christus Victor theme, neglecting both punishment and moral influence theories. But it still holds value.

This value is seen when connected with Irenaeus' recapitulation theory. Irenaeus emphasizes other elements of atonement in recapitulation, giving himself more resoureces to do atonement theology, and also emphasizes human obedience in atonement.

Taking a look at Gregory of Nyssa, then, Boersma addresses the ransom theory and its connection with Christus Victor. In this light, humans are not perpetrators of violence, but victims of Satan's wiles. This means that humans must be bought back from slavery, which is accomplished in Jesus. Jesus is victorious, however, because God tricked Satan by hiding Christ's divinity.

Pointing out the resurrection of Christus Victor in contemporary works, Boersma critiques J. Denny Weaver and Kathleen Darby Ray and their respective uses of Christus Victor. Both advocate non-violence, which Boersma critiques. Weaver, on the one hand, says Christus Victor is the non-violent means of God's victory, but denies any strong connection between the cross and God's intent. Ray, on the other hand, justifies God's use of deceit in tricking Satan by saying it's a form of non-violence and thereby justifiable. To the contrary, says Boersma, God's intention was the cross and divine deceit is properly condemned. Boersma concludes, instead, that Christus Victor need not lead to more violence, but should be construed as divine hospitality. Its expression of Christ's victory won by obedience and vicarious suffering is how he is enthroned as King. The violence found in the cross, then, is to lead to the eschatological hospitality of God. How does such hospitality (and violence) get lived out in today's church? This is the question of the last two chapters.