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Series:   Elements in the Philosophy of Religion

The Atonement

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 June 2018

William Lane Craig

Summary

How did Christ's death overcome the estrangement and condemnation of sinners before a holy God, so as to reconcile them to Him? A great variety of theories of the atonement have been offered over the centuries to make sense of the fact that Christ by his death has provided the means of reconciliation with God: ransom theories, satisfaction theories, moral influence theories, penal substitution theories, and so on. Competing theories need to be assessed by (i) their accord with biblical data and (ii) their philosophical coherence.
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Keywords

atonementChristexpiationpropitiationpenal substitutionsubstitutionary atonementimputationvicarious liabilityjustificationsacrificeransomsatisfaction
Type
Element
Information
Series: Elements in the Philosophy of Religion
Online ISBN: 9781108558020
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication: 21 June 2018

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