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The Atonement Part 40—An “Infinite Finite”
Claims #11 and 12 of the composite model of PSA read as follows:
#11—The only commodity valuable enough to recompense God for his infinitely offended honor is the shed blood of a god-man.
#12—Thus the Son of God becomes incarnate as Jesus of Nazareth so that his human nature can suffer and die as our substitute.
These two claims can be refuted singly on their lack of biblical merit, or refuted together on the basis that the truth of one renders the other false. Consider: Christ’s infinite divine nature, being impassible, can neither suffer nor die. Therefore it is his finite and passible human nature that must suffer and die as mankind’s proxy. However, God’s infinite offense must be satisfied by the sacrifice of an infinite being. How, then, can the death of a finite human nature satisfy God’s infinite offense? Here we have the oxymoron of the “infinite finite.”
In their attempts to avoid the self-contradiction of the “infinite finite,” Atonement School grandees only make the situation worse by falling into such brambles as the Eutychian, aphthartodocetic, and theopaschite heresies. Necessarily, this lecture devotes much time to an examination of proper Christology. In the process, you will hear audio clips from:
- R.C. Sproul,
- Jack Van Impe,
- John MacArthur,
- David Jeremiah,
- Norman L. Geisler, and
- Robert Godfrey
Run time: 27:05; Posted: 5/26/13
Listen to previous episodes
This lecture introduces the competing soteriologies of atonement and redemption. Whereas “atonement” denotes the idea that Christ’s work on the cross is reparation for a wrong or an injury done to God, “redemption” denotes the idea that Christ’s work on the cross rescues mankind from a state of sinfulness. This stipulative definition of redemption forms the core of what will be called the restored-icon model throughout the rest of this series.
The listener will also be cautioned to approach theological authorities with discernment rather than veneration. Veneration of the physician Galen (circa AD 131-201) retarded the study of medicine until Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564) proved by experimentation that Galen’s medical writings were wrong. This lecture applies this lesson to theology.
Run time: 13:14; Posted: 4/18/13
