Modern punitive language and pastoral concerns

What did the early church believe about the atonement? David Bercot takes us through the early church writers to show that they didn’t think of the atonement through the same frameworks we have about the atonement. David explains that the ante-Nicene Fathers did not teach penal substitutionary atonement (PSA); rather, PSA is a modern interpretation read back into the original texts.

Our episode with Dean Taylor

David Bercot’s series on the atonement

Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs

Christus Victor: An Historical Study of the Three Main Types of the Idea of Atonement

Orthodox Study Bible with the Septuagint

This is the 295th episode of Anabaptist Perspectives, a podcast, blog, and YouTube channel that examines various aspects of conservative Anabaptist life and thought.

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The views expressed by our guests are solely their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Anabaptist Perspectives or Wellspring Mennonite Church.