Gravity Commons Podcast Andrew Rillera: Debunking Penal Substitutionary Atonement
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Jun 25, 2024 Author Andrew Rillera challenges the idea of penal substitutionary atonement, emphasizing participation over substitution in Jesus's death. He explores the roots of sacrifice, Levitical practices, and the shared experience between Christ and humanity. The discussion highlights the importance of communion with God and rethinks traditional views on sacrifice and substitution in Christian belief.
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Atonement Is Overloaded And Misapplied
- Atonement is an overloaded term that hides multiple distinct biblical concepts and causes confusion.
- Andrew Rillera urges reading sacrificial language in context before reducing Jesus' saving work to a single model.
Sacrifices Serve Multiple Distinct Functions
- Levitical sacrifices perform many functions beyond making legal payment for sin, so one sacrificial image can't define Jesus' death.
- Rillera shows how collapsing diverse sacrificial roles produced mistaken theologies like penal substitution.
Purity, Mortality, And Access To God's Presence
- Ancient purity cosmology treats mortality and bodily conditions as barriers to God's presence, not just moral guilt.
- Sacrifices often aimed to decontaminate or enable union with God, not to substitute for legal punishment.