In the past I have pointed out the problems with the concept of guilt imputation upon which penal substitution depends. (See for example, “The Death of Jesus, the rape of a woman, and a concept called ‘Imputation’” and “A footnote on guilt imputation.”) The problem is that guilty is not transferable between parties. If Jones […]
imputation
A footnote on guilt imputation and parental liability
In response to my critique of Jeffrey’s defense of guilt imputation, Bilbo offered a case which he took to represent a manifestation of guilt imputation: Are parents ever held legally liable for the offenses of their minor children? For example, if my 15 year old son had wrecked my neighbor’s house, could I be sued? […]
A vacuous defense of penal substitution
Today I was listening to the “Unbelievable” broadcast from this past Easter weekend in which Steve Jeffrey (co-author of Pierced for our Transgressions) and Alan Molineaux debated the penal substitution view (theory? metaphor? it wasn’t clear) of atonement. Halfway into the discussion Molineaux, who objected to penal substitution, centered in on one of the central […]
A third blushing attempt to rationalize babies being punished
Let’s recap. Our story began in the smoking ruins of Haiti in January 2010, with one weak cry winding out from deep within the concrete rubble of a collapsed hospital. The cry was from six week old Landina, severely wounded in the devastating quake that killed and maimed hundreds of thousands. The horror naturally prompts the question […]
A second blushing attempt to rationalize babies being punished
Our second attempt appeals to the concept of imputation. To impute means to assign or ascribe a value to something. In classic reformed theology there are three senses of imputation. The one most Christians like to talk about is that of God imputing our sin to the sinless Christ. Somehow God assigns or ascribes the culpability […]
The End of Christianity? A Skeptical Review (Part 8)
In chapter 7 of The End of Christianity Ken Pulliam argues for “The Absurdity of the Atonement”. In fact, his essay is focused not on the atonement per se but rather on a penal substitutionary theory of atonement (henceforth PST). This is a crucial distinction to which I shall return. However, before continuing let me […]
