Defending Substitution: An Essay on Atonement in Paul by Simon Gathercole

Abstract

Reviewed by: Defending Substitution: An Essay on Atonement in Paul by Simon Gathercole Ty Kieser Defending Substitution: An Essay on Atonement in Paul by Simon Gathercole (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2015), 128 pp. Simon Gathercole, senior lecturer in New Testament studies at the University of Cambridge, has previously written on the "new perspective" on Paul, the Christology of the Synoptic Gospels, and gnostic gospel writings. His expertise in soteriology, Christology, and biblical literature is brought together in Defending Substitution: An Essay on Atonement in Paul. Gathercole provides the reader with a brief (a mere 128 pages) biblical defense of the concept of "substitutionary atonement" from the Pauline corpus. In this book, Gathercole argues that Christ's death "for our sins in our place, instead of us, is a vital ingredient in the biblical … understanding of the atonement" (14). Christ ought to, therefore, be seen as a substitute for us and for our sins. He states that this does not exclude or supplant other concepts in atonement (i.e., representation or participation), but he believes that substitution can "coexist" along them (14). He underlines the importance of this central claim by stating that a right understanding of Christ's death as a substitution-ary act is integral to the "Christian's relationship with God and their communication of the gospel" (14). Gathercole begins the book with an introduction that helpfully defines and distinguishes his terms. He defines "substitutionary atonement" as "Christ's death in our place, instead of us." This means that, in his death, Christ "did something, underwent something, so that we did not and would never have to do so" (15). He carefully nuances this definition of substitution from related—and [End Page 1015] often conflated—concepts. In each case, Gathercole argues for and provides examples of "penalty," "representation," "propitiation," and "satisfaction" as concepts separate from substitution. In distinguishing "penalty" and "substitution," for example, he says non-penal substitution exists in the live scapegoat of Leviticus 16:21, which was sent into the wilderness as a substitute for the people (but not put to death). Herein, the sins of Israel are borne away in the goat, not punished. These distinctions, therefore, are not meant to present any one concept as superior to another, but to present the concept of substitution—as distinct from the above concepts—as a viable motif in our understanding of the atonement apart from the complexities of these other concepts. Gathercole also shows awareness of various theological, ethical, and philosophical objections to this doctrine. He introduces and briefly addresses the objections that substitution implies a legal fiction and that it advocates for "divine child abuse," as well as Kant's objection that guilt is too personal to be taken upon another. Yet, for Gathercole, the "most important" criticism of substitutionary atonement is actually that it is unbiblical (28). His response to this final and most important objection constitutes the substance of this book. In chapter 1, rather than immediately developing a positive account of substitution, Gathercole begins by explicating three of the most compelling explanations of non-substitutionary approaches to the atonement. He aims to show not that these are totally wrong, but that they are mistaken in denying substitution. The first approach (which he associates with Germany) is the Tübingen view propounded by Hartmut Gese and Otfried Hofius. On their account, atonement is undertaken by Christ as the representative of the people. Through Christ's identification with corrupted people, he opens up to them fellowship with God. Second, (associated with Britain) is Morna Hooker's "interchange in Christ": Christ does not swap places with his people, but rather "goes to the place where they are and takes them from there to salvation" (39). Finally, he surveys the model of "apocalyptic deliverance," which is "gaining currency … in North America" (42) through the theology of J. Louis Martyn. For Martyn, humanity's plight does not consist of sins that need forensic forgiveness, but of slavery that requires deliverance and liberation, a deliverance and liberation that Christ provides. While he gives at least three evaluative comments to each proposal, Gathercole notes that they all share in minimizing "sins" (individual transgressions of the divine...