Penal substitutionary atonement in the later ante-Nicene period

Abstract

This article surveys passages from the writings of Hippolytus, Cyprian, Methodius, Lactantius and Alexander of Alexandria with a view to elucidating their implied understanding of the significance of the death of Christ on the cross. It is argued that the authors whose works are reviewed held the belief that Christ died in our place, bearing the punishment for sin we deserved, with the result that those who trust in him might receive forgiveness, eternal life, and all the other blessings of salvation. The evidence adduced in this article, together with that adduced in the previous articles on Justin Martyr, Clement of Alexandria and Tertullian, combine to show that the doctrine of penal substitution was not an invention of the Protestant Reformation, as has recently been alleged, but was present already in the thinking of the Church during the post-apostolic period.