Tertullian and penal substitutionary atonement

Abstract

This article argues that the writings of Tertullian imply that Christ’s atoning death on the cross was a work of penal substitution. Having noted the importance of the cross in Tertullian’s thought, the contexts in which references to the cross are found in his writings, and the salvific effects which he attributes to the cross, the article examines some specific passages which are most naturally understood to imply a penal substitutionary understanding of the significance of the cross. The article therefore strengthens the view, already held on the grounds of similar studies of the atonement teaching of Justin Martyr and Clement of Alexandria, that the penal substitutionary understanding of the atoning work of Christ on the cross was widely held in the post-apostolic Church.