“The One and the Many”

Abstract

ABSTRACT In this article, I employ the “Reception of Doctrine” approach to explore the hermeneutics of the doctrine of the atonement. The approach distinguishes and facilitates an interaction between the three “horizons of understanding” consisting of: (1) the horizon identifying our “pre-understanding” of the doctrine as it stands at present, (2) the horizon capturing the reading of Scripture that led to the making of judgments resulting in the doctrine’s formulation in the first place, and (3) the horizon tracing the reception of the doctrine through history. Together, these three horizons prescribe an atonement doctrine best described by the phrase “the one and the many,” where there is ample room for the various theories and models of the atonement to coexist together (the “many”), yet the models or theories are governed by the central scriptural emphasis that Christ’s death was “for us” (the “one”). I further propose that Karl Barth’s atonement doctrine is characterized by such a specification. That is, Barth remained open to various frameworks expressing the doctrine of the atonement (“the many”), as long as the core of the doctrine was clearly presented: God, in the death of Jesus Christ, is the God who is “for us” (“the one”).