Governmental theory of atonement

The governmental theory of the atonement (also known as the rectoral theory, or the moral government theory) is a doctrine in Christian theology concerning the meaning and effect of the death of Jesus Christ. It teaches that Christ suffered for humanity so that God could forgive humans without punishing them while still maintaining divine justice. In the modern era, it is more often taught in non-Calvinist Protestant circles, though Arminius, John Wesley, and other Arminians never spoke clearly of it. It is drawn primarily from the works of Hugo Grotius and later theologians such as John Miley and H. Orton Wiley.

Definition and terminology

Definition

Governmental theory holds that Christ's suffering was a real and meaningful substitute for the punishment humans deserve, but it did not consist of Christ's receiving the exact punishment due to sinful people. ^{[1] [2]} Instead, God publicly demonstrated his displeasure with sin through the suffering of his own sinless and obedient Son as a propitiation. ^{[1] [2]} Christ's suffering and death served as a substitute for the punishment humans might have received. On this basis, God is able to extend forgiveness while maintaining divine order, having demonstrated the seriousness of sin and thus allowing his wrath to "pass over." ^{[1] [2]}

Terminology

The governmental theory of the atonement is also known as the "rectoral theory" ^[3] or "moral government theory". ^[4]

History

Origins

The governmental theory arose in opposition to Socinianism. ^{[1] [5]} Hugo Grotius (1583–1645) wrote Defensio fidei catholicae de satisfactione Christi (1617) [Defense of the universal faith on the satisfaction rendered by Christ], in which he utilized semantics drawn from his training in law and his general view of God as moral governor (ruler) of the universe. Grotius demonstrated that the atonement appeased God in the divine role as cosmic king and judge, and especially that God could not have simply overlooked sin as the Socinians claimed. ^{[1] [5]}

Developments

The original editions of the Defence was reprinted at Oxford in 1636; and the first translation was made in 1692. ^[6] Grotius' theological writings were published in four folio volumes at London and Amsterdam in 1679. The Grotian theory was adopted in England by Samuel Clarke (1675–1729) and partially by Richard Baxter (1615–1691). ^[6] Grotius' writings were also published at Basel in 1732. ^[1] They were in Harvard College library in 1723 ^[6] and Yale College library in 1733. ^[1] Grotius' first work was translated into English by F. H. Foster, and published at Andover ^[7] in 1889. ^[1]

Variations of governmental theory of the atonement have been espoused in the New Divinity school of thought (a stage of the New England theology) by the followers of the Calvinist Jonathan Edwards (1703–1758). ^[8] This view was possibly held by Edwards himself, although this is debated, ^{[9] [10] [11]} and held by his son Jonathan Edwards (the younger). ^[12] Revival leader Charles Grandison Finney's (1792–1875) theory of atonement is notably influenced by the governmental and the moral influence theories. ^[13]

The governmental theory of the atonement prospered in 19th century Methodism, although John Wesley did not hold to it himself. John Wesley clearly held to the penal substitution view. ^{[14] [15]} This view has been notably detailed by Methodist theologian John Miley (1813–1895) in his Atonement in Christ and his Systematic Theology. ^[16] It was also strongly held by William Booth and the Salvation Army. ^[17]

The governmental theory of the atonement is also espoused by some Church of the Nazarene theologians, such as J. Kenneth Grider, ^[18] Henry Orton Wiley, R. Larry Shelton, and H. Ray Dunning. ^[19] If it is traditionally taught in Arminian circles, however, according to Roger Olson, it is incorrect to assert that all Arminians agree with this view because, as he states: "Arminius did not believe it, neither did Wesley nor some of his nineteenth-century followers. Nor do all contemporary Arminians". ^[15]

Characteristics

Portrait of Hugo Grotius by Michiel Jansz. van Mierevelt, 1631

• Remissibility of penalties: There is no sufficient reason why sin must be punished solely on the ground of its demerit. The forgiveness of the actual sinner, as a real remission of penalty at the time of his justification and acceptance in the divine favor, is proof positive to the contrary. ^[20] Thus, in this theory, punishment is unnecessary. ^{[21] [22]}
• Substitutional provision: As penalties are remissible, having a special end in the interest of moral government, they may give place to any substitutional measure equally securing that end. ^[20]
• Substitution by atonement: The sufferings of Christ are an atonement for sin by substitution, in the sense that they were intentionally endured for sinners under judicial condemnation, and for the sake of their forgiveness. ^[20]
• Objective paradigm: Because Christ's atonement is substitutionary, the theory is based on an objective paradigm. ^[23]
• Substitution in suffering: The substitution is in suffering without the penal element. ^[20] A major presupposition is that a vicarious penal substitution is impossible. ^[24] Miley states: "Nothing could be punished in Christ which was not transferred to Him, and in some real sense made His. Hence, if sin, with its demerit, could not [...] be put upon Christ by imputation, no punishment which He suffered fell upon such demerit, or intrinsic evil of sin." ^[25]
• Christ's sufferings are an equivalent of men's punishment: The sufferings of Christ are to be regarded, not as the exact equivalent of men's punishment, but only in the sense that the dignity of the divine government was as effectively upheld and vindicated, as it would have been if men had received the deserved punishment. ^[20]
• Unlimited scope of the substitution: According to governmental theory, Christ's death applies not to individuals directly, but to the Church as a corporate entity. In other words, Christ did not make a one-to-one substitution, but a general substitution. In this view, Christ's substitution can also be considered to be infinite, so that God could apply the substitution to an arbitrary, not pre-determined number of individuals and to their sins. ^[26]
• Conditional substitution: The forgiveness of sin has a conditionality in its saving grace. ^[20] Individuals then partake of the atonement through faith and can fall out of the scope of atonement through loss of faith. ^[20]

Comparison with other theories

General aspects

Governmental theory can not incorporate into itself the main elements of two major theories: a satisfaction theory of atonement and a penal substitution theory of atonement. ^[27] However it can incorporate different understandings promoted in the other major atonement theories. It incorporates notably Peter Forsyth's emphasis on how the holiness of God figures in the atonement. It incorporates emphasis on Christ's ransoming humans as in the classical ransom theory of atonement. It incorporates the emphasis on God's love, which is the main point in the Abelardian moral influence theory of atonement. It includes the substitutionary aspect of the atonement. ^[27]

Nature of the atonement

The governmental view is very similar to the satisfaction view and the penal substitution view, in that all three views see Christ as satisfying God's requirement for the punishment of sin. However, the governmental view disagrees with the other two in that it does not affirm that Christ endured the precise punishment that sin deserves or paid its sacrificial equivalent. Instead, Christ's suffering was simply an alternative to that punishment. ^[2]

In contrast, penal substitution holds that Christ endured the exact punishment, or the exact "worth" of punishment, that sin deserved; the satisfaction theory states that Christ made the satisfaction owed by humans to God due to sin through the merit of His propitiatory sacrifice. These three views all acknowledge that God cannot freely forgive sins without any sort of punishment or satisfaction being exacted. ^[28] By contrast, the Christus Victor view, states that Christ died not to fulfill God's requirements or to meet His needs or demands, but to cleanse humanity, restore the Image of God in humankind, and defeat the power of death over humans from within. ^[29]

In the words of Gustaf Aulen, the satisfaction view (and, by extension, the governmental and penal views) maintain the order of justice while interrupting the continuity of the divine work, while the Christus Victor view interrupts the order of justice while maintaining the continuity of the divine work. ^[30] He also draws a distinction between Christus Victor, wherein the atonement is "from above", from the side of God, and other views, where the work is offered up from the side of man. ^[31]

Scope of the atonement

According to the governmental theory, the scope of the substitution is unlimited. ^[26] Individuals then partake of the atonement through faith. Under this view, therefore, people can fall out of the scope of atonement through loss of faith. ^[20] According to the penal substitution theory, Christ's death served as a substitute for the sins of individuals directly. Then, it may be argued that God would be unjust to punish them even if they did not come to faith. More specifically, it may be argued that the penal substitutionary theory would lead of necessity, either to universalism on the one hand, or unconditional election. ^[32] This argument has been considered by some as a false dilemma. ^[33] In particular, Roger Olson states that penal substitution is compatible with unlimited atonement, because through non-arbitrary basis of the faith, a person can simply refuse or accept Christ vicarious payment. ^[34]

Objections

Here are some objections to the theory:

• It does not attach sufficient importance to the idea of propitiation, and therefore minifies the idea of a real satisfaction of the divine attributes. ^[1]
• It emphasizes the mercy of God in much the same sense that penal substitution emphasizes the justice of God. A true theory of the atonement must satisfy all the divine attributes. ^[1]
• It is built upon a false philosophical principle that utility is the ground of moral obligation. ^[1]
• It practically ignores the immanent holiness of God, and substitutes for the chief aim of the atonement, that which is only subordinate. ^[1]

See also

• Christianity portal

• Atonement in Christianity
• Atonement (ransom view)
• Atonement (satisfaction view)
• Atonement (moral influence view)
• Penal substitution
• Substitutionary atonement
• Christus Victor
• Justification (theology)
• Soteriology

Notes and references

Citations

1. Wiley 1940, The Governmental Theory.
2. Miley 1879, p. 190.
3. Wiley 1940, Modern theories of the atonement, introduction. The Governmental or Rectoral Theory
4. Todd 2021, p. 1.
5. Miley 1892, p. 162.
6. Foster 1889.
7. Grotius 1889.
8. Wiley 1940, The Governmental Theory‌. The theory was advocated by the New England theologians since the days of Jonathan Edwards, but to what extent, it has been difficult to determine
9. Guelzo 1989, p. 135. For: [...] it is plain that Edwards had no hesitation about putting his imprimatur upon the New Divinity doctrine of the atonement [i.e. the governmental theory]; to the contrary, he pledged his own reputation on its appearance'.
10. Noll 2001. Against: 'Edwards, by contrast, had maintained the traditional view that the death of Christ was necessary to take away God's anger at sin'.
11. APC 2020. Middle view: 'Generally, Edwards is acknowledged as the father of this [the governmental] theory, as developed and held in New England, without having held it personally. That is, it is recognized that this theory constitutes a logical development of his theological speculations, but that Edwards was too orthodox to pursue them to such heretical conclusions, although his disciples, being more consistent, generally did so.'
12. Park 1859, p. ix. [The] Governmental theory [...] is called " Edwardean," partly from the fact that certain germs of it are found in the writings of the elder Edwards, still more in the writings of his bosom friend, Hopkins, but chiefly from the fact that its more prominent advocates have been the so-called "successors of Edwards," and among them the more noted, perhaps, is his son. Dr. Jonathan Edwards.
13. Todd 2020, p. 332. "On one hand, the Finneyite atonement combined the dramatic presence of Christus Victor, the satisfaction theme of Anselm, the substitutionary elements of penal substitution, the rectoral framework of moral government, and the ethical focus of moral influence, all into one. On the other hand, Finney’s version resembled none of these historical theories of the atonement."
14. Wood 2007, p. 67.
15. Olson 2009, p. 224.
16. Olson 2009, p. 237.
17. Booth 1892, section 6. “The Scriptures teach that Christ on the Cross, in virtue of the dignity of His person, the voluntariness of His offering, and the greatness of His sufferings did make and present, on behalf of poor sinners, a sacrifice of infinite value. And that this sacrifice, by showing all worlds the terrible evil of the sin humanity had committed, and the importance of the law humanity had broken, did make it possible for the love and pity of God to flow out to humanity by forgiving all those who repent and return in confidence to Him, enabling Him to be just and yet the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus.”
18. Olson 2017, ‌.
19. Shultz 2014, p. 50.
20. Miley 1879, p. 155-156.
21. Erickson 2012, p. 808.
22. Erickson 2012, p. 806-807. God loves the human race. Although he has the right to punish it for its sin, it is not necessary or mandatory that he do so. He can forgive sin and absolve humans of guilt". He has chosen to [forgive sin] in such a way that it manifests at once both his clemency and severity. God can forgive sin, but he also takes into consideration the interests of his moral government. 'It is possible for God to relax the law so that he need not exact a specific punishment or penalty for each violation.'
23. Olson 2017. [F]or classical Governmental Theory theologians the cross was substitutionary in that Jesus suffered what we deserve—although not “my” or “your” punishment. He suffered an equivalent punishment to our deserved punishment in order to reconcile God’s love with God’s justice and make it possible for God to forgive sins without setting aside his holiness and justice. In this way it is objective and not mere subjective as Reformed theologians have claimed.
24. Erickson 2012, p. 808-809.
25. Miley 1879, p. 146.
26. Wiley 1940, The Governmental Theory‌‌. Grotius, however, insisted that his theory of satisfaction was far more than the acceptilatio of Roman jurisprudence; that it was of infinite value, though not the precise equivalent. Thus there was a relaxation of the claims of the law in one sense, though not in another.
27. Grider 1994.
28. Miley 1879, p. 123.
29. Romanides 1998.
30. Aulén 1969. "Christus victor avoids the splitting of the justice of God from the mercy of God as does Anselmian [sic] atonement..."
31. Aulén 1969, ‌.
32. Wiley 1940, The Penal Satisfaction Theory. The Penal substitutionary theory leads of necessity, either to universalism on the one hand, or unconditional election on the other. Dr. Miley makes the charge that "such an atonement, by its very nature, cancels all punitive claims against the elect, and by immediate result forever frees them from all guilt as a liability.
33. Allen 2016, p. 513. Wiley mistakenly believed that the penal substitutionary theory led to either universalism or unconditional election/limited atonement. Here Wiley is giving too much ground to a commercialistic understanding of penal substitution, causing him to draw the same false dilemma conclusions that many Calvinists draw.
34. Olson 2013. In this context, Calvinists argue that Arminianism falls into inconsistency in this matter of universal atonement. The Arminian belief, [of unlimited atonement] so it is said, leads inexorably to universal salvation because if Christ dies for a sinner, his or her sins are already punished; they are put on Christ. So for God to send a person for whom Christ died to hell would be unjust—it would be to punish the same sins twice. That is simply nonsense. A person can refuse to accept another’s vicarious payment of his or her punishment.

Sources

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