Chapters 1 and 2
Anyway, back to Tom Wright’s book. He speaks of the reformers giving Biblical answers to Medieval questions, and so missing some of the most important questions. This is a little like damning with faint praise. As I noted in the previous post, how to deal with man’s sin is the most important question, and the one that runs right through the Bible.
In Loc 548 Wright talks about the supposed dichotomy between personal salvation and salvation of the whole of creation. Now we need to look at this carefully. I agree with Wright that “going to heaven” view is at best only part of the story, and is an impoverished view of salvation. However, this is not necessarily at odds with the focus of the cross being dealing with the problem of our sin. In Genesis 1 God gave man the task of having dominion over the earth, and subduing it (Gen 1:28). Man has failed to do this, and that is because of our sin. Man’s salvation is intimately linked to creation’s salvation, and there is no dichotomy between the penal substitution view of the cross, and the setting free of creation.
Dealing with the problem of evil. How does the cross deal with the “problem of evil”? The reformed view does address societal evil. It says that the root of all problems is man’s rebellion against God (ie sin). This affects both the individual, and has a collective effect in society. Individual’s repent and believe, all will then have some influence on society, some will have a direct influence (eg Wilberforce and slavery). Moreover, Western culture owes an enormous amount to the influence of Christianity.
On Loc 583 Wright joins in with others in criticising Stuart Townend’s great song/hymn In Christ Alone, in particular the lines:
And on the cross, when Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied
Wright then portrays this as meaning a loving Jesus somehow placated or satisfied an angry God. Yes, there are some who may think like that, but it is not traditional reformed or evangelical theology. One would have expected better from someone of Wright’s intellect and calibre. The cross is the greatest of act of love in history, not just of God towards man, but also between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Again, it shows an inadequate view of what wrath means. The cross is the only answer to the otherwise unanswerable question of what to do about our sin.
As you will have guessed, I am getting increasingly concerned about the presuppositions that underlie this book.
As to "the wrath of God was satisfied", perhaps this is a poetic thing. A more abstract term like "justice" would not fit the meter, and this hymn is metrical, unlike most modern Christian songs, which come out more like recitative.
ReplyDelete