"The Day the Revolution Began" - Wright or wrong? (9)

Chapter 8

At last we get a deeper look at how and what the cross achieved in terms of “forgiveness of sins”. This is another far from satisfying chapter. Wright majors on the “forgiveness of sins” and its global effect, ie much more than just enabling us to “go to heaven”, and this is the problem. Penal substitution approach is in no way opposed to this. Maybe some presentations of it are misguided with far too narrow a focus, but that is not the fault of penal substitution. Wright also seems to belittle “moral sins”. Now it is not just a matter of our sins, but also our sinfulness (of which idolatry is a key symptom), but the sins themselves are important. So how does the cross achieve “forgiveness of sins”. Wright says the cross has achieved “forgiveness of sins” (and he does show from many Scriptures that is is an essential part of the plan), and that this opens the way for humanity to achieve it true vocation, but he does not say how the cross achieved this, and the penal substitution approach, at least in my opinion, does say how.

There is also something of a false dichotomy between sins and sinfulness. A large part of the prophecies in the Old Testament, both those directed at Israel and those aimed at the surrounding nations, condemn them for specific sins. Sins and sinfulness go together.

What Wright seems to be doing is saying that the purpose of “forgiveness of sins” is not just so we can “go to heaven”, but so that we can become fully functioning human beings, image bearers. And I absolutely agree with this, but Wright then seems to say: therefore the substitutionary atonement view is mistaken. This conclusion does not follow, indeed substitutionary atonement is why we can become fully functioning people.

Wright says that no Jews had thought of the Messiah opening up the way for the reconciling of all peoples with God. Maybe they had not done, but they should have! The promise to Abraham in Genesis 12 clearly had a universal goal, and various prophecies in Isaiah have a universal application.