This blog has been woefully silent for the following reasons:
1. The ship was without Internet for several days. We are still geeks, though.
2. We are mere, poor channel rats, and the internet on board is very expensive (and this post is only because I needed to use the minutes I planned on using in channel, since this ship won't allow for it).
3. We needed the time to meditate upon all the excellent teaching we have been receiving this week!
In light of Howard's previous post concerning Morris' treatment of "propitiation" as consistently used in the Scriptures, I thought it relevant to mention Don Carson's message where he sums up the argument Morris takes up against Dodd quite well here:
Why Trust a Cross?
And for those who haven't quite carved out the time to read Owen's classic, you might appreciate J. I. Packer's attempt to whet the reader's appetite for Death of Death:
Introduction to Death of Death in the Death of Christ
If you haven't been keeping up with the readings, these are both good and quick ways to familiarize yourself with some of the relevant subject matter.
Well, I’m up to chapter 6 in Morris’ book, The Apostolic Preaching of the Cross. There is so much I’d like to quote as I go along or just comment on, but time has been short this week. So I will give some quotes on one of the two largest chapters in the book. Both chapters deal with Propitiation and the Wrath of God and both chapters are approximately 35 pages of small print in length. Clearly Propitiation of God’s wrath is a central thought in the work of the atonement. Chapter five is about propitiation in the Old Testament.
Christians are often accused of having a bloodthirsty God, who is just an evolved form of the pagan deities. After much argumentation the author has demonstrated:
“These are important conclusions and they are being increasingly accepted, for it is a relief to know that we have solid grounds for our conviction that the God of the Bible is not a Being who can be propitiated after the fashion of a pagan deity. That this point has been conclusively demonstrated is certain.”[i]
“There is a consistency about the Wrath of God in the Old Testament. It is no capricious passion, but the stern reaction of the divine nature towards evil.”[ii]
Much of the argumentation examines scholarship that seeks to make propitiation merely expiation. For instance, Dodd says, “’the Wrath of God’ is taken out of the sphere of the purely mysterious, and brought into the sphere of cause and effect.”[iii] In other words, as I understand the argumentation, God’s wrath isn’t being satisfied, but our sins are being expiated or done away with.
It is true, as Morris argues, that our sins are expiated, but he believes that both senses are true. After several pages of argumentation he states:
“Thus the propitiatory idea which we have seen to be involved in [ilaskomai] is to be discerned also in [ilasmos]. Wherever it means ‘forgiveness’, the circumstances indicate the turning away of the divine wrath.”[iv]
Morris also goes to the Hebrew Kopher in the Old Testament:
“The particular Kopher which is to be offered is not mentioned in Ezekiel 16:63, but the explicit mention of the wrath of God (verses 38, 42) makes it clear that we are still moving in the same circle of ideas. In Psalm 78:38 the parallelism makes ‘forgave (atoned) their iniquity’ almost equivalent to ‘turned he his anger away’, and similarly in Psalm 79:9, the removal of the wrath as the way of purging sins is clear from the references to the divine anger in the situation (verses 5,6,8).”[v]
Morris also explains the idea that a Ransom must be paid.
“From the foregoing examination of the evidence it appears that, when Kipper is used in the Old Testament to denote the making of an atonement by means other than the use of the cultus, it usually bears the meaning ‘to avert punishment, especially the divine anger, by the payment of a kopher, a ransom’, which may be of money or which may be of life.”[vi]
In Morris’ conclusion, there is an excellent paragraph summarizing the meaning of propitiation.
“It is against such a background that the Old Testament idea of propitiation is to be studied. Where there is sin, the Old Testament teaches, there is wrath. But this does not mean that all men are to be consumed, for that wrath is the wrath of a loving father who yearns for His children to come to Him. There is forgiveness with God, and this forgiveness necessarily involves the laying aside of wrath. But it is important to note that the removal of this wrath is due not to man’s securing such an offering that God is impressed and relents, but to God Himself. This alone is sufficient to show that we are not dealing with the pagan idea when we speak of propitiation.”[vii]
Praise God that He has sought to satisfy His own wrath against our sin. God truly reconciled the world to Himself through the vicarious substitutionary atoning work of Jesus Christ.
1. Twas the night before debate, when all through Seattle
Not a creature was stirring, not even in channel;
The chairs all were placed before tables with care,
In hopes that Doctor Oakley soon would be there;
The Calvies were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of cross-exam danced in their heads;
And Flamey in her jammies and I in mine too,
Had just settled down for an October snooze,
2. When outside the door there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the hallway as fast as a train,
Unfastened the dead bolt and unhooked the chain.
The laser pointer and sounds gave me a clue
And I heard Scottish accents, so surely I knew,
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a laptop, an iPod, stacks of books by Shabir,
3. With a bright colored sweater, his bald head in sight,
I knew in a moment it must be James White.
More rapid than eagles the channel rats came,
And he chuckled, and chortled, and called them by name;
"Now, AO! Now, Tired! Now MrP! Shuey!
On, Uni! On, How2! On, Wifey, and Bluey!
The defense of the cross! And here that is our call
Now read away! Read away! Read away all!"
4. As dry dust that before the wild desert storm fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,
So up to the book-stacks the channel rats flew,
With hearts full of prayer, and Doctor Oakley too.
And then, in a twinkling, Doc’s studious looks,
The rustling of pages in each of his books.
As I drew in my hand, and was turning around,
Down the hallway Doctor Oakley came with a bound.
5. He was dressed in Coogi, his tartan tie in hand,
And on his wrist, his bright blue “No Compromise” band;
All of his notes his trusty Blackberry stored,
Bible verses and quotes that could not be ignored.
His laptop-- how useful! Libronics- how geeky!
And he even brought AOMin’s faithful dog Zekey!
Total Recorder played something by Deedat,
No possible way it would be won by mere fiat;
6. The end of a pen he held tight in his teeth,
And his tablet PC, it displayed the Hadith;
BibleWorks was open, and Qur’an Reader Pro,
And his iPod was playing some songs by Mylo.
He was ready it seemed, he was fit for the task,
Could answer any question Muslims might ask;
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know we had nothing to dread;
7. He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And packed up the books, changed his channel nick to “lurk”,
He finished up emails that needed to be sent,
And with a holy nod, to his room he went;
He stood by the door, to the channel rats he waved,
And I wondered if from the usual kick Greg was saved.
But I heard him exclaim, ere he went out of sight,
"HAPPY DEBATE TO ALL, AND TO ALL A GOOD-NIGHT."
Written by Marie Peterson, 10/06/2007
