Salvation: New Testament and Christ
Salvation Reflection Paper The doctrine of salvation is at the core of the Christian faith and is a the heart of the work of Jesus. This paper is going to summarize the doctrine of salvation from two authors that the author of this paper read and studied and then give his subjective view or opinion of what each author presented in their explanations of the doctrine of salvation. The first of these authors is Alister E. McGrath from his book Theology:The Basics. The second author is Dr French Arrington from an essay he wrote in Transforming Power: Dimensions of the Gospel.
Alister McGrath Alister McGrath in the beginning of his discourse states that " a central theme of the Christian message is that of the human situation has, in some way, been transformed by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is often described as salvation"(McGrath 77). McGrath in his discourse on salvation doesn 't seem to take a stance on any particular theory or doctrine of salvation but lays out three separate theories of atonement. These three theories that McGrath lays out are the cross as sacrifice, the cross as victory, and the cross and forgiveness. Before we dig into what McGrath says about these different theories we need to first understand what atonement means and where the word comes from. McGrath says that the word atonement "can be traced back to 1526, when the English writer William Tyndale was confronted with the task of translating the New Testament into English"(McGrath 83). At this time there was not a word for reconciliation in the English language and Tyndale had to come up with a word for it. This word that Tyndale came up with or invented was at-one-ment today know as atonement. McGrath states that "this word came to bear the meaning the benefits which Jesus Christ brings through his death upon the cross"(McGrath 83). Today, McGrath says the word is pretty much out of use so theologians just call this "the doctrine of the work of
Alister McGrath Alister McGrath in the beginning of his discourse states that " a central theme of the Christian message is that of the human situation has, in some way, been transformed by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is often described as salvation"(McGrath 77). McGrath in his discourse on salvation doesn 't seem to take a stance on any particular theory or doctrine of salvation but lays out three separate theories of atonement. These three theories that McGrath lays out are the cross as sacrifice, the cross as victory, and the cross and forgiveness. Before we dig into what McGrath says about these different theories we need to first understand what atonement means and where the word comes from. McGrath says that the word atonement "can be traced back to 1526, when the English writer William Tyndale was confronted with the task of translating the New Testament into English"(McGrath 83). At this time there was not a word for reconciliation in the English language and Tyndale had to come up with a word for it. This word that Tyndale came up with or invented was at-one-ment today know as atonement. McGrath states that "this word came to bear the meaning the benefits which Jesus Christ brings through his death upon the cross"(McGrath 83). Today, McGrath says the word is pretty much out of use so theologians just call this "the doctrine of the work of
Cited: Arrington, French L. Christian Doctrine: A Pentecostal Perspective. Cleveland: Pathway Press, 1993.Print McGrath, Alister E. Christian Theology: An Introduction. Malden: Blackwell Publishing, 2001. Print