Journal: Grace Journal
Volume: GJ 05:1 (Winter 1964)
Article: The Atonement and Human Sacrifice
Author: David R. Dilling

GJ 5:1 (Wtr 64) p. 24

The Atonement and Human Sacrifice

David R. Dilling

Many trusting hearts have paused to ponder the weighty words of Genesis 22:2, “Take now thy son…and offer him for a burnt-offering.” This text prompted Soren Kierkegaard to ask, “Is there such a thing as a teleological suspension of the ethical?” Most serious readers of Genesis 22 have doubtless shared the concern which promoted Kierkegaard’s enquiry.

The problem with which we are here concerned regards the interpretation of the phrase, “And offer him there for a burnt-offering.” Did this mean that Abraham was actually to kill and cremate his own son? If so, how can Yahweh (Jehovah) be justified for making such a command? Are not such sacrifices prohibited? Is not the very idea abhorrent, and does not the very suggestion offend our moral sensitivity? Or was Abraham merely commanded to wholly dedicate his son to Yahweh? In this case, why is the expression ʾôlah used, and how can God be vindicated for allowing Abraham so grossly to misinterpret His will? In either case there is a theodicy—the problem of reconciling the divine command with the otherwise known divine nature and purpose.

There is, to be sure, an awesome aspect to the stern, succinct narrative regarding the sacrifice of Isaac. Unfortunately, many readers have been overawed. The present study is not slanted to the liberal theologian, but to the otherwise conservative interpreter who through his awe at the sacrifice of Isaac has prepared himself for major hermeneutical and Christological concessions.

The severity of Abraham’s test and hence the significance of the problem of this study was greatly multiplied by the soteriological implications of his action. The promise of salvation and blessing was to come through Isaac. This was clear enough to Abraham. But if to him, how much more is that clear to us who have the full revelation concerning that seed through whom all nations will be blessed, even Jesus. The Divine Providence seems to delight in manifesting the glory and power of God in such incidents where the hope for the fulfillment of the Messianic promise hangs by the finest thread—and that about to be cut off. As in the day that Cain killed Abel; as in the day that Athaliah destroyed all the seed royal save Joash; as in the day that Haman devised his wicked plot against the kin of Mordecai; and as in the day that Herod sought the life of Messiah Himself; so it seemed on this occasion, Abraham was commanded not only to sacrifice his beloved son, “but to cut in pieces, or cast into the fire, the charter of his salvation, and to have nothing left for himself, but death and hell.”