Journal: Southern Baptist Journal of Theology
Volume: SBJT 17:3 (Fall 2013)
Article: The Cross In Colossians: Cosmic Reconciliation Through Penal Substitution And "Christus Victor"
Author: David Schrock

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SBTJ 17:3 (Fall 2013) p. 34

The Cross In Colossians: Cosmic Reconciliation Through Penal Substitution And Christus Victor

David Schrock

David Schrock is the senior pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Seymour, Indiana.

He earned his Ph.D. from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Dr. Schrock is also the book review editor for the Journal of Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, as well as CBMW’s book review channel. He has written for The Gospel Coalition, Credo Magazine, PureHome Ministries, and has contributed a chapter to Whomever He Wills: A Surprising Display of God’s Mercy (Founders, 2012).

Since Gustaf Aulén published his work Christus Victor, the view that Christ died to defeat the powers and principalities has enjoyed a rise in theology and popular thought.1 Among evangelicals (broadly defined), advocates of the view known as Christus Victor (henceforth CV) might be classified in three ways: (1) those who reject penal substitutionary atonement (henceforth PSA) outright, and argue instead for CV (e.g., Steve Chalke, Joel Green, Darrin W. Snyder Belousek), (2) those who advocate CV but retain a secondary place for PSA (e.g., Gregory Boyd, Hans Boersma, Ron Sider),2 (3) and those who stress the centrality of PSA while recognizing CV as a complementary feature of the atonement (e.g., Sinclair Ferguson, Henri Blocher, Thomas Schreiner, Graham Cole).3 Together, a large corpus of work on the atonement has been published in recent decades.

In this article, it is not possible to explain all the ways that PSA and CV intersect, but neither is it necessary since there are several fine works written on the subject.4 Instead, I will consider the cross of Christ in the letter to the Colossians. I will argue that in this epistle Paul describes the cosmic reach of the cross with its twin designs of saving God’s people and defeating the enemies of God. More precisely, I will argue that in agreement with PSA, Christ died to atone for the sins of his “chosen ones” (3:9), that is, his people, and in keeping with CV, his death defeated his enemies and put them to open shame. In other words, through a theological reading of Colossians 1:15-2:15, I will argue that together PSA and CV are the twin means by which Christ’s death brings peace to the cosmos (Col 1:20). To put this graphically, see Fig. 1.

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