Gay Priest Rejects Atonement

The Very Rev Jeffrey John, Dean of St Albans, rejects the substitutionary view of the atonement, considering it “repulsive” and “insane” and arguing that it makes “God sound like a psychopath.”

“In other words, Jesus took the rap and we got forgiven as long as we said we believed in him,” says Mr John. “This is repulsive as well as nonsensical. It makes God sound like a psychopath. If a human behaved like this we’d say that they were a monster.”

Mr John argues that too many Christians go through their lives failing to realise that God is about “love and truth,” not “wrath and punishment.” He offers an alternative interpretation, suggesting that Christ was crucified so he could “share in the worst of grief and suffering that life can throw at us.”

The Bishop N. T. Wright “accused Mr John of attacking the fundamental message of the Gospel.”

“He is denying the way in which we understand Christ’s sacrifice. It is right to stress that he is a God of love but he is ignoring that this means he must also be angry at everything that distorts human life,” he said.

Read the story at Telegraph.

Update: See the story in Times Online by Ruth Gledhill: No penalty, no atonement.

Like this post? Subscribe to our feed .