Season Two - 28. Deep Dive: The Atonement

Greg and RD begin this episode by talking about the cross and its centrality of the Gospel, and what actually happens on the cross. RD first begins by discussing how the Gospels slow down during the chapters of Holy Week. Greg jumps in by explaining the Jewish timeline. RD then takes time to describe Jesus' actions during his last days and that Jesus knew what was going to happen to Him, but went through with it anyways.

This leads Greg to expound on the structure of sacrifices in the Jewish lifestyle, and RD points out why Jesus had to die in order to bridge the gap between us and God, and how Jesus declares, "It is finished" when He died. Greg then dives into talking about what actually happened on the cross, referencing James Beilby and Paul Eddy's book "The Nature of the Atonement: Four Views" as a great tool to research more on your own.

From there, Greg and RD spend some time looking at different theories about atonement. The first two theories are penal substitution and the ransom theory of the atonement. Greg lets listeners know that he personally struggles with the ransom theory because it teaches that Christ's death was a ransom paid to Satan. RD agrees and calls the ransom theory problematic, and references the Christus Victor as a better theory. He also references "The Cross of Christ" as a great book on this subject. Another theory that Greg and RD discuss is the moral influence theory.

Greg and RD wrap up this episode by talking more about sin and how Jesus suffered for us on the cross, and how we need to sit in the weight of that on Friday and Saturday.

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