Christ, Our Indemnitor

Although Jonathan Rutledge’s suggestions for reinterpreting some Old Testament atonement motifs might be accommodated by my theory of the atonement without great disruption, nevertheless such reinterpretations are not warranted. Oliver Crisp’s claim that Christ cannot be found guilty of our imputed sins because guilt just is the property of having committed the relevant crime, is profoundly mistaken, both philosophically and theologically. Joshua Thurow, in arguing that penal substitution is morally unjust, fails to refute a divine command theory of ethics and fails to take seriously the imputation of sins, despite strong analogies in our justice system. Aaron Davis offers a provocative example of the imputation of murder to a person who did not commit the crime (felony murder). Danielle Jansen says little about nonpunitive theories of penal substitution that I do not already say in my book.