What if the cross was more than Substitution?

We have made the cross about us...

"In 1931 Aulén published his seminal work Christus Victor: An Histori-
cal Study of the Three Main Types of the Idea of the Atonement. The majority
of theological treatises written nearly eighty years ago are long forgotten.
They may remain on library shelves, but they are usually regarded as
outdated and irrelevant. By contrast, Aulén's work continues to wield
influence in theological scholarship. It has been hailed as a "modern
classic"2 and one of the most influential theological works of the twen-
tieth century,3 challenging the paradigms, metaphors, and terminology
that modern theologians use to engage the doctrine of atonement on both
historical and systematic levels.4 Aulén establishes a dichotomy, pitting
the so-called classic idea of atonement against the "Latin" idea, of which
he is highly critical. He argues that the classic idea of atonement, con-
sistent with the New Testament and the majority of the Church Fathers,
was eclipsed over time by the Latin theory that began with Tertullian and
came to fruition in Anselm.5 Aulén claims that the core tenet of the clas-
sic theory is Christ's victory over the devil—a drama where atonement
is viewed as a "divine conflict and victory."6 He points out that the clas-
sic theory presupposes atonement is "from above"; it is a work of God
himself in Christ defeating the evil powers and reconciling the world to
himself. By contrast, the Latin theory does away with this dramatic imag-
ery and views atonement as Christ making satisfaction to God by paying
the debt incurred by human sin. Aulén charges that this view is "from
below" because it stresses the human side of atonement. Man, united
with the divine nature, makes payment to the One to whom satisfaction
is owed. Here, the understanding of Christ's atoning death is a payment
to an offended deity, while the idea of victory over the devil is relegated
to secondary importance or left out completely."

(CHRISTUS VICTOR MOTIFS
IN THE SOTERIOLOGY OF
THOMAS AQUINAS)
Jonathan Morgan