Pardon or Price: Questioning PSA

A year or two ago I heard Michael Gungor say that he rejected penal substitutionary atonement, the belief that the punishment (penal) of Christ’s death instead of ours (substitutionary) was necessary in order for sinners to be reconciled to God (atonement). 

My immediate reaction was, “Oh, well you’re not a Christian then.”

It wasn’t especially (or at least consciously) judgmental, but it was swift and sure: Christians believe in penal substitutionary atonement (PSA). That’s like, the gospel. If you don’t believe in that, then you don’t believe in the gospel, and if you don’t believe in the gospel then you’re not a Christian. 

It was a clear boundary in my mind, and Christians were on one side of it and non-Christians were on the other.

But then I decided to lean into my curiosity. I started researching. I Googled it – “Michael Gungor rejects substitutionary atonement” – and read both what he said in his own words and what ruffled Christians said about him. I kept listening to the Liturgists podcast (Micheal Gungor is one of the hosts, and the podcast is amazing). I Googled other things: “Why did Jesus die?” “Are there alternatives to PSA?” “Theories of atonement” (I learned there are at least SEVEN!). 

This exploration was part of my peeling back the curtain on “evangelicalism does not equal Christianity.” I didn’t know I thought evangelicalism was Christianity until I started researching this kind of stuff a few years ago (and by “stuff” I mean anything counter to what evangelicalism teaches: women can’t teach, gay marriage is sinful, non-believers go to Hell, the Bible is inerrant) and it turns out in the case of atonement, there are A LOT of ways to think about Jesus, the Cross, and the gospel.

I started listening to voices that were critical of PSA and it was pretty alarming.

• Jesus died on the Cross because God was forced to murder his own kid? That’s a loving God? (That’s a sovereign God?)
• If God can’t abide sin, then how exactly did Jesus hang out with sinners all the time?
• God loves you, but won’t (can’t?) even look you in the face until He’s been satisfied by bloodshed?
• Why are there so many things the all-powerful God can’t do without extreme violence? GOD’S hands were tied, really?
• Does endorsing PSA imply that peoples who sacrificed their children to appease various gods also had the right idea?
• If the just price for sin is eternal hell, then what was effective about Jesus being there for just a few hours?
• Jesus taught us to love our enemies – is it too much to expect that God could do the same?

If PSA is true, then Jesus’ death on the Cross doesn’t save us from sin/death/Hell as much as it saves us from God. I couldn’t deny that was the implication and it made me feel sick. That’s the subtext, right? Jesus HAD TO die in order to save you from God’s wrath. God is the gatekeeper, the one who must be contended with – he could save you or damn you. No wonder so many Christians struggle to believe God loves them!

That really did a number on me and cut to the core of the cognitive dissonance I have felt with evangelical theology for years: Our doctrine holds that God required the torture and murder of His own child in order to exempt us from eternal condemnation at His hand…but He’s super duper loving, we promise. 

Then I listened to a podcast interview with author/pastor Brad Jersek, who really blew things up for me. He pointed out that forgiveness and PSA are mutually exclusive. I always believed that God forgave my sins AND that Jesus died in my place on the Cross. In fact, he died on the Cross in my place to facilitate the forgiveness of my sins.

But that’s not what forgiveness is. We know this instinctively.

When a child misbehaves and gets a time out or his privileges revoked, they were not forgiven by their parents. They were punished. They paid a price.

When a citizen commits a crime and spends years in prison and is eventually released, they were not forgiven by the state. They were punished. They paid a price.

When a driver speeds and gets a ticket and pays their fine, they were not forgiven by the city. They were punished. They paid a price.

I’m not here to argue that punishment is never necessary. I think it’s often done to excess and often there’s a better way, but that’s not the point.

The point is that forgiveness is a pardon. Punishment is a price.

So, according to the theology I was taught, when humanity sins and God the Judge kills someone in our place, we are not forgiven. Our punishment was simply transferred. Jesus paid the price. (And the psychological burden of that – Jesus was killed because of you!!! – is its own punishment). 

Forgiveness demands no price. Either God forgave us, or He demanded a price. It’s one or the other.

I know, I know – He’s both loving and just! He is compassionate towards us (forgiveness) but he also must have justice for sin (PSA)! I get it. But…think about it like this: it’s your partner or spouse who is “both loving and just.” They are “compassionate” towards you but they also smack you around (or smack someone else around, say a child) when they decide you’ve screwed up, because “justice.” Still feel good about this combination?

If God is Love and “Love” includes violence, then God is an abuser. I reject that God.

Isn’t it possible that God could forgive us without brutally, fatally punishing someone (his BABY – I just can’t get over that part)? After all, humans are capable of forgiveness without exacting a price from the offender. Anyone with a decently healthy marriage or parenting dynamic knows this to be true. We manage to say “I forgive you” all the time. Not perfectly, not always, but it happens (and maybe the reason we don’t do a great job is because we’ve been taught that punishment must accompany forgiveness – face palm).

Are we capable of more than God? I thought all things are possible for God?

“See, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh; is anything too hard for me?” — Jeremiah 32:27

True forgiveness, arguably, if penal substitution is what the gospel is all about.

For additional reading/listening:

• The Bible and Orthodox Faith — Brad Jersek on The Bible for Normal People podcast (I know this title doesn’t seem relevant, but it’s the episode I reference above)
• 10 Problems with the Penal Substitution View of the Atonement by Greg Boyd
• Saved from God? 5 Problems with Penal Substitution Atonement Theory by Matthew Distefano

Photo credits:

• Photo by duong chung on Unsplash
• Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash
• Photo by Mathieu Turle on Unsplash
• Photo by Joseph Barrientos on Unsplash