Recapitulation theory of atonement

History

As highlighted above, Irenaeus is considered to be the first to clearly express a recapitulation view of the atonement, although he is anticipated by Justin Martyr, whom Irenaeus quotes in Against Heresies 4.6.2:

In his book against Marcion, Justin does well say: "I would not have believed the Lord Himself, if He had announced any other than He who is our framer, maker, and nourisher. But because the only-begotten Son came to us from the one God, who both made this world and formed us, and contains and administers all things, summing up His own handiwork in Himself, my faith towards Him is steadfast, and my love to the Father immoveable, God bestowing both upon us." [Emphasis added]

There follows two representative quotes from Irenaeus:

[Christ] was in these last days, according to the time appointed by the Father, united to His own workmanship, inasmuch as He became a man liable to suffering ... He commenced afresh1 the long line of human beings, and furnished us, in a brief, comprehensive manner, with salvation; so that what we had lost in Adam—namely, to be according to the image and likeness of God—that we might recover in Christ Jesus.

:1 So the Syriac. The Latin has, "in seipso recapitulavit," He summed up in Himself.}}

For Irenaeus, the ultimate goal of Christ's work of solidarity with humankind is to make humankind divine. Of Jesus he says, he "became what we are, that He might bring us to be even what He is Himself". This idea has been most influential in the Eastern Christianity, particularly within the Eastern Orthodox Church, having been taken on by many other Church Fathers, such as Ss. Athanasius, Gregory of Nazianzus, Augustine, and Maximus the Confessor. This Eastern Orthodox theological development out of the recapitulation view of the atonement is called theosis ("deification").

A more contemporary, slightly differing expression of the recapitulation view can be seen in D. E. H. Whiteley's reading of Paul the Apostle's theology. Whiteley favourably quotes Irenaeus' notion that Christ 'became what we are, that He might bring us to be even what He is Himself', although he never describes Paul's view of the atonement as a recapitulation; rather, he uses the word 'participation':

...if St. Paul can be said to hold a theory of the modus operandi [of the atonement], it is best described as one of salvation through participation: Christ shared all our experience, sin alone excepted, including death, in order that we, by virtue of our solidarity with him, might share his life.

References

Notes

Citations

References

1. E.g. Leon Morris, 'Theories of the Atonement' in ''Elwell Evangelical Dictionary''.
2. H. N. Oxenham, ''The Catholic doctrine of the atonement'' (London: Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, and Green, 1865), p. 114-118
3. [[James Bethune-Baker]], ''[https://archive.org/stream/anintroductionto00bethuoft An introduction to the early history of Christian doctrine to the time of the Council of Chalcedon]'' (London: Methuen & Co, 1903), p. 333-337
4. [[J. K. Mozley]], ''The doctrine of the atonement'' (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1916), p. 100-101
5. R. Mackintosh, ''Historic theories of the atonement'' (London: [[Hodder & Stoughton]], 1920), p. 89-90
6. [[L. W. Grensted]], ''A Short History of the Doctrine of the Atonement'' (Manchester: [[Manchester University Press]], 1920), p. 57-60
7. Robert S. Franks, ''[https://archive.org/stream/historyofdoctrin01franuoft A history of the doctrine of the work of Christ in its ecclesiastical development]'' vol. 1 (London: Hodder and Stoughton), p. 37ff.
8. Gustaf Aulen, ''Christus Victor'' (1931) (London: SPCK), p. 16ff., esp. p. 20-22,29
9. [[Michael Green (theologian). Michael Green]], ''The Empty Cross of Jesus'' (Eastbourne: Kingsway, 2004; first published 1984), p. 66-68
10. (October 2007). "What's the Fuss About Recapitulation Theology?".
11. E.g., [[James Bethune-Baker]], ''[https://archive.org/stream/anintroductionto00bethuoft An introduction to the early history of Christian doctrine to the time of the Council of Chalcedon]'' (London: Methuen & Co, 1903), p. 334: 'Just as mankind in Adam lost its birthright, so in Christ mankind recovers its original condition'.
12. Robert S. Franks, ''[https://archive.org/stream/historyofdoctrin01franuoft A history of the doctrine of the work of Christ in its ecclesiastical development]'' vol. 1 (London: Hodder and Stoughton), p. 37-38
13. [[William Barclay (theologian). William Barclay]], ''Crucified and Crowned'' (S.C.M, first published 1961), p. 100
14. J. K. Mozley, ''[https://archive.org/stream/doctrineatoneme00mozlgoog The doctrine of the atonement]'' (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1916), p. 100 n. 4
15. Irenaeus, ''Against Heresies'' 3.18.1 in A. Roberts and J. Donaldson (eds), ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=K9UYAAAAYAAJ&pg=PR5 The Writings of Irenaeus]'' Vol. 1 (Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1848), p. 337-338
16. Irenaeus, ''Against Heresies'' 5.21.1 in A. Roberts and J. Donaldson (eds), ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=K9UYAAAAYAAJ&pg=PR5 The Writings of Irenaeus]'' Vol. 2 (Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1869), p. 110-111
17. Irenaeus, ''Against Heresies'' Preface to Book 5 in A. Roberts and J. Donaldson (eds), ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=K9UYAAAAYAAJ&pg=PR5 The Writings of Irenaeus]'' Vol. 2 (Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1869), p. 55
18. [[Michael Green (theologian). Michael Green]], ''The Empty Cross of Jesus'' (Eastbourne: Kingsway, 2004; first published 1984), p. 67
19. D. E. H. Whietely, ''The Theology of St Paul'' (Oxford: Blackwell, 1964), p. 113: 'St. Irenaeus was fundamentally true to the thought of Paul when he said: ''Factus est quod sumus nos, uti nos perficeret esse quod et ipse''.
20. D. E. H. Whietely, ''The Theology of St Paul'' (Oxford: Blackwell, 1964), p. 130