Expert: Fr. Chris Larimer - 1/6/2011

Question
QUESTION: What is the Anglican position on incarnational atonement, the idea that God reconciled himself to humanity through the incarnation?

ANSWER: The best answer to your question is found in our Eucharistic canon, which states: "ALMIGHTY God, our heavenly Father, who of thy tender mercy didst give thine only Son Jesus Christ to suffer death upon the Cross for our redemption; who made there (by his one oblation of himself once offered) a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction, for the sins of the whole world; and did institute, and in his holy Gospel command us to continue, a perpetual memory of that his precious death, until his coming again; Hear us, O merciful Father, we most humbly beseech thee; and grant that we receiving these thy creatures of bread and wine, according to thy Son our Saviour Jesus Christ's holy institution, in remembrance of his death and passion, may be partakers of his most blessed Body and Blood."

As you can see, the Anglican position is clearly in line with satisfaction theories that place the weight of our redemption not on Christ's incarnation but most impressively on his atoning vicarious death. Without the incarnation, there could be no vicarious death, and without his resurrection, we could not be sure that he has defeated death, and without his ascension, we could not be sure that he reigns in glory for us (always interceding). So we should be careful to say that our salvation is multifaceted and accomplished by the plenary work of Christ (the fullness of his life and death and resurrection and ascension and sending of the Holy Spirit). Nevertheless, when we point to the moment in his work when sins separating power was undone (so that we could experience at-one-ment with God), Anglicans have always pointed to the cross.

This has been our position at least since that great English Archbishop of Canterbury, Anselm, clearly articulated the view in Cur Deus Homo.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I've been reading Athanasius who said that death was the natural result of sin as it separates a person from God. When Christ died, therefore, He took upon himself death in order to destroy it. This remains the Eastern Orthodox view. However, Catholics and Protestants seem to see death as a punishment for sin and Christ as a substitute who was punished in our place. I do not understand this. How could the punishment of an innocent man (God's own son no less) satisfy God?

Answer
Again, I would refer you to St. Anselm's Cur Deus Homo, which you can find here: http://www.ewtn.com/library/CHRIST/CURDEUS.HTM

This hinges on the idea of imputation - that Christ had our sins imputed to him so that we might have his righteousness imputed to us. This is justification - we are immediately justified before God the Father on account of the work of the Son being applied to us by the Holy Spirit. It is, admittedly, a view shaped by the vestiges of the Latin / Western Roman legal tradition. However, it is not at odds with theosis, as imputation is an eschatological reality whereas theosis (which is roughly analogous to the Western concept of sanctification and glorification) focuses on the process whereby the eschatological reality is manifested in this life.