Did I kill Jesus? (With recommendation of some recent books on atonement)

Last updated on: August 18, 2011 at 7:25 pm by Roger E. Olson

Did I kill Jesus? (With recommendation of some recent books on atonement) 2011-08-18T19:25:50-05:00 Roger E. Olson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I live and work in the Bible belt. Some call it the buckle on the Bible belt. There are more churches per capita in this county than almost anywhere else. And what I have called folk religion is rampant. It appears on bumper stickers, T-shirts, church marquees, even billboards. I know that’s not unique to this location, but what sociologists call the “religious ecology” of this region seems especially prone to it.

The other day I was walking my granddaughter around the local mall to get out of the house and the heat. I saw several religious themed T-shirts on people. One stood out as particularly curious and somewhat shocking. It was black with red or white letters (I can’t remember which now) saying “I KILLED JESUS.” A youngish man (probably in his twenties) was wearing it. I’ve never seen that one before and wondered what message he was trying to send (if any, because some people just put on any old T-shirt–obviously!) and what he hoped to accomplish with the slogan.

I assumed it was an evangelism tool. He probably wanted people in the mall to ask him why he killed Jesus or what he means by that. Then he could launch into an explanation of the gospel–as he understands it, at least–and possibly give the person an invitation to “receive Christ.”

First let me say I admire the courage it takes to wear a T-shirt like that. But, second, I have to say in this particular part of the country it doesn’t take as much courage as elsewhere. Probably most people in that mall that day understood what the slogan meant. I watched the young man for a long time and nobody asked him about it even though he mixed and mingled with crowds in several parts of the mall. (I wasn’t stalking him; the mall is small enough you don’t have to stalk someone to see them often as you both walk around it.)

Third, at risk of sounding like an old curmudgeon, I have to say this T-shirt and its slogan is evidence of a trend I have noticed in Christian sloganeering. Go to any Christian bookstore and look at the T-shirts on display. There is a tendency for Christian messages on T-shirts and bumper stickers (etc.) to become more imitative of the value placed on shock in popular culture. I’m not at all sure Christians should join in with that trend and make a “gospel message” a shocking “hook” to try gain attention.

Fourth, I have real problems with the message “I killed Jesus.” Who does the Bible say killed Jesus? The one verse I can think of that explicitly says who killed Jesus is 1 Corinthians 2:8–“the rulers of this age.” There Paul is referring not to the Jewish or even Roman officials who prosecuted, sentenced and physically killed Jesus but to the “powers and principalities” Paul refers to in Romans 8:38 and Ephesians 6:12 (I still believe Paul wrote Ephesians).

Now, of course, the T-shirt slogan “I killed Jesus” is probably meant to convey the idea that MY SINS and YOUR SINS killed Jesus in that he died because of them. Simply to jump over “I contributed to Jesus’ death” to “I killed Jesus,” however, is unjustified even if well-intentioned.

I long for the day where a pastor (or theologian!) could pull a person wearing such a T-shirt aside and lovingly exhort him or her not to wear it. (I used to do this with undergraduates occasionally. One came to class wearing a T-shirt that said “Porn Star.” It was “Parents Day” on campus and I told him that was not a shirt to help the college’s image! He seemed genuinely confused when I asked him to turn it inside out. Another student came to class wearing a T-shirt that said “Kill a Commie for Mommy!” Needless to say, I asked him to turn it inside out. He seemed equally nonplussed by my request.)

So what should a T-shirt wishing to express something about Jesus’ atonement say? I’m not sure there can be a T-shirt sized expression of atonement. The “I killed Jesus” slogan probably is meant to put the penal substitution theory (although I doubt the young man would consider it merely a “theory”) in a nutshell. The logic, I take it, is that I, together with everyone else, caused Jesus’ death in order that God could forgive us. There’s some truth in that, in my opinion, but “I killed Jesus” highlights too much the violence aspect of the atonement–as if that’s the central truth.

To get to my main point here: This T-shirt and slogan is part of the “public relations problem” penal substitution has today. Many thoughtful Christians are drawing away from (to say the least!) any idea of substitution in the atonement BECAUSE of the popular, folk religious interpretation of the penal substitution theory which is that God wanted to send us all to hell forever but Jesus convinced God not to do that by appeasing the wrath of God by his death. In other words, God hated us, but Jesus changed his mind.

I keep reading anti-penal substitution theologians (and non-theologians who dare to write about it!) who have completely misunderstood the classical meaning of penal substitution (going back to Anselm’s satisfaction theory) OR have latched on to one aspect of it, blowing it all out of proportion. That objectionable aspect is, of course, the idea of God’s wrath. It is assumed by many critics of penal substitution that love and wrath cannot be held together. Therefore, many of them adopt the Christus Victor view or the Moral Example/Moral Influence View. Some even attempt to pit the ancient Recapitulation view against penal substitution as if they are necessarily opposed.

Some critics of penal substitution (or any substitutionary view of the atonement) talk as if ANY reference to God’s wrath is tantamount to fundamentalism. They forget, apparently, that H. Richard Niebuhr famously described liberal theology as “A God without wrath, brought men without sin, into a kingdom without judgment, through the ministry of a Christ without a cross.” And both Barth and Brunner emphasized the wrath of God AND held something close to the penal substitution view of the atonement.

I have recently read three books that deal with the atonement from evangelical perspectives and find ways to preserve the substitutionary aspect of the atonement WITHOUT fundamentalism or “divine child abuse” or extreme emphasis on wrath or violence. These three books could, if read, clear up a lot of confusion about the atonement without reducing it to penal substitution and without discarding that motif entirely.

They are: Violence, Hospitality, and the Cross by Hans Boersma, A Community Called Atonement by Scot McKnight, and Recovering the Scandal of the Cross (second edition just released) by Mark Baker and Joel Green. In my next post, part 2, I will talk about these three books and what they have to offer. All of them affirm a substitutionary aspect of the cross without reducing it to that or justifying the “I killed Jesus” folk religious cliche.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

August 15, 2011

Something Protestants should borrow from Catholics

Next Post

August 19, 2011 Quick comment re: new blog address & format

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Against Liberal Theology Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

How many days did Jesus fast in the wilderness?

Select your answer to see how you score.

12 7 40 30