The Absence of an Atoning Sacrifice in Paul's Soteriology

Abstract

It need scarcely be said that Christ's death constitutes the theological centre of gravity for Paul's entire soteriology (e.g., 1 Thess 5.10; 1 Cor 2.1–2; 1.23; Rom 5.6, 8;passim). One aspect of this is the atonement for humanity's sin. In the past, the presupposition of many scholars has been that the concept of Christ's expiatory death (e.g., Gal 3.13; 2 Cor 5.21; Rom 3.24–5; 8.3) is first and foremost a Jewish sacrificial idea, as defined in the Pentateuch.