ABSTRACT
Is there an evangelical view of the atonement? The best short answer to the question: no, of course there is not. From a historical angle, the diverse character of evangelical life undermines most summary statements. While one might plausibly propose a set of ‘family resemblances’, no static essence awaits definite description here. There is only a disorganized cluster of lives, ideas and commitments, scattered across various times and places; a movement that has taken various forms in the past and will undergo countless transformations in the future. From a dogmatic angle, that which guides evangelical thinking militates against a settled position. Scripture does not enshrine as authoritative a single view of Christ’s reconciling life and death. It offers instead a disarray of motifs, metaphors and concepts – a discursive jumble, the coherence of which is less a matter of logical consistency, more a consequence of the event to which reference is made. Indeed, since Scripture points away from itself in diverse ways, the provisional standing of all claims about atonement seems undeniable. Dogmatic closure is neither desirable nor possible: a posteriori statements do not and cannot encompass the a priori ‘actuality’ of atonement.1
