"Is Ransom Enough?" (Oliver D. Crisp)
Oliver D. Crisp, Professor of Systematic Theology at Fuller Theological Seminary AAR & SBL Annual Meetings in San Diego, CA November 23, 2014 Abstract: In recent Christian systematic theology there has been a renewed interest in discussion of the nature of atonement. Substitutionary accounts of Christ's work have largely fallen out of favor, and various versions of the so-called Ransom Model of atonement have been touted as superior alternatives to older, substitutionary models. In the same period there has been an interest in the atonement shown by analytics, though few have treated the Ransom Model in detail. This lecture addresses that lacuna by offering a critique of the recent rash of Ransom Models from an analytic-theological perspective. The lecture offers reasons for thinking that the notion of Ransom is better understood as one aspect of a more comprehensive model of atonement, one in which substitution plays a fundamental role.
