Limited atonement (or definite atonement or particular redemption) is a doctrine in Christian theology which is particularly associated with the Reformed tradition and is one of the five points of Calvinism. The doctrine states that Jesus Christ'ssubstitutionary atonement on the cross is limited in scope to those who are predestined unto salvation and its primary benefits are not given to all of humanity but rather just believers.
The doctrine of the limited scope (or extent) of the atonement is intimately tied up with the doctrine of the nature of the atonement. It also has much to do with the general Calvinist view of predestination. Calvinists advocate the satisfaction theory of the atonement, which developed in the writings of Anselm of Canterbury and Thomas Aquinas. In brief, the Calvinistic refinement of this theory, known as penal substitution, states that the atonement of Christ pays the penalty incurred by the sins of men—that is, Christ receives the wrath of God for sins and thereby cancels the judgment they had incurred.
The Calvinist view of predestination teaches that God created a group of people, who would not and could not choose him (see total depravity), to be saved apart from their works or their cooperation, and those people are compelled by God's irresistible grace to accept the offer of the salvation achieved in the atonement of Christ.
The Calvinist atonement is called definite by some because they believe it certainly secures the salvation of those for whom Christ died, and it is called limited in its extent because it effects salvation for the elect only. Calvinists do not believe the power of the atonement is limited in any way, which is to say that no sin is too great to be expiated by Christ's sacrifice, in their view. Among English Calvinistic Baptists, the doctrine was usually known as particular redemption, giving its adherents the name Particular Baptists. This term emphasizes the intention of God to save particular persons through the atonement, as opposed to mankind in general as General Baptists believe.
On a practical level, this doctrine is not emphasized in Calvinist churches except in comparison to other salvific schemes. When it is taught, the primary use of this and the other doctrines of predestination is the assurance of believers. To that end, they apply this doctrine especially to try to strengthen the belief that "Christ died for me," as in the words of St. Paul, "I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" (Gal. 2:20, emphasis added) and to emphasize that God is sovereign in carrying out his plan of salvation. Even so, most Calvinists believe they can freely and sincerely offer salvation to everyone on God's behalf since they themselves do not know which people are counted among the elect and since they see themselves as God's instruments in bringing about the salvation of other members of the elect, if they themselves are not elected.
v· Bible passage cited to prove a limited extent to the atonement is Jn 10 in which Jesus uses shepherding practices as a metaphor for his relationship to his followers. A shepherd of those times would call his sheep from a mix of flocks, and his sheep would hear his voice and follow, while the sheep of other flocks would ignore any but their own shepherd's voice.[Jn 10:1-5]. In that context, Jesus says, "I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, ...and I lay down my life for the sheep,"[Jn 14-15] and he tells the Pharisees that they "do not believe because [they] are not part of [his] flock."[10:26] He continues, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand." [10:27f] Since Calvinists and nearly all Christians believe that not all have eternal life with God, Calvinists conclude that there are only two possibilities: either Jesus was wrong in saying that he would lose none of his sheep (a conclusion they reject), or Jesus must not have laid down his life for everyone, as they understand John 10 to imply. Formally, the Calvinist position can be expressed this way:
1. Jesus lays down his life for the sheep.[Jn 10:14-15]
3. Many people will not receive eternal life.[Mt 7:13-14]
Therefore, the Calvinist position is that Jesus did not die for everyone, but only for those whom the Father purposed to save.
Additionally, in the high priestly prayer, Jesus prays for the protection and sanctification of those who believed in him, and he explicitly excludes praying for all: "I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours."[Jn 17:9b]. Paul instructs the elders in Ephesus "to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood,"[Ac 20:28] and he says in his letter to the same church that "Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her."[Eph 5:25] Likewise, Jesus foreshadows that he will lay down his life "for his friends,"[Jn 15:13 cf.10:15] and an angel tells Jesus' earthly father Joseph that he "will save His people from their sins".[Mt 1:21] Calvinists believe that these passages demonstrate that Jesus died for the church (that is, the elect) only.
Confessional positions
Chapter 3, paragraph 6 of the Westminster Confession of Faith says, "Neither are any other redeemed by Christ, effectually called, justified, adopted, sanctified, and saved, but the elect only."
The Canons of Dort assert that "This death of God's Son is the only and entirely complete sacrifice and satisfaction for sins; it is of infinite value and worth, more than sufficient to atone for the sins of the whole world" (Section 2, Article 3). Article 8 of the same section says
For it was the entirely free plan and very gracious will and intention of God the Father that the enlivening and saving effectiveness of his Son's costly death should work itself out in all his chosen ones, in order that he might grant justifying faith to them only and thereby lead them without fail to salvation. In other words, it was God's will that Christ through the blood of the cross (by which he confirmed the new covenant) should effectively redeem from every people, tribe, nation, and language all those and only those who were chosen from eternity to salvation and given to him by the Father; that he should grant them faith (which, like the Holy Spirit's other saving gifts, he acquired for them by his death); that he should cleanse them by his blood from all their sins, both original and actual, whether committed before or after their coming to faith; that he should faithfully preserve them to the very end; and that he should finally present them to himself, a glorious people, without spot or wrinkle.
Objections to the doctrine
Limited atonement is contrasted with the view popularly termed hypothetical universalism or unlimited atonement, which is advocated by Arminian, Methodist, Lutheran, Messianic Jewish, and Roman Catholic theologians (among others) and which says Christ's work makes redemption possible for all but certain for none. (This doctrine should not be confused with concepts of universal reconciliation, in which God loves and saves his entire creation.) Though Lutherans and Catholics share a similar doctrine of the nature of the atonement with Calvinists, they differ on its extent, whereas Arminians and Methodists generally accept an alternate theory of the nature of the atonement such as the moral government theory. The elect in such models are all the people who choose to avail themselves of God's gracious offer of salvation through Christ, not a pre-determined group. Thus, these systems place a limit on the efficacy of the atonement rather than on its extent, like Calvinists.
Historically, the Arminian Remonstrants raised this doctrine as a point of debate over predestination in the Quinquarticular Controversy, and their position was ultimately condemned by Calvinists at the Synod of Dort in 1619. In spite of opposition, the doctrine of the universal extent of the atonement became and remains prevalent outside of Calvinist circles. Even some Calvinistic Christians identify themselves as Amyraldians or "four point Calvinists" and teach an unlimited atonement. In particular, Amyraldism teaches that God has provided Christ's atonement for all alike, but seeing that none would believe on his own, he elects those whom he will bring to faith in Christ, thereby preserving the Calvinist doctrine of unconditional election.
Calvin himself did not clearly articulate an opinion on this doctrine, which is nonetheless usually associated with his name,[1][2] but most modern Calvinists see it as a necessary consequence of his doctrines of election and the atonement.[3][4]
Some have contended that the doctrine of particular redemption implies that Christ's sacrifice was insufficient to atone for the sins of the whole world, but Calvinists have universally rejected this notion, instead holding that the value of the atonement is infinite but that God intentionally withholds its efficacious availability only to the elect.
Biblical passages
Several Biblical passages are urged by opponents as contradicting a doctrine of limited atonement (all quotes from the ESV, emphasis added):
John 1:29b: "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!"
John 3:16-17: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him."
2 Corinthians 5”14-15: "For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised."
1 Timothy 2:3-6: "This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time."
1 Timothy 4:10: "For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe."
Titus 2:11: "For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people."
2 Peter 2:1: "But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction."
2 Peter 3:9: "The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance."
1 John 2:2: "He [Christ] is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world."
Rebuttal
Calvinists admit that these are difficult passages with respect to the extent of the atonement, but following the Protestant hermeneutic principle of letting Scripture interpret Scripture, they attempt to use their interpretations of other passages on election and other passages on the extent of the atonement to clarify the meaning of these difficult passages (one difficulty with this endeavor, which is always encountered in applying the principle of Scripture interpreting Scripture, is that it presupposes a framework can be established from other passages without any exegetical assumptions). According to this principle, since the word world, for instance, is used at other places in the New Testament in a way obviously not intended to include every single person in the world (such as Luke 2:1 and Romans 1:8), its meaning in any particular passage must be determined by the context. In particular, they understand all to refer to all of the elect (as in 2 Corinthians 5:14-15); to refer to all races of people, not just Israelites (as in John 1:29; John 3:16-17; 1 Timothy 2:6; and Titus 2:11); or to refer to the elect in all places throughout the world (as in John 2:2; 1Jn , where the words "the sins of" have been added to the last phrase by the ESV and other translations and literally reads "but for the whole world", as in the NKJV, ASV, the Vulgate, etc.). They also posit that there can be different senses of the concept of salvation — as simply the defense and preservation of temporal life (as they understand 1 Timothy 4:10) or as salvation from God's wrath unto eternal life. Opponents hold that such interpretations are read into the passages, rather than being their natural meanings; while admitting that words like "world" and "all" do not always mean "every human being," they maintain that there are no grounds for taking the terms in a limited sense here.
A related Calvinist approach understands scripture to speak of the atonement in two-fold manner, holding to the medieval formula that Christ's death was "sufficient for all, but efficient for the elect." Under this approach, seemingly opposed scriptures are reconciled by classifying them as referring to either the sufficiency or the efficiency of the atonement.
Opponents offer alternate interpretations of the same passages which in turn support a universal atonement, and the disagreement has yet to find any significant resolution. Consequently, both limited and unlimited atonement views are still held in Christendom, though the latter is much more common. In particular, limited views are essentially restricted to certain Protestant denominations; Catholics and Orthodox both reject it, as do many Protestants.
Comparison among Protestants
This table summarizes the classical views of three different Protestant beliefs.[5]
^ Table drawn from, though not copied, from Lange, Lyle W. God So Loved the World: A Study of Christian Doctrine. Milwaukee: Northwestern Publishing House, 2006. p. 448.
External links
Pro
The Death of Death in the Death of Christ by John Owen (ISBN 0-85151-382-4) with a famous introduction by J. I. Packer, who says, "It is safe to say that no comparable exposition of the work of redemption as planned and executed by the Triune Jehovah has ever been done since Owen published his. None has been needed....[N]obody has a right to dismiss the doctrine of the limitedness, or particularity, of atonement as a monstrosity of Calvinistic logic until he has refuted Owen's proof that it is part of the uniform biblical presentation of redemption, clearly taught in plain text after plain text. And nobody has done that yet." It should be noted of course that those who oppose the doctrine would disagree that Owen has "proved" anything from "plain text after plain text," maintaining that instead he has misinterpreted his texts; they would also disagree with the assertion that "no one has done that [refuting] yet."
'God's Strategy in Human History,' Roger Forster, Paul Marston, Wipf & Stock Publishers (July 2001). This contains both a theological discussion as well as an historical overview of the doctrine of Calvinism in the church, claiming that it originated with St. Augustine. Numerous earlier Church Fathers are quoted to support this.
limited atonement — Limited atonement is the Calvinist doctrine that Christ died to atone for the sins of only those whom God predestined to be saved. It conforms to an emphasis on the sovereignty of God and the depravity of humanity Humans, in their depraved… … Encyclopedia of Protestantism
limited atonement — noun A Christian doctrine, one of the five points of Calvinism, stating that Jesus Christs substitutionary atonement on the cross is limited in scope to those who are predestined unto salvation, which is conferred only to believers … Wiktionary
limited atonement — noun : a theological doctrine that the reconciliation effected between God and man by the sufferings of Jesus Christ was efficacious for some but not all men compare general atonement … Useful english dictionary
Atonement (governmental view) — The governmental view of the atonement (also known as the moral government theory) is a doctrine in Christian theology concerning the meaning and effect of the death of Jesus Christ and has been traditionally taught in Arminian circles that draw… … Wikipedia
Atonement in Christianity — For other uses, see Atonement. Part of a series on Atonement in Christianity Moral inf … Wikipedia
Atonement (film) — Infobox Film name = Atonement caption = Theatrical poster director = Joe Wright [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0783233/combined Cast, Crew and Production Details] at Internet Movie Database] producer = Tim Bevan Eric Fellner Paul Webster writer =… … Wikipedia
Atonement (satisfaction view) — The satisfaction view of the atonement is a doctrine in Christian theology related to the meaning and effect of the death of Jesus Christ and has been traditionally taught in Catholic, Lutheran, and Reformed circles. Theologically and… … Wikipedia
Unlimited atonement — (sometimes called general atonement or universal atonement) is the majority doctrine in Protestant Christianity that is normally associated with Non Calvinist Christians. It originated as a protest against the supralapsarian doctrines formulated… … Wikipedia
