Does My Understanding of the Atonement Matter?

Strength to Strength welcomed Philip Hess to discuss the implications of Jesus’ atonement.

Does it matter how we understand Christ’s death? How do our views about this topic affect our view of God and the Christian life? In this talk we discuss biblical teaching about the atonement, and historical developments in the doctrine. In particular, we look at the popular Protestant understanding of the Atonement, known as “Penal Substitution.”

An interactive question-and-answer period follows.

Since the meeting, Philip also shared a video message titled “A Biblical Atonement for a Biblical Worldview.”

Recommended book by Philip Hess: Penal Substitution on Trial.

Recommended book by Keith Crider: Sacrifice or Penalty.

Recommended audio messages from David Bercot of Scroll Publishing about the atonement:

• Part 1: “What the Early Christians Believed About the Atonement”
• Part 2: Response to questions from Part 1.

Philip Hess cares deeply about the faithful testimony of the church, and enjoys study into current relevant issues facing the people of God. In the field of soteriology, he’s recently written a publication called Penal Substitution on Trial.

He lives with his wife and six children in State College, Pennsylvania, and is a part of the Followers of Jesus congregation.