A hallmark of early Christian orthodoxy was the Christus Victor theory of Christ’s atoning sacrifice on the cross. Although this premise has many unique subtleties, the principal assertion of this view of the atonement understands Jesus’s reconciliatory death on the cross as the universal triumph of light over darkness. Accordingly, the cosmic spiritual warfare that raged behind the scenes of Jesus’s betrayal, trial, execution, and burial are emphasized. Christ’s death is, therefore, seen as the heavenly ransom given to the devil in order to free the souls of the departed believers he had imprisoned (Eph. 4:8; Ps. 68:18). Discerning God’s redemptive initiative cosmologically, likewise, sees Jesus’s crucifixion and resurrection as the divine moment wherein “the entire created order is transformed and renewed,” as Coleman M. Ford puts it (94).
Despite the prevalence of this interpretation of Christ’s salvific work, the merits of the Christus Victor perspective have mostly fallen by the wayside in recent decades. In its stead sits the vaunted penal substitutionary view, which has reigned supreme as the atonement interpretation de jure amongst Christian scholars. Be that as it may, a partial retrieval of Christus Victor may be warranted if one hopes to paint a panoramic vista of the gospel story. While patristic theologians might have been apt to employ somewhat Machiavellian language to describe God using his incarnate Son as the “bait” to “hook” Satan by the jaw, which instills in modern evangelicals a modest dose of apprehension, the point remains that within God’s mosaic of redemption, a myriad of cosmological, soteriological, and spiritual triumphs converge at the cross.
Consequently, rather than fixating on one theory over another by which to understand the work of Christ that leads to salvation, the student of theology is encouraged to conceive of the cross not as an “either/or” paradigm but as a “both/and” pronouncement. Christ’s death and resurrection are, therefore, regarded as the divine accomplishment of justification for sinners (Rom. 4:25), as well as the cosmic disgrace and defeat of Satan and his horde (Col. 2:15). This, of course, is in keeping with what God had promised from the beginning (Gen. 3:15). Although one is admonished to grasp Christus Victor discerningly so as not to fall prey to the same notions of universalism that Origen, Gregory of Nyssa, and Maximus the Confessor seemed to be open to, recognizing the multifaceted victory achieved on the cross invites the church to proclaim the gospel as an all-encompassing story of reconciliation both for the souls of humans and the very fabric of creation.
Grace and peace.
Works cited:
Coleman M. Ford, “Salvation,” Historical Theology for the Church, edited by Jason G. Duesing and Nathan A. Finn (Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2021).