Western Christian theology grew like a rogue branch splitting off the main trunk of the Christian community, like this branch on this tree. Photo credit: O12 | Pixabay.

Introduction

The convictions that God’s justice is restorative, not retributive, and that Jesus’ atonement is a medical, not penal, substitution, rest upon the foundation of the doctrine of the Trinity.

Who God is defines everything God does. So who is God? The Triune God is love by nature, because God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The love within God — or the love God is — is the eternal, unchanging activity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This divine love is, therefore, the fundamental attribute of God. God is fundamentally other-centered. The biblical story and writings bear witness to God being motivated by other-centered love in both creation and redemption.

Divine justice, therefore, must be restorative, not retributive — for the motivation to “satisfy retributive wrath” is a self-centered motivation, and God by definition is not self-centered. By extension, and also based on the biblical witness, Jesus’ work of atonement is a healing of human nature, i.e. a Healing Atonement, or a Medical Substitution, not a Penal Substitution.

The Study Guide

The Theology from Nicaea Study Guide introduces the beginner to the Nicene Creed and also engages the experienced student of theology.

It shares some material with the section of our website on God’s Goodness. However, God’s Goodness explores God’s Triune nature in the biblical story and in our understanding as we respond to God. The Theology from Nicaea Study Guide discusses the early Christians’ struggle to articulate their experience of God, and highlights the split between East and West, starting with Augustine of Hippo.