What is the Orthodox Christian view on the atonement and is Penal Substitutionary Atonement Orthodox?

The patristic and biblical quotes in this collection reveal what Orthodox Christians actually teach about the atonement, debunking prevailing myths. The quotes show multiple biblical and patristic perspectives: Christ as 'ransom for all' (1 Tim 2:6), 'triumphing over' principalities and powers (Col 2:15), and the 'sweet exchange' where 'the iniquity of many should be concealed in One Righteous Man, and the righteousness of One should justify many that are iniquitous' (St. Athanasius). Rather than modern theories, the Church Fathers emphasize Christ taking 'upon Himself our sins' as 'a ransom for us, holy for lawless, guileless for evil, just for the unjust' (St. Athanasius). These truthful quotes help debunk misconceptions about what the Orthodox Church has historically taught about the atonement.

The quotes in this collection help debunk myths by showing the actual range of patristic and biblical teaching on atonement. Some emphasize Christ bearing our sins ('he made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin' - 2 Cor 5:21), others focus on propitiation ('he is propitiation for our sins' - 1 John 2:2), while others highlight Christ as a ransom or victory over death. By presenting both substitutionary language and themes of divine wrath directly from the sources, this collection helps readers distinguish between prevailing myths and what the Church Fathers actually teach.

JEROME OF STRIDON on the Atonement

This Jesus was clothed with filthy garments (Zech 3:3), who although he did not sin, was made sin for us (2 Cor. 5:21). And he himself carries our infirmities (Is. 53:4), and suffers for us, and we have thought him to be in suffering, and wounded, and in anguish. But he himself was wounded for our iniquities, and weak because of our sins (Is. 53:5). And we read in the apostle Paul: Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having been made a curse for us (Gal. 3:13). He speaks in the twenty-first Psalm: Far from my salvation are the words of my offenses (Ps. 21:1). And in the sixty-eighth Psalm: God, you know my foolishness, and my offenses are not hidden from you (Ps. 68:5). All these things are called 'filthy garments,' and they will be taken from him when he blots out our sins, so that, because he was clothed with filthy garments, let us who rise again hear in him after baptism: May your garments be white at all times (Eccl. 9:8).

JEROME OF STRIDON

id., Commentary on Zechariah

Fifth Century