De Impassibilitate Et Satisfactione: An Examination of the Methodological Implications of Trinitarian Classical Theism for the Doctrine of the Atonement

Abstract

Two trends are taking place in evangelical theology. First, the last decade has borne witness to a renaissance of Trinitarian theology. Books have proliferated regarding social and classical Trinitarianism with a marked push in favor of what is becoming known as Trinitarian classical theism. Second, evangelical works on the doctrine of the atonement have shifted away from penal substitution as the central metaphor of the atonement. Both of these trends warrant an examination of the implications for Trinitarian classical theism with regard to penal substitutionary atonement. Both of these doctrines were held by our Reformed Protestant forebears, and this dissertation draws on this tradition by retrieving the theology of Francis Turretin.

In short, this dissertation argues that divine impassibility, which functions as an entailment of the complex of doctrines in Trinitarian classical theism (aseity, simplicity, purus actus, immutability, eternality, and the like), is consistent with God’s making satisfaction for sins. I demonstrate the location of impassibility within the framework of Trinitarian classical theism and explain how one reasons from theological commitments and Scripture to the doctrine of the atonement. In this way, I show how impassibility arises from the theological context of Trinitarian classical theism, and then I articulate the necessary apparatus for understanding penal substitutionary atonement in light of divine impassibility.

I advance this thesis by examining current proposals regarding the doctrine of the atonement that are specifically theological, which means they are focused on the implications of theology proper for the doctrine of the atonement (chap. 2). Then, I move into my discussion of Francis Turretin’s theology. I begin by looking at how Turretin moves from Scripture to theological concepts with a focus on his understanding of reason, metaphysics, and natural theology (chap. 3). From these methodological considerations, I move into Turretin’s framing of the nature of God, and I demonstrate that impassibility arises as an entailment of Turretin’s understanding of the divine nature (chap. 4). Then, I detail Turretin’s account of the Trinity and the incarnation, with a focus on their consistency with impassibility, as well as the necessary implications to set up the discussion of Turretin’s framing of the atonement (chap. 5). Finally, I enumerate Turretin’s doctrine of penal satisfaction through Christ’s substitutionary work (chap. 6), and then I bring Turretin’s doctrine into the contemporary conversation (chap. 7).