Scotus' voluntarist approach to the atonement reconsidered
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 23174136 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Andrew S Yang (Duke University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2009 |
| Volume | 62 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 421-440 |
| Publication date | 2009-11-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Scottish Journal of Theology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0336-9306 • E-ISSN: 1475-3065 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0036930609990093 |
| OpenAlex | W2079329044 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 2 |
Many studies criticise John Duns Scotus ( c . 1265–1308) for reducing the atoning sacrifice of Christ to a merit of finite worth and making its atoning power completely dependent on the accepting will of God, such that if it pleased God, even a purely creaturely sacrifice of an angel or a saint would have sufficed to redeem the elect. This article discredits this sort of criticism by demonstrating that Scotus situates his argument for a finite worth of Christ's merit within the framework of his larger argument for the infinite sufficiency of Christ's merit. A cogent examination of the ways in which Scotus posits a merit of finite intrinsic worth and arrives at its infinitely sufficient atoning power reveals that only the merit of a God-man can achieve this sort of sufficiency and that the nature of Scotus' voluntarism that underlies his concept of divine acceptation is nowhere as radical as it is usually portrayed.
Argument (complex analysis) · Art · Art history · Criticism · Epistemology · Physics · Political science · Power (physics) · Sacrifice · SAINT · Theology · Voluntarism (philosophy) · Karl Barth and Christian Theology · Law · Medieval Philosophy and Theology · Philosophy · Theology and Philosophy of Evil
| Citations per year | 0.22 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2017 - 2023 (7) |
| Highly cited | No |