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.

NICHOLAS CABASILAS on the Atonement

The commission of sin involves injury to God Himself, for it says, ‘through breaking the law dishonorest thou God’ (Rom. 2:23). There is need of virtue greater than is found in man to be able to cancel the indictment. For the lowest it is particularly easy to commit an injury against Him who is greatest. Yet it is impossible for him to compensate for this insolence by any honour, particularly when he is in many ways indebted to Him whom he has injured, and He who is injured is so far superior that the distance between them cannot even be measured. He, then, who seeks to cancel the indictment against himself must restore the honour to Him who has been insulted and repay more than he owes, partly by way of restitution, partly by adding a compensation for the wrong which he has done. Yet how can he who is unable even to attain to the measure of his debts succeed in surpassing it? It was therefore impossible for any man to reconcile himself to God by introducting his own righteousness…. Wherefore, since we by our own means and of ourselves were unable to display righteousness, Christ Himself became for us ‘righteousness from God and consecration and redemtion’ (1 Cor. 1:30). He destroys the enmity in His flesh and reconciles us to God (cf. Eph. 2:15-16). This He accomplishes not merely by sharing our nature, nor was it only when He died for us, but at all times and for every man. He was crucified then; now He hospitably entertains us whenever we in penitence ask forgiveness. He alone, then, was able to render all the honour that is due to the Father and make satisfaction for that which had been taken away. The former He achieved by His life, the latter by His death. The death which He died upon the cross to the Father’s glory He brought in to outweigh the injury which we had committed; in addition, He most abundantly made amends for the debt of honour which we owed for our sins. By His life He paid all honour, both that which it befitted Him to pay and also that by which the Father ought to be honoured.

NICHOLAS CABASILAS

ibid., Book Four

Fourteenth Century