Theological glossary · FaithLogic

Substitution (vicarious atonement)

Christ takes the place of sinners — 'the righteous for the unrighteous' — doing and bearing what they could not.

Latin substituere, 'to put in place of'; Greek anti ('instead of', Mark 10:45) and hyper ('on behalf of', in context substitutionary).

Isaiah 53:4–6; Mark 10:45; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 3:13; 1 Peter 2:24; 3:18.

Present from the sub-apostolic period (Barnabas, Irenaeus's 'his soul for our souls', Athanasius's 'a substitute for the life of all'); sharpened judicially in the medieval West and the Reformation.

Distinguished from mere representation: Christ not only acts on our behalf but in our place, so that we are not required to bear it.

Some biblical scholars read the 'for us' language as representative but not substitutionary; defenders point to Isaiah 53 and anti in Mark 10:45.

Open in the glossary for related terms and the doctrines this concept appears in.