Crucifixion As Evangelism Method Theology
The crucifixion of Jesus Christ is central to Christian theology, serving not merely as a historical event but as the foundational act of salvation and, by extension, a core element in the message of evangelism. The New Testament presents the crucifixion as the means by which God reconciles humanity to himself [7].
The theological understanding of the crucifixion often centers on the concept of vicarious atonement, where Christ bore the guilt and penalty of human sin [4]. This perspective views Christ as an offering for sin, saving believers from the penalty of God's law in a manner analogous to the sin offerings in the Mosaic law [4]. Charles Hodge explains that if Christ was an offering for sin and saves from the law's penalty, then "He bore the guilt of our sins and endured the penalty in our stead" [4]. This substitutionary understanding is a cornerstone of how the crucifixion is presented in evangelism, emphasizing that Christ's death provides a "sure foundation" for reconciliation with God [7].
Early Christian thought, while not always articulating a single, unified theory of atonement, frequently touched upon the significance of Christ's death. During the patristic period, some Church Fathers spoke of Christ saving the world as a teacher, while others described Him giving Himself as a ransom [1]. Augustine of Hippo, for instance, saw the events of Christ's crucifixion, burial, resurrection, and ascension as models for the Christian life, not just mystically but in reality [2]. He noted that "They that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts" (Galatians 5:24), connecting the believer's spiritual journey to Christ's physical suffering [2].
The imagery of the crucifixion is also linked to Old Testament types. Jesus himself, in John 3:14, states, "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up" [3]. Adam Clarke interprets this as Jesus showing that he descended from heaven to be "lifted up, i.e. crucified, for the salvation of mankind" [3]. This comparison highlights the crucifixion as God's appointed remedy for sinful souls, much like the brazen serpent was a remedy for the Israelites bitten by fiery serpents [3]. While Clarke cautions against over-interpreting the brazen serpent as a direct type of Christ, he acknowledges the parallel in their salvific purpose [3].
The crucifixion is also understood as a prophetic fulfillment. John Gill, commenting on John 21:19, explains that Christ's words to Peter, "signifying by what death he should glorify God," indicated not only a violent death but specifically crucifixion [5]. Gill notes that "ecclesiastical history confirms" Peter's crucifixion at Rome, where "Christ was magnified, and God was glorified by his zeal and courage, faith and patience, constancy and perseverance" [5]. This demonstrates how the manner of death itself, crucifixion, was seen as a means of glorifying God and fulfilling prophecy.
In evangelism, the crucifixion is presented as the ultimate demonstration of God's love and justice. It addresses the problem of human sin by providing a means of forgiveness and reconciliation through Christ's sacrifice [7]. The message is that God "was in Christ effecting this peace, and now is ready to forgive sin, i.e., not to impute unto men their trespasses" [7]. Therefore, the call to "be reconciled unto God" is an invitation to accept this offer of mercy, which is founded on Christ's substitutionary death [7]. The theological method, particularly in Reformed thought, emphasizes that Christian theology is an exhibition of biblical facts and truths, and the crucifixion stands as a central fact to be understood and proclaimed [6].
Sources
- CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 2, section 114: § 6. Concluding Remarks . In reviewing these several theories concerning the method of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, it is important to remark, — 1. That it is not to be inferred because certain writers are quoted as setting forth one particular theory, that they recognized the truth of no other view of the work of Christ. This remark is especially applicable to the patristic period. While some of the fathers speak at times of Christ’s saving the world as a teacher, and others of them say that He gave himself as a ransom to Sa”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “NPNF1 Vol 3: Augustine — On the Holy Trinity — CHAP. 53.--CHRIST'S CROSS AND BURIAL, RESURRECTION, ASCENSION, AND SITTING DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD, ARE IMAGES OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE.: All the events, then, of Christ's crucifixion, 255 of His burial, of His resurrection the third day, of His ascension into heaven, of His sitting down at the right hand of the Father, were So ordered, that the life which the Christian leads here might be modelled upon them, not merely in a mystical sense, but in reality. For in reference to His crucifixion it is said: "They that are Christ's have crucified th”
- John (Methodist/Wesleyan) “Adam Clarke on John 3:14: As Moses lifted up - He shows the reason why he descended from heaven, that he might be lifted up, i.e. crucified, for the salvation of man. kind, and be, by the appointment of God, as certain a remedy for sinful souls as the brazen serpent elevated on a pole, Num 21:9, was for the bodies of the Israelites, which had been bitten by the fiery serpents in the wilderness. It does not appear to me that the brazen serpent was ever intended to be considered as a type of Christ. It is possible to draw likenesses and resemblances out of any thing; but, in such matters as thes”
- CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 2, section 103: the law. The victim bore the sin of the offerer, and died in his stead. An expiation was thereby effected by the suffering of a vicarious punishment. This also determines the nature of the work of Christ. If He was an offering for sin, if He saves us from the penalty of the law of God, in the same way in which the sin offering saved the Israelite from the penalty of the law of Moses, then He bore the guilt of our sins and endured the penalty in our stead. We may not approve of this method of salvation. The idea of the innocent bearing th”
- John (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on John 21:19: This spake he,.... These are the words of the evangelist, explaining the meaning of Christ in like manner, as in Joh 12:33 signifying by what death he should glorify God; for by the above words Christ not only intimated that Peter should die, not a natural, but a violent death, or that he should die a martyr in his cause, but the very kind of death he should die, namely, by crucifixion; and that Peter was crucified at Rome, ecclesiastical history confirms (f), when Christ was magnified, and God was glorified by his zeal and courage, faith and patience, constancy and p”
- CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 2, section 85: development. While “the mediating theology” concedes all this, it nevertheless admits of a miraculous or supernatural beginning of the world and of the person of Christ, and thus gives up its whole philosophical system. At least the members of one wing of Schleiermacher’s school are thus inconsistent; those of the other are more true to their principles. As Christian theology is simply the exhibition and illustration of the facts and truths of the Bible in their due relations and proportions, it has nothing to do with these speculations. ”
- CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 2, section 103: which Paul was commissioned to announce, namely, as follows in the next verse, God is bringing about peace; He was in Christ effecting this peace, and now is ready to forgive sin, i.e ., not to impute unto men their trespasses; and therefore the Apostle urges his readers to embrace this offer of mercy, to be reconciled unto God; i.e ., to accept his overture of reconciliation. For it has a sure foundation. It rests on the substitution and vicarious death of Christ. He was made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in”