Moral influence theory of atonement

The moral influence or example theory of the atonement holds that the purpose and work of Jesus Christ was to bring positive moral change to humanity. This moral change came through the teachings and example of Jesus, the Christian movement he founded, and the inspiring effect of his martyrdom and resurrection. It is one of the oldest views of the atonement in Christian theology and a prevalent view for most of Christian history. However, the fact that the concept of God's redemptive love in Jesus was prevalent even among writers in the early church resulted in some scholars' claiming that the moral influence theory was universally taught in the second and third centuries. See, for example: the Epistle to Diognetus,The Shepherd of Hermas, and works by Clement of Rome,Ignatius of Antioch,Polycarp,Clement of AlexandriaHippolytus of Rome,Origen,Irenaeus, and Arnobius. Some writers also taught other atonement models in conjunction with it, but Wallace and Rusk claim that the majority of Christian writers in the second and third centuries AD expressed only the moral influence view.

A number of theologians see "example" (or "exemplar") theories of the atonement as variations of the moral influence theory.Wayne Grudem, however, argues that "Whereas the moral influence theory says that Christ's death teaches us how much God loves us, the example theory says that Christ's death teaches us how we should live." Grudem identifies the Socinians as supporters of the example theory.

The 4th century of the Christian Era marked the beginning of a pronounced geographic and linguistic divide within the Roman Empire between the Latin West and the Greek and Syriac East, and in the mid-11th century Chalcedonian Christianity suffered a major schism between the (western) Catholic Church under an increasingly powerful Roman papacy and the (eastern) Orthodox Church with its own apostolic sees and patriarchates. Orthodoxy flourished throughout the Byzantine Empire, and a great many theologians composed extensive works on Christian doctrine. Eastern theologians emphasized strongly the importance of moral transformation as deification (theosis), and the moral influence view of the atonement can be found universally in their writings. Other theories of the atonement became popular during the Byzantine period, such as the ransom theory and its complement Christus Victor. These approaches were typically espoused together with the moral influence view for a more comprehensive understanding of the Cross, and thus most theologians during the Byzantine period taught several atonement theories simultaneously. Since the East-West Schism of 1054, the Orthodox Christian Churches have continued to teach the moral influence theory of the atonement in combination with other Patristic atonement theories such as the ransom theory and the Christus Victor model.

...
Wikipedia