Reclaiming the Atonement Quotes

“To “be saved” means to become a child of God, and there is no other person in history fully conscious of himself as the child of God. The Word alone knows the One who begets Him. But because He knows this Father within the structure and horizon of a human mind—in human self-awareness—a new potential arises for the whole human race. The fully knowing Son may choose to share this personal knowledge of the Father with those who come to Him in faith: “All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and he to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavily laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:27-28).”
― Patrick Henry Reardon, Reclaiming the Atonement: An Orthodox Theology of Redemption: Volume 1: The Incarnate Word

“The Scroll, moreover, is wonderfully translucent, so the glory that shines through it is “the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” It is truly luminous, a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. Man was created, in fact, for no other purpose than for the study and enjoyment of this Scroll. Nor was the Incarnation a kind of divine afterthought. Indeed, the first lineaments on the Scroll’s second side were already penciled in, as it were, in creation itself, when man was formed capax Dei. This expression (for which, I apologize, there is no real English equivalent) means, not only that human nature was so constructed as to be capable of elevation to the divine nature by grace; it also means that man’s nature was so formed, in the act of its creation, as to be capable of assumption by God’s Word. Humanity was designed with a view to the hypostatic union.”
― Patrick Henry Reardon, Reclaiming the Atonement: An Orthodox Theology of Redemption: Volume 1: The Incarnate Word

“when the Samaritan woman at the well calls Jesus a prophet (John 4:19), this is only an initial step toward His being called the Messiah (4:25–26) and the Savior of the world (4:42). Again, when the multiplication of the loaves prompts the confession of Jesus as a prophet (6:14), it is simply a preparation for His being confessed shortly afterwards as “the Christ, the Son of the living God” (6:69). The same is true of the man born blind, who begins by affirming Jesus a prophet (9:17) and ends by believing in Him as “Son of God” (9:35–38).”
― Patrick Henry Reardon, Reclaiming the Atonement: An Orthodox Theology of Redemption: Volume 1: The Incarnate Word

“Christ, according to the apostle, is not only the “second Man,” He is also “the last Adam”—ho eschatos Adam, “the final Adam,” the Adam by whom the world’s last age comes to be. This eschatology pertains to the Incarnation, of which Paul had written earlier, “when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, become (genomenon) from a woman” (Gal. 4:4). The “fullness of time” is the world’s last age. Although all of biblical history was a period of preparation for the Son’s assumption of our flesh, that assumption radically altered the direction and destiny of history. Adam was replaced.”
― Patrick Henry Reardon, Reclaiming the Atonement: An Orthodox Theology of Redemption: Volume 1: The Incarnate Word

“Inasmuch as the history of salvation is a unified reality—stretching from the far reaches of biblical history through the life of God’s People in both testaments, and extending even to the event of the Lord’s Second Coming—the Church has consistently believed, from the time of the Apostles, that the Old Testament Scriptures continue to function as our “instructor unto Christ” (Gal. 3:24).”
― Patrick Henry Reardon, Reclaiming the Atonement: An Orthodox Theology of Redemption: Volume 1: The Incarnate Word

“In the scholastic theology known to me, the Incarnation was essential to our redemption, not so much as an act as a condition. That is to say, the Incarnation was not, in itself, redemptive; it made redemption possible. In the Church Fathers, however, I began to discover another perspective. I learned that, if the goal of redemption is the union of man with God, then the Incarnation was far more than a condition for our salvation. It served, rather, as the effective model and exemplar of salvation. The Church Fathers insisted that the “full humanity” of Jesus Christ was essential to man’s redemption, because “whatever was not assumed was not redeemed.”
― Patrick Henry Reardon, Reclaiming the Atonement: An Orthodox Theology of Redemption: Volume 1: The Incarnate Word

“That apocalyptic dimension of Jesus’ self-understanding defies every attempt to “de-historicize” Him—to abstract His teaching from the existential setting of His life and death. Although many writers, especially in recent times, have engaged in such attempts, they have invariably changed the Gospel into some theory of ethical and religious philosophy—a theory quite separable from the person of Jesus Himself. Whatever else may be said of “the historical Jesus,” He was certainly motivated by apocalyptic concerns. Moreover, it is perhaps the case that a renewed attention to this apocalyptic dimension of the Gospel—“a special and extreme mode of presenting the drama of saving history” (Von Balthasar)—is particularly needful today by way of response to the secular messianisms, utopian hopes, and revolutionary impulses of modern culture and politics.”
― Patrick Henry Reardon, Reclaiming the Atonement: An Orthodox Theology of Redemption: Volume 1: The Incarnate Word

“Our Samaritan did not leave beside the road this half-dead victim of the fall among thieves. On the contrary, “He set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn and took care of him.” And then He went away. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. This Samaritan is also the Great High Priest who entered once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. But even as He went away, He said to the innkeeper, “Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.” And this promise brings us to the third point. Our Samaritan says to the innkeeper, “When I come again.” He does not say, if I come again, but when I come again. There is no “if” about the return of this Samaritan. This same Samaritan, who is taken up from us into heaven, shall so come in like manner as we have seen Him go into heaven. We solemnly confess, then, that He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and unto them that look for Him shall he appear the second time, apart from sin, unto salvation. All of history is given significance by the two visits of the Samaritan. Only those who abide in the inn, awaiting the return of the Samaritan, really know the meaning of history. The inn is the house of history, the Church where the innkeeper cares for the Samaritan’s friends.”
― Patrick Henry Reardon, Reclaiming the Atonement: An Orthodox Theology of Redemption: Volume 1: The Incarnate Word

“the threefold impediment (kolyma) to man’s deification was overcome in three ways (tropoi): first, the Son’s Incarnation, whereby He opened a path for man’s return to union with God; second, His sacrificial death on the Cross, by which He vanquished the reign of sin; and, third, His Resurrection from the dead, by which He delivered us from that final enemy. According to this formulation, the entire “event” of Jesus Christ was redemptive, beginning with His personal and permanent assumption of our human existence.”
― Patrick Henry Reardon, Reclaiming the Atonement: An Orthodox Theology of Redemption: Volume 1: The Incarnate Word

“Second, we observe that the Epistle to the Hebrews juxtaposes two descriptive nouns—“author and perfecter”—to form a polarity implied in their roots: Archegos (“author”) is based on the root arche, which means “beginning,” and teleotes (“perfecter”) is derived from telos, which means “end.” “Beginning” and “end” are syntactical poles. Thus, as the two nouns are employed in this text—covered by a single article in Greek—they convey the tension of contrast. Jesus is both the beginning and the goal of faith.”
― Patrick Henry Reardon, Reclaiming the Atonement: An Orthodox Theology of Redemption: Volume 1: The Incarnate Word