Idol Killer Interview 4 Animal Sacrifice & Penal-Substitutionary Atonement

Anselm and Augustine, who significantly influenced the penal-substitutionary atonement (PSA) model, did not delve into the issue of Old-Testament animal sacrifices. The modern atonement school (primarily Protestants and some converted Catholics) proposes that the Old-Testament sacrificial system was established because debts to God required payment in blood (citing Leviticus 17;11 and Hebrews 9;22 as proof texts).

Paul Vendredi suggests that the sacrifices prior to the Golden Calf were a form of iconoclasm, a way for God to break the Hebrews from their idolatrous connection to Egyptian gods through the sacrifice of sheep and bulls. After the Exodus, God instituted sacrifices as a punishment for Hebrew apostasy, which is evident in the different treatment of Jewish and Gentile lepers. In Mark 1;44, Christ requires a Jewish leper to offer the animal sacrifice specified in Leviticus 14, while Elisha requires a Gentile leper to do nothing more than bathe in the river Jordan (2 Kings 5;10).

Why, then, does the Bible calls these sacrifices “atonement” if they are punitive in nature? Maimonides, a medieval Jewish scholar, may have the best answer to this question. According to Maimonides, each time the concept of atonement appears in the Old Testament, it should be understood as a "gracious ruse"; that is to say, God allowed the Hebrews--who were deeply rooted in the pagan belief of appeasing an angry god with animal sacrifices--to continue this practice under the assumption that they were making amends for their sins. However, the New Testament explicitly states that the blood of bulls and goats cannot take away sins (Hebrews 10;4). Therefore, Paul suggests that the use of the term atonement in the Old Testament must be taken metaphorically. The term atonement is not limited to instances of animal sacrifice; it can also mean simply cleansing or consecration of inanimate objects.

Paul cites various instances in the Old Testament where atonement was made without the shedding of blood. The Old Testament lists the payment of a shekel, offering fine flour, pouring out oil, the scapegoat that escaped alive, non-bloody liturgical ceremonies, incense offerings, plundered treasures, iconoclasm, good deeds, and kindness to the poor as non-bloody alternative means of atonement. This list challenges the Protestant understanding of PSA, as it suggests that God interacted with people where they were, allowing animal sacrifice as an accommodation to the Hebrews’ pagan mindset.

In his book "Summa Theologica," Thomas Aquinas, a medieval doctor of the Catholic Church, also addressed the issue of animal sacrifices and their role in atonement. Aquinas, known for his fair representation of opposing views, addresses objections similar to those raised by Maimonides. However, the answers he provides in the Summa Theologica are not convincing. Admiring Aquinas for his logical and systematic approach to theology, Paul finds it noteworthy that Aquinas' arguments fall short.