Employing the Scriptures and the Church Fathers Matthew P. and Craig Truglia discuss the merits of Penal Substitution and other theories of the atonement. The issue of limited atonement is tackled as well.
Ed: This video was made as a catechumen and it is possible my thoughts have evolved.
Gentlemen:
Good, collegial exchange.
One quibble. The Reformed DO NOT believe Christ literally descended into hell. They also do not believe he suffered the torments of damnation. They tend to hold one of two stances: either they go with the notion that [1.] his soul descended into the realm of the dead (i.e., Hades/Inferna/Sheol) or that [2.] he received the brunt of the wrath of the Father on the Cross, such that it was AS IF he had gone through the torture of Hell. This was Calvin’s take.
R. C. Sproul has been misinterpreted as teaching a damnation experience for Christ, perhaps because of the following quote, wherein he describes the Lord Jesus becoming a curse on our behalf:
“What prevents us from seeing God is our heart, our impurity. But Jesus had no impurity. So obviously he had some experience of the beauty of the Father until that moment that our sin was placed upon him, and the One who was pure was pure no more, and God cursed him.
“It was as if there was a cry from heaven, as if Jesus heard the words ‘God damn you,’ because that’s what it meant to be cursed and under the anathema of the Father. I don’t understand that, but I know that it’s true.”