• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Wyatt Graham

Faith | Books | Culture

  • About
  • Podcast
  • Column

crucifixion

If the Father Was not Angry with the Son at the Cross, with Whom Or with What Was He Angry?

January 8, 2019 by wagraham 5 Comments

John Calvin rightly affirmed that God was never “inimical or angry toward” Christ at the cross (Inst. 2.16.11). Instead, Francis Turretin explains that Jesus experienced the “want of the sense of the divine love” (Inst. 2:354). John Flavel also specifies that God withdrew his “sensible love” from Christ at the cross (Works, 1:410).

In short, Christ always had God’s love even at the cross. Christ willingly died for the joy set before him. Yet at the cross, he did not sense God’s love (though he always had it) because “the sense of the divine wrath and vengeance resting upon him” intercepted Christ’s sense of love (Turretin, Inst. 2:354).*

If not the Son, then with whom or with what was the Father angry? Here’s my answer. God was angry at sin and sinners, yet out of his great love for us he himself bore our sin and died as our substitute. As Michael Horton writes, the cross “was not a cathartic release of anger but a just satisfaction of God’s cosmic and covenantal righteousness” (Justification: 2:226). [Read more…] about If the Father Was not Angry with the Son at the Cross, with Whom Or with What Was He Angry?

Filed Under: Theology Tagged With: Atonement, crucifixion, Justification

The Father Was not Angry with the Son at the Cross

January 1, 2019 by wagraham 20 Comments

The Father was not angry at the Son at the cross. And neither do the Gospels emphasize Jesus’ pain during his ordeal although he surely suffered physically. What they do emphasize is Jesus’ cry of dereliction (“My God, My God, why have you forsaken me”).

The notion that the Father (or God) is angry with the Son misunderstands Trinitarian orthodoxy, Reformed theology, and the clear emphasis of Scripture. Here’s why. [Read more…] about The Father Was not Angry with the Son at the Cross

Filed Under: Theology Tagged With: crucifixion

Primary Sidebar

Wyatt is the Executive Director of The Gospel Coalition Canada. He enjoys his family and writing. You'll generally find him hiding away somewhere with his nose in a book.

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Want articles in your e-mail? Sign up here!

Does God have Emotions?

March 17, 2023 By wagraham 4 Comments

Is Wrath an Attribute of God?

March 10, 2023 By wagraham 1 Comment

Byung-Chul Han’s “Burnout Society”

February 28, 2023 By wagraham Leave a Comment

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Copyright © 2023 · Genesis Sample on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in