Thread by @ronhenzel

1/12: 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐒𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐕𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐦

Calvin wrote in his Institutes:

"For we could not believe with assurance that Christ is our redemption, ransom, and propitiation unless he had been a sacrificial victim." (2.16.6, Battles trans.)

2/12: The Latin text, with Calvin's own Greek interpolation, reads:

Neque enim certo confidere possemus, Christum esse ἀπολύτρωσιν καὶ ἀντίλυτρον καὶ ἰλαστήριον, nisi 𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐚 fuisset.

(A. Tholuck, ed., 1846)

3/12: Earlier translations of 𝑣𝑖𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑎 have "victim" (Beveridge, 1845), "slaughtered victim" (John Allen, 1813), & "sacrificed offering" (Thomas Norton, 1762), in place of Ford Lewis Battles' (1960) "sacrificial victim."

4/12: This sense of 𝑣𝑖𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑎 is found in the corresponding Greek is σφάγιον [𝑠𝑝ℎ𝑎́𝑔𝑖𝑜𝑛] (Ac 7:42 & 5 times in LXX), which is rendered either "victim" or "sacrificed animal," "offering" (cf. LSJM; BDAG); but, interestingly, is never applied to Christ.

5/12: Meanwhile the consensus on Calvin is clear: he used 𝑣𝑖𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑎 in the sense of "sin offering" or "sacrifice" (cf. the entry "víctima," Leo F. Stelten, 𝐷𝑖𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝐸𝑐𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝐿𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛, [1995], 286), but not in the sense of "mere victim."

6/12: This doesn't mean Calvin had no time for the sufferings of Christ, especially His suffering of persecution, slander, betrayal, torture, & a cruel, unjust death. But it seems he kept the category of "suffering" separate from that of "victim."

7/12: I think this reflects what Calvin found in the Bible. In ancient times & so in Scripture the concept of "victim" was subsumed under the heading of "sacrifice" rather than under "injustice," as it tends to be today. And sacrificial victims are actually part of God's justice.

8/12: Perhaps this is also providential for us, since so much contemporary thinking about victimhood is now shaped by the discipline of victimology which focuses on the psychological effects of being victimized. It not only studies the negative emotions involved, but also...

9/12: ...the sense of vulnerability & helplessness, the difficulty of making sense of reality, & the struggle with self esteem that result from victimization. To think that any of these latter three pathologies applied to Christ is rather dubious in light of Christ's own words:

10/12:

¹⁸ "No one takes it [my life] from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father."

—John 10:17-18, ESV

11/12:

Was Jesus victimized in the sense of being severely mistreated & unjustly executed? Certainly. Do those sufferings impact His ability to sympathize with our weaknesses (Heb 4:15)? Of course!

But Jesus was never a "helpless victim." This fact may be deemed problematic...

12/12:

...in our modern therapeutically-oriented church, but it's a fact nevertheless. Jesus didn't remain on the cross because He was helpless. He could have commanded the nails to fly out of his body & stepped off it whenever He chose. But he stayed there for us.