by R. L. Dabney
in ePub, .mobi & .pdf formats
Christ Our Penal Substitute by Robert L. Dabney is one of the most forceful and lucid defenses of the heart of the gospel: that Christ, by divine appointment and free consent, bore the penalty of sin in the place of His people. In an age increasingly uncomfortable with the doctrine of substitutionary atonement, Dabney's work serves as a clarion call to return to the biblical foundations of justice, grace, and redemption. With his signature clarity and unflinching logic, Dabney addresses the core objections raised against penal substitution—whether philosophical, ethical, or emotional—and dismantles them with rigor, reason, and a deep reverence for Scripture.
This work is profoundly pastoral. Dabney reminds us that to deny Christ’s substitutionary suffering is not a harmless theoretical drift, but a dismantling of the entire gospel structure. For if Christ did not bear our penalty, we remain under the wrath of God, with no one to shield us from divine justice. With warmth and urgency, he shows how the glory of the cross lies precisely in the union of God's justice and love—how, in the suffering of the innocent Substitute, sinners are justified without compromising God’s holiness. The book is a timely antidote for modern readers tempted by a sentimental or therapeutic view of sin and salvation. For those who seek to understand the depths of divine love as revealed through the cross of Christ, Christ Our Penal Substitute is essential reading. It will challenge your mind, humble your heart, and deepen your gratitude for the Lamb who was slain.
A very helpful review of this title by Warfield that appeared in the 1898 issue of The Presbyterian Quarterly, pp. 440-442.
Dabney himself wrote a brief tract on penal substitution, circa 1880, and the text is different from what appears in the book.
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Table of Contents
1. The Rationalistic Objections to Penal Substitute
2. Definitions and Statement of the Issue
3. Objections Examined
4. The Utilitarian Theory of Punishments
5. Retribution not Revenge
6. The Witness of Human Consciousness and Experience
7. Our Opponents' Self Contradiction
8. The Ethical Objections Considered
9. What Scripture Says of Substitution
10. The Testimony of Christendom
11. Conclusion