Limited atonement is a controversial Christian teaching particularly associated with Calvinism (indeed, it is one of the so-called "five points of Calvinism") and is also called "particular redemption" or "definite atonement." The doctrine states that Jesus Christ's work on the cross (that is, his substitutionary atonement) does take away the penalty of sins committed by those whom God has chosen to receive mercy. The atonement is thus "limited" in that it effects salvation for the elect only, and it is "definite" in that it actually does secure the salvation of those for whom Christ died.
The doctrine is contrasted with that of unlimited atonement, which is advocated by Arminian/Methodist, Lutheran, and Roman Catholic theologians (among others) and which says Christ's work makes redemption possible for all but definite for none. The "Elect", then, are the people who avail themselves of God's gracious offer of salvation through Christ, not a pre-determined group.
Some Christians identify themselves as "four point Calvinists," usually dropping this point because they believe it contradicts certain passages in the Bible or because they feel it limits the sincerity of the evangelist's message, that is, "the free offer of the Gospel."
External links
- The Death of Death in the Death of Christ by John Owen (ISBN 0851513824) with a famous introduction by J.I. Packer, who says, "It is safe to say that no comparable exposition of the work of redemption as planned and executed by the Triune Jehovah has ever been done since Owen published his. None has been needed....[N]obody has a right to dismiss the doctrine of the limitedness, or particularity, of atonement as a monstrosity of Calvinistic logic until he has refuted Owen's proof that it is part of the uniform biblical presentation of redemption, clearly taught in plain text after plain text. And nobody has done that yet."
