Gustaf Aulen: Christus Victor
I can't really believe it, but not only that this book is not available in Logos, but Google search claims it has never even been suggested here before!
Bromiley in my newly-acquired ISBE says: the ancient redemption or liberation view has been revived in Christus Victor (1935), a fine book by G. Aulen, who points out that for all the curious distortions it suffered, this understanding expresses the sound and biblical concept of the active and triumphant Christ.
Martyn Lloyd Jones says: Now this view of the atonement has sometimes been called the classical view, classical, because it was taught in the early centuries and has been repeated very often since. A man who repeated it in his usual forceful manner was Martin Luther. (...) Now I call your attention to this, not only because it is taught in the Scripture but because this aspect of the atonement tends to receive a great deal of attention at the present time. There has been a modern revival of this view. It is being taught in a striking way by certain Lutheran teachers in Sweden and they, in turn, are influencing thought in Britain. A book was published in 1931 which has made this view very popular. It is called Christus Victor, and is by a Swedish writer called Gustav Aulen; those who are interested in this would greatly enjoy reading that small book.
Millard Erickson says The Atonement as Victory over the Forces of Sin and Evil: The theory with the greatest claim to having been the standard view in the early history of the church is probably the so-called ransom theory. Gustaf Aulen has called it the classic view,[footnote reference to Aulen: Christus Victor, p. 20] and in many ways that designation is correct, for in various forms it dominated the church’s thinking until the time of Anselm and Abelard. It was even the primary way in which Augustine understood the atonement, and thus it enjoyed the immense prestige that his name accorded.
JI Packer and Sinclair Ferguson in their New Dictionary of Theology have an entry to Aulen, Gustav and say: He is chiefly known for his short work on the atonement, Christus Victor, which attempts to reinstate the so-called ‘classic’ view of the atonement. This interpretation, traced by Aulén in the NT, and also in Irenaeus and Luther, envisages the cross as God’s mighty act of triumph over powers of evil hostile to his will, and distinguishes itself from Latin ideas of satisfaction and from ‘subjective’ or ‘exemplarist’ accounts.
N. T. Wright says: The larger story concerns the victory over evil as a whole that was won, according to the New Testament, on the cross. (It is interesting to observe how in the “traditional” readings this central biblical theme is regularly screened out, though making an occasional comeback in such works as the celebrated Christus Victor of Gustaf Aulén.)
So I think it really, really should be available in Logos. For licence negotiations: Christus Victor is a Macmillan, Wipf & Stock or SPCK Classics book, all publishers having works in Logos. The content first appeared in German language 1930 in the "Zeitschrift für systematische Theologie", but I wouldn't assume bringing it over from there was faster...
Have joy in the Lord! 
Comments
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NB.Mick said:
I can't really believe it, but not only that this book is not available in Logos, but Google search claims it has never even been suggested here before!
[Y] [Y] [Y] [Y]
george
gfsomselיְמֵי־שְׁנוֹתֵינוּ בָהֶם שִׁבְעִים שָׁנָה וְאִם בִּגְבוּרֹת שְׁמוֹנִים שָׁנָה וְרָהְבָּם עָמָל וָאָוֶן
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Ab-so-lutely [Y]
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[Y]
Dell, studio XPS 7100, Ram 8GB, 64 - bit Operating System, AMD Phenom(mt) IIX6 1055T Processor 2.80 GHZ
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George Somsel said:
Thank you indeed for your post, NB.Mick! I remember studying and discussing this book as part of our class assignments in the late 50's and early 60's, also studying Anselm and Abelard around the same time at Concordia Lutheran Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri !!!! Good thoughts! *smile* Great historic and classical Truth!
To have this book in Logos Bible Software format would be a real blessing to me...............
This is a great post for me; and I thank you for it! I also thank you for establishing the Concordia Self-Study Bible Users Group at FaithLife.com.
I've been anxiously waiting for the opportunity to get over to that group and to converse with you "loverly people"! Unfortunately I've had some very critical and serious health problems these last number of months. Still hope to get over there soon! *smile*
Peace to you! And to all! .. and ... Always Joy in the Lord!
Philippians 4: 4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand..........
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Milford Charles Murray said:
Thank you indeed for your post, NB.Mick! I remember studying and discussing this book as part of our class assignments in the late 50's and early 60's, also studying Anselm and Abelard around the same time at Concordia Lutheran Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri !!!! Good thoughts! *smile* Great historic and classical Truth!
I had been thinking you were Anglican. Have I been mistaken all this time?
george
gfsomselיְמֵי־שְׁנוֹתֵינוּ בָהֶם שִׁבְעִים שָׁנָה וְאִם בִּגְבוּרֹת שְׁמוֹנִים שָׁנָה וְרָהְבָּם עָמָל וָאָוֶן
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Milford Charles Murray said:
Thank you indeed for your post, NB.Mick! I remember studying and discussing this book as part of our class assignments in the late 50's and early 60's, also studying Anselm and Abelard around the same time at Concordia Lutheran Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri !!!! Good thoughts! *smile* Great historic and classical Truth!
To have this book in Logos Bible Software format would be a real blessing to me...............
I'm glad that I could raise some good memories - which goes much beyond what I expected when I proposed it here.
Milford Charles Murray said:Unfortunately I've had some very critical and serious health problems these last number of months.
(*virtual hug*) praying fo you, brother - may the Lord help you up and give you strength!
Have joy in the Lord!
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Sleiman said:
Thank you, Dear Brother! *smile* and thanks to all who have remembered me in your prayers .....
Yes! The Lord has given me Help and Healing... I am now active again, have a good attitude (by God's Good Grace, eh???) - and I believe my continued presence on this earth is a direct result of God's Will for me!
... and, obviously, he has more for me to do until he calls me Home .... *smile*
I DO REJOICE in the fellowship of the Logos Bible Software Forums, and I'm grateful to you, Sleiman -- and to Mick and others for helpful posts in many areas, including this one...
*smile* Psalm 29:11
Philippians 4: 4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand..........
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Yes...great suggestion.0
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You are correct, it is an important work that is needed in Logos.
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Gabe, the Lutheran Product Manager, answered in another thread that we may see this book on PrePub in some weeks time. Waiting for it...
Have joy in the Lord!
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NB.Mick said:
Gabe, the Lutheran Product Manager, answered in another thread that we may see this book on PrePub in some weeks time. Waiting for it...
well, Faithlife weeks count somewhat different, but nevertheless, the PrePub list sorted by newest now has it as the top entry: https://www.logos.com/product/56407/christus-victor-an-historical-study-of-the-three-main-types-of-the-idea-of-atonement
Have joy in the Lord!
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Thanks for bringing this to awareness.
This is an amazing foundational work that totally changed the direction of study of the Work of Christ. Very few people have the honor of coining or mainstreaming a theological term, but Aulen here does.
I very rarely buy Logos editions of books I have in print and have become wary of the pre-pub system, but I'm reserving this in hopes it will some day see the light of day. If the links in Aulen's references are done right it will be very useful to have in Logos format. This is a definite "must have" for those in(to) systematic theology and especially study of the atonement. At the same time, it's short and very readable for non-specialists.
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NB.Mick said:
So I think it really, really should be available in Logos. For licence negotiations: Christus Victor is a Macmillan, Wipf & Stock or SPCK Classics book, all publishers having works in Logos.
you make too much sense to be of any practical good. [A]
glad your suggestion is coming to fruition. I placed a pre-order.
I like Apples. Especially Honeycrisp.
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Sean said:
This is an amazing foundational work that totally changed the direction of study of the Work of Christ. Very few people have the honor of coining or mainstreaming a theological term, but Aulen here does.
Not to discount the work, but the underlying view of Christus Victor is not new. It is a revival of an early view in the Church Fathers — the ransom view of the atonement.
Revelation 5.9 said:“You are worthy to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
for you were slaughtered and by your blood you ransomed for God
saints from every tribe and language and people and nation;Most of us are likely to be more familiar with Anselm's satisfaction theory.
All glory be to thee, Almighty God, our heavenly Father, for that thou, of thy tender mercy, didst give thine only Son Jesus Christ to suffer death upon the cross for our redemption; who made there, by his one oblation of himself once offered, a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction, for the sins of the whole world; and did institute, and in his holy Gospel command us to continue, a perpetual memory of that his precious death and sacrifice, until his coming again.
The Book of Common Prayer, The Eucharist, Rite One, 1979
george
gfsomselיְמֵי־שְׁנוֹתֵינוּ בָהֶם שִׁבְעִים שָׁנָה וְאִם בִּגְבוּרֹת שְׁמוֹנִים שָׁנָה וְרָהְבָּם עָמָל וָאָוֶן
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George Somsel said:
Not to discount the work, but the underlying view of Christus Victor is not new. It is a revival of an early view in the Church Fathers — the ransom view of the atonement.
Definitely! The thing is it had pretty much dropped off the radar of Western (esp. Protestant) theology. Contemporary systematics almost entirely dismissed it. Ritschl, for example--if I recall correctly--gave it maybe 2 pages of treatment in his massive work. Aulen's book basically says, "Hey! Look what I found!"--and people are still talking about it almost a century later. Theological (re)discoveries and (re)framings of this scale are rare.
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This shipped today. Looks good, but I have to wonder: why no links to Harnack's History of Dogma? Aulen does indeed cite the English translation, which I think is the same as I have in Logos (there's no biblio).
Really I don't think I've ever seen a link to Harnack in any of my books that cite him.
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