Contra Paul Vendredi Book 11

Claim 17 is the final claim of the atonement school to be critiqued in this series.  This critique can be found in part 68 of Paul Vendredi's atonement series podcast.

Claim 17: “The death of Christ ransoms mankind from the wrath of God thereby paying in full for all the sins of mankind past present and future. Nothing at all is required on man's part.”

For ease of discussion this claim is broken down into three parts.

Part 1: The ransom.

There is no getting around this one.  The Bible is clear that the death of Christ is a ransom.

Mark 10:45: For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.  

Matthew 20:28: Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.  

I Timothy 2:5: For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;  

I Timothy 2:6: Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.

The problem is to whom was Christ a ransom?

Ephesians 5:25: Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; 

Romans 8:32: He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? 

I Corinthians 7:23: Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men.

These passages conflict on whether Christ gives himself or whether the Father hands him over. The identity of the hostage taker is not stated at all and any attempt to prove who it is is pure speculation.

Before we move on let's take a closer look at these three specific passages. To whom did Christ give himself, to whom is Christ delivered up, and what was the price he was bought with and from whom was he bought?

Hebrews 9:14: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? 

Luke 24:7: Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again. 

I Peter 1:18: Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; 

I Peter 1:19: But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

Christ gave, or offered, himself up to God, he was delivered into the hands of men to die, and the price we are bought with is Christ's blood which he offers up to God.

What is difficult is identifying to whom a ransom is paid when the Bible says Christ was a ransom. There are only three candidates: death, the devil, or God. The Church Fathers are not in harmony on this matter. 

Gregory of Nyssa taught the ransom to the devil theory.  Today, outside of word of faith movement, this is repudiated. Mr. Vendredi does not offer any citations from Gregory or give much of an explanation as to why this is wrong.

Basil of Caesarea taught the ransom to death theory.  This teaching is found in his liturgy.

"He gave Himself as ransom to death in which we were held captive"

https://www.goarch.org/-/the-divine-liturgy-of-saint-basil-the-great

The problem here is that death is not a person but is a condition and an abstraction. Holding to this theory requires one to base an important part of theology on the hypostatisation of an abstraction. In Basil'sl liturgy death is used figuratively.

Mr. Vendredi fails to exegete any texts. And there are plenty of texts telling us that Christ was delivered up to sinful men to be put to death.  Because the reason Christ is delivered to sinful men is to be put to death it is not out of place to say that Christ is delivered up to death.

Matthew 27:2: And when they had bound him, they led him away, and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor.

Matthew 27:18: For he knew that for envy they had delivered him.

Matthew 27:26: ¶Then released he Barabbas unto them: and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.

Luke 9:44: Let these sayings sink down into your ears: for the Son of man shall be delivered into the hands of men.

Luke 18:32: For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on:

Luke 24:20: And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him.

John 19:16: Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away.

Acts 3:13: The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go.

Romans 4:25: Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.

Romans 8:32: He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

The final candidate to receive the ransom payment of Christ's death is God. Cyril of Jerusalem teaches this in his 13th catechetical lecture. Mr. Vendredi does not give a direct citation so one is left to guess.  Is it this?

2. And wonder not that the whole world was ransomed; for it was no mere man, but the only-begotten Son of God, who died on its behalf. Moreover one man's sin, even Adam's, had power to bring death to the world; but if by the trespass of the one death reigned over the world, how shall not life much rather reign by the righteousness of the One Romans 5:17-18? And if because of the tree of food they were then cast out of paradise, shall not believers now more easily enter into paradise because of the Tree of Jesus? If the first man formed out of the earth brought in universal death, shall not He who formed him out of the earth bring in eternal life, being Himself the Life? If Phinees, when he waxed zealous and slewthe evil-doer, staved the wrath of God, shall not Jesus, who slew not another, but gave up Himself for a ransom 1 Timothy 2:6, put away the wrath which is against mankind?

http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/310113.htm

The Church Fathers are all wrong. Everyone is wrong because they are taking the word ransom at face value and in a woodenly literal way. Although the Greek word "lutron" is properly translated "ransom" which according to Strong's means:

http://biblehub.com/greek/3083.htm

the Bible is not using the word according to its lexical definition. It is using a stipulative definition.

A stipulative definition is a type of definition in which a new or currently-existing term is given a new specific meaning for the purposes of argument or discussion in a given context. When the term already exists, this definition may, but does not necessarily, contradict the dictionary (lexical) definition of the term. Because of this, a stipulative definition cannot be "correct" or "incorrect"; it can only differ from other definitions, but it can be useful for its intended purpose.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stipulative_definition

Ransom really means rescue.  And now we know that we cannot trust our Bible at face value.  We have to think poetically.

Christ is not a ransom. He is the rescue from our sate of sinfulness and its consequences.

But isn't a ransom also a rescue?  When Mel Gibson ransoms his son isn't he also rescuing him?

And what about the part of the definition that reads, "the sacrifice by which expiation is offered; an offering of expiation?" Why can't ransom mean expiation? Why does ransom have to mean rescue? Mr. Vendredi offers no discussion of these objections. There is only assertion and no exegetical work at all except of the most surface kind. "God did not make a payment to the Egyptians when he ransomed them from Egypt."

Exodus 6:6: Go, speak to the children of Israel, saying, I the Lord; and I will lead you forth from the tyranny of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from bondage, and I will ransom you with a high arm, and great judgment.

LXX 

Parts 2 and 3 can be easily combined.  "Christ paid for the sins of the whole world and now there is nothing required on man's part."

Christ paying for the sins of the whole world is dismissed by bringing up hell. Mr. Vendredi then tells us that the way out of this objection is limited atonement, which he most vehemently rejects.

John 12:32: And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. 

II Peter 3:9: The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. 

I Timothy 2:4: Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

See!? These verses teach that God wants ALL MEN to be saved.  Thus limited atonement is "a crock of crap."  

Mr. Vendredi is engaging in the same wooden literalism of which he accuses the atonement school. Does "All" really mean each and every single man that ever lived or will live without exception?  Even Judas and Pharaoh? Even R.C. Sproul and John MacArthur?

This discussion is about penal substitution, not limited atonement, so there will be no arguments here to defend or explain this doctrine.  Suffice it to say there are books, so many books, written on the subject.  Try "The Death of Death" by John Owen for starters.

Finally we end with what Mr. Vendredi calls the worst part of claim 17 which is the part that goes “nothing at all is required from man.” There is no time to delve into a discussion of sola fide so I  end with the words of Paul Vendredi.

“Christ’s work on the cross sets in place some kind of Barack Obama style welfare program. Christ does all the work of salvation while we just sit on our fannies eating bon-bons and watching Oprah. It is unbiblical to claim the Christ’s death on the cross is all one needs for salvation.”

"Sola fide is the biggest of many flimflams coming out of the reformation. Christ's death on the cross makes salvation available to you." 

“When Christ says immedialtey before his death, "It is finished," he does not mean the work of salvation is finished.  It is finished means "my task is finished."  That is his task of assuming the entirety of the human nature. Having already assumed the human mind and soul, body, and will and nature he was now assuming the final aspect of the fallen human condition: death.” 

Conclusion

At the beginning, in Book One, I stated that I would not be quoting Mr. Vendredi.  This has turned out to be impossible and I have quoted him many times.

Over the course of these 17 arguments and 11 podcasts Paul Vendredi has shown a lack of sound logical argumentation and an astonishingly wilful ignorance of some of the most basic Bible stories, and passages. Most notably the story in Genesis 22. He has also resorted to ridicule and reductio ad absurdum so many times that it is obvious he does not care to represent the atonement school accurately or deal with their arguments properly. He may counter by saying that he has done that very thing in the preceding podcasts while I have focused here only on 11 podcasts and that it is necessary to listen to the previous 57 podcasts. The objection is fair and not without merit.  Nevertheless since these 11 podcasts are the epitome of his arguments against penal substitution and since they contain much ridicule, unsound logic, and ignorance and are found wanting, my charge remains.

Finis

Contra Paul Vendredi Book 10

Claims 15 and 16 are discussed in part 67 of Mr. Vendredi's atonement series.

Claim 15: “His eyes too holy to look upon sin, God judges Christ, turns His back on Christ, and drives Christ out of the godhead.”

Mr. Vendredi, as always, breaks this claim down into smaller bits.

Part 1: “His eyes to holy to look upon sin god judges the crucified Christ.”

This makes no sense because Christ was not guilty of sin. How can God judge Christ if he is not guilty of sin?  

The answer is because Christ takes our sin upon him and becomes a curse and bears the penalty for sin not that he is actually guilty of sin or a sinner. The wages of sin is death. Christ suffers and dies on the cross while bearing our sins. But this has been dealt with previously and there is no need to go further.

Part 2: "God turns his back on Christ."

This is not true at all because Jesus testifies otherwise.

John 8:28: Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things. 

John 8:29: And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.

John 16:32: Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.

The oft quoted cry of Christ: 

Matthew 27:46: And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

is really just a literary device Christ was using to alert his hearers that he meant to whole of Psalm 22 and not merely the opening line. It would be incorrect to divorce the introduction to Psalm 22 from the rest of it.  When one only reads the first line one gets a suffering servant abandoned by the Father. when one reads the entire Psalm one gets a suffering servant still in communion with the Father.

Besides this Jesus quotes Psalm 31:5.

Luke 23:46: ¶And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.

Good objections all and as this is not a defense of penal substation but a display of the paucity of Mr. Vendredi's arguments I will only bring up one counter-argument which he overlooks. 

When Christ reads from Isaiah in Luke 4 he only reads half the passage. 

Luke 4:17: And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, 

Luke 4:18: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, 

Luke 4:19: To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

The whole of the passage in Isaiah is as follows:

Isaiah 61:1: The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; 

Isaiah 61:2: To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; 

Isaiah 61:3: To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.

Actually there is more to it.  But we see Christ only quoting the first part and then sitting down and declaring: 

Luke 4:21: And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.

How can this be when he neglected to read the whole passage? How can one part be fulfilled now and the other part not be fulfilled now? I would suggest the same interpretation with Psalm 22. Christ's being abandoned by the Father is fulfilled in his hour of despair on the cross. Later with the resurrection and the spreading of the Gospel the latter half of the Psalm is fulfilled.

Part 3 of this claim says: "Christ is driven out of the godhead."

Mr. Vendredi rightly derides this as blasphemous. The Father and the Son are one undiminished unity. The Father does not change.  The Son does not change. Therefore there is never a time when the Father and the Son are not one undivided unity.  Therefore the Son could never not be a part of the godhead.

Claim 16 “As the perfect unblemished offering Christ fulfils and obviates the entire Old Testament sacrificial system once and for all.”

In actual fact the only part of the sacrificial system the Christ fulfils is the Passover lamb. All the other sacrifices serve either as anti-Egyptian iconoclasm, punishment of the Aaronic priests, or punishment of the rank and file isrealite. 

John 1:29: ¶The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. 

John 1:36: And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God!

John 19:14: And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King!

I Corinthians 5:7: Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:

Clearly Christ full fills the sacrifice of the Passover the purpose of which is to destroy Satan. 

Exodus 12:12: For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD.

Previously Mr. Vendredi has said that the primary purpose of the Passover sacrifice was to destroy the creator gods of Egypt.  It was iconoclastic.  At no point then, which was discussed in part 61, did Mr. Vendredi bring up Christ as being prefigured in the Passover.  So why is he brining Christ into the picture now? He is contradicting himself.

The second part of this critique of claim 16 is a long argument attempting to prove that Christ cannot be the scapegoat and that he also cannot symbolise any of the other sacrifices.  Christ is a lamb, not a goat. There is a ram sacrificed on the day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, but a ram is an adult lamb and Mr. Vendredi is not aware of Christ ever being likened to a ram. This is both Biblical and taxonomical illiteracy which afflicts even big name Christian radio personalities.

It would seem that Athanasisus is also afflicted with the same Biblical and taxonomical illiteracy.

For thus the patriarch Abraham rejoiced not to see his own day, but that of the Lord; and thus looking forward 'he saw it, and was glad.' And when he was tried, by faith he offered up Isaac, and sacrificed his only-begotten son— he who had received the promises. And, in offering his son, he worshipped the Son of God. And, being restrained from sacrificing Isaac, he saw the Messiah in the ram, which was offered up instead as a sacrifice to God. The patriarch was tried, through Isaac, not however that he was sacrificed, but He who was pointed out in Isaiah; 'He shall be led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers he shall be speechless ;' but He took away the sin of the world. And on this account [Abraham] was restrained from laying his hand on the lad, lest the Jews, taking occasion from the sacrifice of Isaac, should reject the prophetic declarations concerning our Saviour, even all of them, but more especially those uttered by the Psalmist; 'Sacrifice and offering You would not; a body You have prepared Me;' and should refer all such things as these to the son of Abraham. 

http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/2806006.htm

If Mr. Vendredi had read the story in Genesis 22 aright then he would not be making such an egregious mistake as saying Christ is never likened to a ram. 

Next we are told that the atonement school wrongly identifies Christ with every animal sacrificed by the Aaronic priests.  In the Old Testament there are references to goats, bullocks, calves, rams, pigeons and turtledoves, and even flour as being sin offerings. The New Testament nowhere likens Christ to a goat, a bullock, a pigeon, a turtledove, a ram, a calf, or a handful of flour.  The only sacrificial animal to which the New Testament likens Christ is a lamb.

First of all the iconogprahy and tradition of the Church arrests Mr. Vendredi's nonsense right in its tracks.  The Gospel of Luke and Luke the Evangelist but sometimes one of the other Gospels and Evangelists have always been represented as a calf or bull or ox.

Luke the Evangelist, the author of the third gospel account (and the Acts of the Apostles), is symbolized by a winged ox or bull – a figure of sacrifice, service and strength. Luke's account begins with the duties of Zacharias in the temple; it represents Jesus' sacrifice in His Passion and Crucifixion, as well as Christ being High priest (this also represents Mary's obedience). The ox signifies that Christians should be prepared to sacrifice themselves in following Christ.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Evangelists

The association of the four living creatures with the four evangelists originated with Irenaeus in the 2nd century. The interpretation of each creature has varied through church history. The most common interpretation, first laid out by Victorinus and adopted by Jerome, St Gregory, and the Book of Kells is that the man is Matthew, the lion Mark, the ox Luke, and the eagle John. The creatures of the tetramorph, just like the four gospels of the Evangelists, represent four facets of Christ.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetramorph

Secondly, and most importantly, Mr. Vendredi's arguments are dismantled in the book of Hebrews, particularly in chapter 9.  It would be too much to quote the entirety of Hebrews 9.  So let's just quote a few passages.

Hebrews 9:6: Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God.  

Hebrews 9:7: But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people: 

Hebrews 9:8: The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing: 

Hebrews 9:9: Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience; 

Hebrews 9:10: Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation. 

Hebrews 9:11: But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; 

Hebrews 9:12: Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.  

Hebrews 9:13: For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: 

Hebrews 9:14: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

Just two chapters back Christ is called a priest not after the order of Aaron but after the order of Melchisidec. Yet here we see the author of Hebrews comparing Christ and his work to that of the high priest of the Aaronic priesthood on the day of atonement, Yom Kippur.  As Aaron entered in once a year with the blood of bulls and goats, Christ enters once into the holy place and offers his own blood. This holy place is heaven.

Hebrews 9:24: For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:

It is in Hebrews 9 and 10 that Christ is compared to being a goat, bullock, and ram. Hebrews 13 also gives us this comparison of Christ with animals being sacrificed without the gate.

Hebrews 13:11: For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp. 

Hebrews 13:12: Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. 

Hebrews 13:13: Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.

 This reference to an animal being slain without the camp is to the red heifer of Numbers 19.

Numbers 19:1: And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, 

Numbers 19:2: This is the ordinance of the law which the LORD hath commanded, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring thee a red heifer without spot, wherein is no blemish, and upon which never came yoke: 

Numbers 19:3: And ye shall give her unto Eleazar the priest, that he may bring her forth without the camp, and one shall slay her before his face:

The book of Hebrews explains how the entire sacrificial system of the Old Testament is fulfilled in light of the sacrifice of Christ.  How Mr. Vendredi misses this entirely is anyone's guess. If he wants to prove that the sacrifice of Christ does not fulfil the entire sacrificial system of the Old Testament then he will have to stop taking a wooden literal approach, like he accuses so many of doing, by telling us that Christ is the lamb and not the kid of God and instead properly exegete the book of Hebrews especially chapter 9. What the death and resurrection of Christ accomplishes and fulfils is so much larger and manifold then Mr. Vendredi would have us believe.

Proceed to Book 11

Contra Paul Vendredi Book 9

Claims 13 and 14 are critiqued in part 66 of Mr. Vendredi's series on the atonement.

Claim 13: “God pours out his wrath and all the torments of hell upon the crucified Christ imputing Christ’s righteousness to mankind and mankind wickedness to Christ. Thereby mankind becomes positionally righteous Christ positionally wicked. But in reality mankind remains wicked. The imputation is merely a legal declaration.”

He breaks this down into two parts

Part 1

God pours out his wrath on Christ.

The prooftext for this is the suffering servant passage in Isaiah 52:13 - 53:12. 

Isaiah 53:5: But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

The inspired interpretation of this passage is found in Matthew 8.

Matthew 8:16: ¶When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick: 

Matthew 8:17: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.

The suffering servant prophecy in Isaiah is fulfilled when Christ heals our infirmities not when he is allegedly vicariously whacked in our place. Therefore we can replace the words "sorrows," "griefs," and "iniquities" with the phrase "damaged human condition."

Isaiah 53:4: ¶Surely he hath borne our damaged human condition and carried our damaged human condition: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

Isaiah 53:6: All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the damaged human condition of us all.

Isaiah 53:11: He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their damaged human condition.

Oh boy here we go again with this phrase "damaged human condition."  Not once does Mr. Vendredi define this term.  Not once. This phrase is also not to the point. In Matthew we see Jesus Christ healing the sick and casting out devils.  He is not bearing our damaged human condition, whatever that means.  He is literally casting out devils and healing the sick. There is no reason to change the words in Isaiah from the more concrete "sorrows," "griefs," and "iniquities" to the abstract "damaged human condition."  Especially when Christ equates sin and sickness elsewhere.

Matthew 9:2: And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee.

To interpret the suffering servant passage we also need a bit of literary sophistication.  It's not as cut and dry as it seems.  When the passage tells us,

Isaiah 53:10: ¶Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him;

this is merely the literary device known as agent compression.  When God in his passive will permits an agent to do something contrary to His active will the Biblical writers often phrase it as if God Himself is doing the action. It cannot possibly be God's active will to bruise the Son because of Luke 3:21-22. 

Luke 3:21: Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened, 

Luke 3:22: And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.

Huh?  How does this passage mean that God was not pleased to bruise the Son? We don't find out because Mr. Vendredi keeps on trucking and does not stop to clarify.

He does not have time to examine verses like the following:

Matthew 26:39: And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.  

Mark 14:36: And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt. 

Luke 22:42: Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.  

John 10:17: Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.  

John 12:27: Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour.  

John 12:28: Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.  

John 12:29: The people therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it thundered: others said, An angel spake to him.  

John 12:30: Jesus answered and said, This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes.  

John 12:31: Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.  

John 12:32: And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.  

John 12:33: This he said, signifying what death he should die. 

Acts 2:23: Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:

All these verses indicate that it was very much the active will of God that Christ die on the cross. John 10:17 tells us that this is why the Father loves the Son, because he lays his life down. But as for Mr. Vendredi...

Part 2 of claim 13 deals with the imputation of Christ's righteousness to mankind and the imputation of mankind's sin and guilt to Christ.

Mr. Vendredi summarily dismisses this claim of double imputation by quoting two verses.

Proverbs 24:24: He that saith unto the wicked, Thou art righteous; him shall the people curse, nations shall abhor him: 

Proverbs 17:26: Also to punish the just is not good, nor to strike princes for equity.

These two proverbs destroy the notion that God satisfies his wrath through the machinery of imputations and buy offs. How?  Mr. Vendredi does not tell us. He takes these verses in Proverbs which apply to men's relations with one another and applies them to God and his dealings with men.

We have seen previously that there are no righteous men.

II Chronicles 6:36: If they sin against thee, (for there is no man which sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them over before their enemies, and they carry them away captives unto a land far off or near; 

Ecclesiastes 7:20: For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.

The words in 2 Chronicles, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes all belong to Solomon. Is Solomon contradicting himself?  Of course not.  So how can he say both there are just men and there are no just men and still be speaking the truth?  Paul Vendredi does not discuss this issue at all.  He is content with a simplistic surface reading of these two proverbs as if they apply to Christ.

According to Mr. Vendredi in order for double imputation to work God would have to violate two of his precepts in order to play make believe that man is righteous and Christ is wicked.

Precept 1 is that the innocent can never take the place of the guilty.

Deuteronomy 24:16: The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin. 

Jeremiah 31:30: But every one shall die for his own iniquity: every man that eateth the sour grape, his teeth shall be set on edge. 

Ezekiel 18:20: The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.

Precept 2 is that it is damnable to proclaim the wicked righteous. 

Proverbs 24:24: He that saith unto the wicked, Thou art righteous; him shall the people curse, nations shall abhor him:

The atonement school says God kills his own innocent son, which violates the first precept, in order to pretend that this somehow renders wicked mankind righteous, which violates the second precept. The defenders of this notion are reduced to special pleading which is of course a logical fallacy.

Has Paul Vendredi forgotten that Jesus Christ is special? Since Christ is a man he ought to be a sinner and to have a father.  He also ought to be dead since he died on the cross. But we see otherwise.

Luke 1:35: And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. 

Matthew 28:6: He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.

I Peter 2:22: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:

Is this special pleading?  Christ, a man like ourselves, had no earthly father, rose from the dead, and was sinless. Rather than break off into a tangent about "God's logic" vs. "human logic" it would have been better for Mr. Vendredi if he had stuck to actualities and not abstractions.  Jesus Christ is special. He is the second person of the Trinity and not a mere man.

Mr. Vendredi does not want to deal with this issue at all.  He simply takes umbrage at penal substitution and uses every trick in the book to heap scorn and abuse on those who teach it. Here are two rebuttals to the objections Mr. Vendredi has made against double imputation.  He may not like them or agree with them but here they are nonetheless.  From Louis Berkhof's Systematic Theology. 

All those who advocate a subjective theory of the atonement raise a formidable objection to the idea of vicarious atonement. They consider it unthinkable that a just God should transfer His wrath against moral offenders to a perfectly innocent party, and should treat the innocent judicially as if he were guilty. There is undoubtedly a real difficulty here, especially in view of the fact that this seems to be contrary to all human analogy. We cannot conclude from the possibility of the transfer of a pecuniary debt to that of the transfer of a penal debt. If some beneficent person offers to pay the pecuniary debt of another, the payment must be accepted, and the debtor is ipso facto freed from all obligation. But this is not the case when someone offers to atone vicariously for the transgression of another. To be legal, this must be expressly permitted and authorized by the lawgiver. In reference to the law this is called relaxation, and in relation to the sinner it is known as remission. The judge need not, but can permit this; yet he can permit it only under certain conditions, as (1) that the guilty party himself is not in a position to bear the penalty through to the end, so that a righteous relation results; (2) that the transfer does not encroach upon the rights and privileges of innocent third parties, nor cause them to suffer hardships and privations; (3) that the person enduring the penalty is not himself already indebted to justice, and does not owe all his services to the government; and (4) that the guilty party retains the consciousness of his guilt and of the fact that the substitute is suffering for him. In view of all this it will be understood that the transfer of penal debt is well-nigh, if not entirely, impossible among men. But in the case of Christ, which is altogether unique, because in it a situation obtained which has no parallel, all the conditions named were met. There was no injustice of any kind. 

page 376

Justification is sometimes called an impious procedure, because it declares sinners to be righteous contrary to fact. But this objection does not hold, because the divine declaration is not to the effect that these sinners are righteous in themselves, but that they are clothed with the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ. This righteousness wrought by Christ, is freely imputed to them. It is not the personal subjective righteousness of Christ, but His vicarious covenant righteousness, that is imputed to those who are in themselves unrighteous, and all to the glory of God. 

page 524

Read Me

Claim 14: “The wickedness of all humanity having been imputed to him the crucified Christ becomes a literal curse and the embodiment of sin.”

Another claim broken down into two parts.

Part 1: Christ bears the sins of all humanity.

The usual proof text is:

I Peter 2:24: Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.

But this is just Isaiah 53 recapitulated and he has already proven that this means Christ bore our damaged human condition.

Let's quote some more of that passage.

I Peter 2:21: For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: 

I Peter 2:22: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: 

I Peter 2:23: Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: 

I Peter 2:24: Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. 

I Peter 2:25: For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.

Paying close attention to the context we see Peter is talking about suffering.  We are to be patient in our sufferings because Christ suffered for us. He bore our sins on the cross and suffered for us. And what about "damaged human condition?" Once again Paul Vendredi fails to define this term or tell us how Christ bore it. He dismisses this claim by saying he already explain it away.

If Isaiah 53 means that Christ bore our sicknesses and infirmities and not that he bore our sins  and the guilt of our transgressions then why do Christians die of sickness and become infirm?

Part 2: Christ becomes a literal curse.

Part 3: Christ becomes the embodiment of sin.

These claims are proved from the following scriptures.

Galatians 3:13: Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: 

II Corinthians 5:21: For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

Both of these scriptures must be interpreted hyperbolically. If Christ is literally cursed because he hanged on a tree then everyone who has ever been lynched is also cursed. If Christ literally became sin then God became sin because God was in Christ reconciling the world.  Also sin is nothing. It has no substance.  Therefore Christ would have become nothing if he literally became sin.

These are strong arguments against these particular claims of penal substitution. If only he could have focused on such arguments and interacted with the answers of theologians who teach these claims instead of wasting everyone's time with an out-of-place and not-even-funny audio clip from Chinatown. Forget it Jake, it's Paul Vendredi town.

He goes on to tell us that the earliest commentaries call these passages figurative. 

Gregory of Nanzianzen's letter to Cledonius.

And so the passage, The Word was made Flesh, seems to me to be equivalent to that in which it is said that He was made sin, (2 Corinthians 5:21) or a curse (Galatians 3:13) for us; not that the Lord was transformed into either of these, how could He be? But because by taking them upon Him He took away our sins and bore our iniquities.

http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/3103a.htm

That definitely still contradicts Mr. Vendredi.

Theodoret approves this letter in first dialogue

Orth.— Hear him then. He says the expression 'He was made Flesh' seems to be parallel to His being said to have been made sin and a curse, not because the Lord was transmuted into these—for how could He?— but because He accepted these when He took on Him our iniquities and bore our infirmities.

http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/27031.htm

Theodoret does not agree with Mr. Vendredi either. Theodoret says Christ accepted the curse when he took on our iniquities.

Basil in his 8th letter calls curse and sin figures of speech.

8. Again, as is said through Solomon the Wise in the Proverbs, “He was created;” and He is named “Beginning of ways” of good news, which lead us to the kingdom of heaven. He is not in essence and substance a creature, but is made a “way” according to the œconomy. Being made and being created signify the same thing. As He was made a way, so was He made a door, a shepherd, an angel, a sheep, and again a High Priest and an Apostle, Hebrews 3:1 the names being used in other senses. What again would the heretics say about God unsubjected, and about His being made sin for us? For it is written “But when all things shall be subdued unto Him, then shall the Son also Himself be subject unto Him that put all things under Him.” Are you not afraid, sir, of God called unsubjected? For He makes your subjection His own; and because of your struggling against goodness He calls himself unsubjected. In this sense too He once spoke of Himself as persecuted— “Saul, Saul,” He says, “why do you persecute me?” Acts 9:4 on the occasion when Saul was hurrying to Damascus with a desire to imprison the disciples. Again He calls Himself naked, when any one of his brethren is naked. “I was naked,” He says, “and you clothed me;” Matthew 25:36 and so when another is in prison He speaks of Himself as imprisoned, for He Himself took away our sins and bare our sicknesses. Now one of our infirmities is not being subject, and He bare this. So all the things which happen to us to our hurt He makes His own, taking upon Him our sufferings in His fellowship with us.

http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/3202008.htm

Gregory of Nysa, Book 6, Sec 1 Against Eunomius

For he everywhere attributes to the Human element in Christ the dispensation of the Passion, when he says, for since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead 1 Corinthians 15:21, and, God, sending His own Son in the likeness of sinfulflesh, condemned sin in the flesh  (for he says, in the flesh, not in the Godhead); and He was crucified through weakness (where by weakness he means the flesh), yet lives by power 2 Corinthians 13:4  (while he indicates by power the Divine Nature); and, He died unto sin (that is, with regard to the body), but lives unto God Romans 6:10  (that is, with regard to the Godhead, so that by these words it is established that, while the Man tasted death, the immortal Nature did not admit the suffering of death); and again; He made Him to be sin for us, Who knew no sin 2 Corinthians 5:21, giving once more the name of sin to the flesh.

http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/290106.htm

And finally Ambrose of Milan Book 2, Chapter 11, Sec 93 of Exposition of the Christian Faith.

93. Let us bethink ourselves of the profitableness of right belief. It is profitable to me to know that for my sake Christ bore my infirmities, submitted to the affections of my body, that for me, that is to say, for every man, He was made sin, and a curse, that for me and in me was He humbled and made subject, that for me He is the Lamb, the Vine, the Rock, the Servant, the Son of an handmaid, knowing not the day of judgment, for my sake ignorant of the day and the hour.  

94. For how could He, Who has made days and times, be ignorant of the day? How could He not knowthe day, Who has declared both the season of Judgment to come, and the cause? A curse, then, He was made not in respect of His Godhead, but of His flesh; for it is written: Cursed is every one that hangs on a tree. In and after the flesh, therefore, He hung, and for this cause He, Who bore our curses, became a curse. He wept that thou, man, might not weep long. He endured insult, that you might not grieve over the wrong done to you.

http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/34042.htm

It seems as if none of these Church Fathers is in agreement with Mr. Vendredi who denies that Christ bore our sins but only our "damaged human condition." Perhaps he should reread those documents.

Proceed to Book 10