Death of Christ

James Denney’s purpose in The Death of Christ was “to explain, in the light of modern historical study, the place held by the death of Christ in the New Testament, and the interpretation put upon it by the apostolic writers.” He defends the penal substitution theory of atonement, according to which, Christ, by his own sacrificial choice, was punished in the place of sinners. Only this interpretation of Christ’s sacrifice unifies the messages of each of the New Testament’s distinct authors, Denney argues. His work contains an interesting balance of Reformed Presbyterian theology and evangelicalism. In the preface, Denney writes that his motive in publishing his book “was as much evangelical as theological.”



Kathleen O’Bannon

CCEL Staff