Gospel Prism

I know most of you have no idea who Leon Morris is (no, he is not the brother of a Martial Artist). He died July 24th at 92 years of age. When I was in seminary, I took a class on the Johannine Epistles (a fancy way to say 1, 2, 3 John of the Bible). Dr. Beale, my professor, noted in a study on 1 John 2:1 that Dr. Leon Morris had written a monumental work entitled, The Apostolic Preaching of the Cross. In it, Professor Morris had studied the word hilasterion (‘propitiation’) to argue that it should not be translated as ‘expiation’ as the RSV did in its attempt to avoid any ‘aversion of wrath’ imagery of the atonement. Leon Morris’ doctoral dissertation (which would result in this book) was so lengthy that after his dissertation, Cambridge put a page limit on future dissertations!

His work is still very important today, especially as issues of justification and substitutionary atonement come under fire today. Thank you Dr. Morris for giving us the Bible’s view on the atonement!