The Subordinate Substitute

In this book Peter Carnley examines the logical connection between the doctrine of the Trinity and the doctrine of redemption. In the companion volume to this, Arius on Carillon Avenue, contemporary expressions of belief in the "eternal functional subordination" of the Son to the Father were carefully discussed and found wanting when measured against the norms of orthodox trinitarian belief. This book examines the repercussions of this defective "trinitarian subordinationism" in relation to recent attempts to defend the "penal substitutionary theory" of the Atonement, which in turn is also found to fall short of trinitarian norms. As an alternative a less theoretical and speculative "incorporative" or "participative" theology of redemption is proposed.