God as Butcher: McLaren on Penal Substitution

As if using the phrase originating with Steve Chalke describing the doctrine of penal substitution as cosmic child abuse wasn't bad enough, now Emergent leader Brian McLaren has added the description of God as a butcher to the attack.  In a recent blog post, McLaren was responding to a question raised by one of his readers.  The question in full reads:

This may sound like the strangest, most ridiculous question ever, but do you think grace might actually come with terms and conditions?

It seems like it does sometimes. In order to be a "real Christian," either you have to believe in the right doctrines and go to the right church and read the right theologians, or you have to be a super-radically-inclusive-peacemaking-humanitarian-who-loves-everyone-the-way-Jesus-does. In fact, just think of the message of the Gospel: we're not perfect, so God had to butcher His innocent sin instead of us. Yeah, that's really good news!

Perhaps I'm just being too hard on myself. I've always been hard on myself ever since I was a little boy. The strangest thing is my parents never pushed me to be perfect; I somehow managed to learn how to be a perfectionist all on my own. And I guess I brought that perfectionism over when I started following Jesus.

Sorry if none of this makes any sense. I guess what I'm asking is this: can grace ever be truly unconditional? Is there a grace that allows us to be human?

It should be pointed out here that equating penal substitution to the work of of a butcher was first uttered by the questioner.  To recap, the questioner wrote: In fact, just think of the message of the Gospel: we're not perfect, so God had to butcher His innocent sin instead of us. Yeah, that's really good news!

But instead of correcting such an outlandish statement, McLaren responded with:


2. On God "butchering his son" - as you know, many of us are questioning whether that's the gospel after all, even though we were taught a version more or less like this. For us, the proclamation of the kingdom of God is the real gospel, and that proclamation (as Paul said it in 2 Cor 5) is that God is not holding people's sins against them. It's an invitation to participation in God's reign of kindness, realm of grace, kin-dom, sacred ecosystem, new love economy, peace and reconciliation revolution ... no strings attached. That gospel of the kingdom of God is not a story about God butchering his son. It's a story about God giving God's son (in grace) to the human race, and the human race responding as butchers ... but God responds with grace, not condemnation and revenge, and God manifests forgiveness even for that most heinous crime, and seals it all by raising God's Son from the dead. Quite a different understanding of the gospel!

So is God a butcher then?  Much has been written on McLaren's view of the atonement. But what concerns me here is that McLaren refuses to correct the strong language of describing God as a wicked butcher.  McLaren clearly rejects penal substitution and he ought to be called out for that.  However, to use such strong language against a doctrinal view he disagrees with runs contrary to everything McLaren has claimed to stand for:  openness, conversation, inclusivism, etc.

So for those who affirm the doctrine of penal substitution believe in a God who is an abusive butcher?  And the Emerging Church movement wonders why they are losing credibility and are labeled nothing more than postmodern liberals who are already growing out of date.

Brian McLaren - Q & R:  Conditional Grace?
Thesis - Brian McLaren and Emergent Soteriology:  From Cultural Accommodation to the Social Gospel
Theology - Does McLaren Reject Penal Substitution?:  A Review of the Evidence  


For more:
Theology - SBTS and McLaren:  A Response to SBTS Panel Discussion
Theology - Hamilton:  McLaren and Whole Food Stores 
Theology - The Postmodern Social Gospel:  Brian McLaren Proves My Point  
Theology -The Wrongs of the Rights: A Response to the 5 Rights Presented By Emergent Village - Change 
Theology -The Wrongs of the Rights: A Response to the 5 Rights Presented By Emergent Village - Charity
Theology - The Wrongs of the Rights: A Response to the 5 Rights Presented By Emergent Village - Christ 
Theology -The Wrongs of the Rights: A Response to the 5 Rights Presented By Emergent Village - Conversation
Theology - The Wrongs of the Rights: A Response to the 5 Rights Presented By Emergent Village - Creed