J onathan E dwards on the Atonement

Evidence suggests J onathan E dwards' adherence to a version of the penal substitution theory of atonement. Evidence also suggests that E dwards' version of the penal substitution theory requires certain metaphysical commitments about the nature of C hrist's relationship to the elect, echoing those issued in his Original Sin 4.3, and elsewhere, regarding the relationship of A dam to his posterity. In what follows, I argue that such evidence points to E dwards' adherence to what has more recently been described in the literature of contemporary philosophical theology as an account of realist penal substitution.