Christus Victor

By: Gustaf Aulén, A. G. Hebert - translator

Narrated by: Michael Kimball

Since its publication in English in 1930, Christus Victor has become a modern classic in Christian theology. The author, Dr. Gustaf Aulén (1879-1977) was professor of Systematic Theology at the University of Lund, Sweden. His work re-opened the door to an understanding of what he termed the "classic" idea of the atonement.

Christus Victor explores the meaning and traces the history of each of the three major theories of the atonement. The book is not written to prove one theory over the other, but the incisive review of each theory, along with the copious quotations from primary sources, leaves the listener with no doubt as to which idea the author preferred. The classic idea, or ransom theory, or what can now simply be called Christus Victor, clearly rises to the top.

Though theologically dense, this small book will enliven the hearts and quicken the imagination of listeners diligent enough to spend a few hours immersed in Christus Victor. At the heart of the classic idea of atonement is a long-neglected view of God that will thrill many listeners with hopeful expectation for the ultimate victory we all await.

For George MacDonald fans, who have perhaps wondered how he could have been so adamantly against substitutionary atonement, this book will explain a very different way of looking at the atonement that is in perfect harmony with what MacDonald would hold to. Fans of C.S. Lewis may be thrilled to see the theology behind Aslan's death at the Stone Table in The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe clearly laid out in teachings from the early church.

©2016 Wise Path Books (P)2017 Wise Path Books

A Theology Must

Christus Victor is a comprehensive history of Atonement Theory. It brings into focus the various main historical views of how God reconciles man.

A Triumph Forgotten

This is a wonderful production, useful to auditory learners. It is delivered well! I would recommend this to anyone thinking of becoming Christian who has an intellectual bent into Christian history. Or to scholars, or students who want to understand this complicated mystery—that lies at the center of the Christian world—you shall not figure it out but maybe delve deeper into your own understanding and that of the giants before us.

Brilliant book, great delivery, terrible editing

In my opinion, this is the end all book for atonement theories. Aulen writes masterfully about the various theories of atonement and lays them out for all to see. However, there is not much more I can add to the content of the book than what has already been said by other reviews. I would like to take a moment to discuss the naration. Not the narrator, necessarily, Kimball does a great job with delivering the contents of the book. The editing, however, is another story. I was constantly taken out of the story by the inserts of a completely different voice than Kimball's when it came time for a French/German/etc. word. I could almost forgive this except that I noted at least two separate instances where the foreign word was left out of the audio entirely. Instead of hearing the word, all that was said was "Insert German/French/ here." I had to listen about 5 times to make sure I wasn't misunderstanding it. How egregious errors like that made it through to the final copy I will never know. I cannot recommend the book or the narrator enough, but this particular recording of it is rendered nearly unlistenable (at least to me) due to these elementary errors.