{"id":2067,"date":"2018-09-07T21:59:50","date_gmt":"2018-09-08T04:59:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/myagpeya.com\/blog\/?p=2067"},"modified":"2019-06-28T22:33:03","modified_gmt":"2019-06-29T05:33:03","slug":"shenouda-atonement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/myagpeya.com\/blog\/shenouda-atonement\/","title":{"rendered":"H.H. Pope Shenouda on Atonement"},"content":{"rendered":"

If Christ did not bear the punishment for us<\/strong>, what is the meaning of redemption then?! If there was no Punishment at all (but merely the cancelling of a punishment) then where is the fulfillment of the Divine justice? Did Christ suffer and die for no reason?! The lifting of the punishment from us was the result of Christ enduring it instead of us.<\/strong>\u00a0This is the teaching of the Church throughout the ages, and also the teaching of Scripture. – H.H. Pope Shenouda (How the Redemption of Mankind was Fulfilled, pages 64-65)<\/p>\n

These two virtues met on the Cross. The Lord was just and merciful.\u00a0Just, as He paid the price of sin. And merciful, as He had pity on mankind,\u00a0who was condemned to death So He died for us.\u00a0<\/strong>There is no contradiction at all between God\u2019s justice and his mercy.\u00a0His mercy is full of justice, and His justice is full of mercy.\u00a0He is just in His mercy, and merciful in His justice.<\/strong>\u00a0There are virtues that integrate with no contradiction. It is different with\u00a0mankind. The justice of one turns into cruelty with no mercy. Or his mercy\u00a0turns into underestimation of the rights of justice, encouraging others to err,\u00a0though unintentionally. (The Spiritual Man, Page, page 167)<\/p>\n

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The talk about God’s love might make you joyful, while the\u00a0talk about his justice troubles you. However, you have to\u00a0face the whole truth.\u00a0This is the divine truth that does not separate God’s\u00a0justice from God’s love. God’s justice is merciful and God’s\u00a0mercy is just. God’s justice is full of mercy and His mercy is full\u00a0of justice.<\/strong> The two together are the whole truth, the complete truth.\u00a0We do not act in spiritual matters according to half the truth. (Words of Spiritual Benefit, 51-100, Volume II)<\/p>\n

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There is no objection that you would bear the guilt of another one and be punished for that instead of him;<\/strong> or that you bear the responsibilities of another one, and to carry them on instead of him. And as saint Paul said to Philemon about Onesimus: “But if he has wronged you or owes anything, put that on my account. I, Paul, an writing with my own hand, I will repay” (Philemon 18-19). As much as you can, participate in the sufferings of others, and carry them in their place. Be a Cyrenian bearing the cross of another. When we make the sign of the cross, we remember many of the\u00a0theological and spiritual meanings which are connected to it. 1. We remember the love of God for us, who accepted death instead of us<\/strong>, in view of our salvation. “All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all”<\/strong> (Is. 53:6). When we make the sign of the cross, we remember “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). “And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world” (1 John 2:2). 2. And in the Cross, we remember our sins. Our sins which He has borne on the Cross, and for which He Incarnated and was crucified. With this remembrance, we become humiliated, our souls become contrite, and we thank for the price which He paid for us “For you were bought at a price;<\/strong> therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Cor. 6:20). 3. And in the Cross, we remember the divine justice: How forgiveness was not on account of justice. But the divine justice took his right on the Cross.<\/strong> We do not then consider sin as a slight matter, the sin whose price is such as that. 4. In our signing of the Cross, we declare our discipleship to this crucified One. (Feast of the Cross, page 11)<\/p>\n

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It was necessary for Him to rise because His death\u00a0was a mere temporary one to perform a double message.\u00a0It was possible for him not to die according to His nature and\u00a0also \u201cFor the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is\u00a0eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. ” (Rom 6:23).\u00a0Moreover he did not commit any sin. He accepted to die instead\u00a0of us<\/strong> in order to give His life for us as the apostle said ” being\u00a0justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in\u00a0Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His\u00a0blood<\/strong>, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness,\u00a0because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that\u00a0were previously committed. ” (Rom 3:24,25) (Contemplations on the Resurrection, page 51)<\/p>\n

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The mediation of the Lord Jesus Christ is an atonement,\u00a0which means that He mediates for the forgiveness of our sins,\u00a0being the Atoner who paid our debts on our behalf.<\/strong> His\u00a0mediation means that He says to the Father: “Do not count their\u00a0transgressions because I have carried their iniquity” (Is.53:\u00a06). Thus He stands as a Mediator between God and men; or\u00a0rather, He is the only Mediator between God and men; He\u00a0fulfilled God\u2019s Divine Justice and granted people the\u00a0forgiveness of sins, by dying for them.<\/strong>\u00a0This is what St. John the Apostle meant when he said: “And\u00a0if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus\u00a0Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our\u00a0sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world”\u00a0<\/strong>(1John.2: 1,2). Here, the atoning mediation is very clear. It is a\u00a0mediation for the sinner: “If anyone sins”, and this sinner needs\u00a0atonement. The only One who offered this atonement was Jesus\u00a0Christ the righteous. Hence He can mediate for us through His\u00a0blood which was shed for us.\u00a0The same meaning is given in the words of St. Paul the\u00a0Apostle about the Lord Jesus Christ being the only Mediator\u00a0between God and men. He says: “For there is one God and\u00a0one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,\u00a0who gave Himself a ransom for all” (1Tim.2: 5,6). The Lord\u00a0Jesus Christ mediates for us as the Redeemer who sacrificed\u00a0Himself and paid the price of our sins.<\/strong> (Comparative Theology, page 77)<\/p>\n

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“Those who fight God’s “justice” deny a fundamental character in it and focus only on his mercy and love.\u00a0If they fight God’s justice in the name of mercy, let them know that the attributes of God are inseparable from each\u00a0other.<\/strong> God is merciful in his justice, and God’s mercy is a just mercy.\u00a0They focus on the love of God, but ignore the many verses that speak of His justice,\u00a0or try to interpret them to follow the color of their own thinking!\u00a0If they quote some of the words of the Fathers,\u00a0they quote them in a concise manner, and take phrases without regard to context. They do the same with their\u00a0\u00a0quotations from the Divine Liturgy.\u00a0For example:\u00a0“You have changed for me the punishment into salvation!<\/em>”\u00a0<\/em>They focus on the word “Salvation”, but they ignore that it is salvation from punishment!<\/strong> Then with\u00a0all audacity, they say that\u00a0God does not punish anyone!\u00a0When they use the phrase “You have removed the curse of the law from me”<\/em> they focus on the work of Christ the redeemer in removing the curse of the law from us.\u00a0And they forget that God\u00a0has placed those curses on anyone who violates His commandments (Deut 27:28). And when the use the words\u00a0“You<\/em>\u00a0sent the law to help me”<\/em>, they\u00a0focus on the word “help”. Yet they\u00a0forget that the law was helpful from a guidance standpoint, but it was also a scale of justice and judgment<\/strong>, so that people are condemned according to the words of that\u00a0Law.\u00a0\u00a0I do not have time to quote all the examples of their quotations.\u00a0But I say that\u00a0in order to focus on the love of God, they deny all words of punishment.\u00a0So they deny the punishment of death, the punishment of [God’s] curse,\u00a0\u00a0and all that pertains to eternal torment!\u00a0They consider that God has no business or economy\u00a0in all this! They say that it is man who caused all this to himself by his free will. We do not deny that\u00a0man is the one who subjects himself to punishment.\u00a0But at the same time it is he who has submitted\u00a0himself to the judgment of God. “<\/strong> – H. H. Pope Shenouda (New Heresies, Chapter 2)<\/p>\n

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Was the sacrifice of Christ a sacrifice of love or punishment?\u00a0<\/strong>
\nThe matter is very\u00a0clear\u00a0which is: The sacrifice of Christ was out of love for us, as well as a fulfillment of the punishment that was upon us, which is the sentence of death.<\/strong>\u00a0So [the sacrifice] combines both together…There is punishment, but Christ carried it instead of us, because of His love for us.\u00a0Otherwise, what is the meaning of the term\u00a0“satisfy the penalty” and “fulfill the penalty”?\u00a0Who satisfied the penalty except Christ?\u00a0And who\u00a0fulfilled the penalty except Christ? All of this was instead of us.\u00a0For, as the Scripture says, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all<\/em>”\u00a0<\/em>(Isaiah 53: 6).\u00a0Because of the “sin of\u00a0all\u00a0of\u00a0us”, the Lord Christ\u00a0suffered, died, and was buried.\u00a0Otherwise: Why did he die?\u00a0Were it not for the punishment that was upon us ?!…Here we ask: Is there a difference between\u00a0the Old and New Testaments?\u00a0God – as Scripture says – is “the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.<\/em>“<\/em> (Heb. 13: 8) “with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”<\/em>\u00a0(James 1:17).\u00a0If in the Old Testament “the sinful soul is to die,” the same judgment is in the New Testament\u00a0also.\u00a0We see this in the story of Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5).\u00a0We see this with the end of [the life of] Judas “the son of\u00a0perdition” (Jn 17:11).\u00a0We see this in the blows of Revelation…As for the expression that the Son bore the penalty of death at the hand of the Father instead of us to fulfill\u00a0God’s justice, this is not an estrangement from\u00a0the Spirit of the New Testament, as one author says.\u00a0But this is the faith of the whole church, and the\u00a0faith of its fathers and saints.” — H. H. Pope Shenouda (New Heresies, Chapter 3, pp 59-60)<\/p>\n

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Father’s relationship with the Son on the cross<\/strong>
\n“We return to discussing the phrase ‘The Father did not punish the son, but gave Him up out of love’<\/em> to discuss together an important topic: the\u00a0Father’s relationship with the Son on the cross.\u00a0<\/strong>The phrase ‘the Father punished his Son’<\/em> is provocative because the Son was not a sinner that the Father should punish Him. What is more correct [to say] is that the Father accepted that His Son would bear the punishment of humanity.\u00a0Thus, he sent him as a propitiation\u00a0for our sins (1\u00a0John\u00a04:10). Regarding the phrase “gave Him up out of love”<\/em> we cannot pass it by lightly. But stop at the word “gave”, that is gave Him up unto death of the cross, and gave Him up as a sacrifice for sin\u00a0(Isaiah 53:10) to be counted among the transgressors\u00a0(Isaiah\u00a053:12\u00a0). He gave Him up [to be] wounded for our transgressions,\u00a0\u00a0and<\/i>\u00a0bruised for our iniquities “yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted\u00a0“<\/em> (Isaiah 53: 5, 4) “and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.\u00a0He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb”<\/em> (Isaiah 53: 6, 7).\u00a0 Do we pass by all this lightly and say “gave Him up out of love [only]”<\/em>?!\u00a0– H. H. Pope Shenouda (New Heresies)<\/p>\n

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The burnt offering was made a symbol to satisfy the heart\u00a0of God, who was angered by our sins. Therefore the whole\u00a0sacrifice was offered to God alone.\u00a0It was forbidden for any one to eat from it. Neither the\u00a0offerer, nor his friends, nor the priest himself could eat from it;\u00a0but the sacrifice had to remain burning on the altar day and\u00a0night till it was reduced to ashes.\u00a0That fire indicated God’s justice. But changing the burnt\u00a0offering to ashes was a symbol of the sacrifice’s yielding till the\u00a0end in order that God’s justice might be paid in full<\/strong>\u00a0(Lev 6:8-13).\u00a0Therefore it was said about the burnt offering “It is a burnt\u00a0offering, an offering made by fire, an aroma pleasing to the\u00a0Lord.”<\/strong> (Lev 1:9,13,17).\u00a0There was also the sin offering and the crime offering, which\u00a0were symbolic of God’s justice being paid in full because\u00a0“Without the shedding of blood there is no remission.”<\/strong> (Heb\u00a09:22). Blood was payment in full in return for death as “The\u00a0wages of sin is death.”<\/strong> (Rom 6:23). The blood of animals was a\u00a0symbol of Christ.\u00a0The Lord Jesus Christ performed reconciliation between\u00a0God and man. This matter was accomplished on the cross\u00a0through atonement and redemption. (Contemplations on the Sermon on the Mount, page 131)<\/p>\n

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The devil shows Gods’ love in a way that makes one lose the\u00a0fear of God!\u00a0He benefits to a great extent from the words of St. John, giving\u00a0them a wrong interpretation, “There is no fear in love; but
\nperfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18). Thus, he tries to\u00a0remove God’s fear from the hearts of people under the name of\u00a0love, while the Bible says, “The fear of the LORD is the\u00a0beginning of wisdom”<\/strong> (Ps. 111:10).\u00a0Here, I tell you about a book I wanted to publish about “The fear\u00a0of God” and the relation between such fear and love. I had\u00a0prepared this book more than a year ago and made an\u00a0announcement about it but I postponed publishing it. Now, I\u00a0feel that it is necessary to publish it because many people benefit\u00a0from God’s love wrongly so that they get away from spiritual\u00a0caution and become unmindful. All this is due to the intrigues\u00a0of the devil!\u00a0<\/strong>Indeed, God is very loving and forgiving, but He is also just\u00a0and holy.\u00a0As God has no limits to His love, He has no limits to His\u00a0justice, and to His holiness. His holiness does not accept sin,\u00a0and His justice punishes it.<\/strong>\u00a0This is with respect to God’s love for us; what about our love\u00a0for God? (Diabolic Wars, page 111)<\/p>\n

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The Lord Christ on the cross was representing all\u00a0mankind.\u00a0He represented all humanity in paying the wages of sin to the\u00a0Divine Justice.<\/strong> ” All we like sheep have gone astray; We\u00a0have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has\u00a0laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”<\/strong> (Is. 53:6). For this\u00a0reason, He was on the cross “a burnt sacrifice… a sweet\u00a0aroma unto the Lord” (Lev. 1:9), and He was a sin offering,\u00a0and also a “Passover” (1 Cor. 5:7).\u00a0He was offering to the Father an atonement for our sins, and\u00a0as He offered this sacrifice, He said to the Father “forgive\u00a0them”.<\/strong>\u00a0In other words: “I have satisfied the Justice that You, 0\u00a0Father, have demanded,<\/strong> and therefore, forgive them”. (Many Years With People’s Questions, – Part I, Biblical Questions, page 66)<\/p>\n

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He is not only God, but He also took on Him a human nature\u00a0like ours; a complete human nature. Hence it is written that He\u00a0shared with us everything except sin (Heb 2:17) and unless He\u00a0had taken our nature, He would not have been able to satisfy\u00a0the divine justice on our behalf.<\/strong>\u00a0(Many Years With People’s Questions, Part II, Theological & Dogmatic Questions, Page 158)<\/p>\n

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Divine grace cannot be in conflict with divine justice.\u00a0God’s grace is not at the expense of His justice, nor is it\u00a0diminished by it! We should not just imagine God as being loving in the New\u00a0Testament, and vengeful in the Old. God is the same yesterday,\u00a0today and for ever. He was loving in the Old Testament, yet\u00a0punished sin, and He is loving in the New Testament, where He\u00a0also punishes.\u00a0<\/strong>David said about the God who punished in the Old Testament:\u00a0“He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor punished\u00a0us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high\u00a0above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those who fear\u00a0Him; As far as the east is from the west, So far has He\u00a0removed our transgressions from us”. (Ps. 103:10-12)\u00a0In the New Testament, the love of God was made manifest\u00a0on the cross, totally blended with His justice,<\/strong> “abounding\u00a0in love and faithfulness.” (Ps. 86:5).\u00a0(Many Years With People’s Questions, Part III, Spiritual and General Questions, Page 54)<\/p>\n

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The protestants argue that the death of Christ satisfied\u00a0the claims of the divine justice in all aspects.. Would God\u00a0then require us to satisfy them again?\u00a0No, God does not require us to do so. Besides, we
\nhaven’t the ability to satisfy the divine justice. The Lord\u00a0Jesus Christ has paid off all the claims of the divine\u00a0justice. He made an unlimited atonement sufficient for\u00a0the remission of all the sins of all people in all ages.\u00a0<\/strong>However, we repeat here what we have already said\u00a0before that the blood of Christ is one thing and the\u00a0deserts of this blood is another thing. All we have to\u00a0do is not to satisfy the claims of the divine justice, but\u00a0to be worthy of the deserts of the blood of Christ.\u00a0We do not try to satisfy the divine justice, for this has\u00a0been performed on the cross when the Lord shed His\u00a0blood on our behalf. But we have only to be worthy\u00a0of the blood of Christ.<\/strong> (Salvation in the Orthodox Concept, Page 168)<\/p>\n

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The remembrance of the Judgment brings about tears,\u00a0especially if it is accompanied by the remembrance of one\u2019s sins\u00a0and weeping over them. How difficult is the phrase, \u201c(He) will\u00a0render to each one according to his deeds\u201d! Or the phrase, \u201cand\u00a0their works follow them\u201d!\u00a0I wonder, of what type are these works which will\u00a0follow us? Are they worthy of tears?\u00a0In remembering the Judgment, the person also remembers\u00a0God\u2019s justice.<\/strong> That is why the Church places in front of us this\u00a0truth everyday in \u201cThe Prayer Before Sleeping\u201d, in which the\u00a0person praying says, \u201cBehold, I am about to stand before the\u00a0Just Judge in fear because of my numerous sins…\u201d.\u00a0In remembering the Judgment and sin<\/strong>, we remember also\u00a0the saying of the apostle: \u201cIt is a fearful thing to fall into the\u00a0hands of the living God.\u201d (Heb 10:31) (Tears in the Spiritual Life, page 42)<\/p>\n

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We recognize in Christ’s words on the Cross the property\u00a0of giving. We are apt to wonder that while He was on the\u00a0Cross, in a state of being battered and in submission, He was a\u00a0giver. He gave forgiveness to His persecutors, gave Paradise to\u00a0the thief on His right side, gave His Blessed Mother a spiritual\u00a0Son and provided her with care and attention. He gave beloved\u00a0John the blessedness of accommodating Mary in his house, and\u00a0gave the Father the price of the Divine Justice as ordained<\/strong>, He\u00a0gave humanity atonement and redemption,<\/strong> and gave us also\u00a0security that the act of salvation has been accomplished. In\u00a0short, He has given everybody his due while no one gave Him\u00a0anything. He offered all that to humanity though humanity\u00a0offered Him nothing in return except gall and vinegar…(The Seven Words of Our Lord on the Cross, Page 7)<\/p>\n

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\u201cFather, forgive them, for I have paid off the wages of\u00a0their sin, and they stand in no debt.<\/strong> I have satisfied the divine\u00a0justice; I repaid all their debts, now forgive them.<\/strong> Here I am\u00a0dying on behalf of those who crucified Me and on behalf of\u00a0those who loved Me. When I say, “Forgive them. I do not\u00a0mean only those, but all those who seek refuge in My blood: All\u00a0penitent sinners from the day of Adam to eternity. Forgive\u00a0them, as ‘For this purpose I came to this hour'”<\/strong> (John 12:27).\u00a0\u00a0(The Seven Words of Our Lord on the Cross, Page 16)<\/p>\n

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This phrase “Forgive them” was all for announcing the\u00a0era of forgiveness and that is not a promised forgiveness,\u00a0but a paid for forgiveness.<\/strong> It is a declaration that the Divine\u00a0Justice was satisfied that the penalty has been paid in full.\u00a0<\/strong>It is a deed – a document entitling the purchaser to the\u00a0merchandise he paid for. He purchased us with His own\u00a0blood, and the only thing left for Him to do is to take us, to\u00a0carry us with Him to Paradise that we may enjoy eternal\u00a0life with Him, and where He is we also will be. It seems as\u00a0though He was telling the Lord, “What are You asking\u00a0these people for?” What sort of claim do You have against\u00a0them? Isn’t it that You want to inflict death upon them as a\u00a0penalty for their sins? Here I am dying in their place. I am\u00a0paying You off what they owe You.<\/strong> Relieve them of this\u00a0verdict! You are being paid in full – shortly after, I will\u00a0announce to You that “It is finished “…(The Seven Words of Our Lord on the Cross, Page 21, 22)<\/p>\n

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The word “Forsaken” means that the torment of\u00a0Crucifixion was actual and that God’s wrath was\u00a0excruciating.<\/strong> The act of abandonment was the climax of all\u00a0torment on the Cross; all torment of redemption. Here Christ\u00a0resembles a burnt sacrifice. An offering to God for the\u00a0atonement of sin – to be consumed by the divine fire until it\u00a0turns to ashes and satisfies fully the Divine Justice<\/strong>…He said that because He took the shape of a servant, and\u00a0became similar to man. “But made Himself of no reputation.\u00a0taking the form of a bond servant, and coming in the likeness of\u00a0men ” (Phil. 2: 7 and 8). He said these words because “He\u00a0humbled Himself”, “and became obedient to the point of\u00a0death, even the death of the cross” (Phil. 2:9) He spoke as the\u00a0Son of man, who has taken over a human nature and taken\u00a0man’s position, and agreed to represent humanity before God,\u00a0assumed all human sins and is paying off all their debts.\u00a0<\/strong>Here we see that all humanity is talking through Him.\u00a0As He assumed all human sins, and a sin is a separation from\u00a0God and a cause of God’s wrath<\/strong>, all humanity is crying through\u00a0Christ, saying: “My God, My God, why have You forsaken\u00a0Me?\u201d (The Seven Words of Our Lord on the Cross, Page 45, 47)<\/p>\n

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And as His disgrace was complete, His physical pain and\u00a0God’s wrath were perfected.<\/strong> The Lord has paid it all<\/strong> –offered Himself as a sacrifice, and the fire went on, consuming\u00a0His offering until it turned into ashes (Lev 6:10).\u00a0When Our Lord realised that He had completed the act of\u00a0redemption and atonement, and that He had satisfied the divine\u00a0justice fully<\/strong> and nothing else could be done, He cried\u00a0triumphantly: “It is finished.\u201d\u00a0(The Seven Words of Our Lord on the Cross, Page 55)<\/p>\n

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\u00a0H.H. Pope Shenouda’s Theology in Line with Early Church Fathers<\/h3>\n

Psalm 88:6-9<\/strong><\/span>
\nYou have put me in the lowest pit,\u00a0in the darkest depths.\u00a0Your wrath lies heavily on me<\/strong>;\u00a0you have overwhelmed me with all your waves.\u00a0You have taken from me my closest friends\u00a0and have made me repulsive to them.<\/span><\/p>\n

Romans 8: 3-4
\n<\/strong>For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he\u00a0condemned<\/strong>\u00a0sin in the flesh,\u00a0in order that the\u00a0just<\/strong>\u00a0requirement<\/strong>\u00a0of the law\u00a0<\/strong>might be fulfilled in us<\/span><\/p>\n

Galatians 3:13
\n<\/span><\/strong>Christ redeemed us from the curse [sentence] of the law by becoming [fulfilling] a curse for us<\/strong>, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Liturgy of Saint Gregory<\/strong><\/span>
\n I\u00a0 laid\u00a0 aside\u00a0 Your\u00a0 law\u00a0 by\u00a0 my\u00a0 own opinion. I neglected your commandments. I brought upon myself the sentence of death<\/strong>. You O my Master have turned for me the punishment<\/strong> into salvation<\/strong>.<\/strong> As a good shepherd you have sought the stray.<\/span><\/p>\n

St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. 130-202) , Against Heresies Book V,\u00a0Chapter 16-17
\nFor we were debtors to none other but to Him whose commandment we had transgressed at the beginning.<\/strong> Now this being is the Creator (Demiurgus), who is, in respect of His love, the Father; but in respect of His power, He is Lord; and in respect of His wisdom, our Maker and Fashioner; by transgressing whose commandment we became His enemies.<\/strong> And therefore in the last times the Lord has restored us into friendship through His incarnation, having become “the Mediator between God and men;”<\/strong> propitiating indeed for us the Father against whom we had sinned<\/span>, and cancelling (consolatus) our disobedience by His own obedience<\/strong>; conferring also upon us the gift of communion with, and subjection to, our Maker. For this reason also He has taught us to say in prayer, “And forgive us our debts;” since indeed He is our Father, whose debtors we were, having transgressed His commandments<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

St. Cyril of Jerusalem (313 – 386 AD)\u00a0\u2013 Catechetical Lectures of St. Cyril
\n<\/strong>These things the Savior endured, and made peace through the Blood<\/strong> of His Cross, for things in heaven, and things in earth.\u00a0 For we were enemies of God through sin, and God had appointed the sinner to die.\u00a0 There must needs therefore have happened one of two things; either that God, in His truth<\/strong>, should destroy all men, or that in His loving-kindness<\/strong> He should cancel the sentence.<\/strong>\u00a0 But behold the wisdom of God; He preserved both the truth of His sentence, and the exercise of His loving-kindness.<\/span>\u00a0<\/strong> Christ took our sins in His body on the tree, that we by His death might die to sin, and live unto righteousness.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

St. Athanasius (296 – 373 AD) – Letter to Marcellinus\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong><\/span>
\n And\u00a0Psalms 88\u00a0and 69, again speaking in the Lord’s own person, tell us further that He suffered these things, not for His own sake but for ours. Thou has made Thy wrath to rest upon me,<\/strong> says the one; and the other adds, I paid<\/strong> them things I never took.\u00a0For He did not die as being Himself liable to death: He suffered for us,\u00a0and bore in Himself the<\/strong> wrath<\/strong> that was the penalty of our transgression<\/strong>,\u00a0even as Isaiah says, Himself bore our weaknesses.<\/span><\/p>\n

St. Athanasius \u2013 On the Incarnation of the Word<\/strong><\/span>
\nHe saw that corruption held us all the closer, because it was the penalty for the Transgression;<\/strong> He saw, too, how unthinkable it would be for the law to be repealed before it was fulfilled.<\/span><\/strong> He saw how unseemly it was that the very things of which He Himself was the Artificer should be disappearing\u2026Thus, taking a body like our own, because all our bodies were liable to the corruption of death, He surrendered His body to death instead<\/strong> of all<\/strong>,<\/span> and offered it to the Father<\/strong>\u2026The Word perceived that corruption could not be got rid of otherwise than through death; yet He Himself, as the Word, being immortal and the Father’s Son, was such as could not die. For this reason, therefore, He assumed a body capable of death, in order that it, through belonging to the Word Who is above all, might become in dying a sufficient<\/strong> exchange<\/strong> for all<\/strong><\/span><\/span>, and, itself remaining incorruptible through His indwelling, might thereafter put an end to corruption for all others as well, by the grace of the resurrection…For naturally, since the Word of God was above all, when He offered His own temple and bodily instrument as a substitute for the life of all,<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0He fulfilled in death all that was required.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

St. Athanasius (296 – 373 AD) \u2013 On the Incarnation\u00a0of the Word
\n<\/strong>For the Word, perceiving that no otherwise could the corruption of men be undone\u00a0save by death as a necessary condition<\/span><\/strong>, while it was impossible for the Word to suffer death,\u00a0being immortal, and Son of the Father; to this end He takes to Himself a body capable of\u00a0death, that it, by partaking of the Word Who is above all, might be worthy to die in the stead of all<\/span>,<\/strong> and might, because of the Word which was come to dwell in it, remain incorruptible,\u00a0and that thenceforth corruption might be stayed from all by the Grace of the Resurrection.\u00a0Whence, by offering unto death the body He Himself had taken, as an offering and sacrifice\u00a0free from any stain, straightway He put away death from all His peers by the offering of an\u00a0equivalent.<\/span><\/strong> For being over all, the Word of God naturally by offering His own temple and\u00a0corporeal instrument for the life of all satisfied the debt by His death<\/span>.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

St. Athanasius (296 – 373 AD) – Contra Arianos, Discourse II, Chapter 21
\n<\/strong><\/span>\u2018Unless the Son shall make\u00a0you free;\u2019<\/strong> and the Son, who made free, has shewn in truth that He is no creature, nor one of\u00a0things originate, but the proper Word and Image of the Father\u2019s Essence, who at the beginning\u00a0sentenced<\/strong>, and alone remitteth sins. For since it is said in the Word, \u2018Dust thou art, and unto dust\u00a0thou shalt return,\u2019 suitably through the Word Himself and in Him the freedom and the undoing of\u00a0the condemnation has come to pass<\/strong>\u2026He sends His own Son, and He becomes Son of Man, by taking created flesh; that, since all were under sentence of death<\/strong>, He, being other than them all, might Himself for all offer<\/strong> to death His own body; and that henceforth, as if all had died through Him, the word of that sentence might be accomplished<\/strong> (for \u2018all died\u2019 in Christ<\/strong>)<\/span>, and all through Him might thereupon become free from sin and from the curse<\/strong> which came upon it, and might truly abide forever, risen from the dead and clothed in immortality and incorruption.<\/span><\/p>\n

St. Athanasius (296 – 373 AD) \u2013 Discourses Against the Arians, Discourse II<\/strong>
\n\u2018Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the\u00a0heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession Jesus, who was\u00a0<\/span>faithful to Him that made Him.\u2019when became He \u2018Apostle,\u2019 but when He put on our\u00a0flesh? and when became He \u2018High Priest of our profession,\u2019 but when, after offering Himself\u00a0for us,<\/strong> He raised His Body from the dead, and, as now, Himself brings near and offers to\u00a0<\/span>the Father those who in faith approach Him, redeeming all, and for all propitiating God<\/span>?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

St. Gregory Nazianzen (329 – 390 AD) – Oration\u00a0<\/em>30.5
\n<\/strong>He makes my disobedience His own<\/strong> as Head of the whole body. As long then as I am disobedient and rebellious, both by denial of God and by my passions, so long Christ also is called disobedient on my account<\/strong>…Of the same kind, it appears to me, is the expression, \u201cMy God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0It was not He who was forsaken either by the Father<\/strong>, or by His own Godhead, as some have thought, as if It were afraid of the Passion, and therefore withdrew Itself from Him in His Sufferings (for who compelled Him either to be born on earth at all, or to be lifted up on the Cross?) But as I said, He was in His own Person representing us<\/span>. For we were the forsaken and despised before<\/strong>, but now by the Sufferings of Him Who could not suffer, we were taken up and saved. Similarly, He makes His own our folly and our transgressions<\/strong><\/span>; and says what follows in the Psalm, for it is very evident that the Twenty-first\u00a0Psalm refers to Christ.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

St. Ambrose (337- 397 AD) – Flight from the World, ch. 7, sect. 44<\/strong><\/span>
\n And so then, Jesus took flesh that He might destroy the curse of sinful flesh, and\u00a0He became for us a curse\u00a0<\/strong>that a blessing might overwhelm a curse, uprightness might overwhelm sin,\u00a0forgiveness might overwhelm the sentence<\/strong>, and life might overwhelm death.\u00a0He also took up death that the\u00a0sentence\u00a0might be fulfilled and\u00a0satisfaction might be given for the judgment<\/strong><\/span>, the curse placed on sinful flesh even to death.\u00a0Therefore, nothing was done contrary to God\u2019s sentence when the terms of that sentence were fulfilled<\/strong><\/span>, for the curse<\/strong> was unto death but grace<\/strong> is after death.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

St. John Chrysostom (349 – 407 AD) – Commentary on Galatians<\/strong><\/span>
\n \u201cChrist redeemed<\/strong> us from the curse<\/strong> of the Law, having become a curse<\/strong> for us: for it is written, Cursed<\/strong> is every one that hangs on a tree.\u201d In reality, the people were subject to another curse<\/strong>, which says, \u201cCursed<\/strong> is every one that continueth not in the things that are written in the book of the Law.\u201d (Deut. xxvii. 26.)…It was like an innocent man\u2019s undertaking to die for another sentenced to death, and so rescuing him from punishment<\/strong>.<\/span> For Christ took upon\u00a0Him not the curse of transgression, but the other curse, in order to remove that of others.\u00a0For, \u201cHe had done no violence neither was any deceit in His mouth.\u201d (Isa. liii. 9; 1 Peter ii.22.) And as by dying He rescued from death those who were dying, so by taking upon\u00a0Himself the curse<\/strong>, He delivered them from it.\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

St. John Chrysostom (349 – 407 AD)\u00a0\u2013 Homilies on Colossians<\/strong><\/span>
\n Seest thou how great His earnestness that the bond should be done away? To wit, we all were under sin and punishment<\/strong>. He Himself, through suffering punishment<\/strong>, did away with both the sin and the punishment<\/strong>, and He was punished on the Cross<\/span><\/strong>.\u00a0To the Cross then He affixed it; as having power, He tore it asunder.<\/span><\/p>\n

St. John Chrysostom (349 – 407 AD) \u2013 Homilies on Second Corinthians,\u00a0Homily XI
\n<\/strong>And what has He done?\u00a0Him that\u00a0knew\u00a0no\u00a0sin\u00a0He made to be\u00a0sin, for you.\u00a0<\/strong>For had He achieved nothing but done only this, think how great a thing it were to give His Son for those that had outraged Him<\/strong>. But now He has both well achieved mighty things, and besides, has suffered Him that did no wrong to be punished for those who had done wrong.<\/strong> <\/span>But he did not say this: but mentioned that which is far greater than this. What then is this?\u00a0Him that\u00a0knew\u00a0no\u00a0sin,\u00a0he says, Him that was righteousness itself ,\u00a0He made\u00a0sin,\u00a0that is suffered as a sinner to be condemned, as one cursed to die.\u00a0For cursed is he that hangs on a tree. (Galatians 3:13)\u00a0<\/strong>For to die thus was far greater than to die; and this he also elsewhere implying, says,\u00a0Becoming\u00a0obedient\u00a0unto death, yea the death of the cross. (Philippians 2:8) For this thing carried with it not only punishment, but also disgrace.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

St. John Chrysostom (349 – 407 AD), On the Epistle to the Hebrews<\/strong><\/span>
\n\u201cTo appear,\u201d he says, \u201cin the presence of God for us.\u201d What is \u201cfor us\u201d? He went up (he\u00a0means) with a sacrifice which had power to propitiate the Father<\/strong>. Wherefore (tell me)? Was\u00a0<\/span>He an enemy? The angels were enemies, He was not an enemy. For that the Angels were\u00a0enemies, hear what he says, \u201cHe made peace as to things on earth and things in Heaven.\u201d( Col. i. 20.) So that He also \u201centered into Heaven, now to appear in the presence of God\u00a0for us.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

St. Augustine (354 – 430 AD) –<\/strong>\u00a0REPLY TO\u00a0FAUSTUS THE MANICHAEAN,\u00a0Book XIV, p.7<\/strong><\/span>
\n He was cursed<\/strong> for our offences, in the death which He suffered in bearing our punishment<\/strong>\u2026The believer in the true doctrine of the gospel will understand that Christ is not reproached by Moses when he speaks of Him as cursed<\/strong>, not in His divine majesty, but as hanging on the tree as our substitute, bearing our punishment<\/strong>,<\/span> any more than He is praised by the Manich\u00e6ans when they deny that He had a mortal body, so as to suffer real death\u2026Confess that He died, and you may also confess that He, without taking our sin, took its punishment<\/strong>.\u00a0 Now the punishment of sin cannot be blessed, or else it would be a thing to be desired.\u00a0 The curse<\/strong> is pronounced by divine justice<\/strong>, and it will be well for us if we are redeemed from it.<\/span><\/p>\n

St. Cyril of Alexandria (378 – 444 AD) \u2013 Commentary on Luke<\/strong><\/span>
\n Christ therefore ransomed from the curse of the law<\/strong> those who being subject to it, had been unable to keep its enactments. And in what way did He ransom them?<\/strong> By fulfilling it<\/strong>.<\/span> And to put it in another way: in order that He might expiate the guilt<\/strong> of Adam’s transgression, He showed Himself obedient and submissive in every respect to God the Father in our stead<\/strong><\/span>…<\/span><\/p>\n

St. Cyril of Alexandria (378 – 444 AD) \u2013 Commentary on the Gospel of St. John
\n<\/strong>And the meaning of the figure is\u00a0in no way affected by the fact, that the men who hung by His side\u00a0were malefactors; for we were by nature children of wrath<\/strong>, before\u00a0we believed in Christ, and were all doomed to death<\/strong>, as we said\u00a0before…<\/strong>And the title contained a handwriting against us\u2014the curse\u00a0that, by the Divine Law, impends over the transgressors, and the\u00a0sentence that went forth against all who erred against those\u00a0ancient ordinances of the Law<\/span>,<\/strong> like unto Adam\u2019s curse, which went\u00a0forth against all mankind, in that all alike broke God\u2019s decrees. For\u00a0God\u2019s anger did not cease with Adam\u2019s fall, but He was also\u00a0provoked by those who after him dishonoured the Creator\u2019s\u00a0decree;<\/strong> and the denunciation of the Law against transgressors\u00a0was extended continuously over all.\u00a0We were, then, accursed and<\/strong> condemned<\/strong>, by the sentence of God<\/strong><\/span>, through Adam’s transgression, and through breach of \u00a0the Law laid down after him; but the Savior wiped out the handwriting against us, by nailing the title to His Cross, which very clearly pointed to the death upon the Cross which He underwent for the salvation of men, who lay under<\/strong> condemnation<\/strong>.\u00a0For our sake He paid the penalty for our\u00a0sins.<\/strong><\/span> For though He was One that suffered, yet was He far above\u00a0any creature, as God, and more precious than the life of all.\u00a0Therefore, as the Psalmist says, the mouth of all lawlessness was\u00a0stopped, and the tongue of sin was silenced, unable any more to\u00a0speak against sinners. For we are justified, now that Christ has\u00a0paid the penalty for us;<\/strong> for by His stripes we are healed, according\u00a0to the Scripture. And just as by the Cross the sin of our revolt was\u00a0perfected, so also by the Cross was achieved our return to our\u00a0original state, and the acceptable recovery of heavenly blessings;<\/strong>\u00a0Christ, as it were, gathering up into Himself, for us, the very fount\u00a0and origin of our infirmity.<\/span><\/p>\n

St. Cyril of Alexandria (378 – 444 AD) \u2013 Commentary on the Gospel of St. John, Book XII
\n<\/strong>Bearing the Cross upon His shoulders, on which He was about to be crucified, He went forth; His doom was already fixed, and He had undergone, for our sakes<\/strong>, though innocent, the sentence of \u00a0death.<\/strong> For, in His own Person, He bore the sentence<\/span><\/strong> righteously pronounced against sinners by the Law.<\/strong> <\/span>For He became a curse for us<\/strong>, according to the Scripture: For cursed is everyone, it is said, that hangeth on a tree. And accursed are we all<\/strong>, for we are not able to fulfil the Law of God:<\/strong> For in many things we all stumble; and very prone to sin is the nature of man. And since, too, the Law of God says: Cursed is he which continueth not in all things that are written in the book of this Law, to do them, the curse, then, belongeth unto us<\/strong>, and not to others. For those against whom the transgression of the Law may be charged, and who are very prone to err from its commandments, surely deserve chastisement.<\/strong> Therefore, He That knew no sin was accursed for our sakes<\/strong>, that He might deliver us from the old curse. For all-sufficient was the God Who is above all, so dying for all;<\/strong> and by the death of His own Body, purchasing the redemption of all mankind.<\/strong>\u00a0The Cross, then, that Christ bore, was not for His own deserts, but was the cross that awaited us, and was our due, through our condemnation by the Law.<\/strong> For as He was numbered among the dead, not for Himself, but for our sakes, that we might find in Him, the Author of everlasting life, subduing of Himself the power of death; so also, He took upon Himself the Cross that was our due<\/strong>, passing on Himself the condemnation of the Law,<\/strong><\/span> that the mouth of all lawlessness might henceforth be stopped, according to the saying of the Psalmist; the Sinless having suffered condemnation for the sin of all<\/strong>..\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

St. Cyril of Alexandria (378 – 444 AD) – Commentary on the Gospel of St. Luke
\n<\/strong>And to-day too we have seen Him obedient to the laws of Moses, or rather we have seen Him Who as God is the Legislator, subject to His own decrees.<\/strong> And the reason of this the most wise Paul teaches us, saying, “When we were babes we\u00a0were enslaved under the elements of the world; but when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem them that were under the law.” Christ therefore ransomed from the curse of the law those who being subject to it, had been unable to keep its enactments. And in what way did He ransom them? By fulfilling it.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

St. Cyril of Alexandria (378 – 444 AD) – Commentary on the Gospel of St. John,\u00a0BOOK IX, v31,32<\/b>
\n<\/strong>For if we examine as well as we may the real character of the\u00a0mystery of His work, we shall see that He died, not merely for\u00a0Himself, nor even especially for His own sake; but that it was on\u00a0behalf of humanity that He suffered and carried out both the\u00a0suffering in itself and the resurrection that followed. For in that He\u00a0died according to the flesh, He offered up His own life as an\u00a0equivalent for the life of all; and by rendering perfect satisfaction\u00a0for all, He fulfilled in Himself<\/span> to the uttermost the force of that\u00a0ancient curse.<\/strong> And in that He has risen again from the dead to a\u00a0life imperishable and unceasing, in Himself He raises the whole of\u00a0nature.<\/span><\/p>\n

St. Cyril of Alexandria (378 – 444 AD) \u2013 The Gospel According to John, Book XI, Chapter VIII
\n<\/strong>He\u00a0once\u00a0more\u00a0mediates\u00a0as\u00a0Man, the\u00a0Reconciler\u00a0and\u00a0Mediator<\/strong> of God and men; and being\u00a0our truly great\u00a0and all-holy High Priest, by His own prayers He appeases the anger of His Father<\/span>,<\/strong>\u00a0sacrificing Himself\u00a0for us.\u00a0For He is the Sacrifice<\/strong>, and\u00a0is Himself\u00a0our Priest<\/strong>, Himself\u00a0 our Mediator<\/strong>, Himself a blameless Victim<\/strong>,\u00a0the true\u00a0Lamb<\/strong> Which takes away the sin of the\u00a0world…For the inspired Moses, and with him the eminent Aaron, continually intervened between God and the assembly of the people; at one time deprecating God\u2019s anger for the transgressions of the people of Israel<\/strong>, and inviting mercy from above upon them when they were faint; at another, praying and blessing the people, and ordering sacrifices according to the Law and offerings of gifts besides in their appointed order, sometimes for sins, and sometimes thank-offerings for the benefits they felt that they had received from God. But Christ Who manifested Himself in the last times above the types and figures of the Law, at once our High Priest and Mediator, prays for us as Man; and at the same time is ever ready to co-operate with God the Father, Who distributes good gifts to those who are worthy…and that once for all, because of our sin, and is an Advocate for us: And He is the propitiation for our sins<\/span>, as John saith; and not for ours only, but also for the whole world<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

St. Cyril of Alexandria – Letter 41 (To Acacius, the Bishop Conerning the Scapegoat)<\/strong><\/span>
\nThe Father made him a victim for the sins of the world.<\/strong> \u201cHe was counted among the wicked,\u201d l having endured a condemnation most suitable for the wicked.<\/strong> And the divinely inspired prophet Isaiah will also vouch for this, saying, \u201cWe had all gone astray like sheep, each following his own way, but the Lord laid upon him the guilt of us all<\/span>,\u201d<\/strong> \u201cyet it was on our behalf he suffers,\u201d \u201cand by his stripes we were healed…\u201cBy the grace of God he tasted death for all,\u201d and he made his life be an exchange for the life of all.<\/span> One died for all, in order that we all might live to God sancti\ufb01ed and brought to life through his blood<\/strong>, \u201cjusti\ufb01ed as a gift by his grace.\u201d For as the blessed evangelist John says, \u201cThe blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

St. Cyril of Alexandria (378 – 444 AD) – Commentary on the Gospel of St. John<\/strong><\/span>
\n For since the blood of bulls and of goats and the ashes of an heifer sufficed not unto the purging away of sin, nor yet would the slaughter of brute beasts ever have destroyed the power of death, Christ Himself came in some way to undergo punishment for all.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

St. Severus of Antioch (465 – 538 AD) – LETTER TO EUPRAXIUS THE\u00a0CHAMBERLAIN\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>
\nSo also he is said to have become sin, because he endured the death that was the due of sinners<\/strong>; for, while he is himself the pure justice of the Father,<\/strong> he is crucified between two robbers; but these on account of their offences, and in accordance with the passage in the Gospel of Mark who says, “And with him they crucified two robbers, one on the right hand and one on the left, and the Scripture was fulfilled which saith, ‘He was numbered with the unjust'”. So he became sin to remit the sins of others<\/strong>: so also he paid<\/strong> the debt<\/strong> that was incurred for us<\/strong>, and we ourselves became righteousness in Him; for those who have been freed from debts<\/strong> are righteous, and are not termed liable.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If Christ did not bear the punishment for us, what is the meaning of redemption then?! If there was no…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,16],"tags":[4,11,32,25,22,35,14],"class_list":["post-2067","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-patristics","category-salvation","tag-atonement","tag-christus-victor","tag-incarnation-of-the-word","tag-mercy-and-justice","tag-penal-substitution-and-church-fathers","tag-penal-substitution-and-coptic-church","tag-theories-of-atonement"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/myagpeya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2067","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/myagpeya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/myagpeya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/myagpeya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/myagpeya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2067"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"http:\/\/myagpeya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2067\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2111,"href":"http:\/\/myagpeya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2067\/revisions\/2111"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/myagpeya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2067"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/myagpeya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2067"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/myagpeya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2067"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}