The Divine Blood Theory--Part 1
The first aberrant theory of the atonement I'm going to call "The Divine Blood" theory. This theory says that Christ's death works to cleanse us from sin because Christ's blood had special properties, since it is "divine blood". According to those who believe this way, if Christ's blood had been human like ours, it would have had no power to take away our sin. Not only is the blood of bulls and goats insufficient to cleanse, but mere human blood would be insufficient as well.
There are two proof texts given to support this idea. The first is 1 Peter 1:18 and 19:
....knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, {the blood} of Christ.
These verses are used as proof that Christ's blood was divine, the thought being that if His blood had not been divine, but had been only human blood, it would not have been precious or imperishable. The second text is from Acts 20:28:
"Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.
This verse is used because it says that God purchased the church with His own blood. This means, according to the divine blood proponents, that the blood flowing through Christ's veins was God the Father's own blood--or divine blood.
These two proof texts are added to outdated information apparently found in Gray's Anatomy, which said that children inherit their blood type from their father, and that the blood of the mother and the unborn child never mix. This misinformation somehow contributes to the evidence for this theory, and it is contended that this is scientific evidence that Jesus could not have had human blood, as He was not conceived of a human father. Advanced as further evidence is the idea that human beings inherit their sinful nature through their father only, and that the sin nature is somehow carried over to an infant in the blood inherited from the father.
Now that this theory has been explained and the supporting evidence shown, we can move on in our next installment to examining whether this theory is supported by the whole of the evidence of scripture.
There are two proof texts given to support this idea. The first is 1 Peter 1:18 and 19:
....knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, {the blood} of Christ.
These verses are used as proof that Christ's blood was divine, the thought being that if His blood had not been divine, but had been only human blood, it would not have been precious or imperishable. The second text is from Acts 20:28:
"Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.
This verse is used because it says that God purchased the church with His own blood. This means, according to the divine blood proponents, that the blood flowing through Christ's veins was God the Father's own blood--or divine blood.
These two proof texts are added to outdated information apparently found in Gray's Anatomy, which said that children inherit their blood type from their father, and that the blood of the mother and the unborn child never mix. This misinformation somehow contributes to the evidence for this theory, and it is contended that this is scientific evidence that Jesus could not have had human blood, as He was not conceived of a human father. Advanced as further evidence is the idea that human beings inherit their sinful nature through their father only, and that the sin nature is somehow carried over to an infant in the blood inherited from the father.
Now that this theory has been explained and the supporting evidence shown, we can move on in our next installment to examining whether this theory is supported by the whole of the evidence of scripture.
posted by Rebecca Stark at 1/31/2004 07:08:00 PM
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