oa De verzoeningsleer en het offerchristendom

In this article René Girard’s theory on ‘mimesis’, rivalling, violence, scapegoating and sacrifice is applied to the classic doctrine of atonement in St. Anselm and Calvin who both are analyzed in their historical context. Girard’s intuition that this doctrine of atonement is a sacrificial re-interpretation of the New Testament turns out to be right. It presupposed that salvation is not possible without some form of violence. On behalf of man God is obliged to maintain the order of the world which cannot be done without the use of revenge. Calvin identifies ‘satisfaction’ with ‘punishment’ and uses a more explicit sacrificial language than St. Anselm.