Two new companion volumes, one on the doctrine of the Trinity and the other oin the relevance of the doctrine of the Trinity for the doctrine of Redemption, are being published by Wipf and Stock (Cascade Books). Here is the back cover blurb for the books :
The Subordinate Substitute
In this book Peter Carnley examines the logical connection between the doctrine of the Trinity and the doctrine of redemption. In the companion volume to this, Arius on Carillon Avenue, contemporary expressions of belief in the “eternal functional subordination” of the Son to the Father were carefully discussed and found wanting when measured against the norms of orthodox trinitarian belief. This book examines the repercussions of this defective “trinitarian subordinationism” in relation to recent attempts to defend the “penal substitutionary theory” of the Atonement, which in turn is also found to fall short of trinitarian norms. As an alternative a less theoretical and speculative “incorporative” or “participative” theology of redemption is proposed.
“This is a significant contribution to the understanding of the limits that Christian theological orthodoxy imposes on theological arguments that deviate from the homoousion of the persons of the Trinity. Peter Carnley is relentless in bringing us back to the theological consensus of the undivided church.”
—Philip Freier, archbishop, Anglican Diocese of Melbourne
“Peter Carnley’s work constitutes a major challenge to two cherished evangelical views that are often regarded as essential to the very essence of the gospel—the alleged ‘eternal functional subordination of the Son to the Father’ and the outworking of this in the doctrine of redemption in the form of ‘penal substitutionary theory’ of the atonement. This volume will confirm the view of many that the very survival of Christian faith may in large part depend on the need of evangelical Christianity to reinvent itself.”
—Steve Chalke, author of The Lost Message of Jesus
“Peter Carnley, both bishop and first-rate theologian, is thoroughly orthodox and Bible-centered. He defends the Trinity against misguided Evangelical claims for the Son’s eternal subordination to the Father, which underpin the penal substitutionary theory of atonement that he forensically demolishes. Instead, Carnley commends a Bible-based, participatory, richly personal view of salvation that is ecclesial and eucharistic rather than narrowly juridical. He offers a decisive corrective to a theological, spiritual, and missional wrong turn.”
—Scott Cowdell, research professor in theology, Charles Sturt University