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Thursday, August 23, 2012

The Hunger Games: A Snare Laid for Penal Substitution


Last year I read through the first novel in the Hunger Games series. What I found interesting was the way in which the logic of penal substitutionary atonement theory was set up as a prop and then fired down through an alternative logic based upon self-sacrificial love. How ironic it is that many conservative Christians enjoyed it!

To state the obvious, Katniss Everdeen is the Christ figure, and ironically a female. She intends to give her life away to liberate the people from oppression and expose the evil of the Capitalist empire that hovers over them. Think of the parallels here between the Hunger Games' political structure and America's relationship to "third-world" countries. Theologically, this fits well with the real situation surrounding the crucifixion of Jesus. He opposed the economic greed of an empire and got crucified for it, acting nonviolently and self-sacrificially to expose its wickedness with a higher love from God.

Katniss does a similar thing, although the empire spares her before embarrassing itself. By paralleling this with the Jesus story, it can be exciting for a Christian. But before getting too excited, all of you who subscribe to penal substitution should know a stumbling block has been laid in front of you.

Penal substitution states that God the Father poured out his wrath on his Son for the vicarious atonement of human sin. But in the Hunger Games the "higher power" demanding a "tribute" or payment is the empire -- an empire that looks much the same as the Roman Empire which murdered Jesus.

So whose side was God on come Good Friday? Jesus's side or the empire's? You choose.

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