The Christus Victor Motif in Paul's Theology

The use of the Christus Victor motif in early Christianity was explored some thirty years ago by R. Leivestad in his monograph, Christ the Conqueror. This dissertation seeks to provide a fresh and detailed examination of the motif as it is found in the Pauline corpus. Following a review of the work on this subject to date, part one summarizes the Jewish and Hellenistic background material, concentrating primarily upon the motif of the divine warrior in the Old Testament and the use of war imagery in the eschatological writings of Qumran. Some consideration is then given to the warrior gods of Hellenistic-Roman piety.

Part two provides an examination of the pre-Pauline credal, confessional and hymnic material in an effort to determine the extent to which a Christus victor theology was present in the pre-Pauline church. It is argued that the resurrection was regarded as an implicit victory of Christ. This is reflected in the kerygma of the church as recorded in Acts, implied in the credal confessions and developed to a greater extent in the hymnic material which stresses the exalted Christ. It was the risen Christ who appeared to Paul at his conversion, displacing the law as a means of salvation, and shaping his theological perspective to a significant extent.

Part three offers an exegesis of the significant texts in the Pauline corpus in which the Christus Victor motif may be found. A starting point is found in the Pauline concept of the righteousness of God as God's power to save and deliver. The motif is furthermore found in the idea of Christ's victory over the hostile powers of sin, flesh and death, Christ's victory over the law, Christ's defeat of the principalities and powers and his final triumph over the man of lawlessness.

Part four provides a summary of the results of the exegesis. Here it is argued that the language of victory is used to draw out the eschatological significance of the Christ event. The motif finds a place in Paul's own theological structure with his emphasis upon the lordship of Christ and the believer's transfer from one dominion to another. Also significant is the setting of the motif within the context of hymnic worship, particularly that of the Gentile church. In this setting the victory of Christ as a realized event was celebrated and Paul utilized the motif in contextualizing his gospel for a hellenistic culture in which cosmic powers were viewed as hostile and threatening forces.