Did God punish His Son?

The question isn't whether or not Christ died for us. Of course He did. The question is why.

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Coming soon · Early 2027

Cover to come Early 2027

God on Trial

The Oldest Accusation, Settled at the Cross

Did Christ get what He deserved on the cross? Was an injustice done to Him, and if so, by whom?

The question isn't whether or not Christ died for us. Of course He did. The question is why.

How could God punish His own Son who was totally innocent? And the answer is always…

“God is love but He's also just. God couldn't just let sin go unpunished, or else He wouldn't be just, so He punished His Son in our place.”

“We can't always understand everything about God. His ways are higher than our ways.”

Most Christians would be shocked to learn that our most popular mainstream “gospel” message (penal substitution) wasn't the same gospel taught by Christ and the apostles. How could it have been, when it's only been around 500 plus years?

The unjust portrayal of God is nothing new. It originated during the rebellion, with the originator of lies himself. Since there were no outward evil acts God could be accused of, Satan accused Him of the only thing left: of lying about who He was.

His claim was that God was not who He claimed to be: righteous and truthful, but instead, unjust and a liar. And his accusation is still being mimicked today in every false doctrine believed and spoken about God.

To be a penal substitutionist I'd have to believe: That God has wrath on babies and that they deserve to suffer for eternity. That the mentally disabled deserve the death Christ died. That the enslaved deserve to be punished for failing to do what they cannot do without the Savior. That the definition of justice is punishing the innocent and letting the guilty get off scot free. That God punished His Son and pretended He was me 2000 years before I even existed.

You've only heard the headline. God on Trial shows you the fine print you didn't know you signed up for. You will learn why Christ became flesh and died on the cross, how we are saved, and what we are saved from.

Christ was tested at every point, even unto death. The evidence spoke and revealed that the charges leveled against Him were false. God was telling the truth all along.

God isn't angry at those who can't be righteous without His help — without the Savior. He gives them what they need. He comes to their rescue and delivers them.

Believing in God is one thing. What you believe about Him is quite another.

Tell me when it's out

Also from Theonomos — The Principled Legal Standard (2015), the companion volume on how doctrine is tested.

Free — no cost, no obligation

Seven verses everyone thinks settle the question

Romans 3:25. Isaiah 53. Second Corinthians 5:21. Did Christ really die to take the punishment we all deserved, or is there another reason for His death on the cross?

This short guide walks through each one in the original languages — what the words actually say, what the translators did with them, and what the passage meant to the people who first heard it. Yours to keep, and useful on its own whatever you conclude.

The word behind "propitiation" — and what it originally described
What Isaiah 53 says in the Greek the apostles were reading
Why "made him to be sin" is not what it sounds like in English

Send me the guide

One email with the guide, then a note when God on Trial is out. Nothing else, and you can leave anytime.

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About the author

S. Tellez

I just knew something wasn’t right.

I was raised Southern Baptist. They taught that sin creates a literal debt before a holy God, that the wages of sin is physical and eternal death in Hell, that Jesus took our place on the cross as our substitute to take God’s punishment for our sins.

From a young age I began studying Christian theology, world religions, cults, and apologetics, and eventually Hebrew and Greek word studies. The gospel never really made sense to me. But I couldn’t put my finger on what it was and I didn’t quite know how to articulate it. As someone who has always loved both justice and mysteries, I wanted more than anything just to know the truth, and I was determined to find it.

I began to ask God for answers and that’s when I met Tim, my long time friend and mentor. He was debating in a chat room online, and what he was saying made more sense to me than anything I had ever heard. At the time, neither of us realized we had the wrong gospel story. But we were questioning things. And we wanted to know the truth no matter what. Together we spent over a decade debating false doctrines.

I began to ask questions like, “If Christ took our punishment in our place, what did infants do to deserve to be punished?” What bothered me more than anything was the realization that I had been unknowingly slandering God. And I vowed never to do it again if I could help it. It was difficult to get the lies out of my head because of decades of indoctrination but I eventually did.

Tim knew he had to set aside everything he was ever taught and start from scratch, building from ground zero — starting with the most basic absolute truths. From there he developed the principles and doctrines that turned into the book The Principled Legal Standard. God on Trial builds on those same principles and doctrines. It is written from my personal perspective and contains many of my own thoughts and insights as well. The Principled Legal Standard goes much further, and is for people who want to dive deeper into this topic, whereas God on Trial is centered more around penal substitution and the problems with it. It is shorter and more structured, and written for the average Christian who may be questioning things, or who may not know much about what they actually believe.

My husband and I have two grown sons, two beautiful daughters in law and five wonderful grandchildren. I continue to research, write, and publish, so keep an eye out for more to come.

Questions

Answers to Common Questions

Why did Jesus say “My God, why have you forsaken me”? The Father did not turn His back on His Son — and the psalm Jesus was quoting says so itself. Sheol, Hades, the lake of fire, Paradise and Abraham’s Bosom — what is the difference? One English word was used for three original words naming two different places.

For reviewers and creators

Covering this subject? Take the research.

If you make videos, run a podcast, or write about the atonement, you are welcome to an early copy and to everything underneath it — the word studies, the manuscript sources, the church history. Use it however you like.

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Digital review copies before publication, in exchange for an honest review. Request one at contact@theonomos.com.

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