The most concerning issues I have with PSA are not the penal and substitutionary aspects, but the “propitiatory” and “satisfactional” elements within the classic Reformed view of PSA. In other words, I don’t have a problem with Penal Substitutionary Atonement. I have a problem with Propitiatory Satisfactional Atonement. For many with a Reformed view of salvation, penal substitution equals propitiation and satisfaction.
“Propitiation” is the English translation in the ESV (and others) of the Greek word hilasterion, used most notably in Romans 3:25. Packer describes propitiation as “ending God’s judicial wrath against us.”[2] The Greek word speaks of the mercy seat, the lid of the Ark of the Covenant. In fact, hilasterion is the Greek word used in the Septuagint for the mercy seat, which was not the place of pacifying the anger of the God of Israel; rather it was a place where God met with his people (Exodus 25:22).
From Missio Alliance: Is Penal Substitutionary Atonement Necessary?
