Well, Pete, the thinking behind the idea of Christ's death satisfying the wrath of God is a rather extreme understanding of Substitutionary Atonement, which is a theological concept common in a number of Protestant denominations. It is definitely not part of the mainstream of Catholic theology, and I expect that a publisher owned by a Catholic diocese should stick closer to the Catholic mainstream.

Yeah, we studied the Jonathan Edwards sermon, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God in seminary - and we were taught that while it was a literary masterpiece, it was definitely not consistent with Catholic theology.

To Catholics, Christ's death is a demonstration of the love of God, not satisfaction of God's wrath. We tend to stick closer to the nine Scripture passages that describe God as "slow to anger" and abounding in loving kindness.


According to Wikipedia, the Celebrationg Grace Baptist hymnal published the song as "Till on that cross as Jesus died the love of God was magnified," but the songwriters did not give permission for the Presbyterians to use similar language in the song in their hymnal.


-Joe-