Definitions

• The word atonment comes from sixteenth-century English and literally means at-one-ment.
• Atonement is the process of reconciliation between Gd and human beings (either on a communal or individual basis) with the goal of righting a wrong or injury, i.e. sin. Christians contend that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth is intimately related to this process.
• Atonement can also be the end result of this reconcilliation process.

Significance

How and from what are we saved?

Different Theories:

1. Ransom (Christus Victor):
Jesus' life is a victorious struggle against evil and Jesus' death is the ransom paid to the devil (or evil powers) to free humans from the bondage of sin.
2. Recapitulation:
Jesus' sinless life rewrites the story of humanity started off poorly by Adam's sin.
3. Satisfaction:
The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus is the paying of a debt (or satisfaction) caused by humanity's sinful nature offending Gd's honor.
4. Substitution:
Divine retributive justice requires all sinners to be crucified as punishment for sin, but Jesus willingly takes each one's place on the cross.
5. Christ as Exemplar:
Jesus' life and death is a powerful enough example of love and obedience to influence sinners to repent of their sins and improve their lives.
6. Governmental:
To keep order in creation Gd needs to visibly punish wrongs. Christ takes the place of the church on the cross.

Recent Articles and Books

1. Binau, Brad A. "When Shame Is the Question, How Does the Atonement Answer?" Journal of Pastoral Theology. 12, no. 1 (Jan 1, 2002): 89-113.
Binau offers a pastoral approach (that centers on addressing the problem of shame in theological discourse) to dealing with questions of the atonement.
2. Reno, Russell R. "Fear of Redemption." First Things. 144 (Je-Jl 2004): 29-34.
Reno picks up the theme of alienation present in works by Rousseau, Emerson, and Nietsche and attempts to show the atonement in terms of self-identity.

Related Terms

reconciliation, expiation, satisfaction, ransom, redemption, penal substitution theory, salvation, limited atonement (Calvinism), deification (Eastern Orthodox), justificiation, Yom Kippur, propitiation