Bonhoeffer's Life Together And Zizioulas The Church

The incarnation and atonement of Jesus Christ are the enduring elements of the Christian theology. Many theologians have spent their time discussing and developing these Christian doctrines on how they came about, and how relevant they might be. According to Anselm, incarnation is a central doctrine of Christianity, followed by atonement. In order to ponder on the relationship between atonement and incarnation focusing on Anselm’s idea of satisfaction, we are supposed to look at the meanings of atonement, as well as incarnation. However, the doctrines of incarnation and atonement are interrelated as elucidated by many theologians.

The word atonement means to set at one or to reconcile. In Christian theology atonement denotes the doctrine of reconciliation of God and man accomplished by the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ (Evangelical Dictionary of Theology). There are two necessary and complementary aspects of the atonement. The expiation is the removal of sin and propitiation is the satisfaction of God’s wrath over sin by the incarnation, life, sufferings, and death of Jesus Christ. The anticipation of atonement can be found in many places including Gen 2-3 after the fall of man, Gen 22 with Abraham sacrificing his son, Ex 11-12 and the plague of the firstborn, Lev 16 regarding the Day of Atonement, Lev 17:11 blood that, makes the atonement for one’s life, Deut

God gave men the free will to elect their own salvation. There is no sin until it is actually committed. Sin was now considered a voluntary act. It also consists of a change of heart, which revived the concept of limited atonement. Christ did not die for only a select few predestined elect, but for whosoever will accept God’s offer of salvation. Personal commitment also involved an active and useful Christian life in which individual action brings the kingdom closer.

In the book Rediscovering the Power of Repentance and Forgiveness, Dr. Leah Coulter seeks to challenge the conventional Christian approach to forgiveness. Conventional Christianity approaches forgiveness as a Christian duty, and, in many ways, this has been unfair to the victims who have almost been condemned for seeking justice rather than simply forgetting. She asks, "From an all too common Christian view, why must the weight and responsibility of forgiveness be placed on the sinned-against instead of the sinner's repentance?" (Coulter). Therefore, she focuses extensively on the idea of repentance and the duty of the sinner to repent. However, that is not to suggest that Coulter abandons the idea that forgiveness is a Christian imperative, but she attempts to place it within its Jewish context, and demonstrate how other facets of historical Judaism inform the practice of forgiveness and repentance.

Jesus is God and therefore is able to pay the price for all the sins of humanity. His ability comes in His sinlessness and infinity, “he took on himself all the debt that sinners ought to pay, and this when he himself owed no nothing, so that he could pay the debt for the others who owed it and could not pay.” Jesus owed nothing to God, for He is God and He is sinless. Yet, God’s loving nature gives Him His ability. His infinity pays back humanity’s

Atonement is the "reunion of two alienated parties, in this case, God and humanity." Atonement is provided by Jesus' self-offering on the cross on behalf of humanity because JC represents all humanity and offers to God a sacrifice that reconciles humanity and God.

When Christ was crucified on the cross He shows us God’s judgment upon humanity’s sin. The Bible declares, “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit” (1 Peter 3:18). It is through the death of Christ that the ones that turn to Him are delivered from the penalty of sin. Therefore, the problems that we are plagued with in our lives derives from our sin.

Repentance was not an acceptable path to redemption due to its’ limited power. Athanasius argues that repentance is fine for a minor offence, but inadequate to turn men away from the death that they have brought on their own soul. For repentance does not “call men back from what is their nature – it merely stays them from acts of sin.” Men’s nature became subject to the rule of death, and repentance could not change

Atwood is alluding to Jesus’ crucifixion as it is believed by many christians that Jesus died to pay for their sins and allow them an eternal life.

“Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, “cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:” Galatians 3:13 (KJV). “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:” 1 Peter 3:18 (KJV). Jesus Christ is God’s servant Isaiah prophesied about who would be the sin-bearer, forgiving all who accept him as God’s

Christ not only came to die for the sins of humanity, he came to teach humanity the way to redemption. Humanity needs redemption from sin. Humanity’s debt for sin is death, but through accepting Christ and his forgiveness, we have a chance to be in relationship with him and the Father. Christ taught humanity about God, he provides a model for right living, on how to love, pray, perform miracles, and minister to the lost and righteous. He came to fulfill the Law (Mat 5:17). In the preceding verse 16, Christ

The concepts of atonement and forgiveness, while similar, have slightly different connotations. Mahatma Gandhi describes forgiveness as “choosing to love” (Huffpost), giving it a more secular process where one’s sins are admonished, where atonement is primarily recognized as the reconciliation of sin or wrongdoing towards others. And while these terms share similar characteristics in a sense of general ‘mending’ of feelings, atonement bears the implication of reparation over agreement of forgiveness. This claim is reinforced by various sources such as Oedipus the King, The Scarlet Letter and The Grapes of Wrath, as well as sources that compare forgiveness and atonement, and the religious implications that come with them.

However, the mercy, justice and goodness of God provided a way of salvation for the progeny of Adam. Jesus Christ, the Son of God and second member of the Trinity, was sent from the Father to redeem the world and heal the wounds of original sin in all believers. By his obedience and sacrificial death on the cross at Calvary, Christ paid for the sins of all humankind and redeemed the

Its primary Christian theme revolves around the concept that Christ died upon the cross to pay for the sins of all humanity (Albl 363). The Christian doctrine of atonement is an attempt to understand the earliest teaching of the Church that “Christ died for our sins” (1 Cor 15:3). God came to us in human form (Incarnation) through Jesus Christ and made it possible for us to attain the Kingdom of heaven through his sacrifice. He died for us in accordance to the scriptures and prophecy. During the last supper he symbolized this sacrifice by saying "This is my body which is given for you" (Luke 22:19).

Jesus Christ, God incarnate came to earth to save everyone from eternal damnation in hell. As humans, with Adam and Eve as our representatives in the Garden of Eden, they broke God’s one commandment, therefore allowing sin to come into the world. Because of this fall, we all deserve damnation, and because of the sin nature inside of us, everyone deserves to die and be eternally punished. However, because of the loving and gracious nature of God, He sent his only son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross to be our representative for sin. When he took the cross, not only did he bear the physical pain of the lashes, the dehydration, and the cross itself, but he also drank God’s cup of wrath for us. Everyone on earth deserves to be on that cross, but Jesus, through his great love for us, paid the ultimate price of his own life to save us.