Shleiermacher's View On Atonement

To what extent are the protagonists of ‘Atonement’ and ‘The Girl Who Would Speak for the Dead’ similar and different?

The world was gripped by the tale of forgiveness, Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross and his subsequent resurrection, as it was written and asserted. Through his first supernatural miracles and preaching, Christ had created a young religious congregation, but after his death Christ’s disciples and followers dedicated themselves to spreading the Word of God and the religion to the far corners of the world. Mass conversions took place with ordinary citizens in awe at the declared majesty of God, as well as the thought of a better life beyond the squalor of ancient

When it comes to the crucifixion of Jesus, there are many different arguments that appeal to specific peoples’ beliefs or arguments as to what makes the most sense. What really is the determining factor though when we are deciding how we portray Jesus’ death? Is it our faith? Is it what logically makes the most sense to us? Is it what we are taught growing up by our parents or Sunday school? Could it possibly a mixture of all of those factors? Either way, we all have different beliefs and ideas when it comes to His death. One of the most popular arguments for Jesus’ crucifixion is that the reason he died was purely in place of us due to our sins; he was the ultimate sacrifice. In this paper, I will argue from a logical standpoint that not only does this theory not make sense, but Jesus’ life and choices were related to his crucifixion as well. The most logical circumstance is that, instead, Jesus died as a ransom.

Like children struggling to overcome the powerful tug of the ocean’s current, so humans were imprisoned by the unyielding tug of sin. The Son of Man’s cause was to save man from this paralyzing current. Jesus was even nailed to a rough tree and died on our behalf. The Bible states this, “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). He valued our freedom with Him so much He was willing to die to secure it.

McKnight believes all atonement theories need to be united through Jesus because of Hebrews 2:14-18 and he also believes in a more inclusive category for atonement theories. McKnight also believes that identification of Christ and incorporation are key concepts to understand. He has been building up to this point throughout the whole book. He starts out by explaining what atonement is and about key atonement moments like the crucifixion and Pentecost. Then he hits the main idea of deciding what atonement theory is the best and how they all are united.

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

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.

Frederick Schleiermacher is considered to be the father of modern hermeneutics, which is a branch of knowledge that interprets the meaning of the bible. Being an influential philosopher, he has forged his own perspective of religion, God, and ethics and mortality. According to Schleiermacher, there are many different valid forms of religion; correspondingly he believed that God and mortality were inessential to religion.

What people ask is, was Christ’s death on the cross limited or unlimited atonement. The word atonement means “satisfaction or reparation for a wrong or injury; amends.” (Gotguestions.org) The doctrine of unlimited atonement states that Christ died for all, even if they don’t believe in Him. When applied to Christ’ work on the cross, atonement business organization the reconciliation of God and man, as accomplished through the suffering and death of Christ. Paul inspired by God says “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!” (Romans

Having learned biblical imagery for salvation, and how it is to be understood, we now look how these themes have been analyzed within Christian tradition. It is stated in the Salvation chapter of Theology The Basics that “This area of Christian theology is traditionally described as “theories of atonement.” The two theories I will be comparing are Anslem’s theory which is The cross & forgiveness, and Augustine of Hippo’s theory, the cross as a sacrifice. While some similarities between the two theories are evident, the differences are notable.

Anselm arrives to that point after stating that satisfaction cannot be made unless there is someone who is able to pay God for the sins of humanity. The only thing capable of repaying God is someone greater than God, but there is no one greater than God. He then makes the point that humans should pay for the sin of humanity. Jesus being of the same substance of God satisfied sin and was fulfilled because he was both God and humane. Jesus’ death was an offering that he made to pay for humanities sin.

John Walden’s critical review states that in the Bible Jesus Christ died on the cross to save us. He was killed because of his loyalty to God, not

A question can be posed as to why Christ died for all and therefore all died. This supposition that St. Paul makes is not convincing, because it cannot instantly be obvious that the death of a single individual effects the death of others, let alone the reason that it might be a desirable event, inspiration and motivation for his apostolic

The pendulum may be overweighed by ones sin; however, the atonement is still there. Dishonesty, immodesty, profanity and immorality are only a few common sins amongst my peers. Paralleling in the New Testament, I have been taught right from wrong. Our savior’s promise of forgiveness through an infinite atonement is the same today as it was yesterday. It is a gift to me, and if sincerely acted upon, I can receive forgiveness, comfort and peace. At the beginning of His ministry, Jesus was identified as “the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29) The purpose of His coming was “to give his life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). He explained His death in terms of the “blood of

When Jesus died on the cross he was giving up his life for other people's sins and demonstrating the love of God. When Jesus rose again he proved that it was possible to overcome death and live with God for all eternity. Christians were freed from the burden of original sin if they followed Jesus' teaching and example and believed in him as the Son of God. Jesus said, 'I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies' - John 11:25-26.