Theories of the Atonement

Atonement by Ian McEwan 1. Some key events of Atonement are- • Briony sees her sister and her sister’s boyfriend out the window. Briony thinks something bad is happening, but her sister is only swimming into the pond to find parts of a broken vase. • Briony realizes that she doesn’t want her play to be performed so she rips up the poster of her play and stops rehearsing it. • Robbie accidently gives Briony the letter for Cecilia that tells of his sexual desire for her instead of the one that tells how sorry he is for breaking the vase.

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.

After Transformation and Atonement, the hero faces the final stage of his journey: The Return to everyday life. Upon the return, the hero discovers his gifts – One becomes richer and stronger – perhaps a great leader - and spiritually enlightened. The hero shares the gift/treasure of experience, knowledge, and wisdom - gained through the journey – with the broader community.

The first thing that comes to someone's mind when they think Jesus is about the cross. Jesus was beaten, tortured and died on the cross. He was murdered by those who believed he was anything but a good man. He willingly went through the torture and beating because that was what he was told to do by the Lord. Jesus knew he had to die to save all of our souls. He died to wash away all our sins, and now when we sin we can pray for forgiveness and automatically be forgiven by the Lord. Jesus knew this most of his life, and was ready and willing to give up his life for us.

As we move through Holy Week, the journey of Lent leads Christians to not simply commemorate Jesus ' suffering on the cross, but engage the paschal event on every level of our experiences. For me, this included questioning the impact of the execution which stands so central to Christianity. In her book The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, Michelle Alexander describes how the mass incarceration of black Americans has been steadily undermining any progress made by the civil rights movement. She argues that even though Jim Crow laws are no longer written, the plethora of young people of color arrested remain marginalized by a broken justice system. The United States represents about 4.4% of the world 's population, it houses around 22 % of the world 's prisoners, an overwhelming majority of whom are young, poor, and black. Recently, Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam signed a bill to allow the use of the electric chair in executions when the drugs for lethal injections are not available. How has this frighteningly oppressive system become normative justice for America? Does focusing on the crucifixion as the foundation of Christian transition per-dispose modern Christians to be unconcerned with the death penalty as a fixture of our justice system? In this essay, I will explore the impact of a deformed atonement theology on modern Christian 's interactions with our

All humanity was justifiably condemned, but God declares Christ’s death to be the appropriate, designated sacrifice for sin. Christ then stands in humanity’s place, having paid the penalty of death for sin. Pardon, deliverance and freedom are brought by Jesus’ sacrifice.

Jesus became an enemy of the Pharisees, and they were not going to rest until they found a way to kill him. They schemed against him and captured him. After some legal dispute, the people decided to crucify Jesus. He endured much suffering through his death. He was scourged, tortured, and nailed to a cross, suffering an unfathomable amount of pain as a perfect man (HCSB, Luke. 23). After being dead and buried in a tomb for three days, Jesus rose from the dead. His resurrection proved he did indeed die for the sins of the world, and the world now had hope of salvation because of his grace and sacrifice.

It affirms that God attributed the sins and guilt of humankind to Jesus, Who in place of man, received that punishment that humanity would have otherwise deserved. Jesus’ actions signified the payment of the sins of humankind, which settled both the righteousness and wrath of God so that sinners could be forgiven without God Himself compromising His holy standard. In essence, according to the penal substitution theory of the reformers, Jesus died in place of man, in the process accounting for the sins of man and bearing them. The act of Jesus taking the sins of man indicates that Jesus carried the cross of every believer, setting him free and safe from all the penal demands of God’s law. In this context, the holiness of God and the righteousness of His law are accounted for by the substitution. Notably, in modern theology, the penal aspect has been a stumbling block despite being regarded as one of the dominant atonement in the bible. According to the model, Jesus paid man’s ransom on his crucifixion. However, this view only works because Christ was paying man’s penalty. Therefore, Christians should be inspired by the self-sacrifice acts of Jesus on the cross. In addition, Jesus’ death and resurrection implied significant victories over death, hell, and sin in our union with him and God. Lastly, God accomplished his mission to reconcile the world with Him despite various trespasses by

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.

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

In Jesus, God achieves the world’s salvation, and these are Paul’s thoughts and convictions. Jesus’ early ministry and teachings were rarely referred to, in Paul’s writing Paul knew more about Jesus’ life than he revealed in his letters. Paul had some concerns with the heavenly Christ, who has three roles; God’s revealed wisdom, as the divine Lord by whom God rules, and by whom God’s Spirit dwells in believers. With us alienated from Christ by sin, our relationship with God begins. Sin alienates us from God and the results from this is death. Paul says there are too many laws to follow, and the demands of the law are too much. We all commit sins, but it is through Christ’s death on the cross that our sins are forgiven.

Jesus had to carry his own cross, that probably weighed two times his size, all the way up to wear the crucifixion was going to take place. Already beaten and bloody, they lay him down onto the cross shaped piece of wood and begin by nailing his hands and feet into it and standing the cross up into the air. What a brutal sight it must have been for God to see his only son tortured like this, but the good news is that he knew what his plan was for Jesus and for his people and he knew what was going to happen after all this was over. Jesus died hanging from that cross, washing all of our sin away and paying the ultimate sacrifice. After he died he was wrapped in a white cloth and placed into a tomb with a boulder sealing the door to the outside world. Three days after being placed in there, the people went to check up on the tomb to find that the boulder was pushed aside and the white cloth was folded neatly where Jesus was laying. The son of God, the Messiah, rose again from the dead to fulfill his mission so that we may have everlasting life in God’s kingdom. God’s plan for our life and through Jesus he teaches us that if we follow in God’s word and make him our most prized possession and ask for him to be in our hearts that we may to “escape the penalty that God will execute upon all who have broken His

It can be said that in God's eyes, Christians are only dirty glasses which are stained inside and out with their own sin. These glasses were once clean, not plagued with stains. Now the glasses bear with them these ugly stains, the stains of sin and wrongdoing. The dirty glasses had to accept their punishment for becoming dirty, and the punishment was being destroyed by a hammer. The hammer is God's instrument against sinners. As the hammer made its decent on the glass, a pan covered the glass and took the blow of the hammer to save the glass. This pan represents Jesus because Jesus sacrificed himself to God so that God would forgive us for our sins.

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.

As believers, we are constantly reminded that Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins. His death and his resurrection are fundamental to our Christian faith. Without his death, the relationship between God and His creation would have remained broken. Unfortunately, many believers do not take the time to consider the complex and deep meaning of Jesus’ death. If I have learned one concept throughout this class is that if I do not have a personal comprehension of Jesus’ death, I will never be saved. His death signifies salvation. It motivates us to imitate Jesus’ life as he was completely human and never sinned, yet he died on the cross in the cruelest way. Personally, Jesus’ death means love, reconciliation, redemption, and victory.