It is often assumed that wrongdoing can only be resolved through punishment or forgiveness. But this book explores the responses that wrongdoers can and should make to their own misdeeds, responses such as apology, repentance, reparations, and self-punishment. It examines the possibility of atonement in a broad spectrum of contexts -- from cases of relatively minor wrongs in personal relationships, to crimes, to the historical injustices of our political and religious communities. It argues that wrongdoers often have the ability to earn redemption within the moral community, that respect and trust among victims, communities and wrongdoers can be rebuilt, and that the moral responsibility of wrongdoing groups can be addressed without treating their members unfairly.
Excerpt from The Moral System and the Atonement Somewhat over twenty-one years ago, I received, through another, an invitation from Prof. 1£. A. Park, D. D., of Andover, to write one or more Articles on the Atonement for the Bibliotheca Sacra, with special reference to Dr. Bushnell's Work entitled "Vicarious Sacrifice," which I accepted. Writing on the subject increased insight of its grounds and cuttings in the nature of the moral system, and unfolded comprehension of "what is the breadth and length and height and depth" both of the "love of Christ which passeth knowledge," and of the relations of His atonement to God and His universal society for the salvation of man. About two-thirds of Part I. and some of Part II. were written at Grinnell. Iowa, during some more than two years before April, 1869, when, in an evil hour, I resigned my Pastorship there to undertake the founding of a College at Kidder, Missouri. That enterprise so absorbed my time that this Work was almost wholly suspended, till in June, 1874 when, being wronged out of my College, I resumed and prosecuted it as persistently as possible, amidst numerous hindrances, until in the early part of 1878, when, about twelve years after it was begun, I wrote Finis. Before I left Grinnell, I decided to write a Book, instead of the Article or Articles at first designed; and if I had remained there, the Work would have been completed within three or four years from that time. From the time of its completion in 1878, till near the close of 1880, in the beginning of which year I moved to this place to be Pastor of a small Church here, the Work lay dormant. Meanwhile I decided to revise it thoroughly. The task thus assumed, which proved nearly equal to the first writing of the whole, I began in the latter part of that year, supposing it would require about a year, in which I was much mistaken. I remained Pastor over two years after resuming it; but could work at it only as Pastoral duties permitted, and mainly while others slept. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
Gustaf Aulen's classic work, 'Christus Victor', has long been a standard text on the atonement. Aulen applies history of ideas' methodology to historical theology in tracing the development of three views of the atonement. Aulen asserts that in traditional histories of the doctrine of the atonement only two views have usually been presented, the objective/Anselmian and the subjective/Aberlardian views. According to Aulen, however, there is another type of atonement doctrine in which Christ overcomes the hostile powers that hold humanity in subjection, at the same time that God in Christ reconciles the world to Himself. This view he calls the "classic" idea of the atonement. Because of its predominance in the New Testament, in patristic writings, and in the theology of Luther, Aulen holds that the classic type may be called the distinctively Christian idea of the atonement.
Through his death on the cross, Christ atoned for sin and so reconciled people to God. New Testament authors drew upon a range of metaphors and motifs to describe this salvific act, and down through history Christian thinkers have tried to articulate various theories to explain the atonement. While Christ's sacrifice serves as a central tenet of the Christian faith, the mechanism of atonement--exactly how Christ effects our salvation--remains controversial and ambiguous to many Christians. In Atonement and the Death of Christ, William Lane Craig conducts an interdisciplinary investigation of this crucial Christian doctrine, drawing upon Old and New Testament studies, historical theology, and analytic philosophy. The study unfolds in three discrete parts: Craig first explores the biblical basis of atonement and unfolds the wide variety of motifs used to characterize this doctrine. Craig then highlights some of the principal alternative theories of the atonement offered by great Christian thinkers of the premodern era. Lastly, Craig's exploration delves into a constructive and innovative engagement with philosophy of law, which allows an understanding of atonement that moves beyond mystery and into the coherent mechanism of penal substitution. Along the way, Craig enters into conversation with contemporary systematic theories of atonement as he seeks to establish a position that is scripturally faithful and philosophically sound. The result is a multifaceted perspective that upholds the suffering of Christ as a substitutionary, representational, and redemptive act that satisfies divine justice. In addition, this carefully reasoned approach addresses the rich tapestry of Old Testament imagery upon which the first Christians drew to explain how the sinless Christ saved his people from the guilt of their sins.
Recent scholarship on the historical Jesus has rightly focused upon how Jesus understood his own mission. But no scholarly effort to understand the mission of Jesus can rest content without exploring the historical possibility that Jesus envisioned his own death. In this careful and far-reaching study, Scot McKnight contends that Jesus did in fact anticipate his own death, that Jesus understood his death as an atoning sacrifice, and that his death as an atoning sacrifice stood at the heart of Jesus' own mission to protect his own followers from the judgment of God.
James K. Beilby and Paul R. Eddy edit a collection of essays on four views of atonement: the healing view, the Christus victor view, the kaleidoscopic view and the penal substitutionary view. This is a book that will help Christians understand the issues, grasp the differences and proceed toward a clearer articulation of their understanding of the atonement.
