Models of the Atonement

[EduChris]

Hi everyone,

Since the church has never adopted any one single model of the atonement, but rather has allowed various models to mutually inform and critique and supplement each other, I'm curious to know which model(s) you personally find most helpful.

For me, I like what I call the "Vulnerable Identification" model, wherein God in Jesus identifies with us in every way in order to heal the gaping wound between God and humanity--the rift that we see over and over again in the anguished cries of the Hebrew prophets.

God has obtained the "perfection in every way" or the "moral authority" to forgive our sins because God has assumed the vulnerability of our human condition. God has taken on real human flesh and submited to real sinful acts of other humans. (This is similar to the South African "Truth and Reconcilation Commission," which allowed criminal perpetrators to be forgiven of Apartheid-era crimes only after confessing their crimes to a jury of people who had themselves personally suffered criminal violence under Apartheid.)

To me, this sets Christianity apart from Islam (and to a lesser extent Judaism, which at least holds out the promise of God's own redeeming action) wherein a judging God is angered and/or grieved by human sin while remaining aloof from our suffering and our human condition--essentially judging us as an outsider to our condition rather than forgiving us from the position of a mutually sufferering and mutually vulnerable insider.

[WinePusher]

Hi everyone,

Since the church has never adopted any one single model of the atonement, but rather has allowed various models to mutually inform and critique and supplement each other, I'm curious to know which model(s) you personally find most helpful.

For me, I like what I call the "Vulnerable Identification" model, wherein God in Jesus identifies with us in every way in order to heal the gaping wound between God and humanity--the rift that we see over and over again in the anguished cries of the Hebrew prophets.

God has obtained the "perfection in every way" or the "moral authority" to forgive our sins because God has assumed the vulnerability of our human condition. God has taken on real human flesh and submited to real sinful acts of other humans. (This is similar to the South African "Truth and Reconcilation Commission," which allowed criminal perpetrators to be forgiven of Apartheid-era crimes only after confessing their crimes to a jury of people who had themselves personally suffered criminal violence under Apartheid.)

To me, this sets Christianity apart from Islam (and to a lesser extent Judaism, which at least holds out the promise of God's own redeeming action) wherein a judging God is angered and/or grieved by human sin while remaining aloof from our suffering and our human condition--essentially judging us as an outsider to our condition rather than forgiving us from the position of a mutually sufferering and mutually vulnerable insider.

I think that atonement is simply the gift of God. We can do nothing of our own accord to inherit salvation except admit that we are helpless. So, my view on it is that a person should recognize that he or she is a sinner and accept Jesus Christ as their personal lord and savior. By doing this, their sins (past and present) are atoned for through their faith.

So, in a sense, I agree with Martin Luther's theology of "Sola Fides" but would amend it to be "Prima Fides." Your faith is the primary determinant of your salavation and atonement, but your faith must be genuine. And your faith can be shown to be genuine by your works. As the Bible says "By their fruits you shall know them."

But I think that key distinction that seperates Christianity from other religions is the intimacy between Christians and their God. Essentially, Christians claim that God became man incarnate and died a agonizing death in order to "save" and "atone" for the sins of mankind. This is certainly a very unquie concept, and we should also take into account the biblical verse that says "while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

The operative word there is "still" and to this day we are "still" sinners. We did nothing to warrent such compassion and love, but still God forgave us in light of our sinful nature.

[Slopeshoulder]

At-One-Ment.
Exemplary non-dualism.