Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

ATONEMENT

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V02, Page 876 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

ATONEMENT and See also:

DAY OF ATONEMENT. " Atone " (originally-see below—" at one ") and " atonement " are terms ordinarily used as practically synonymous with See also:satisfaction, reparation, See also:compensation, with a view The to reconciliation. As the See also:English technical terms aocgloustrlae. representing a theological See also:doctrine which plays an important See also:part not only in See also:Christianity but in most religions, the underlying ideas require more detailed See also:analysis. A doctrine of atonement makes the following presuppositions. (a) There is a natural relation between See also:God and See also:man in which God looks favourably upon man. (b) This relation has been disturbed so that God regards man's See also:character and conduct with disapproval, and inflicts suffering upon him by way of See also:punishment. In the higher religions the disturbance is due, as just implied, to unsatisfactory conduct on man's part, i.e. See also:sin. (c) The normal relation may be restored, i.e. sin may be forgiven; and this restoration is the atonement. The problem of the atonement is the means or See also:condition of the restoration of man to God's favour; this has been variously found (a) in the endurance of punishment; (b) in the See also:payment of compensation for the wrong done, the compensation consisting of sacrifices and other offerings; (c) in the performance of magical or other See also:ritual, the efficacy of the ritual consisting in its being pleasing to or appointed by God, or even in its having a coercive See also:power over the deity; (d) in repentance and See also:amendment of See also:life. ,Most theories of atonement would combine two or more of these, and would include repentance and amendment. Some or all of the conditions of atonement may be fulfilled, according to various views, either by the sinner or vicariously on his behalf by some kinsman; or by his See also:family, See also:clan or nation; or by some one else. In the Old Testament, " atonement," " make an atonement " represent the See also:Hebrew See also:kipper and its derivatives.

It is doubtful whether this See also:

root meant originally to " See also:cover " or " wipe out "; but probably it is used as a technical t Testa- See also:term without any consciousness of its See also:etymology. See also:meat. The Old Testament presents very varied teaching on this subject without attempting to co-See also:ordinate its doctrines in a harmonious See also:system. In some cases there is no See also:suggestion of any forgiveness; sinners are " cut off " from the chosen See also:people; individuals and nations perish in their iniquity.' Some passages refer exclusively to the endurance of punishment as a condition of See also:pardon;4 others to the penitence and amendment of the sinner.' In See also:Ezekiel See also:xxxvi. 25-31, repentance is called forth by the divine forgiveness. See also:Sacrifice and other See also:rites are also spoken of as conditions of the restoration of man to happy relations with God. The Priestly See also:Code (See also:Leviticus and allied passages) seems to confine the efficacy 2 See also:Rutherford, See also:Radioactivity. 'Cf. See also:Exodus xii. 15, &c.; Josh. vii. 24 (Achan); Jer. li. 62 (See also:Babylon). 4 2 Sam. xii.

13, 14 (See also:

David) ; See also:Isaiah xl. 2 (See also:Jerusalem) : in such cases, however, the context implies repentance. 5 Ezek. xviii., See also:Micah vi. of sacrifice to ritual, venial and involuntary sins,' and requires that the sacrifices should be offered at Jerusalem by the Aaronic priests; but these limitations did not belong to the older See also:religion; and even in later times popular faith ascribed a larger efficacy to sacrifice. On the other See also:hand, other passages protest against the ascription of See also:great importance to sacrifice; or regard the rite as a consequence rather than a cause of forgiveness.? The Old Testament has no theory of sacrifice; in connexion with sin the sacrifice was popularly _regarded as payment of See also:penalty or compensation. Lev. xvii. r r suggests a mystic or symbolic explanation by its statement " the life of the flesh is in the See also:blood; and I have given it to you upon the See also:altar to make atonement for your lives: 3 for it is the blood that maketh atonement by See also:reason of the life." The Old Testament nowhere explains why this importance is attached to the blood, but the passage is often held to mean that the life of the victim represented the forfeited life of the offerer. The atoning ritual reached its See also:climax on the Day of Atonement o^.,9a7 oh, iipEpa E%cXavµoii, in the Mishna simply the Jewish Day " Yomd), observed annually on the See also:roth day of day of the 7th See also:month (Tisri), in the autumn, about See also:October, atone- shortly before the Feast of See also:Tabernacles or vintage went. festival. At one See also:time the See also:year began in Tisri. The See also:laws of the Day of Atonement belong to the Priestly Code.4 There is no trace of this See also:function before the See also:exile; the earliest reference to any such See also:special time of atonement being the proposal of Ezek. xlv. 18-2o to establish two days of atonement, in the first and seventh months.5 No doubt, however, both the principles and ritual are partly derived from earlier times. The See also:object of the observances was to cleanse the See also:sanctuary, the priesthood and the people from all their sins, and to renew and maintain favourable relations between Yahweh and See also:Israel.

The ritual includes features found on other See also:

holy days, sacrifices, See also:abstinence from See also:work, &c.; and also certain unique acts. The Day of Atonement is the only fast provided in the See also:Law; it is only on this occasion that (a) the See also:Jews are required to " afflict their souls," (b) the High See also:Priest enters the Holy of Holies, (c) the High Priest offers See also:incense before the See also:mercy seat and sprinkles it with blood, and (d) the scapegoat or Azazel is sent away into the See also:wilderness, bearing upon him all the iniquities of the people. In later Judaism, especially from about roo B.C., great stress was laid on the Day of Atonement, and it is now the most important religious function of the Jews. On that day many attend the synagogues who are seldom or never seen in them at other times. The See also:idea of vicarious atonement appears in the Old Testament in different forms. The nation suffers for the sin of the individual; 8 and the individual for the sin of his kinsfolk7 or of the nation. ° Above all the Servant of Yahweh° appears as atoning for sinners by his sufferings and See also:death. Again, the Old Testament speaks of the restoration of See also:heathen nations, and of the salvation of the heathen;" but does not formulate any theory of atonement in this connexion. The Old Testament, however, only prepares the way for the See also:Christian doctrine of the atonement; this is clear, inasmuch as its teaching is largely concerned with the nation, and hardly touches on the future life. Moreover, it could not define the relation of See also:Christ to the atonement. Later Judaism emphasized the idea of vicarious atonement for Israel through the sufferings of the righteous, especially the martyrs; but it is very doubtful whether the idea of the atonement through the death of the See also:Messiah is a pre-Christian Jewish doctrine." In the New Testament, the English version uses " atonement " ' Lev. iv. 2, " sin unwittingly " bishegagk, c.

450 B.C., &c. ' See also:

Psalm 1. 1o, li. 16-19; Isaiah i. 11; Micah vi. 6-8. Heb. nephesh, also translated " soul." ' Lev. xvi., See also:xxiii. 27-32; Numb. See also:xxix. 7-11. 5 So See also:Davidson, &c. with LXX. The A.V. with Hebrew See also:text has seventh day of the month." 8 e.g. Achan, Josh. vii.

10-15. 7 2 Sam. xxi. 1-9; Deut. v. 9, 80. 8 Ezek. xxi. 3, 4. 9 Isaiah liii. 10 Isaiah xix. 25, xlix. 6. u Koberle, Sonde and Gnade, pp. 592 if.once, Rom. v. rt, for KaraXXayit (R.V. here and elsewhere " reconciliation ").

This See also:

Greek word corresponds to the idea suggested b the etymology of at-one-ment New by , Testa- the re-uniting in amity of those at variance, a sense meat. which the word had in the 17th See also:century but has since lost. But the idea which is now usually expressed by " atonement " is rather represented in the New Testament by tXavµos and its cognates, e.g. 1 See also:John ii. 2 R.V., " He (Jesus) is the propitiation (%Xaoµbs) for our sins." But these words are rare, and we read more often of " salvation " (o'wr11pia) and " being saved," which includes or involves that restoration to divine favour which is called atonement. The leading varieties of teaching, the Sayings of Jesus, See also:Paul, the Johannine writings, the See also:Epistle to the See also:Hebrews, connect the atonement with Christ especially with His death, and See also:associate it with faith in Him and with repentance and amendment of life.l2 These ideas are also See also:common to Christian teaching generally. The New Testament, however, does not indicate that its writers were agreed as to any formal See also:dogma of the atonement, as regards the relation of the death of Christ to the sinner's restoration to God's favour; but various suggestions are made as to the See also:solution of the problem. St Paul's teaching connects with the Jewish doctrine of vicarious suffering, represented in the Old Testament by Is. liii., and probably, though not expressly, with the ritual sacrifices. Christ suffering on behalf of sinners satisfies. the divine righteousness, which was outraged by their sin." His work is an expression of God's love to man; 14 the redeeming power of Christ's death is also explained by his solidarity with humanity as the second See also:Adam,"-the redeemed sinner has " died with Christ." 10 Some atoning virtue seems also attributed to the Resurrection;'7 Christ's sayings connect See also:admission to the See also:kingdom of God with susceptibility to the See also:influence of His See also:personality, faith in Himself and His See also:mission, and the See also:loyalty that springs from faith." In John, Christ is a " propitiation " (ikavµos) provided by the love of God that man may be cleansed from sin; He is also their See also:advocate (IIapaKXlros) with God that they may be forgiven, for His name's See also:sake.19 Hebrews speaks of Christ as transcending the rites and officials of the law; He accomplishes the realities which they could only foreshadow; in relation to the perfect, heavenly sacrifice which atones for sin, He is both priest and victim 20 The subsequent development of the Christian doctrine has chiefly shaped itself according to the Pauline See also:formula of vicarious atonement; the sufferings of Christ were accepted as a substitute for the punishment which men deserved hater , inter• and so the divine righteousness was satisfied—a pretation. formula, however, which See also:left much See also:room for contro- versy. The See also:creeds and confessions are usually vague. Thus the Apostles' Creed, " I believe in the forgiveness of sins "; the Nicene Creed, " I believe in one See also:Lord Jesus Christ ... who for us men and for our salvation came down from See also:heaven . , .

I acknowledge one See also:

baptism for the remission of sins "; the Athanasian Creed, " Who (Christ) suffered for our salvation." In the See also:Thirty-nine Articles of the See also:Church of See also:England we have (ii.) " Christ suffered ... to reconcile his See also:Father to us, and to be a sacrifice, not only for See also:original See also:guilt, but also for all actual sins of men " ; and (xxxi.) " The offering of Christ once made is that perfect redemption, propitiation, and satisfaction, for all the sins of the whole See also:world." The See also:council of See also:Trent declared that " Christus . . . nobis sua sanctissima See also:passion /igno crucis justificationem meruit et See also:pro nobis deo patri satisfecit," "Christ earned our See also:justification by His most holy passion and satisfied God the Father for us." The See also:Confession of See also:Augsburg uses words See also:equivalent to the Articles quoted above which were based upon it. The See also:Westminster Confession declares: " The. Lord Jesus Christ, by His perfect obedience and sacrifice of Himself, which He through the Eternal Spirit once offered up to God, See also:bath 12 See also:Mark x. 45; Matt. x xvi. 28; I See also:Cor. xv. 3; John xi. 48-52 ; Heb. ii. 9. 13 Rom. iii. 25. "Rom. v.

Phoenix-squares

8. 15 Rom. v. 15-19. 18 Rom. vi. 8. 17 Rom. iv. 25. 18 Matt. See also:

xxv. 34 f.; Mark viii. 34 if., ix. 36 1., x. 21.

" 1 John ii. 1, 2, 12, iii. 5, 8, iv. 10. 20 Heb. ii. 17, 1x.14. fully satisfied the See also:

justice of His Father, and See also:purchased not only reconciliation, but an See also:everlasting See also:inheritance in the kingdom of heaven, for all those whom the Father hath given unto Him." Individual theologians have sought to define more exactly the points on which the See also:standards are vague. For instance, how See also:wai justice satisfied by Christ? The See also:early Fathers, from See also:Irenaeus (d. c. 200) to See also:Anselm (d. 1109),1 held, inter alia, that Christ paid a See also:ransom to Satan to induce him to See also:release men from his power. Anselm and the scholastics regarded the atonement as an offering to God of such See also:infinite value as to outweigh men's sins, a view sometimes styled the " Commerical Theory." 2 The leading reformers emphasized the idea that Christ See also:bore the punish- ment of sin, sufferings equivalent to the punishments deserved by men, a view maintained later on by See also:Jonathan See also:Edwards junior.

But the intellectual activity of the See also:

Reformation also See also:developed other views; the Socinians, with their humanitarian theory of the See also:Person of Christ, taught that He died only to assure men of God's forgiving love and to afford them an example of obedience—" Forgiveness is granted upon the ground of repentance and obedience."3 See also:Grotius put forward what has been called the Governmental Theory, viz. that the atonement took See also:place not to satisfy the wrath of God, but in the See also:practical interests of the divine See also:government of the world, " The sufferings and death of the Son of God are an exemplary See also:exhibition of God's hatred of moral evil, in connexion with which it is safe and prudent to remit that penalty, which so far as God and the divine attributes are concerned, might have been remitted without it."4 The formal legal view continued to be widely held, though it was modified in many ways by various theologians. For instance, it has been held that Christ atoned for man- Modera See also:kind not by enduring the penalty of sin, but by identif Y views. See also:ing Himself with the sinner in perfect sympathy, and feeling for him an " equivalent repentance " for his sin. Thus McLeod See also:Campbell (q.v.) held that Christ atoned by offering up to God a perfect confession of the sins of mankind and an adequate repentance for them, with which divine justice is satisfied, and a full expiation is made for human guilt. A similar view was held by F. D. See also:Maurice.5 Others hold that the effect of the atoning death of Christ is not to propitiate God, but to reconcile man to God; it manifests righteousness, and thus reveals the heinousness of sin; it also reveals the love of God, and conveys the assurance of His willingness to forgive or receive the sinner; thus it moves men to repentance and faith, and effects their salvation; so substantially See also:Ritschl.6 In England much influence has been exerted by Dr R. W. See also:Dale's Atonement (1875), the special point of which is that the death of Christ is not required by the See also:personal demand of God to be propitiated, but by the See also:necessity of honouring an ideal law of righteousness; thus, " the death of Christ is the See also:objective ground on which the sins of men are remitted, because it was an See also:act of submission to the righteous authority of the law by which the human See also:race was condemned . . . and because in consequence of the relation between Him and us—His life being our own—His submission is the expression of ours, and carries ours with it . . . (and) because in His submission to the awful penalty of sin .

. . there was a See also:

revelation of the righteousness of God, which must other-See also:wise have been revealed in the infliction of the penalties of sin on the human race."' This view, however, leads to a See also:dilemma; if the law of righteousness is simply an expression of the divine will, satisfaction to law is equivalent to propitiation offered to God; if the law has an See also:independent position, the view is inconsistent with pure monotheism. The See also:present position may be illustrated from a work representing the more liberal See also:Anglican See also:theology. See also:Bishop See also:Lyttelton in Lux Mundis stated that the death of Christ is propitiatory ' See also:Stevens, Christian Doctrine of Salvation, p. 138. 2 Ibid. p. 151. .3 See also:Shedd, Hist. of Christ. Doctr. ii. 385 ff. ; cf. See also:van See also:Oosterzee, Christ. Dogmatics, 61r. A Shedd ii.

358 f. 6 See also:

Crawford, Scripture Doctrine of the Atonement, pp. 327 if. 6 Orr, Ritschlian Theology, pp. 149 if. ' Dale, Atonement, pp. 430 ff 6 Pp. 209, 212, 214, 216, 219, 221, 225.See also:ATREUS towards God because it expressed His perfect obedience, it manifested God's righteous wrath against sin, and in virtue of Christ's human nature involved man's recognition of the righteousness of God's condemnation of sin; also because in some mysterious way death has a propitiatory value; and finally because Christ is the representative of the human race. Towards man, the death of Christ has atoning efficacy because it delivers from sin, bestows the divine See also:gift of life and conveys the assurance of pardon. The benefits of the atonement are appropriated by " the See also:acceptance of God's forgiveness in Christ. our self-See also:identification with Christ's atoning attitude, and then working out, by the power of the life bestowed upon us, all the (moral and spiritual) consequence of forgiveness. At present the belief in an objective atonement is still widely held; whether in the See also:form of penal theories—the old forensic view that the death of Christ atones by paying the penalty of man's sin—or in the form of governmental theories; that the Passion fulfilled a necessity of divine government by expressing and vindicating God's righteousness. But there is also a wide-spread inclination to minimize, ignore or deny the objective aspect of the atonement, the effect of the death of Christ on God's attitude towards men; and to follow the moral theories in emphasizing the subjective aspect of the atonement, the ' influence of the Passion on man.

There is a tendency to eclectic views embracing the more attractive features of the various theories; and attempts are made to adapt, interpret and qualify the imagery and See also:

language of older formulae, in See also:order so to speak, to issue them afresh in new See also:editions, compatible with See also:modern natural See also:science, See also:psychology and See also:historical See also:criticism. Such attempts are necessary in a time of transition, but they involve a measure of obscurity and See also:ambiguity. BIBLrOGRAPHY.—Atonement: H. See also:Bushnell, Vicarious Sacrifice (1871); J. McLeod Campbell, Nature of the Atonement (1869); T. J. Crawford, Doctrine of the Holy Spirit respecting the Atonement (1871); R. W. Dale, Atonement (1875); J. Denney, Death of Christ, Atonement and the Modern Mind (1903) ; A. Lyttelton, Lux Mundi, pp. zo1 if. (Atonement), (1889); R.

See also:

Moberly, Atonement and Personality; A. Ritschl, See also:Die christliche Lehre von der Rechtfertigung and Versohnung (1870—1874); G. B. Stevens, Christian Doctrine of Salvation (19o5). Day of Atonement: articles in See also:Hastings' See also:Bible See also:Dictionary, and in the See also:Encyclopaedia Biblica. (W. H. BE.) ATRATO, a See also:river of western See also:Colombia, See also:South See also:America, rising on the slopes of the Western Cordilleras, in 5° 36' N. See also:lat., and flowing almost due See also:north to the Gulf of Uraba, or See also:Darien, where it forms a large See also:delta. Its length is about 400 m., but owing to the heavy rainfall of this region it discharges no less than 175,000 cub. ft. of See also:water per second, together with a very large quantity of sediment, which is rapidly filling the gulf. The river is navigable to Quibdo (250 m.), and for the greater part of its course for large vessels, but the bars at its mouth prevent the entrance of See also:sea-going steamers. Flowing through the narrow valley between the See also:Cordillera and See also:coast range, it has only See also:short tributaries, the See also:principal ones being the Truando, Sucio and Murri. The See also:gold and See also:platinum mines of Choco were on some of its affluents, and the river sands are auriferous.

The Atrato at one time attracted considerable See also:

attention as a feasible route for a trans-isthmian See also:canal, which, it was estimated, could be excavated at a cost of £11,000,000.

End of Article: ATONEMENT

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
ATOM (Gr. &rows, indivisible, from a- privative, an... 		[next]
ATREK

Site © 2006 - Net Industries