Atonement is the reconciliation between god and humans that was necessary to save humans from original sin and allow them to be close to god
the word atonement comes from being at-one
there are different models and variations of atonement because there was problems with different models
expiation is what god did and propitiation is the result of what god did
the death of jesus was blamed on Adam and eve as a result of the fall
Dawkins says that 'the god of the old testement is petty, unjust', this could be true because why can't god just forgive humans instead of jesus dying
the crucifiction is the ultimate act of love because there is nothing more you can sacrafice
without the crucifixion humans wouldn't have been saved from original sin
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Sacrifice and Ransom
Propitiation means the result of what Christ did on the cross as he paid the penalty for sin
leviticus shows sacrifice as the priest lays the sins of the community on a goat
Hebrews show sacrafice through jesus death on the cross
this theory can be objected to as no loving god would sacrifice his only son, god is an angry tyrant
ransom is what Christ did on the cross as a payment to take human sin away, but why would a loving god want to sacrafice their only son
gustaf Aulen developed the model that atonement liberates humans from the slavery of sin, Irenaeus' recapitulation model supports this theory as god was no debtor to satan but humans have fallen prey
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Penal substitution
Satisfaction is the recompense
god became a human to pay the debt o himself as he was sinless, he passed on to those who believed in him
jesus passed on supererogation (doing more than duty requires)to those who believed in
the protestant reformers re-develop the satisfaction theory into penal substitution because it is inadequate because it was based on the concepts of gods honour rather than gods justice
Jeffery john thinks this theory makes god sound like a psychopath because god forgives humanity by punishing someone else
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Moral example
This theory is a reaction to anselm argument
jesus died to show the depth of gods love for us
this theory doesn't explain the crucifiction, it teaches humans can achieve salvation through their own moral effort , it belittles gods anger against sin
this theory had become popular in modern liberal theology because it is about the moral improvement of human kind
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