If you mean precisely what is it, you'll need to ask a theologian (and I doubt you'll get a straight answer when you do). In general terms, the Atonement is the healing of the rift between God and humanity which results (if you believe in that sort of thing) from the Fall.
My take on this is that the person of Jesus united God and humanity in a literal "At-one-ment". ("Atonement" is a word with such a spectacularly transparent etymology that most people think it's a contrived and tacky pun made up by preachers.) Traditional evangelical theology talks about "penal substitutionary atonement", whereby the sins of humanity required punishment according to God's laws, and this could only be avoided by God substituting God's self in humanity's place. As you'll have gathered, I'm not keen on that interpretation.
(Sorry about the delay in replying. My employers have LiveJournal blocked on the grounds that all our students would spend their days arsing around on LiveJournal and never getting any work done, with the result that we librarians can't either.)
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2004-11-16 09:41 am (UTC)My take on this is that the person of Jesus united God and humanity in a literal "At-one-ment". ("Atonement" is a word with such a spectacularly transparent etymology that most people think it's a contrived and tacky pun made up by preachers.) Traditional evangelical theology talks about "penal substitutionary atonement", whereby the sins of humanity required punishment according to God's laws, and this could only be avoided by God substituting God's self in humanity's place. As you'll have gathered, I'm not keen on that interpretation.
(Sorry about the delay in replying. My employers have LiveJournal blocked on the grounds that all our students would spend their days arsing around on LiveJournal and never getting any work done, with the result that we librarians can't either.)