As we continue reading the biblical text without looking through the biases of established atonement theories, we turn our attention to the book of Acts.
It is tempting at this point to begin delineating and critiquing the various atonement theories that have arisen over the course of church history.
The fifth line of the six-line Greco-Roman narrative we are in the process of deconstructing has all those who believe that by suffering on the cross Jesus placated the wrath of God on their behalf, going to heaven after death.
The Fall, the third line depicted in the Greco-Roman narrative, landed all of humanity on a damning plain in which history trudged along in a state on which God had turned his back.
It goes without saying that we all read the Bible through a grid of pre-understanding which colors the way we see its unfolding story.
In the biblical narrative, atonement encompasses more than Jesus securing salvation for individual believers.
It is common in our modern context to equate judgment with condemnation. It is deeply engrained in our sense of justice that sin must be punished; that the divine ledger must in the end be balanced.
When Jesus began his ministry he called on people to repent for the Kingdom of God was at hand.
In this essay we continue to identify the building blocks that will inform our reflections about the atonement.
When building a house, in the end the structure will reflect the kind and quality of the building material used in the process of construction.
