Last night I went to see James Alison, a RCC theologian from the UK speak. He had some pretty interesting stuff to say- he was talking about our understanding of sin and atonement, and how our concepts in contemporary christianity are all skewif. I didn't entirely grasp everything he was talking about, and I think I need some more time to unpack it all- so watch this space.
The general gist was that we see atonement as similar to the pagan idea of sacrifices to apease an angry g/God(s). Alison contended that the Hebrew concept of atonement, and those that come through when the NT writers are talking about atonement/ Christ, are very different to this.
The concept of atonement that Alison presented was one where God is trying to get through to us, rather than us trying to keep a vengeful God happy. The sacrifice of God's own son was about God trying to reach us in our anger, and our wrath and saying "Please, trust me".
I doubt I have done the idea any real justice, but what do ppl think about understanding sin and atonement in this framework?
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