The Doctrine of Atonement is perhaps one of the most fundamental beliefs of Christianity. There are many conflicting and similar views held by great theological thinkers of the atonement. In this paper we will discuss the views held by Wesleyan-Armenian’s, Calvinists, and several liberal on the doctrine of atonement. There are many complex ideas and doctrines that also tie into the doctrine of atonement that also need to be explained in depth such as the wrath of God, forgiveness of sins, and the universality of God’s offer of forgiveness. “The doctrine of atonement is thus the centre and heart of divine truth. Unsoundness here will be fatal to the character of all that we hold for truth, and in exact proportion to the measure of its soundness.”
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With exception to the gospel of John who expounds more on the doctrine of the atonement the other gospels focus more on telling the story of Jesus’ atonement act than on specific doctrine. Matthew shows us the governmental aspect of the atonement and the grave giving up its dead. Mark shows us the humiliation of Jesus and his willingness to be the sin-offering for mankind. Luke presents Jesus as the peace-offering especially in the scene in which Jesus pardons the thief while dying on the cross. In John we once again are focused on Jesus being the light of the world that is set in darkness. John also shows that while there is guilt that needs to be paid that man could not possible pay on his own there also is life through the acceptance of the Spirit unto eternal life. “Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone,” John 12:24. All throughout John is the constant underlying theme of the atonement seen in John the Baptist’s speech, Jesus’ talk with Nicodemus, the representation of Jesus as the Lamb of God and the Shepherd of his sheep, etc. Next we also see the atonement in Paul’s epistles. In Romans Paul pictures Jesus as the propitiation for our sins. Propitiation is a word in the Septuagint was used to describe the mercy seat of the ark of covenant under the two cherubim’s out stretched wings. The blood of the slain animal was sprinkled on the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant to atone for the sins of the people in the Old Testament “so the mercy-seat of the gospel is that which is sprinkled with the precious blood of Christ. The substitute endures the punishment which otherwise would fall upon the guilty themselves.” Christ becomes the second Adam leading a sinless life that when offered on the cross as a sacrifice was able to redeem creation and set Jesus at its Head. Christ was not a person in his
With exception to the gospel of John who expounds more on the doctrine of the atonement the other gospels focus more on telling the story of Jesus’ atonement act than on specific doctrine. Matthew shows us the governmental aspect of the atonement and the grave giving up its dead. Mark shows us the humiliation of Jesus and his willingness to be the sin-offering for mankind. Luke presents Jesus as the peace-offering especially in the scene in which Jesus pardons the thief while dying on the cross. In John we once again are focused on Jesus being the light of the world that is set in darkness. John also shows that while there is guilt that needs to be paid that man could not possible pay on his own there also is life through the acceptance of the Spirit unto eternal life. “Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone,” John 12:24. All throughout John is the constant underlying theme of the atonement seen in John the Baptist’s speech, Jesus’ talk with Nicodemus, the representation of Jesus as the Lamb of God and the Shepherd of his sheep, etc. Next we also see the atonement in Paul’s epistles. In Romans Paul pictures Jesus as the propitiation for our sins. Propitiation is a word in the Septuagint was used to describe the mercy seat of the ark of covenant under the two cherubim’s out stretched wings. The blood of the slain animal was sprinkled on the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant to atone for the sins of the people in the Old Testament “so the mercy-seat of the gospel is that which is sprinkled with the precious blood of Christ. The substitute endures the punishment which otherwise would fall upon the guilty themselves.” Christ becomes the second Adam leading a sinless life that when offered on the cross as a sacrifice was able to redeem creation and set Jesus at its Head. Christ was not a person in his