Is Atonement Even Necessary?

The doctrine of the atonement has become a major issue of investigation for me as an artist/writer pursuing my Master’s in Theological Studies. It is major because so much Christian theology seems to hinge on it. At its core, the doctrine of the atonement is the belief that “Jesus died for the sins of the world.”

Popular notions advance the idea that God pre-planned Jesus’ death on the cross to serve as a satisfaction for the “sin debt” of the world- a debt brought about by the original sin of Adam and Eve as written in the Book of Genesis. Theologians throughout history have developed myriad ways of explaining the significance of this doctrine in Christian theology.

My skepticism towards this doctrine has really made me sensitive to how much it has been incorporated into the liturgies of the church and chapel I regularly attend. The hymns are full of references to this bloody transaction and it is deeply ingrained into the language of the communion ceremony.

Honestly, I find the whole notion and necessity of atonement for the sins of the world hard to believe. But I also realize that many people committed to "the Jesus path" consider it to be "good news." For many Christians today and in centuries past, it has served as a meaningful, powerful and life-changing idea. For some, it has been the sole reason they have committed their lives to the Christian faith in the first place. But I have found a few reasons to remain skeptical.

Drawing from the literary clues I find in the first three chapters of the Book of Genesis and evolutionary theory’s insights regarding the origins of biological life, I conclude that the creation stories of Genesis are myths that reflect the values and concerns of the ancient Hebrew authors- not actual history. Therefore, I see no reason why there would be any need to atone for sins committed by mythological characters.

I also find very little in my readings of the synoptic Gospels that even hints towards the idea of atonement being taught "from Jesus' mouth." I have only found one verse in Mark quoting Jesus as saying that "the Son of Man" would serve and "give his life as a ransom for many" and a verse in Matthew 26:28 where Jesus, sitting at a private Passover dinner with his disciples, talks about his own blood being "poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." The fact that Matthew’s gospel contains the only "last supper" account that even alludes to the idea of sins being forgiven doesn’t helps its case in my opinion.

Jesus taught a great many things that addressed a wide variety of spiritual, ethical, moral and social concerns, but I have been hard pressed to find him promoting an atonement doctrine in the parables he shared with listening crowds and in the prayer he taught his students/disciples.

In teaching "the Lord's prayer," Jesus advised his disciples to pray to God and ask for forgiveness daily. The way I see it, this doesn't seem to indicate any need for anyone to die in order for "God" to forgive them. God, as Jesus describes in the Lord's prayer, seems more approachable than the distant, holy and strict deity many of us have been taught to believe in. Plus, the idea of a God that would even require such a sacrifice strikes me as being more reflective of an ancient tribal (dare I say "superstitious") ritual where animal sacrifice was believed to appease the gods. Plus, this image of a God that requires such a sacrifice doesn't really square well with the image of God promoted by Jesus' story of the Prodigal Son.

For "atonement" to be so central to traditional Christian dogma, you would think that Jesus would have talked about it more often than he did. I suspect that many churches today base a majority of their atonement ideas on Paul's letters, other writings of the New Testament, and classic Christian theology as taught by Augustine of Hippo, Anselm of Canterbury and others.

But my scholarship and “gut feeling” lead me to believe that the doctrine of the atonement emerged mainly as an elaborate way to make sense of the senseless and tragic death of the wise and compassionate, Palestinian storyteller/prophet named Jesus of Nazareth- a human being believed by many to be a healer and viewed by his early followers as "the anointed one" (Messiah) or "the Son of God" (perhaps a title as opposed to a biological fact)- who was tortured and executed by the religious and political authorities of his day because he was perceived as a threat to their established orders.

That's my take on it (for what it's worth). I'm a student and I know I have much more to learn, but this makes sense to me.