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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture > From: [log in to unmask] > Yes, but Atonement was, it appears to me, the prime reason for Aquinas. The question is: why and by whom was the atonement required? Edwin replies: As demonstrated, atonement did NOT supercede all other theories in the West. As for your second question, the topic of atonement is most immediately and specifically addressed in Leviticus 16. The God of Abraham required blood sacrifice as a sin offering, as an atonement. It was allowed as a mercy of God to repair the relationship of God and His people. The "wages of sin are death," therefore it took a death to pay the debt of sin. As for THE atonement, Christ is repeatedly referred to as the sacrifice by which sins are forgiven and relationship restored. Without atonement, Christ is not a sacrifice, he cannot be identified with the paschal lamb. He cannot be Isaiah's suffering servant. THE Atonement is not Divine Vengence, but rather Divine Justice transformed by Divine Mercy. You ask to separate atonement from the repair of relationship with the God and His people - sanctification. In light of the Jewish understanding of Atonement, I don't believe this to be possible. They are bound together in justice and mercy. ********************************************************************** To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME to: [log in to unmask] To send a message to the list, address it to: [log in to unmask] To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion to: [log in to unmask] In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: [log in to unmask] For further information, visit our web site: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html