Atonement in Christianity

As a punishment (from OHG suona " court judgment, court hearing, conclusion of peace " ), the act is referred to, by which a person who is guilty, waives this guilt by compensation or reduced.

Secular Order, administrative repentance and Criminal

If an imbalance caused by damage or fault is not offset by direct reparation, justice is done sufficiently by the balance is restored by administrative fine or penalty. Guilt is expiated, removed, atoned punished. Thus the victims of the wrong person to experience satisfaction.

Punishment often also want people become guilty or people who simply feel guilty by they punish by special services or waivers themselves.

Atonement in the religions

In the religious context is denoted by atonement or repentance of the act by which a person who has violated the relationship to his God by a sin is reconciled with God.

The atonement can be made according to the respective religious laws in many religions of believers through magical acts, ritual atonement, ascetic exercises or ritual purifications.

Even in the Old Testament cult there Atonement. The Church of God of Israel, however, was aware that human expiation reconciliation with YHWH their God can not cause, but rather a sign of recognition of guilt and asking for forgiveness are: God alone can grant reconciliation in his free grace; the sacrifice of animals (such as when the "Great Day of Atonement " - Yom Kippur ) is seen as a merciful institution of God who gives grace to the guilty plea of the people out. God sees, therefore, not on external sacrifices, but to the penitent heart ( cf. Psalm 103, Isaiah. 40,16 and others)

In the New Testament, the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ on the cross is understood on the hill of Golgotha ​​as the unique, perfect atonement, which Christ had offered up on behalf of Israel and the nations. Therefore, it is the gracious God himself, who performs the act of atonement in Jesus Christ, no man ( all men are sinners and remain ) can provide: "God in Christ reconciling the world to himself ... " (2 Cor 5:19. ).

This New Testament teaching was rediscovered and moved as a "gospel" of the " justification of the sinner through Christ alone, by grace alone " into the center of the Church's doctrine and ecclesial life of the Reformers ( Martin Luther, Ulrich Zwingli, John Calvin, etc.). At the same time by the Reformers all practices of the so-called " works righteousness " discarded, with whom you made ​​an attempt to acquire through expiation "merits" and to gain entitlement to grace (through works such as praying, fasting, pilgrimages, foundations, acquisition of " indulgences, "etc.).