The understanding and interpretation of the word atonement has changed over time. In ancient times, it meant compensation for harm caused or retribution for what was done. A committed crime, human life or freedom had a very specific price, which was expressed in money or other material values. However, if you open the text of Holy Scripture and read about atonement, this word takes on a different meaning.
The Bible tells the story of Adam and Eve breaking divine law. According to the teachings of the church, it was possible to atone for this sin only with the coming into the world of people of Jesus Christ, who had to sacrifice himself. There was also a secular understanding of the term: a person is responsible to society for words and offenses committed, in order to restore previous relationships, status or reputation, he is obliged to atone for his guilt.
Victim[ | ]
Role in history and culture[ | ]
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Since ancient times, sacrifices have played an important role in the worship of various peoples. However, in different religions, the ritual of sacrifice had different meanings - from the primitive desire to please the deity by offering him food, to an expression of gratitude, devotion to him, or a demonstration of one’s own insignificance.
According to the Bible, Abel, Cain, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Job sacrificed to God (Genesis 4:3,4; 8:20; 15:9; 26:25; 31:54; Job 1:5). Cain's sacrifice was bloodless (fruits of the earth), while other sacrifices, as a rule, involved the shedding of blood, since they killed animals. … “Almost everything according to the law is purified by blood
and
without the shedding of blood
there is no
forgiveness
" (Heb. 9:22)
Their main meaning, according to the Bible, was for the blood of animals to “cover” the sins of those who made this sacrifice; God told Israel about the meaning of sacrifices after their liberation from Egyptian slavery, when at Mount Sinai the people accepted the Law from the Lord, establishing the number and type of sacrifices pleasing to God, as well as the order of their offering. Other sacrifices expressed gratitude and devotion to God. The most important types of sacrifices include: the burnt offering (Lev 1), the grain offering (Lev 2), the thanksgiving or peace offering (Lev 3), as well as the sin offering (Lev 4:1 - 5:13) and the trespass offering ( Lev 5:14 - 6:7). Among these five types of sacrifice, only one was bloodless: the grain offering, which was considered as an addition to the burnt offering (Lev. 9:16,17). The various reasons for which sacrifices were made are partly visible from their names (for example, sacrifice for sin, sacrifice of gratitude). There was also a sacrifice of atonement (Lev 15).
What is atonement
In a broad sense, this word is understood as the correction by a guilty person of an act committed by him or the consequences thereof. People compensate for the damage caused, correct their behavior, repent of what they have done, or bear responsibility in the manner established by the laws or customs of a given society. If we are talking about understanding from the point of view of religion, then here a person atones for guilt or is cleansed of sinfulness in accordance with the rituals or creed of the confession to which he belongs.
Origin of the word
This term came into Russian speech as a result of the literal translation of sacred texts - the same situation has developed in many other European languages. If you look in dictionaries, you can find the original source of the borrowing. The translation was carried out from Greek, which used the word apolitrosis, or from Latin - redemptio.
Both of these concepts literally meant "the ransom of a slave, captive or prisoner" - a person who could not gain freedom by his own efforts.
The Old Testament is written in Hebrew. The term used here is "geula", derived from a root with two meanings. The first is translated as the ransom of a person from debt slavery from a foreign owner, when relatives and fellow Jews contribute money. The second is a spiritual concept - liberation from the power of sin, which is often seen in the context of the coming of the Messiah.
In the teachings of Kabbalah, the term can also be understood as overcoming the framework of the material bodily shell through the acquisition of mystical experience. The Arabic word "kaffarah" comes from a root that translates as concealment, covering, compensation or ransom. This term is well known in Islamic theology. “Kaffarah” is a measure of retribution for an act committed or damage caused. It is determined individually depending on the situation in accordance with Shariah norms.
Meaning of the concept
As can be seen, the meaning has changed throughout human history. At first it could mean retribution according to the principle of “an eye for an eye”, then it acquired a deeper spiritual meaning in monotheistic religions, and then a secular modern interpretation.
Over the centuries, the meaning of the word atonement has changed as follows:
- Retribution according to the norms of customary law: the principle of talion, blood feud and other unwritten laws. It survived as a relic up to and including the 20th century in the Caucasus, the Balkans (Albania, Montenegro) and in places in the western Mediterranean (Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica).
- Monotheistic religious interpretation: correction of human nature damaged by original sin.
- Moral and ethical understanding in secular ethics of modern society and jurisprudence: a person’s correction of the consequences of his actions and responsibility for them.
Literature[ | ]
- Sacrifice
- article from the Electronic Jewish Encyclopedia - Atonement
- article from the Electronic Jewish Encyclopedia - Atonement // Orthodox Encyclopedia. - M.: Church-scientific, 2011. - T. XXVII: “Isaac the Syrian - Historical books.” — 752 p. — 39,000 copies. — ISBN 978-5-89572-050-9.
- Barsov N.I.
Redemption of the human race by Jesus Christ // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg, 1890-1907.
Understanding in the modern world
Nowadays, religious ethics has largely been replaced by secular ones - people choose moral guidelines, commandments and scriptural texts are taken into account less and less. At the same time, both believers and atheists can easily be guided by the same norms, providing different justifications for them. The redemptive issue continues to be relevant, but is taking on new forms.
Definition of the concept
Modern society, being within the framework of secular ethics, operates with the concepts of shame, conscience and correction, if we are talking about the fact that someone is obliged to atone for their guilt. In some cases, the situation may turn out to be in the legal field, where state laws come into force.
Within a secular society, a person can atone for guilt in the following way:
- ethically - correcting behavior and taking new, positive actions;
- legally - having incurred responsibility and punishment according to the law.
What is it for?
Religion says that atonement is necessary to get rid of sin and gain eternal life after the death of the physical body. This is one of the most important elements in the church's teaching on the salvation of the soul. Having taken this path, the believer consciously chooses to fight his passions and shortcomings, trusting in God and his support.
However, in modern society a secular understanding of this issue is more common. A person who atones for guilt seeks to get rid of it, feeling the wrongness of what he did and the pangs of conscience. In this way, people can eliminate the consequences of their misdeeds and compensate for the harm caused to others. The main idea here is the idea of correcting the personality and returning to the state of affairs that took place before the commission of the unseemly act.
