Fr . John ’ s Corner The Atonement
Question : “ Do the Orthodox believe in the Atonement ?”
The concept of atonement is found throughout Scripture , and so of course we Orthodox do believe in it . There was in fact a feast in the Old Testament called “ The Day of Atonement ,” which in Hebrew is called Yom Kippur . This was the only fast day specifically called for in the Law of Moses , and was “ a most holy sabbath [ Shabbat Shabbaton ]” ( Leviticus 16:31 ). This is the fast that was alluded to in Acts 27:9 , which states that “ sailing was now dangerous , because the fast was now already past ...”
The English word “ atonement ” was coined by William Tyndale , and means “ to make one ” or literally “ at one-ment ” ( taking the two words “ at ” and “ one ” and adding the suffix “ -ment .” This well translated the meaning of the Hebrew word “ Kippur ,” which means “ reconciliation ” -- specifically reconciling sinful men with a Holy God .
Another term which William Tyndale brought into English is “ Mercy Seat ”. William Tyndale based his translation on Luther ’ s translation into German : “ Gnadenstuhl ,” which literally means the seat of grace or mercy . However , there is nothing in the Hebrew term , Kapporet , which suggests “ mercy ” or “ seat .” “ Kapporet ” is a form of the word “ Kippur ”, and literally means “ the place of reconciliation ”. This was the lid of the Ark of the Covenant , and the Mercy Seat was the place upon which the blood of the sacrifice on the day of Atonement was sprinkled , and by which reconciliation between God and men was brought about . The Greek translation for Mercy Seat was “ hilasterion .” And we find this word used in Romans 3:24-25 : “ Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus : Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood , to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past , through the forbearance of God .” Interestingly we find in that text the word “ redemption ”, which could be translated as “ ransom ”, and the Hebrew word for “ ransom ” ( Koper ) is from the same root word as Kippur -- a word used in reference to the Old Testament sacrifices , and which clearly has the connotation of “ payment .”
Church Tradition directly connects the Cross wih the Ark of the Covenant , because the Ark and the Mercy Seat was the place of atonement , and the Ark is referred to as “ the place where His feet have stood ” ( Psalm 131:7 lxx ) and the Cross is the place were
Christ ’ s feet stood , when he made atonement for our sins ( see Christopher Veniamin , trans . Saint Gregory Palamas : The Homilies ( Waymart , PA : Mount Thabor Publishing , 2009 ) p . 86 ).
There are many contemporary Orthodox writers who wish to deny or downplay a number of concepts that relate to our redemption . They will argue we don ’ t believe Christ had to die in our place , or that His blood needed to be shed to pay the penalty for our sins . They will deny the legitimacy of legal terms , in favor of the idea that the Church is a spiritual hospital . The problem is not that the Church is not a spiritual hospital , but rather that in emphasizing one set of images used to explain our salvation , they deny a whole set of equally valid images that are clearly Biblical . It is true that in the west there was an over emphasis on legal imagery , but the solution to such an imbalance is not a new imbalance in the opposite direction . We can and should speak of sin as an illness , but when we die , we do not go before the final medical exam -- we face the final judgment , which is a legal image if ever there was one . And so we can also speak of sin as a transgression of the Law of God , and of our need to be justified by God , even as we speak of sin in terms of an illness that we need to be healed of .
We reject the idea that Christ ’ s death was a ransom paid to the devil , but that it was a ransom in some sense is confirmed by the Lord Himself , and elsewhere in Scripture ( Matthew 20:28 ; Mark 10:45 ; 1 Timothy 2:6 ). So we simply have to understand that verbal images point to a reality , but are not the reality itself , and we get a better idea of that reality by considering all the Biblical images that point to it -- not by focusing on one or two to the exclusion of the rest , and certainly not by pressing those images beyond the point that they are intended to make .
St . Gregory Palamas , in his Sixteenth Homily ( delivered on Holy Saturday : “ About the Dispensation According to the flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Gifts of Grace Granted to Those Who Truly Believe in Him ”), speaks quite a bit about the need for Christ to die in our place . The entire homily is well worth reading , but here are some excerpts :
“ Man was led into his captivity when he experienced God ’ s wrath , this wrath being the good God ’ s just abandonment of man . God had to be reconciled with the human race , for otherwise mankind could not be set free from the servitude . A sacrifice was needed to reconcile the Father on high with us and to sanctify us , since we had been soiled by fellowship with the evil one . There had to be a sacrifice which both cleansed and was clean , and a purified and sinless priest ” ( Christopher Veniamin , trans . Saint Gregory Palamas : The Homilies ( Waymart , PA : Mount Thabor Publishing , 2009 ) p . 124 ).
“ Christ overturned the devil through suffering and His flesh which He offered as a sacrifice to God the Father , as a pure and
The Apostle ’ s Path 8
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