altogether holy victim-- how great is His gift!-- and reconciled God to our human race”( p. 125).
“ For this reason the lord patiently endured for our sake a death He was not obliged to undergo, to redeem us, who were obliged to suffer death, from servitude to the devil and death, by which I mean death both of the soul and of the body, temporary and eternal. Since He gave His blood, which was sinless and therefore guiltless, as a ransom for us who were liable to punishment because of our sins, He redeemed us from our guilt. He forgave us our sins, tore up the record of them on the Cross and delivered us from the Devil’ s tyranny( cf. Col 2:14-15)”( p. 128f).
As is often the case, the proper Orthodox perspective on this question is one of balance. We should proclaim the whole counsel of God( Acts 20:27), and not just the parts that we find most appealing. Nor should we overreact to the imbalances of heterodox theologians, and thus fall into a new error, by rejecting important aspects of our Tradition. 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...
Fr. John Whiteford is the Pastor of St. Jonah Orthodox Church( ROCOR) in Spring, Texas. He is the author of‘ Sola Scriptura: An Orthodox Analysis of the Cornerstone of Reformation Theology’, published by Conciliar Press, and the General Editor of the‘ St. Innocent Liturgical Calendar’.
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