In order to demonstrate the power of The Atonement, one must make some very basic assumptions. First, that Christ was indeed the physical manifestation of a perfect and sinless God. Second, that Christ’s manifestation of the Life was and is singular in all of human history. Third, that His death was not just a death, but one that had special significance to the course of human history in that it forever modified the life and death of every human being in the millennia that have since passed. It is this last point that drives much of the debate over the power and legacy of Christ. Was his death truly given to cleanse the human population of their sins? If so, what then is the significance of the Resurrection? When examining these questions, we have to rely upon the Word, actions, and descriptions of Christ. Did He die for everyone or just a few select people? Are we all, as Catholicism asserts, born as sinners or, as many Protestant divisions assert, that we become sinners in our life? Initially, the question of Christ’s Deity must be addressed in order to answer the latter questions. It is the purpose of this paper, then, to examine the meaning of the Atonement in terms of the questions above and to provide some insight into how we should live in light of this doctrine.
