A Bag Of Potatoes Weighing 5 Pounds And 12 Ounces Cost 2.07 What Is The Cost Of 1 Pound Of Potatoes

Introduction
The purpose of this paper is to explore the significance of the Christian doctrine of the atonement in relation to violence. That violence is very much a part of human beings is self-evident. From the murder of Abel to the present, human history is soaked in blood—so much so that we can say with Sigmund Freud that we are homo homini lupus, “Man is a wolf to man.” [1] Karl Barth said, “There exists in every man a very deep-seated and almost original evil and lust to kill. The common murderer or homicide is simply the one in whom the wolf slips the chain.”[2] We shall explore the origins of our violence later. These references are enough to describe what has been happening in our history, and in recent current events from the killings in our schools, to the terrorist attacks not only in the United States but around the world.

As I ponder our human propensity for violence, I wonder what our faith has to say about it. The Bible itself is filled with stories of violence. Sometimes these are graphically told, as we encounter in the Book of Judges. The centerpiece of our faith, the act of Atonement, was an act of violence. Whatever meaning and interpretation we give to the Atoning death of Jesus for us, we cannot ignore the “terrifying refrain of the first apostolic preaching: ‘Ye have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain…ye killed the Prince of life…Jesus whom ye slew and hanged on a tree…’”[3] The Bible and our faith certainly is not blind to our violent propensities. Therefore, I have wondered why more has not been said in Christian theology, liberal or conservative, about how our doctrine of the Atonement relates to and enables us to cope with our violence.

I want to make such an attempt in this paper. I shall begin by looking at the prominent theories of the Atonement. Then, I want to try to define violence (it is a word with a much broader meaning than one might first suspect); and, how biblical anthropology might help us understand...