This is a wonderful piece. This made me ponder further a few things that Terryl Givens said on Faith Matters about different theories of how the Atonement functions (e.g., is it to pay a price exacted by God's justice? Or to redeem us from Satan's control, which he gains because of our sins? Or something else?). The Book of Mormon provides support for various theories, yet the Church has not adopted an official theory of Atonement and in fact President Nelson stated that there is no single thing that is the Atonement. We are in a process of uncovering and understanding and refining and we do so by wrestling with revelation in all its forms.
This is a wonderful piece. This made me ponder further a few things that Terryl Givens said on Faith Matters about different theories of how the Atonement functions (e.g., is it to pay a price exacted by God's justice? Or to redeem us from Satan's control, which he gains because of our sins? Or something else?). The Book of Mormon provides support for various theories, yet the Church has not adopted an official theory of Atonement and in fact President Nelson stated that there is no single thing that is the Atonement. We are in a process of uncovering and understanding and refining and we do so by wrestling with revelation in all its forms.
I like how one scholar puts it--we renegotiate with the texts to make them meaningful to us today.