Atonement Theory and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Atonement Theory and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
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Summary: Why did Jesus have to suffer, bleed, and die for the sins of mankind? Why could not God have simply forgiven men for their sins when they repented and turned to Him without requiring Jesus to die? These are the central questions of Atonement theory. While The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has no official Atonement theory, the questions posed are important to answer for Christian and Latter-day Saint belief. This page will combine scripture and philosophy to propose an unofficial though strong theory as to why Christ had to die.

Scriptural Requirements

The requirements for a theory of Atonement are outlined in scripture and in the teachings of living prophets and apostles.

The words most often used for Christ's action are "save," "redeem," and "atone" and the corresponding nouns atoneent, savior, salvation, redeemer, and redemption.[1][2]

  1. Christ's Atonement is necessary rather than supererogatory (Matthew 16:21; Helaman 14:15). It was necessary to fulfill the prophecies of the Old Testament (Luke 24:46), bring about our salvation (Alma 34:9; 42:15), and reconcile us to God (Hebrews 2:17).
  2. Christ's Atonement somehow justifies us through our faith (Romans 3:21–4:25; 1 Corinthians 1:30).
  3. Christ's Atonement is said to "ransom" us (Matthew 20:28; Mark 10:45; 1 Timothy 2:6). In some way, we were "bought with a price (1 Corinthians 6:20).
  4. Christ's Atonement is not merely expiatory in that it brings us back to union with God (Jacob 4:11), but propitiatory in that it appeases God's wrath against our sin (Romans 3:25; Hebrews 2:17; 1 John 2:1–2; 4:10; Doctrine and Covenants 45:3–5).
  5. The Atonement cannot declare Christ "guilty" or punish him for our sins (Alma 34:11).
  6. The author of 1 Peter declares, "For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps" (1 Peter 2:21).
  7. The Atonement delivers humanity from "that awful monster, death and hell"; from "the devil, and death, and hell" (2 Nephi 9:10,19); from “this evil world” (Galatians 1:4). Christ's Atonement "destroy[s] him that had the power of death, that is, the devil" (Hebrews 2:14). Christ's Atonement "delivers [us] who through fear of death were all [our] lifetime subject to bondage" (Hebrews 2:15).
  8. The Atonement ended the practice of offering sacrifice and burnt offerings for sin (3 Nephi 9:19).
  9. Christ's Atonement was superior to the system of animal sacrifice because animal sacrifice could not perfect the conscience (Hebrews 9:9–14).
  10. As a result of Christ's Atonement and as a prerequisite for forgiveness, we must now offer Christ—not a sacrifice of animals—but the "sacrifice of a broken heart and a contrite spirit" (2 Nephi 2:7; 3 Nephi 9:20; 12:19; Ether 4:15; Moroni 6:2).
  11. Those that do not repent are delivered unto the "demands of justice" (Alma 34:16). Christ has satisfied the demands of justice (Mosiah 15:9).
  12. Christ's Atonement must be "infinite." It must be infinite in the sense that it must be done by a Divine Being (Alma 34:10–14). Men, being mortal, could not perform the Atonement (2 Nephi 9:6–7). It is also infinite in that it applies to all mankind (2 Nephi 25:16).
  13. The Atonement is retroactive in that it applies to those souls—and their individual sins—that came before the mortal life of Jesus Christ (Romans 3:25; Hebrews 9:15; Mosiah 3:13).
  14. Christ's Atonement brings about our resurrection (2 Nephi 9:7). In the words of Alma, "the atonement bringeth to pass the resurrection of the dead" (Alma 42:23). Christ, in this way, redeems us from the Fall (2 Nephi 2:26) and becomes the new Adam (1 Corinthians 15:45–47).
  15. Christ's Atonement covers those that do not have the law and those that die before the age of accountability (Moroni 8:20–22).
  16. Christ's Atonement has not merely a redeeming power, but also an enabling power whereby we are given strength against sin and greater fortitude in doing good.[3]
  17. Christ's Atonement does not cover every kind of sin, as there are sins that are unforgivable. One sin that is described as such is murder while being a baptized member of the Church (Doctrine and Covenants 42:18).
  18. Christ does not currently suffer for our sins. His sacrifice, offered in the meridian of time, was the last sacrifice that will be offered for sins on this earth (John 4:34; 19:28–30; Hebrews 10:10–14; Alma 34:10; Doctrine and Covenants 19:19).
  19. The Savior's atoning sacrifice may be efficacious for people living on other worlds (besides this one) created by Him.[4]

Thought-To-Be-Scriptural Requirements

There are several things that people might believe are scriptural requirements for a theory of Atonement but, actually, are not requirements.

  1. The Atonement does not necessarily allow Jesus Christ to experience, in some way, "the pains and sicknesses of his people," so that "he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities" (Alma 7:11–12). Scott C. Woodward, a professor of religion at BYU-Idaho, has demonstrated that the "empathetic aspect" of the Atonement is not necessarily borne out in scripture. Woodward is careful to say that a future, authoritative pronouncement might change that. However, for now, the idea is not scriptural.[5]

General Considerations

Two scholars of the Book of Mormon claim that the Book of Mormon does not present a single theory of Atonement.[6] However, as Noel Reynolds has pointed out, "The Nephite sermons reference the power of the Father, the victory over death, the sufferings of Christ, and the notion of a divine kinsman redeeming his people from the captivity of the devil. Whereas these various features of the Atonement have been developed in Christian tradition as competing theories of atonement, the Nephite prophets understood them all as compatible pieces of one coherent explanation, which is fully elaborated by Jacob."[7]

The Classical Theories of Atonement

Satisfaction Theory
Governmental Theory
Moral Influence Theory
Moral Example Theory
Penal Substitution Theory
Ransom Theory
Christus Victor Theory

Emerging Theories

Participationary Theories
Non-Violent Theories
Collective Theories

Latter-day Saint Theories of Atonement

Empathy Theory
Divine Infusion Theory
Demand of Intelligence Theory
Self-Rejection Moral Theory
Compassion Theory

Theories Can Be Mixed

Notes (click to expand)
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  1. ↑ T. Benjamin Spackman, "Atonement in the Old Testament: Implications for Latter-day Saints," in Latter-day Saint Perspectives on Atonement, eds. Deidre Nicole Green and Eric D. Huntsman (University of Illinois, 2024), 15–30.
  2. ↑ Eric D. Huntsman, "Latter-day Saints and the Atonement in the New Testament," in Latter-day Saint Perspectives on Atonement, eds. Deidre Nicole Green and Eric D. Huntsman (University of Illinois, 2024), 31–67.
  3. ↑ David A. Bednar, "In the Strength of the Lord," Ensign 34, no. 11 (November 2004): 76–77.
  4. ↑ Tad R. Callister, The Infinite Atonement (Deseret Book Company, 2000), 87–90.
  5. ↑ Scott C. Woodward, "A Close Look at Scriptural Teachings Regarding Jesus Feeling Our Pains as Part of His Atonement," BYU Studies Quarterly 62, no. 2 (2023): 23–41.
  6. ↑ Nicholas J. Frederick, "'Atonement' in the Book of Mormon," in Latter-day Saint Perspectives on Atonement, eds. Deidre Nichole Green and Eric D. Huntsman (University of Illinois Press, 2024), 94–96; Blake T. Ostler, "LDS Perspectives on the Atonement?" Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 62 (2024): 73.
  7. ↑ Noel B. Reynolds, "The Atonement," in New Testament History, Culture, and Society: A Background to the Texts of the New Testament, ed. Lincoln H. Blumell (Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Deseret Book, 2019), 355–56.
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