Christianity - A Journey from Facts to Fiction — Page 15
chapter two sin and atonement Now we turn to the second very important article of Chris- tian faith. I must clarify, however, that all Christians do not believe exactly in what follows. Even some Church leaders have deviated from the stiff dogmatic attitude of the Church. Even so, the philosophy of ‘Sin and Atonement’ is a fundamental principle of orthodox Christian faith. The first component of the Christian understanding of Sin and Atonement is that God is just, and exercises natural justice. He does not forgive sins without exacting retribution; as it would be against the dictates of absolute justice. It is this particular attribute of God that makes necessary the Christian version of atonement. The second component is that man is sinful because Adam and Eve sinned. As a result their progeny began to inherit sin, as if it was infused into their genes and, ever since, all children of Adam are born congenital sinners. The third component of this dogma is that a sinful person can- not atone for another person’s sins: only a sinless person can do so. Based on this, it becomes evident that why according to Christian understanding, no Prophet as of God, however good or near perfection he may have been, could have cleansed mankind of sin or was able to rid them of it and its consequences. Being a