About a month ago, I sat down at my computer to write a new blog post as I often do.
I stared into the computer screen for several minutes in silence and found myself at a complete loss for words. My blog muse seemed to be absent beyond the single word: “reconciliation” which remained as a draft with no other words for several weeks even as I grappled with this every day . . . Writer’s BLOCK
This morning, I decided to tackle the “Why?” I was so STUCK!
My blockage was a “refusal to seek to understand the depth of the meaning of this word “reconciliation” . . . a word I have used my whole life.
When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.
I’m amidst a Spiritual awakening, and I am the student . . .
Below are some Links “splaining” from wiki which I think can serve as peeling the first layer of this onion of understanding . . . Beginning with the significance of the word ATONEMENT.
Reconciliation, in Christian theology, is an element of salvation that refers to the results of atonement.
Reconciliation is the end of the estrangement, caused by original sin, between God and humanity.
John Calvin describes reconciliation as the peace between humanity and God that results from the expiation of religious sin and the propitiation of God’s wrath.[1]Evangelical theologian Philip Ryken describes reconciliation in this way; “It is part of the message of Salvation that brings us back together with God. … God is the author, Christ is the agent and we are the ambassadors of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5).”[2] Although it is only used five times in the Pauline corpus (Romans 5:10-11, 11:15, 2 Corinthians 5:18-20, Ephesians 2:14-17 and Colossians 1:19-22) it is an essential term, describing the “substance” of the gospel and salvation.[3]Ralph Martin writing in the Dictionary of Paul and his Letters, suggests reconciliation is at the center of Pauline theology.[4] Stanley Porter writing in the same volume suggests a conceptual link between the reconciliation Greek word group katallage (or katallasso) and the Hebrew word shalom (שָׁלוֹם), generally translated as ‘peace.’[5]
In Christianity, salvation (also called deliverance or redemption) is the “saving [of] human beings from sin and its consequences, which include death and separation from God” by Christ’s death and resurrection,[1][a] and the justification following this salvation.
While the idea of Jesus’ death as an atonement for human sin was recorded in the Christian Bible, and was elaborated in Paul’s epistles and in the Gospels, Paul saw the faithful redeemed by participation in Jesus’ death and rising. Early Christians regarded themselves as partaking in a new covenant with God, open to both Jews and Gentiles, through the sacrificial death and subsequent exaltation of Jesus Christ. Early Christian notions of the person and sacrificial role of Jesus in human salvation were further elaborated by the Church Fathers, medieval writers and modern scholars in various atonement theories, such as the ransom theory, Christus Victor theory, recapitulation theory, satisfaction theory, penal substitution theory and moral influence theory.
Variant views on salvation (soteriology) are among the main fault lines dividing the various Christian denominations, including conflicting definitions of sin and depravity (the sinful nature of mankind), justification (God’s means of removing the consequences of sin), and atonement (the forgiving or pardoning of sin through the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus).
Just realizing this is just the tip of a HUGE icebreaker.
Here’s to the relevance of reconciliation each and every day!
b