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

Atonement Theory and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
This page is still under construction. We welcome any suggestions for improving the content of this FAIR Answers Wiki page.

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.[1]

The requirements for a theory of Atonement are outlined in scripture.

  1. Christ's Atonement is said to "ransom" us (Matthew 20:28; Mark 10:45; 1 Timothy 2:6)
  2. 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).
  3. 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).
  4. 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).
  5. Christ's Atonement is sufficient to cover those that do not have the law and those that die before the age of accountability (Moroni 8:20–22).
  6. 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) and bring about our salvation (Helaman 14:15).
  7. The Atonement delivers humanity from "that awful monster, death and hell"; from "the devil, and death, and hell" (2 Nephi 9:10,19)
  8. 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).
  9. The Atonement allows 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).
  10. The Atonement cannot declare Christ "guilty" or punish him for our sins (Alma 34:11).
  11. The Atonement ended the practice of offering sacrifice and burnt offerings for sin (3 Nephi 9:19)
Notes (click to expand)
Back to Top
  1. ↑ 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), 341–57.
Retrieved from "https://www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/answers/index.php?title=Atonement_Theory_and_The_Church_of_Jesus_Christ_of_Latter-day_Saints&oldid=265850"