Last night in our men's group one of our guys posed a question that really got me thinking. He said he had always been taught that atonement was an Old Testament idea and propitiation was a New Testament idea. His conclusion from this was that atonement is not a strong enough word to explain what Jesus did for us and that propitiation better encapsulates what our Savior did. I had never really thought of the differences between atonement and propitiation, so this made me think. This was one of those questions that I definitely had to use the "let me get back to you on this one" answer. So after doing some research, here is what I have found.
First, when dealing with theological terms like this it is very important to define them. Atonement can be defined as the means of reconciliation between God and people, or another source has defined it as God and man are brought together in personal relationship. Propitiation means turning away of anger by the offering of a gift.
Second, when dealing with words like these it is important know the history. Atonement comes from the English language and originally conveyed a legal sense of two parties being made right with each other. Propitiation comes from the Greek language and usually related to appeasing the gods in pagan cultures.
Third, how are the words used in scripture? Now we come to some translation issues at this point. Since atonement is an English word, we should not expect it to come directly from the Hebrew or Greek original texts of scripture. Since propitiation is a Greek term we should not expect to find it in the Hebrew Old Testament. We do find the term atonement used frequently in English translations of the Old Testament, especially in the law sections. It is frequently being used to translate a word that could be used to mean more literally "covering" or "wipe out". So our translators have understood these Old Testaments laws referring to sacrifices covering sin guilt as being atonement. Which is a fair translation. We do not see propitiation used in the Old Testament. We definitely can see the need for the turning away of the wrath of God, and it is clear that is only possible by a sacrificial gift. So while the word isn't there, the concept is.
Now on to the New Testament. Propitiation does show up 4 times in the New Testament coming directly from its Greek equivalent. Atonement not having a direct correlation to a Greek word can be said to not be found in the New Testament. However several translations have found that it was the best word to use for conveying the idea of a passage. This takes us into different styles and kinds of translations. Some translations take a very word for word approach where they try to stick to the original text as closely as possible and supply the English word in the place of the Greek or Hebrew word. Other translations use a more thought for thought approach. Examples for these would be the NASB or ESV for word for word, and NIV84 or New Living for thought for thought. For comparison let's look at a few New Testament verses that a thought for thought approach has used the word atonement while a word for word approach has not.
Romans 3:25
"God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished." (NIV1984)
"Whom God put forward as a propitiation by his own blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins." (ESV)
Hebrews 2:17
"For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people." (NIV1984)
"Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people." (ESV)
1 John 2:2
"He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world." (NIV1984)
"He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world." (ESV)
1 John 4:10
"This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." (NIV1984)
"In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." (ESV)
So we can see that the more thought for thought translations have taken an approach that atonement can basically be used to translate the Greek idea of propitiation where as the word for word translations use the word propitiation itself. It is also interesting that in translating Rom 5:11 the KJV used the word atonement in the place of the word reconciliation.
So where does this leave us? Can we say that Christ is our atonement? Can we say that Christ is our propitiation? Is atonement too weak of a word to fully grasp what Christ did and does for us? My answer is this. If you simply see atonement as being a covering over sin, then yeah that is probably lacking from fully grasping what Christ did for us in the Gospel. Equally if you only see what Christ did as turning back the wrath of God, then yeah that is probably lacking from fully grasping what Christ did for us in the Gospel. What if we put both of these definitions together to try to explain and better understand what Christ did for us? Christ is the means of reconciliation between God and people because he can turn away the wrath of God by the gift that he offered.
In Closing, what did Christ offer? He offered his sinless self as a sacrifice in our place. He died on a cross, was buried, rose again, and appeared to many witnesses. Why did he do this? For us to have a right relationship with God, our sin had to be covered. A sacrifice had to be made. Or else, the wrath of God would be required on our sin. So Jesus came as the sinless sacrifice to pay our debt to make us right with God. So can we say that he is our atonement and propitiation? Absolutely! We can also say that he is our means of reconciliation, justification, sanctification, and glorification.
Leave a comment and tell me what words you would use to describe who Jesus is and what he has done!
D. Brockway, “Atonement,” ed. John D. Barry et al., The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016).
Robert W. Lyon and Peter Toon, “Atonement,” Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1988), 231.
