ABSTRACT
This chapter begins a series of discussions in which we turn our attention to questions operating in the background of different explanations of Christ’s work. While the foregoing chapters set up the notion of forgiveness with which atonement is concerned, this chapter attends more directly to the question of the problem of sin—i.e., a problem with several dimensions. First, there is the familiar understanding of sin as a problem for individual agents, which includes various aspects of guilt for sin along with the problem of one’s ongoing relationship to the sinful actions one has performed in the past. We then turn to consider the problem of divisions between humans at a corporate level, which includes not only familiar issues of systemic injustice but also a particular issue addressed by Christ’s work, namely the relationship between Jews and Gentiles and how that relationship is altered by Christ’s death and sacrifice. And last, we turn to consider how scripture treats groups, such as the nation of Israel, as real group agents that exist and bear responsibilities that are not reducible to the responsibilities of the group members.
