ABSTRACT
Atonement develops old testament sacrificial motifs whilst evoking a spirituality of repentance and an ethics of obedience conducing to ultimate exaltation. Atonement brings resurrection, permitting the reuniting of spirit and body ready for judgement and future destiny. In the plan of salvation Jesus is the saviour, yet this very term was not restricted to him as is evident in references to dedicated Mormons as ‘saviours in Zion’. Similarly, the ethos of eternal priesthood-optimism follows from atonement and the removal of original guilt. Jesus accomplishes the goal of exaltation through collaboration with other priesthood holders in a discourse of collaboration untypical of most protestant grammars of salvation, which prefer to emphasize Jesus as perfecting humanity’s salvation through his passion, death, and resurrection. Atonement was achieved through suffering, and it was when ‘the atoning agonies had taken their toll’ and ‘the victory had been won’ that ‘the peace and comfort of a merciful death’ set Jesus free from mortality.
