ABSTRACT
Atonement “theories” have always been developed in conjunction with particular ways of construing the good life and the proper ordering of human action. Questions about the nature of human agency are significant in both the disciplines of cultural anthropology and in Christology, especially in relation to the doctrine of the atonement. As cultural anthropologists and theologians go about their work of making sense of our pursuit of the good life, they share several philosophical categories. Three pairs of concepts are especially relevant for this case study: particular and universal, law and order, and us and them. We begin with the controversial and influential work of cultural theorist Rene Girard, who has written extensively on the relation between dynamics of violence in myth and society and the Christian understanding of the atonement. The approach to reconstructing the doctrine of the atonement helps to clarify why Christians believe that the agency of Jesus Christ is good news.
