Posted by:
caffiend
(
)
Date: April 21, 2014 03:38AM
The propitiation of Christ ("blood atonement") is not easy to summarize succinctly. Coming out of Mormonism further complicates things, because you've been involved in a works-based doctrine with very odd tangents like a finite, physical deity, and the "blood atonement" doctrine regarding murderers.
I'd suggest a simple reading of portions of the N.T. and just let the text teach you. Consider Luke's gospel, which is the longest and has a good balance of Christ's teachings, history, and demonstrates his outreach to the poor, the gentiles (non-Jews, especially Greeks), women, lepers and cripples--people regarded as being outside the pale of elite spirituality back then.
I'll just say that we finite humans, limited by our mortality and gross imperfections (sins) cannot work, earn, or think our way to an infinite, perfect, eternal God. That help is provided by Jesus. Sometimes this is called a "sin debt," which we cannot, by ourselves, pay. I realize that on the surface payment by blood is a weird concept, but Paul explains it (partially), "The wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6.23).
In my post above, I said that Christianity does the best job at connecting the dots. This does not make the picture a detailed oil painting, but it does pull temporal-spiritual things together into an understandable pattern. TSCC tells you to put things you don't like or understand "on the shelf." I say, keep reading and asking. There's an eternity ahead; as C.S. Lewis said, "You have never met a mere mortal."
I recommend the ESV Study Bible: very readable, good scholarship, study notes, maps & illustrations. Consider checking out the books I mentioned in my post, above. Also, "Mere Christianity" by C.S. Lewis--once an atheist himself.