The Atonement: Its Meaning and Significance

by Leon L. Morris

Why is the cross the crux of Christianity? What are the meaning and significance of the atomement? The Bible uses a host of terms to illuminate the answers to these questions: covenant, sacrifice, the Day of Atonement, Passover, redemption, reconciliation, propitiation, justification. In plain English Leon Morris explains each of these words, thus opening up for students, pastors and teachers the fuller biblical dimension of God's great salvation.

Genres: Theology, Christian, Christianity, Biblical Studies, Religion, Nonfiction

219 pages, Paperback

First published April 6, 1984

Reviews

[Maryeet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honestly, this is now one of my favorite books. Morris does a phenomenal job explaining the meaning of Christ’s crucifixion and the different words pertaining to this topic. 10/10 recommend and think everyone should read this book!!

[Jeremiah P · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is good reading for those with an interest in atonement. It's basically a Bible study (which is not to say that Morris' theological commitments don't show themselves). This book could serve as inoculation against reductionistic/revisionist Atonement theories that sound good but don't correspond to Scripture.

I especially enjoyed the description of the Day of Atonement based largely on the Mishnah.

[richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Atonement: Its Meaning and Significance - Leon Morris ⭐⭐⭐⭐

This was a good read, I like the writer Leon Morris and how he makes very complicated subjects and terms easier to understand.

This book is very good in understanding the Atonement of the death of Jesus Christ and what that means and it's implications for the believer.

Chapters go into details outlining the meaning of important biblical themes and terms such as:

Covenant
Sacrifice
The Day of Atonement
The Passover
Redemption
Reconciliation
Propitiation
Justification

All these are difficult concepts to understand but with the help of the author they are made clear and helps us to understand just what they mean, and it helps us to understand better just what happened there on the Cross. I recommend this book to anyone looking to go deeper in their understanding of the Christian faith, who wants to actually know How we are made right with God and just what was involved.

[Jonathan Caldwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love much of Leon Morris's material and this is no exception. It is a study of the various metaphors used to describe how God achieved our salvation: redemption, sacrifice, propitiation, etc. For the most part, it is written at the lay level but some subjects get a little more technical (cf. propitiation requires some lexical work and debate). There was nothing earth shattering, but it is solid, biblical information about the salvation we have in Jesus Christ. It should certainly be on your bookshelf.

[Just a Girl Fighting Censorship · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic read if you want to really dig into the specifics of what it means to be "saved". I especially loved the chapters that explored different Hebrew sacrifices (Day of Atonement, Passover). These chapters provided context that is invaluable for understanding what sacrifice means in the New Testament.

[Bree (booknblooms) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Went through this book amongst my co-workers and it was super helpful to discuss the content. It is a very heavy book - not for the faint of heart. I think I struggled most with the grammatical arguments as I am not familiar with Greek or Hebrew. But I would still recommend it to anyone who wants to understand the Old Testament deeper.

[Stinger · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is certainly a worthwhile look into the various themes of the atonement. It doesn't propose an atonement theory; rather, it explores Biblical loci of the atonement.

[Jason Reyes · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite books by Leon Morris!

[Matt Moran · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent study.

[Steven Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful overview of aspects of the atonement.

[Wade · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written at more of a seminary, or post-seminary level; this is an excellent overview of the theology of what Christ accomplished to make us "at one" with Him through the at-one-ment.

[I. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Detailed and covering all bases while still being approachable and a fairly easy read. Deserving of meditation and reflection.

[Joel Newberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good survey of the biblical and cultural implications undergirding the atonement. It does a good job of tracing the elements from the Old Testament roots into Jewish culture and into the New Testament implications. I wish there were more tones of covenant discussed in this book; however, I understand the nature of lightly touching on it - for a person to do it justice would make this excellent shorter book a much more lengthy and inaccessible volume.

[Adam T. Calvert · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed Leon Morris' style in this book. He has a good way of relating on a popular level the different terms and phrases we find in our Bible that may otherwise not make much sense to us. He spends a chapter on each one of them:

Covenant
Sacrifice
The Day of Atonement
The Passover
Redemption
Reconciliation
Propitiation
Justification

If I could critique the book at all it would be that he mainly explained what the terms meant in the Old Testament and spent little time on how they relate to what Christ accomplished on the cross. Incidentally, when I got the book it was that very thing in which I was most interested. To get to that level I may have to acquire his more technical treatise, 'The Apostolic Preaching of the Cross,' which seems almost everywhere highly recommended.

Nonetheless, this book did have some very useful information and insight regarding those above key terms in understanding the Bible. And for that, I certainly intend to keep it as a handy reference.

[William Dicks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Morris shows us that the atonement is not just single faceted, but multifaceted. When we speak of justification, we are touching on one of the facets of the atonement. When we speak of propitiation, we touch on another facet.

Morris takes the following doctrines and shows how they make up a totality of the atonement:
- Covenant
- Sacrifice
- The Day of atonement
- Passover
- Redemption
- Reconciliation
- Propitiation
- Justification

By highlighting all these doctrines, Morris shows how the atonement has brought us to God in total salvation.

It is an easy book to read, and is suitable for many different audiences.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful book. Morris is biblically grounded as he explains the many nuances of the cross of Christ. He examines Covenant, Sacrifice, The Day of Atonement, The Passover, Redemption, Reconciliation, Propitiation, and Justification, explaining how each of them contribute to the way we view the cross. Theological at points, it still leaves the reader with a good understanding of what Jesus did for us, thus practically affecting the way we live.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you wonder what lies behind the meaning of words like “redemption”, “reconciliation” and “propitiation”? If you are curious about how the Passover, Day of Atonement, and the Mosaic sacrificial system all relate to Jesus’ work on the cross then I recommend The Atonement.

This book was used as a text for a seminary class. However, it is very readable given the depth of the topic and is best read slowly (chapter at a time).

[Stefan Wyper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book on the historicity of concepts like Justification, Propitiation, Reconciliation, Redemption, etc

The style is similar to Leon Morris' other works. He is a commentator so the study of each concept is comprehensive, yet sometimes dry!

Learned a lot from it and if your willing to put the time into it, you will very much enjoy it!

[Jeff Boettcher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good breakdown of the various aspects of Christ' atonement for Christians. I especially appreciated learning more about the extra biblical context of the words that are used to describe the atonement. My only knock against it is that for a book that is written about so deep a topic, I wish it was written with more doxology.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book contains great scholarship in very readable form. Morris gives just enough information to carefully explain the different aspects of the atonement while not becoming overly technical. It is an encouraging read and would also be helpful as a reference book.

[JoonHui · Rating 5 out of 5]

This work of Morris is superior in content. It provides sufficient knowledge for scholar and non-scholars. I could not have recommend any book if anyone wants to know more about the theology of atonement.

[Robert Scholl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enlightening

I have been reading books suggested by my pastor and that's what lead me to this book. There is a ton here and way more than I could possibly remember but it's really aided my understanding of "sacrifice"

[Jestin James · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gem of a book that addresses biblical concepts like: Redemption, Justification, Propitiation, Reconciliation. I took a while to complete it as it is not meant to be read at your leisure. A bit of heavy reading, but amazing nevertheless.

[Tyler Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books I've ever read on the Atonement. Morris is one of my favorite writers and his treatment of the atonement here is easy to access and yet very detailed. He takes a lot of great research and study and puts things into perspective in a way that is easy to understand.

[James Wheeler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic book! Clear explanation of classic theological terms from the old testament. This is a kind of discussion we need for better new testament understanding of atonement.

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

When used for teaching, I preferred this slightly over Cross of Christ (Stott), just because it's shorter and to the point.

[Talitha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This got a little too thorough at times. The discussion of OT sacrifice and use of terminology was especially helpful.

[Bill Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Theology is solid but the writing style is only fair.

[Neil Hoffman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good insights on important words related to what Jesus did on the cross. Helps us to get the full biblical picture rather than simply zeroing in on just one aspect.