Atonement

RECOVERING BIBLICAL AT-ONE-MENT : M.
M. M. NINAN
In myths, those who are collectively executed are presented as monstrous culprits that deserve to be
punished. In the Bible, those who are collectively executed are presented as innocent victims that are
unfairly accused and persecuted.
The Bible is a remarkably subversive text, inasmuch as it shatters the scapegoating foundations of
culture. Girard understands this as a complementary approach to the defense of victims. The prophets
promote a new concept of the divinity: God is no longer pleased with ritual violence. This is evocative
of Hosea’s plea from God: “I want mercy, not sacrifices”. Thus, the Hebrew Bible takes a twofold
reversal of culture’s violent foundation: on the one hand, it begins to present the foundational stories
from the perspective of the victims; on the other hand, it begins to present a God that is not satisfied
with violence and, therefore, begins to dissociate the sacred from the violent.
The Passion story is central in the New Testament, and it is the complete reversal of traditional myth’s
structure. Amidst a huge social crisis, a victim (Jesus) is persecuted, blamed of some fault, and
executed. Even the apostles succumb to the collective pressure and abandon Jesus, tacitly becoming
part of the scapegoating crowd. This is emblematic in the story of Peter’s denial of Jesus.
Nevertheless, the evangelists never succumb to the collective pressure of the scapegoating mob. The
evangelists adhere to Jesus’ innocence throughout the whole story. Alas, Jesus is finally recognized
as what he really is: an innocent scapegoat, the Lamb of God that was taken to the slaughterhouse,
although no fault was in him. According to Girard, this is the completion of a slow process begun in the
Hebrew Bible. Once and for all, the New Testament reverses the violent psychosocial mechanism
upon which human culture has been founded.
Under Girard’s interpretation, humanity has achieved social peace by performing violent acts of
scapegoating. Jesus’ solution is much more radical and efficient: to turn the other cheek, to abstain
from violent retribution. Scapegoating is not an efficient means to bring about peace, as it always
depends on the periodic repetition of the mechanism. The real solution is in the total withdrawal from
violence, and that is the bulk of Jesus’ message.
God himself incarnates in the person of Jesus, in order to become himself a victim. Thus, God is so far
removed from aggressors and scapegoaters, He himself becomes a victim in order to show humanity
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