Understanding atonement
Lent 2024 – Part 10, Scapegoat theory
This Lent, I reflect deeply on the profound significance of Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection, exploring the various theories embraced or historically cherished by Christian churches. This journey reveals a rich tapestry of beliefs and interpretations. It’s important to acknowledge that there is more than a single perspective, and for those who have engaged in discussions about them, there are way more than the two you have argued over.
Changing what you believe about atonement is not denying Jesus. The gospel is not a description of how Jesus’ death (and resurrection, ascension, and enthronement) rescues the world, but that it does so. The gospel is not a theory or advice, it is news.
The Scapegoat in the Old Testament
On the Day of Atonement, two goats were joyfully selected, one to be offered in devotion as a sacrifice to God and the other as the scapegoat. Lots were cast to determine which goat would carry this important role, and the people’s sins were placed on the scapegoat before it was released into the wilderness, symbolizing the uplifting hope of a fresh start and the people’s sins being joyfully taken away. Joyful for everyone except the goats.
21 And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins. And he shall put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness. 22 The goat shall bear all their iniquities on itself to a remote area, and he shall let the goat go free in the wilderness.
Leviticus 16:21-22, ESVUK
Scapegoating in society
Scapegoating is an insidious practice where individuals are unjustly accused of the failures of others. In our contemporary age, we find ourselves grappling with the profound insights of the Mimetic Theory, pioneered by the brilliant mind of René Girard, an anthropologist, not a theologian, in the 1970s. His groundbreaking concept reveals that the roots of violence and conflict lie in our insatiable desires, as we endlessly mimic one another’s aspirations, spiralling into rivalry and discord. We yearn for those alluring products we encounter in advertising, seduced by their crafted desirability. Yet, we encounter formidable barriers, such as financial limitations that keep those dreams just out of reach. This breeds discord within us, pitting individuals against one another in the relentless struggle for acceptance and identity, as societal expectations clash with our personal desires.
By the early 1980s, the theory evolved to reveal that societies frequently confront their internal conflicts by vilifying a particular individual or group, mercilessly assigning them blame and punishment for the woes afflicting the community. This scapegoat becomes the target of collective ire, an unfortunate soul selected often without reason, and when they are cast aside—often through brutal means—an illusory peace blankets the community for a fleeting moment.
Scapegoat theory of atonement
Girard had a profound conversion experience in the 1950s while immersing himself in the Gospels, which led him to embrace Catholicism once again. For him, the death of Jesus Christ transcended the notion of scapegoating; he believed that the Christian concept of the Lamb of God beautifully symbolizes a rejection of the scapegoat mechanism, offering a message of hope and redemption.
In the Gospels, we see Jesus Christ on the cross absorbing all the internal and external conflicts of the communities. But it is not God who does the scapegoating because God is not violent, he is on the side of the victims of scapegoating. Christ was then vindicated by his resurrection, thus fully exposing our scapegoating tendencies for what they really are.
But we are not saved by a sacrifice: people have been trying to achieve that from time immemorial. We are saved from sacrifice. We are saved from the very idea that the answer to bad violence is good violence, which we see never-endingly played out in global politics (and Hollywood) to this day.
Making an ass of myself 