Christians: Does the Atonement affect all mankind equally or just those who came after Christ?

An in depth analysis would suggest that Adam and Eve together committed the first transgression of the only true Law in their time "You shall not eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil - that is in the middle of Eden".

The word sin in and of its self has nothing to do with morality as many are falsely taught. Sin in a synonym for crime. Crime simply means to violate a Law, which has nothing to do with morality as we can clearly see by many of the wildly unjust laws in the world today.

Christianity is an offspring of Judaism.

According to Judaism a fine must be paid if a law is broken.

In the case of Adam and Eve, the penalty was eternal death and damnation for them and all of their descendants unless a fine was paid. In other words a sacrifice. The sacrifice had to be perfect, Adam and Eve were guilty of breaking the only law that has every really existed.

There is only the one law - "You shall not eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil - that is in the middle of Eden".

There are two ways to pay for breaking it, that is to live once, and then die as though you never existed. Or make a perfect sacrifice.

There was only one acceptable payment for the breaking of this one law, that was the voluntary blood sacrifice of the life of a human being that was not under the curse of Adam's bloodline. Which made it necessary for God himself to be the father of the Messiah.

So one may ask why a human mother? Because Eve was deceived by the serpent through lies and Adam had full understanding that what he was doing was against the only rule he had been given to follow.

When this is fully understood it becomes clear that there was just one sin, and it was commited by Adam during the violation of just that one law, and the debt was paid in full by Jesus Christ with just one sacrifice...

Jesus ether died for the sins of the world or He did not.

As an agnostic all I can tell you about Christianity is that it is a remarkably simple philosophy that clearly shows people should be good to each other, and not judge each other for shortcomings, but rather have empathy for our fellow human beings when they do things that hurt themselves or others - knowing none of us are perfect.

In the New Testament Paul says "we have perfect liberty" Essentially what that means before God, is that you are not able to screw up. God has forgiven Adam's original sin, which removed the curse of the Law from all humanity for all time .

Human beings however ( religious or not) many times will judge you and they will even kill you in the name of God and not stop for one second to consider their own behavior in the same light.

All sins have already been forgiven. By contrast the dogma of religion that demands things like remorse, and shame, obedience or confession is the work of evil people who have perverted the only true Christian premises, which is total Grace... which should only have led to peace of mind, hope, for humanity - but instead it has been twisted into horrible vehicle that was used to create epic suffering, shame and death to more than a hundred million people in just under 2,000 years.

Well think of it this way, if it wasnt an all encompassing act, forward and backward, why would God have bothered with the people before Christ? Given commandments? Called prophets like Moses and Noah? There would be no point right?

I think some people look at things from a very human-perspective instead of an eternal perspective. Some of those people before Christ may still be waiting for resurrection, but they will have it. We are shown in the Bible that some have it early and some will have to wait due to their choices while alive.

God gave laws before Christ. Those who followed them, fulfilled what God asked of them. How then, can they NOT benefit from the promises God attached to those laws and covenants???

Technically the entire Christian church is the representative of Christ on earth, according to Jesus, himself. Regarding the pope, I don't really think it can be supported scripturally, but I'd like to see the scriptures that Catholics themselves present as the reason for having a pope, because I'm not sure what the Catholics think is the scriptural justification. That being said, it doesn't really matter to me if they have a pope. Every organization has to have someone in charge. The Church of England has the Archbishop of Canterbury, for example. _________________ @Tyler: While I agree the verse you cited MIGHT be the evidence for PETER being the pope, it does not support the idea of a continuous line of other popes....and there is no historical evidence that Peter handed the authority to the next person, as Jesus had given to him. Just saying.

Jesus atoned for all, throughout the ages.

You know that the law of sacrifice was instituted from the time that Adam was sent to this world, sinned, and fell from God's presence.

Abraham was promised that the Messiah would come from his lineage. Isaiah prophesied of the coming Messiah.

So it should be expected that those believers in the coming Messiah understood that they would be redeemed from their sins because of His gift.

The atonement IS a gift: It is available to all who have lived and all who will ever live. However, the good that it does in our lives depends upon whether we open that gift and use it, and are grateful for it, or if we set it on the shelf, or if we flatly refuse it.

Jesus 'atoned" or paid for the sins of the whole world. THE saints who believed God prior to Jesus' death and resurrection had the opportunity to believe ON HIM when Jesus went to Paradise, which is Abraham's bossom( this is where the saints went before christ, they went there because they could not go to heaven, because they still had the stain of sin, animals could not pardon their sins like the blood of God could, Jesus blood is once and for all time.) Jesus preached to the saints while he was there for three days, once they believed ON HIM they could proceed to heaven. Paradise is a cool place in hell, towards the center of the earth. Heaven is beyond the atmosphere. THERE it is

Having read the other posts here, Jesus paid for the sins of everyone. He paid for those who would go to hell and the saint of course. Jesus did not "take on everyones personal sins" When people believe on the Lord Jesus Christ that person dies on the cross and becomes a new creature is Christ Jesus. This is a faith issue. It requires a person to believe in what Jesus did and then a contract happens. ONCE you die you cannot die again. If you could die again you would not be in Christ. The fact that you will stop breathing one day is not a sign that you have been alive after believing. It is a FAITH issue,,

All i care about is the truth. The atonement is for everyone, not just those born after Christ. Honestly, I really don't care what other religions believe since they are wrong.

I don't understand why you ask something like this. You are just asking for nasty comments by ignorant people that hate us. They'll make insulting bashing statements in spite of your warning. They'd rather make the rants since reports to YA have little affect. (My opinion/experience. I've seen REALLY offensive statements get the best answer!)

Since we are not saved by anything we do but soley through God's Grace, Jesus having paid the price of sin for us, it would therefore mean that ALL are atoned for. It says in the Bible that Christ died for ALL mankind. So everyone, before and after Jesus died, are saved from having to pay for their being born into sin.

There are many that believe atonement can only be had by those who came after Christ. Look at Catholicism or churches that require baptism, for example.

The Atonement is for all sins; past, present, and future. It is for all humans; past, present and future.

Jesus didn't come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it (Matthew 5:17). Therefore the Ten Commandments are still relevant and we should still strive to live by them.

This is what the Christian Church I attend teaches and this is what I believe.

Margaret Barker has been doing research into this question and others. She is a Methodist who is convinced that Jesus was restoring the doctrines of the 1st Temple period, before the Deuteronomic Reform. Before the reform, there were more references to the Lord as the Son of God, and more traditions concerning his role in coming to earth. There were Jews who looked forward to his sacrifice, knowing that it was through his coming sacrifice that they would receive a remittance of their sins.