These sample phrases are automatically selected from various online information sources to reflect the current use of the word “atonement.” The views expressed in the examples do not represent the views of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us your feedback. The Church taught that the world was evil, that life here was atonement, that heaven was the true dwelling place of the soul. But the law is at best an imperfect instrument of sorrow and atonement. Britannica.com: Encyclopedia Article on the Nglish Atonement: Translating the Atonement for Spanish Speakers If you have ever tried to make amends for something you have done wrong, then understand the concept of atonement. The idea of atonement extends to all religions, from Judaism`s Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) to perhaps the most famous example of atonement, the Christian teaching of Christ dying to absolve the sins of the world. You certainly don`t have to be religious to seek atonement. People who commit crimes and even small mistakes seek atonement every day. I felt the secret certainty that He was no longer in a place of atonement, even though I stopped praying for Him.
The poem, titled The Outcast, expresses this sense of mysterious remorse and endless and unnecessary atonement. The act of atonement is a way to atone for something you have done wrong. It was originally used in a religious context, with atonement, because a person could obtain forgiveness from a god. Even the priests of the false gods, horrified by his crimes, exclaimed: There is no atonement for such acts. It was an uphill struggle for Luther to abandon medieval ideas about self-atonement.