Atonement in Paul s Theology: Criticism of the Religious Scholars

Atonement has been considered as one of the basic teachings of Paul, which is elaborated mostly in Galatians and Romans. This fundamental teaching gradually took an integrated shape and became an essential part of Anselm and Aquina’s thoughts. In the modern period, changes in theological views and considering Paul as the interpreter and second founder of Christianity has made the contemporary thinkers to reconsider the issue. In fact, after the formation of historical criticism and demythologizing, atonement as a fundamental teaching was reconsidered by Christian thinkers. The present study tries to deal with the views of contemporary theologians with historical critical approach, such as Thomas Micheal, Philip Queen and Micheal Golder. Beside these theologians, the views of some contemporary Muslim thinkers such as cAllāmeh Tabāãabā’Ê and Rashid Reza, who have direct refrence to Christian texts, is also considered.