ATONEMENT AND FORGIVENESS For people soiled by sin and hence unworthy to enter the presence of God, or corrupted by evil deeds and hence unable to realize their true inner nature, an essential prerequisite for salvation is the forgiveness of sins. The experience of divine forgiveness and pardon is universal, reaching to supplicants in all the world's religions. The opening passages express God's forgiving nature; it is ever God's desire to forgive. The next few passages treat the idea of atonement; some expiation must be made for sin, either by a Savior, or by a priest, or by the supplicant's own acts of penance and devotion. Several texts discuss the cleansing of sin. We conclude with passages which emphasize the magnitude of divine forgiveness, which can encompass even the most gargantuan evils. Some passages suggest that God even desired sin or favors sinners in order that He may demonstrate His gracious and forgiving nature. I, I am He who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins. Judaism and Christianity. Bible, Isaiah 43.25 All evil effects of deeds are destroyed, when He who is both personal and impersonal is realized. Hinduism. Mundaka Upanishad 2.2.9 Say, "If you love God, follow me, and God will love you, and forgive you all your sins; God is All-forgiving, All-compassionate." Islam. Qur'an 3.31 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace which he lavished upon us. Christianity. Bible, Ephesians 1.7-8 - - - - - - - - - - - - Isaiah 43.25: Cf. Isaiah 1.16-20, p. 729. Ephesians 1.7-8: This passage speaks of the blood of Christ, shed on the cross for the forgiveness of sins. Cf. Romans 3.23-25, p. 506, Hebrews 9.11-14, below; John 1.29, p. 636; 1 Corinthians 11.23-25, p. 851. - - - - - - - - - - - - Say, "O my Servants who have transgressed against their souls! Despair not of the mercy of God: for God forgives all sins: for He is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful." Islam. Qur'an 39.53 Let every person ask pardon of the Great Light Asis, The Molder of us all. African Traditional Religions. Kipsigis Tradition (Kenya) If we have sinned against the man who loves us, have wronged a brother, a dear friend, or a comrade, the neighbor of long standing or a stranger, remove from us this stain, O King Varuna. Hinduism. Rig Veda 5.85.7 Though a man be soiled with the sins of a lifetime, let him but love me, rightly resolved, in utter devotion. I see no sinner, that man is holy. Holiness soon shall refashion his nature to peace eternal. O son of Kunti, of this be certain: the man who loves me shall not perish. Hinduism. Bhagavad Gita 9.30-31 Anyone that is fallen into the grip of lust, wrath, or attachment, Attached to stingy greed, Guilty of the four cardinal sins and evils, And demonic sins like murder; Who never has attended to scriptures, holy music, or sacred verse-- By contemplation of the Supreme Being, With a moment's remembrance of God shall he be saved. Sikhism. Adi Granth, Sri Raga, M.5, p. 70 Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. Judaism and Christianity. Bible, Psalms 51.9-10 Shining brightly, Agni, drive away our sin, and shine wealth on us. Shining bright, drive away our sin. For good fields, for good homes, for wealth, we made our offerings to Thee. Shining bright, drive away our sin.... So that Agni's conquering beams may spread out on every side, Shining bright, drive away our sin. Thy face is turned on every side, Thou pervadest everywhere. Shining bright, drive away our sin. Hinduism. Rig Veda 1.97.1-6 Of the sin against the gods Thou art atonement; Of the sin against men Thou art atonement; Of the sin against myself Thou art atonement; Of every kind of sin Thou art atonement. The sin that I have committed knowingly, and that I have committed unawares, Of all sins Thou art atonement. Hinduism. Yajur Veda 8.13 Let him utter the name, Buddha Amitayus. Let him do so serenely with his voice uninterrupted; let him be continually thinking of Buddha until he has completed ten times the thought, repeating, "Adoration to Buddha Amitayus." On the strength of [his merit of] uttering the Buddha's name he will, during every repetition, expiate the sins which involve him in births and deaths during eighty million kalpas. Buddhism. Meditation on Buddha Amitayus 3.30 Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering for himself, and shall make atonement for himself and for his house. Then he shall take the two goats, and set them before the Lord at the door of the tent of meeting; and Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for Azazel. And Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for the Lord, and offer it as a sin offering; but the goat on which the lot fell for Azazel shall be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement over it.... He shall kill the goat of the sin offering which is for the people, and bring its blood within the veil, and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat and before the mercy seat; thus he shall make atonement for the holy place, because of the uncleannesses of the people of Israel.... And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins; and he shall put them upon the head of the goat, and send him away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness. The goat shall bear all their iniquities upon him to a solitary land.... And it shall be a statute to you for ever that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month... on this day shall atonement be made for you, to cleanse you; from all your sins you shall be clean before the Lord. Judaism. Bible, Leviticus 16.6-30 - - - - - - - - - - - - Qur'an 39.53: Cf. Qur'an 26.77-82, p. 137; 40.55, p. 743. Kipsigis Tradition: Cf. p. 906. Rig Veda 5.85.7: Cf. Rig Veda 7.86.2-5, p. 904 and note. Bhagavad Gita 9.30-31: Cf. Bhagavad Gita 18.66, p. 770; Srimad Bhagavatam 6.1, p. 909. Sri Raga, M.5: On the four cardinal sins, cf. Chandogya Upanishad 5.10.9, p. 463. Cf. Slok Vadhik, M.3, p. 904. Rig Veda 1.97: This is a litany for the fire ritual. Agni, deity embodied in fire, symbolically burns away sin and mental pollution through the ritual fire. Rig Veda 1.97.1-6: Cf. Rig Veda 10.9.8-9, p. 854. Meditation on Buddha Amitayus: In Pure Land Buddhism, compassion reaches to the nethermost hells! The grace of Buddha Amitayus, the Buddha of Infinite Life, or Buddha Amitabha (Jap. Amida), the Buddha of Infinite Light (who are one in the same), is sufficient to save even the most reprobate sinner. In the Amida Buddha's original vow, he pledged to save all sentient beings who would repeat his name ten times; see Larger Sukhavativyuha Sutra 8.18, p. 639. Leviticus 16.6-30: This is the ancient ritual for the Day of Atonement. The Bible prescribes that the high priest (Aaron) purify the altar and holy place with blood from the bull and goat which are sacrificed, and that the sins of the congregation be placed upon the head of a remaining goat (the 'scapegoat') who is led into the wilderness. In modern Judaism the Day of Atonement is observed with solemn fasting and the "sacrifice of prayer" which replace this archaic ritual. Cf. Menahot 110a, pp. 864f. Hebrews 9.11-14: This passage compares the sacrifice of Christ, who shed his blood on the cross for the forgiveness of sins, with the above ritual of the Day of Atonement. It emphasizes that Christ's sacrifice was 'once and for all,' 'securing an eternal redemption,' while the atoning rites of the Old Testament were only temporary and had to be repeated every year. Since Hebrews was written after the Temple had been destroyed (in 70