Winter avers that it begins with reconciliation with God. To atone, one has to rebuild the relationship with God. This relationship has to be built on love, necessarily. And how does recompense for sin plays into all of this? By asking for forgiveness and recognizing the sin. Winter provides several examples from the gospels which leave no doubt about the recognition of wrongdoing and asking forgiveness. One example (of many) that illustrates this completely is the parable of the Prodigal Son. Here no compensation is required of the youngest son other than recognition of his abandoning his father and the associated contrition. Indeed, this ties in with Winter's earlier claim that for atonement to have occurred, it was not necessary that Jesus die a painful death -- despite claims that he bore the sum total of the burden of the sins of humanity.

Winter also addresses the obvious question: is...
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