Asingle theme runs throughout this book: atonement. This word is comparatively rare in contemporary English. In fact, many English-speaking people today do not even know what the word means. Its meaning begins to appear, however, when we divide the word up into its three syllables: at-one-ment. That is what atonement really means—that God and the sinner are brought into a relationship in which they are at one. A more common word today is reconciliation. Through the