The almost wholesale belief within the church of substitutionary atonement is a remarkable testimony to the absence of spiritual insight within this supposedly august body. Substitutionary atonement is by definition impossible it is a non sequitur, for the entire purpose of atonement is to restore unity to a broken relationship. Vicarious suffering, though a noble gesture, is pointless if the desired goal is at-one-ment, which is what atonement actually means. If, however, the desired goal of theological speculation is to achieve an understanding of how one can feel forgiven in the face of a justifiably angry God then vicarious sacrifice for divine appeasement just might fit the bill. In fact it appears to be just the ticket, for the church has grabbed hold of it with universal enthusiasm. But if your desire is to know the Father, to be one with the Father in unity with the Son, then a vicarious sacrifice is nonsensical. The reason it is nonsensical is that the entire Christian message is that we have been redeemed not from the punishment of sin so much as from its power. We have been made alive together with Him.