Atonement

Hilasmos (propitiation, expiation) is the New Testament word for Christ's atoning work (1 John 2:2, 4:10). Orthodox theology interprets the atonement primarily as healing and restoration rather than legal satisfaction: Christ's death heals the wound of sin, destroys the power of death, and unites humanity to God. The Western penal substitution model (God's justice requires punishment; Christ absorbs it) is not the dominant Orthodox framework. The emphasis falls on the Resurrection as the victory over death rather than the Cross as legal transaction.