The Travail of God

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Discussion of the doctrine of atonement in recent years has drawn attention to the metaphorical nature of the traditional language of atonement. Justice, victory and sacrifice are metaphors used extensively in the tradition to bear witness to the atoning death of Jesus Christ. This article considers whether there might be other metaphors also capable of serving the theological cause of witness to Christ's death. In particular it considers the metaphor of travail, and finds in the scriptures of both Old and New Testaments considerable warrant for speaking of the atonement in this way.