First, a trace of history. Before religion was organized, burning carcasses to God had become a ritual. It was a logical extension of cooking meat on an open fire, which is how the primitives did it.

So after God got religion rolling, he accepted the practice of offering animals on an altar, but he often said that it was not the best way to worship*; and he gradually raised the standard. First he created Ten Commandments, and then he taught the details of moral responsibilities through Christ.

Now consider this analogy. Some parents (the Joneses) want to teach their kids responsibilities. They have three kids: a 15 year old, an 8 year old and a 3 year old. Every morning at 8 am the kids are supposed to clean their bedroom. The 15 year old has the primary responsibility including sweeping the floor and whatever else needs to be done. The 8 year old is supposed to pick up dirty close. The 3 year old picks up a piece of paper which was placed on the floor and throws it in the garbage. It wastes a piece of paper each day, but the task is symbolic.

The task of the 3 year old is analogous to atonement; the task of the 8 year old is analogous to the Ten Commandments; and the task of the 15 year old is analogous to Christ's teaching of moral responsibilities.

Now there is a professor Finkledim, who heads the Advanced Institute for Child Behavior and Prognosis. He has never seen the Jones family, but he hears about the 3 year old and decides that his task is just the way to teach kids responsibilities. So he writes a book on it. Half of the parents in the country take his advice and have their kids pick up a piece of paper each morning.

Without the other tasks, the kids only learn how to waste paper instead of how to clean a room.

You see, the religion was supposed to have advanced far beyond atonement. For Paul to relate Christianity to atonement is to erase what Christ taught about moral responsibilities. It places all of the responsibilities with God instead of the individuals. The word "reconciliation" is usually used with atonement, and it means that God changes instead of the individuals changing.

(Isaiah 1:11) (Hosea 6:6) (Psalm 50:8-15) (Mat 9:13, 12:7) (Mark 12:33)