In my last post I suggested that a good way to look at the consequences of Adam and Eve's first sin is to see it as 'the rupture,' sketching how the curse of Genesis 3 makes sense when viewed as a frustration of a variety of relationships; that between a person and God, between fellow human beings, and between people and the cosmos. Danny wisely asked me to tease out the theological implications of this line of reasoning, and I will hit some of the major implications below. The biggest implication is that it slightly refocuses and broadens our understanding of the atonement, because of the change in our understanding of what most needs fixing as a result of the first sin. Cole has aptly titled his book. The divine project is to bring shalom. Thus, I don't think that satisfaction is the chief end of the atonement. I think that often too much stress is paid on Jesus paying the penalty for our sins on the cross (I'm not saying this isn't important or that he didn...