Fr. Patrick Henry Reardon seeks to address a theme that, in much of non-Orthodox Christianity, has been skewed and distorted: the atonement. For Fr. Pat, it's critical that the atonement isn't narrowed to the topic of our redemption by Christ's atoning death on the cross -- though that is clearly critical -- rather "atonement" is the only properly English word that approximates the Greek "theosis" or the Latin "deification." Thus "atonement", for Fr. Pat, encompasses the entirety of salvation in Christ, which is why it must begin with the Incarnation, which is the focus of this volume.

For that reason, many may find this volume to not really be about atonement, in the way it's normally understood and discussed. One suspects that in the second volume, on the passion and the cross, these expectations will be met. But the seemingly "off-topic" nature of this volume is precisely the point: the cross and atonement can't be approached before or apart from the mystery of God-become-man, and in the teachings of the fathers, Christ's taking on flesh is itself salvific and atoning.

Fr. Pat relays early in this volume the patristic tripartite division of men from God -- being/well-being/eternal-being in St. Maximos and nature/sin/death in St. Nicolas Cabasilas -- and how these are correspondingly healed by Christ's Incarnation, Passion, and Resurrection. This is the basis for structuring his work this way, and it brilliantly conveys the full scope of Orthodox salvation, and that each specific 'element' -- including Christ's life and teaching, for instance -- can't be separated from any other. ( )