Kirk Lougheed is Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Center for Faith and Flourishing at LCC International University. He is also Research Associate at the University of Pretoria. He has published numerous books and articles in epistemology, philosophy of religion, and African philosophy.

While the atonement is a central component of Christianity, there is little agreement in the tradition about how it should be understood. This book develops and defends a novel relational theory of atonement inspired by African relational ethics.

1. Introduction: African Philosophy and the Atonement Part 1: A Relational Theory of the Atonement 2. An Initial Statement of the Relational Theory of the Atonement 3. Reconciliation, Forgiveness, and Constructive Punishment 4. The Death Penalty as Constructive Punishment 5. The Moral Objection and Divine Relational Rescue 6. The Relational Theory of the Atonement: Tentatively Nearing Completion Part 2: Other African Theories of the Atonement 7. A Personhood Theory of the Atonement 8. A Life Force Theory of the Atonement 9. Conclusion: Just the Beginning for Comparative Philosophical Theology