Gospel koan 90.4
Cause & effect
Koan 90.4
Thus without atonement, forgiveness is without cause and without forgiveness, atonement is without affect.
Summary exposition
This koan's mechanism is one of strict ontological codependence. Atonement provides the necessary condition (the cause) for forgiveness to be relevant, while forgiveness provides the necessary condition for atonement to have a tangible effect or outcome. For example, an apology (atonement) given into a void of unforgiveness remains inert and unrealized in the world. Conversely, an offer of forgiveness with nothing to forgive is an empty gesture. The implication is that these two principles are non-optional partners in a single causal loop; neither can function or even be fully defined in isolation from the other.
