In the Western church, to a large part through the influence of Augustine, his genius, but also his own disabling guilt and shame, we have been bequeathed a view of salvation as the remission of punishment, by a stern and judicial God, being spared abandonment and damnation that otherwise would be ours. We might call this ‘Salvation from’, - salvation from hell, salvation from retribution, salvation from banishment.

Some traditions emphasize much more than others, of course, but whatever the degree, this perspective can create a very warped idea of God.

But there is another view, more prevalent in Eastern Orthodoxy, but also within strands of the Western Church where human sin and error are viewed, not so much in terms of crime, guilt and therefore resultant legal penalty, but in terms of illness.

In the face of which we are offered compassion, wholeness  and healing.