Editing Christian mythology (section)

====Atonement in non-canonical literature====
The sacrifice and atonement narrative appears explicitly in many non-canonical writings as well. For instance, in Book 3 of Milton's ''Paradise Lost'', the [[Son of god#Jesus as divine|Son of God]] offers to become a man and die, thereby paying mankind's debt to [[God the Father#Christianity|God the Father]].

The [[Harrowing of Hell]] is a non-canonical myth extrapolated from the atonement doctrine. According to this story, Christ descended into the land of the dead after his crucifixion, rescuing the righteous souls that had been cut off from heaven due to the taint of original sin. The story of the harrowing was popular during the Middle Ages. An Old English poem called "The Harrowing of Hell" describes Christ breaking into Hell and rescuing the Old Testament patriarchs.<ref>Russell, p. 136–38</ref> (The Harrowing is not the only explanation that Christians have put forth for the fate of the righteous who died before Christ accomplished the atonement.)<ref>For example, according to Russell, pp. 205–6, the medieval [[Scholasticism|scholastic]] theologian [[Abelard]] believed "that the just pagans had all been illuminated and saved by the Word during their lives". Russell also suggests another possible explanation that the scholastic theologians did not consider: "Christ died for all human beings wherever they are in space or time. His sacrifice was built into the plan of salvation for all eternity, and it affects those who come after the incarnation no more than those who came before".</ref>

In modern literature, atonement continues to be theme. In the first of C. S. Lewis's ''[[The Chronicles of Narnia|Narnia]]'' novels, ''[[The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe]]'', a boy named Edmund is condemned to death by a [[White Witch]], and the magical lion-king [[Aslan]] offers to die in Edmund's place, thereby saving him. Aslan's life is sacrificed on an altar, but returns to life again. Aslan's self-sacrifice for Edmund is often interpreted as an allegory for the story of Christ's sacrifice for humanity; although Lewis denied that the novel is a mere allegory.<ref group="n">A letter to a child fan named Patricia, printed in ''The Essential C. S. Lewis''.</ref>