Birmingham.
_Atonement._--Can you or any of your readers inform me when the word
"atonement" first came into use, and when it was first applied to the work
of reconciliation wrought by our Lord Jesus Christ? It is used once only in
the New Testament (Romans v. 11.), and there the word does not quite convey
the meaning of the original [Greek: katallagê]. The etymology of it seems
so purely English, that one would hardly expect to find the present use, or
rather adaptation, of the word, so very modern as it appears to be.