The Book on Sin and Atonement

The Book on Sin and Atonement is a criticism book written by Dr. Abdullah al-Ghathami, a Saudi writer. The first edition of the book was published in 1985 by the Jeddah Literary Cultural Club. Its author was awarded the Arab Bureau of Education for the Gulf States Award. Many book-related seminars and lectures were held and newspaper articles were written.

The Book on Sin and Atonement introduces the Western critical theory methods and defines them under the section entitled "Sin and Atonement: From Structuralism to Anatomy - A Critical Reading of a Contemporary Human Model." In this section, the author, Abdullah al-Ghathami, based his work on a methodology resting on the foundations of Western critical theory methods and the principles of the Arab rhetorical and critical heritage.

The author, Abdullah al-Ghathami, adopted a modern approach in the Book on Sin and Atonement. He offered an application thereof based on the poetry versed by Hamza Shehata. He also introduced new dimensions to reading poetry as a recipient, ultimately comparing poetry with similar prose texts. He examined the poet's stances and the effect produced by such poetry upon its reader, concluding that reaching such reading satisfaction is a creative aptitude among critical readers.

Al-Ghathami also featured in his book an approach that delves into the text itself. The approach is a new approach to receiving messages. This approach differs from the common approaches adopted for rhetorical and literary studies. As a result, this approach opened new horizons for reading a text, where the functions of the relationships between the text elements are examined upon tracing impact and effect.

The theory introduced in the Book Sin and Atonement became a popular cultural topic. In fact, the book became the subject of much debate and discussion, even becoming the topic of several university theses and dissertations written in the Arab World. Jeddah Literary Cultural Club held a seminar to discuss the ideas introduced in the Book on Sin and Atonement and the critical theory it tackled. The book's author participated in the seminar along with Bakr Baqadir and Aali al-Qurashi.

A seminar organized by al-Sharq magazine was also held in the Eastern Province. It featured the participation of Ahmed Alshuwaikhat, Muhammad al-Ali, Abdul Rauf al-Ghazal, and Al Saeed al-Warqi. A seminar entitled "Al-Ghathami and Critical and Cultural Practice" was held during the Marbad Festival in Baghdad in 1987.