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Title: The Seventy's Course in Theology (Fourth Year)
The Atonement
Author: B. H. Roberts
Release Date: October 13, 2019 [EBook #60491]
Language: English
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SEVENTY'S COURSE--THEOLOGY (4TH YEAR) ***
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Helps and BYU Transcribe
The Seventy's Course in Theology
Fourth Year
The Atonement
BY B. H. ROBERTS
Of the First Council of the Seventy
"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the
Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in him should not
perish, but have eternal life."--Jesus.
Salt Lake City
1911
Introduction
POINTS OF DIFFERENCE.
The Seventy's Year Book No. IV, differs from the other numbers in two
particulars:
First, in that there are no special lessons suggested as in the three
previous numbers; nor are there any suggestions as to the manner of
treating a subject. In the three preceding numbers of the Year Book
suggestions on "discourse building" were made; for gathering the
materials, arranging a plan, beginning the discourse, conducting it,
and completing it, (see Year Book No. III Lesson XXXI), together with
such side suggestions on "clearness" and "strength"--the two great
essentials in the expression of thought--as were considered necessary.
It is now concluded that the manner of thought expression, so far as
our Year Books for the present are concerned, might be allowed to rest
there; leaving it to the student to refer to those suggestions--to
which the class teachers at need should direct his attention--and to
the consultation of such special works as treat exclusively upon the
manner of expression to be found in the current _text books_ on
composition and rhetoric, used in our high schools, and academies. I
would also suggest in this line Pittenger's little work on "Extempore
Speech, How to acquire and practice it;" and also the admirable work of
Professor Nelson of the Brigham Young University, Provo, on "Preaching
and Public Speaking," a new and revised edition of which has been
recently issued by the Deseret News Publishing Company.
Second. Instead of giving an Analysis of each lesson followed by
unconnected _Notes_ bearing upon the subjects compiled from a wide
range of authorities--a method largely followed in the Year Book No.
III--the author has written a connected treatise upon the Atonement,
and for that reason has substituted the word _"Discussion"_ for
the word _"Notes"_ as being more appropriate to the method of
treatment. Other than this the general plan of the work is the same as
that followed in the previous Year Books.
A PRELIMINARY READING SUGGESTED.
It is suggested to all the classes that the first step in dealing
with the present Year Book, should be to require every member to read
the entire treatise through. This should be done rapidly, not with
the thought that such reading will yield a complete and thorough
understanding of, or mastery of the subject, but just to get acquainted
somewhat with the spirit of the treatise, the scope of the inquiry, the
largeness of it, the majesty and glory of the subject. All which will
enable the student to be somewhat conscious, as he seeks to master the
separate lessons, of the conclusions to which he is being led. Without
such preliminary reading, except where students already have clear
views of the Atonement, each lesson will be something of a groping
forward without always appreciating to what culmination the movement of
the respective lessons is tending.
The preliminary reading need not occupy more than one week. No more
time than that should be allowed for it. It is supposed that this Year
Book will be completed by the first of January, 1912.
THE THEME OF YEAR BOOK IV.
The doctrine of the Atonement through the expiatory suffering and
death of Christ, can only be rightly understood when considered in its
relationship to the Intelligences--i. e., men--that are affected by
it. Hence this treatise opens with a consideration of Intelligences as
related to the Atonement. Necessarily this will involve the restatement
of some of the matter of the Seventy's Year Book No. II, dealing with
the "Outline History of the Dispensations of the Gospel, Part I--,
"Prelude to the Dispensations" where such subjects as "Intelligences
and Spirits," "The Relationship of the Intelligences;" "The Purposes of
God in Relation to Man;" "The Free Agency of Intelligences," and the
like are discussed. But as the present use of the principles there set
forth will be different from the former use of them, the repetition
necessary to a clear understanding of the great theme to be developed
may not be amiss, but, on the contrary, positively helpful to a
fuller appreciation of the principles them selves, as well as a right
appreciation of the bearing they have upon the subject of the Atonement.
The writer has approached his theme from a new standpoint. Instead of
beginning with the work of the Christ when he appeared on earth as the
son of Mary, he has begun with those eternal Intelligences that were
to be affected by this earth-life, by the "fall" and the "Atonement,"
and by "Hope of eternal life which God that cannot lie promised before
the world began." (Paul to Titus.) This is followed by consideration of
the council in heaven, wherein the order of earth-life for the spirits
of men is considered, what shall accrue to them from it; necessarily
the fall and plan of man's redemption; the war in heaven, the advent
of man on earth; the fall; revelation of the plan for man's salvation;
the Atonement in ancient times, through all the ages in fact, and so
finally to the consideration of the various elements that enter into
the great theme, making up the philosophy of the Atonement.
As to the importance of the subject, need anything be said? It is the
very heart of the Gospel from whose pulsations the streams of both
spiritual and eternal physical life proceed. It is the fact which gives
vitality to all things else in the Gospel. If the Atonement be not a
reality then our preaching is vain; our baptisms and confirmations
meaningless; the eucharist a mere mummery of words; our hope of eternal
life without foundation; we are still in our sins, and we Christian
men, of all men, are the most miserable. A theme that affects all
this cannot fail of being important. And yet, how our writers upon
theology have neglected this subject! Save for the treatise of the late
President John Taylor on the "Mediation and Atonement of Our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ," we have no work devoted wholly to the subject.
President Taylor's treatise was published twenty-nine years ago (1882);
there was but a very limited edition published at the time, and that
is not yet sold out! Aside from this treatise--and even that is quite
limited in its scope, chiefly a compilation of scripture texts upon the
fact of the Atonement--our speakers and writers have treated the theme
merely incidentally. It is time, then, that our Seventies--the special
witnesses for the Lord Jesus Christ, including as a central fact of
their testimony the Atonement, should give special and extended study
to this theme of themes.
DIFFICULTY OF THE SUBJECT.
Is the subject difficult? Certainly. But "To Become a Seventy, Means
Mental Activity, Intellectual Development, and the Attainment of
Spiritual Power." Such men will not be daunted because the subject is
difficult, but rather will rejoice at it, even as a strong man rejoices
to run a race, or fight a battle, or undertake hard tasks wherein lies
adventure and danger and great glory. Such men will remember that as
all great things are attended with risk, so the hard is the good; and
"truth's a gem that loves the deep." Go and search for it.
THE APPENDIX.
In an appendix there will be found a statement of "Other Views of the
Atonement" than those set forth in the body of the treatise. These are
the views of the Roman Catholic church, the great Protestant divisions
of modern Christendom, and of so-called liberal Christendom, the
latter comprised of those who accept--speaking broadly--the theory of
evolution and higher criticism.
No lessons have been formulated in this division of the work, but the
class teachers can readily make lesson formula from the divisions and
subdivisions of the matter there presented if they so elect; if not
then it may be left for the student's private perusal; or out of the
matter may be formulated special lectures, and much advantage gained by
putting the views there expounded in comparison and contrast with the
doctrines of the regular text of the Year Book.
BOOKS OF REFERENCE.
It is difficult to name books of reference for this subject; such as
are available are named repeatedly in the table references given with
each lesson, and in the body of the work. Attention should be called to
the necessity of each Seventy possessing what in previous Year Books
has been called the "Seventy's Indispensable Library." This library is
made up of the standard books of the Church on Doctrine, viz.:
_The Bible,_
_The Book of Mormon,_
_The Doctrine and Covenants,_
_The Pearl of Great Price,_ containing _the Book of Moses, the
Book of Abraham,_ and some of the _Writings of Joseph Smith._
The above books are certainly indispensable to every Seventy, and
should be owned by every member of our quorums. The First Council,
in their recommendations, added to the above list, _"Richards and
Little's Compendium of the Doctrines of the Gospel,"_ and called
the set the "Seventy's Indispensable Library." Arrangements were
made by the First Council to hav these books in suitable sizes and
uniform bindings, and obtainable in sets at special prices, and they
are still to be had in this form. It is also suggested that to these
books be added a good standard dictionary, say either the _Students'
Standard Dictionary_, Funk and Wagnall's; price, $2.50, cloth;
or _Webster's College Dictionary_; price, $3.00. These books
are recommended in cases where the unabridged dictionaries of these
publishers are considered too expensive; when the unabridged editions
can be afforded, they are all the more desirable.
The four books of Scripture referred to above are very frequently
quoted in the text of this treatise, and are the main authorities used.
Besides these it is recommended that the student obtains
_"Mediation and Atonement of Our Lord Jesus Christ,"_ by John
Taylor;
_"The Articles of Faith,"_ Talmage.
_Orson Pratt's Works, Remarkable Visions and the Kingdom of God._
(These works are cited for the benefit of those who have them. We
regret to say that the Works of this great apostle have been allowed to
go out of print.)
_"The Gospel,"_ Roberts.
The _Improvement Era_ of January, 1909, Vol. XII, containing the
"King Follett Sermon," with explanatory notes by this writer; also the
_Improvement Era_ for April, 1907, for Article on Immortality.
Same author.
The Seventies should also remember that the _Improvement Era_
is the organ of the Priesthood quorums, and that from time to time
supplemental articles will appear bearing upon our current work, and
for this reason Seventies should subscribe, if it is possible, for this
magazine in order to keep in touch with our work.
THE SEVENTY'S YEAR BOOK.
The importance of Seventies having a complete set of the Seventy's Year
Books cannot be over-emphasized. There is constant reference made in
the present Number to previous Numbers; and the student who is not in
possession of those books is by so much deprived of the opportunity
to complete his inquiry on the division of the subject he may have in
hand. As there are now four of the Year Books issued, they could be
bound together; or in more convenient form, two numbers can be bound
together at a cost of seventy-five cents, postage prepaid, and those
desirous of preserving the set would do well to order them in that form.
SCRIPTURE READING EXERCISE.
This exercise is continued in the present Year Book as being too
valuable to be omitted from our lessons; and by this time it is our
presumption that had it been omitted, instead of continued as a
suggestion at the head of each lesson, our class teachers and the
members of the classes themselves, would have continued the practice
that has now been an interesting feature of the Seventy's lessons
through three successful years. The purpose for which this feature of
our class exercise was introduced, and the manner of conducting it, the
new teachers and students will find explanations of in the Introduction
of Year Book No. I, to which attention is hereby directed.
To the Seventies we now commend the great theme of this present Year
Book, with the prayer that they may be impressed with its beauty, its
effectiveness, and its glory.
The Seventy's Course in Theology.
FOURTH YEAR.
The Atonement.
PART I.
Eternal Intelligences and Progress.
LESSON I.
(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
INTELLIGENCE, INTELLIGENCES.
ANALYSIS.
I. Intelligence Defined.
II. Qualities and Powers of Intelligences.
1. Consciousness.
2. Generalization.
3. Perception of a priori principles.
4. Reason.
5. Imagination.
6. Volition.
REFERENCES.
Seventy's Year Book, Second Year, Part I. Lessons i and iv; The Truth
of Thought, Ch. iv.[A] Psychology, Prof. William James of Harvard, Chs.
xi, xii,[B] dealing with "The Stream of Consciousness" and "The Self."
Joseph Smith's "King Follett Sermon," Improvement Era, Vol. XII, Jan.,
1909.[C] "Immortality," article in Improvement Era, April, 1907; Doc. &
& Cov., Sec. 93.
_SPECIAL TEXT: "Intelligence is eternal, and exists upon a
self-existing principle. It is a spirit[D] from age to age and there
is no creation about it." (Joseph Smith, "King Follett Sermon," April,
1844.)_
[Footnote A: This little work (206 pages) is by William Pollard, some
years Professor of Rational Philosophy in St. Louis University. It is a
short treatise on the "Initial Philosophy," the ground work necessary
for the consistent pursuit of knowledge, (1896).]
[Footnote B: I cite the abridged (teachers') edition of the
Professor's, "Principles of Psychology."]
[Footnote C: This sermon as published in the "Era" is accompanied by
explanatory notes, hence the "Era" is cited. It is also published in
"Journal of Discourses," Vol. VI.]
[Footnote D: "A spirit from age to age"--not "Spirit from age to
age:" but a "spirit"; that is an entity, a person, an individual. The
Prophet's statement here could well be taken as an interpretation of
Doc. & Cov. Sec. 93:29. See Lesson II.]
DISCUSSION.
_1. Intelligence Defined:_ The sense in which the term
"Intelligence" is to be used in this discussion is that of a mind, or
an intelligent being, Milton make's such use of the term as the latter
when he represents Adam as saying to the angel Raphael, who has given
him a lesson on human limitations:
"How fully hast thou satisfied me, pure
Intelligence of heaven, angel serene!"[A]
[Footnote A: "Paradise Lost," viii:181.]
And so Alfred Tennyson:
"The great _Intelligences_ fair
That range above our mortal state."[A]
[Footnote A: "In Memoriam," lxxxv.]
God is also sometimes referred to as the "Supreme Intelligence." It is
in this sense, then, that I use the term Intelligence; a being that is
intelligent, capable of apprehending facts or ideas; possessed of power
to think.
_2. Intelligence: Consciousness:_ In other words the term
Intelligence is descriptive of the thing to which it is applied.
Therefore Intelligence (mind) or Intelligences (minds), thus conceived
are conscious. Conscious of _self_ and of _not self_; of the _me_
and the _not me_. "Intelligence is that which sees itself, or is at
once both subject and object." It knows itself as thinking, that is,
as a subject; thinking of its self, it knows itself as an object of
thought--of its own thought. And it knows itself as distinct from a
vast universe of things which are not self; itself the while remaining
constant as a distinct individuality amid the great universe of things
_not self_. Fiske calls Consciousness "the soul's fundamental fact;"
and "the most fundamental of facts."[A] It may be defined as the
power by which Intelligence knows its own acts and states. It is an
awareness of the mind. By reason of it an Intelligence, when dwelling
in a body--as we best know it (man)--knows itself as seeing, hearing,
smelling, tasting, touching; also as searching, and finding; as
inquiring and answering; as active or at rest; as loving or hating; as
contented or restless; as advancing or receding; as gaining or loosing,
and so following in all the activities in which Intelligences, as men,
engage.
[Footnote A: "Studies in Religion," p. 245.]
_3. Generalization:_ By another power or faculty of Intelligence
(mind) it can perceive, as connected with the things that sense
perceives, something that cannot be taken in by sense perception;
that is to say, Intelligence can generalize. Sense can get at the
individual, concrete thing only: "this triangle," "this orange"
"that triangle," "those oranges," etc. By the consideration of the
individual, concrete object, however, the mind can form an idea, a
concept, a general notion--"triangle," "orange"--which does not specify
this or that individual object, but "fits to any individual triangle
or orange past, present, or future, and even the possible oranges that
never shall be grown."[A] In other words Intelligence can rise from
consideration of the particular to the general.
[Footnote A: "The Truth of Thought," p. 41.]
_4. Perception of a priori[A] Principles:_ Again there are a
priori principles, which the mind can perceive to be incontrovertible
and of universal application, by mere reflection upon the signification
of the principles and without going into the applications.[B] Such
for example as that one and one make two. That two and one make
three. Also, to continue the illustration above, borrowed from the
late Professor Wm. James, for some time Professor of Psychology in
Harvard University.--"White differs less from gray than it does from
black; that when the cause begins to act the effect also commences.
Such propositions hold of all possible 'ones,' of all conceivable
'whites' and 'grays' and 'causes.' The objects here are mental
objects. Their relations are perceptually obvious at a glance, and no
sense-verification is necessary. Moreover, once true, always true, of
those same mental objects. Truth here has an 'eternal' character. If
you can find a concrete thing anywhere that is 'one' or 'white' or
'gray' or an 'effect' then your principles will everlastingly apply to
it. It is but a case of ascertaining the kind, and then applying the
law of its kind to the particular object. You are sure to get truth if
you can name the kind rightly, for your mental relations hold good of
everything of that kind without exception."[C]
[Footnote A: A priori, from something prior or going before, hence from
antecedent to consequent; from cause to effect. See illustrations in
the text quoted from James.]
[Footnote B: "Truth of Thought," p. 41.]
[Footnote C: "Pragmatism"--James--(1908), pp. 209, 210.]
_5. Imagination:_ By a mind-power known as imagination, or
imaginative memory, Intelligences, as known to us through men, can hold
before consciousness, in picture, what has been perceived by an outward
sense, and this even when the outward sense has been shut off from
the outward world of matter. I once saw an orange tree with a number
of ripe oranges scattered through its branches, but on other branches
were orange blossoms. What the outward senses then perceived, when I
was standing before the tree, has been shut off, but at will I can call
before the vision of my mind and hold in consciousness the picture
of that tree with its mixture of ripe fruit and fruit blossoms. This
power of imagination, is also constructive. Intelligences (men) can put
before themselves in mental picture, combinations which are fashioned
from the varied stores of memory.[A] As I have elsewhere said: I am this
moment sitting at my desk, and am enclosed by the four walls of my
room--limited as to my personal presence to this spot. But by the mere
act of my will, I find I have the power to project myself in thought to
any part of the world. Instantly I can be in the crowded streets of the
world's metropolis. I walk through its well remembered thoroughfares, I
hear the rush and roar of its busy multitudes, the rumble of vehicles,
the huckster's cries, the cab-men's calls, sharp exclamations and quick
retorts in the jostling throngs, the beggar's piping cry, the sailor's
song, fragments of conversation, broken strains of music, the blare of
trumpets, the neighing of horses, ear-piercing whistles, ringing of
bells, shouts, responses, rushing trains and all that mingled din and
soul-stirring roar that rises in clamor above the great town's traffic.
[Footnote A: "Sensations, once experienced, modify the nervous
organism, so that copies of them arise again in the mind after the
original outward stimulus is gone. No mental copy, however, can arise
in the mind, of any kind of sensation which has never been directly
excited from without.
"The blind may dream of sights, the deaf of sounds, for years after
they have lost their vision or hearing; but the man born deaf can never
be made to imagine what sound is like, nor can the man born blind
ever have a mental vision. In Locke's words, already quoted, 'the
mind can frame unto itself no one new simple idea.' The originals of
them all must have been given from without. Fantasy, or Imagination,
are the names given to the faculty of reproducing copies of originals
once left. The imagination is called 'reproductive' when the copies
are literal; 'productive' when elements from different originals are
recombined so as to make new wholes" (Wm. James: "Psychology," p. 302).]
At will, I leave all this and stand alone on mountain tops in Syria,
India, or overlooking old Nile's valley, wrapped in the awful grandeur
of solemn silence. Here I may bid fallen empires rise and pass in
grand procession before my mental vision and live again their little
lives; fight once more their battles; begin again each petty struggle
for place, for power, for control of the world's affairs; revive their
customs; live again their loves and hates, and preach once more their
religions and their philosophies--all this the mind may do, and that
as easily and as quickly as in thought it may leave this room, cross
the street to a neighbor's home, and there take note of the familiar
objects within his habitation.[A]
[Footnote A: "Mormon Doctrine of Deity," p. 132.]
_6. Ratiocination:_[A] "The mind (Intelligence) can combine
various general principles or individual facts and principles; and in
the combination and comparison of them, it can perceive other facts and
principles.[B] In other words, Intelligence is capable of reasoning;
of building up conclusions from the data of its knowledge. It has the
power of deliberation and of judgment; by which it may determine that
this state or condition is better than another state or condition. That
this, tending to good, should be encouraged; and that, tending to evil,
should be discouraged, or, if possible, destroyed.
[Footnote A: The process of deducing conclusions from premises.]
[Footnote B: "The Truth of Thought," p. 40.]
_7. Power of Volition:_ Intelligence, as embodied in man, is also
conscious of the power, within certain limitations, to will, and to
perform what he wills to do: To rise up, to sit down; to raise his
arm, to let it fall; to walk, to run, to stand; to go to Paris, to
Berlin, or to Egypt; to write a book, to build a house, to found a
hospital; to control largely his actions, physical and moral; he can
be sober or drunken; chaste, or a libertine; benevolent or selfish;
honest or a rogue. Having deliberated upon this and that and having
formed a judgment that one thing is better than another, or that one
condition is better than another, he has power to choose between
them and can determine to give his aid to this and withhold it from
that. So that volition, within certain limitations at least, seems
also to be a quality of Intelligence.[A] It is of course possible to
conceive of Intelligence and its necessarily attendant consciousness,
existing without volition; but Intelligence so conceived is shorn of
its glory, since under such conditions it can make no use whatsoever
of its powers. Its very thinking would be chaotic; its consciousness
distressing. If active at all its actions would be without purpose and
as chaotic as its thinking would be, unless it could be thought of as
both thinking and acting as directed by an intelligent, purposeful
will external to itself: which would still leave the Intelligence a
mere automaton, without dignity or moral quality, or even intellectual
value.[B] I therefore conclude that while it is possible to conceive of
Intelligence with its necessarily attendant consciousness as without
volition, still, so far as we are acquainted with Intelligence, as
manifested through men, volition--sometimes named soul-freedom or
free-agency is a quality that within certain limitations, attends
upon Intelligences and may be an inherent quality of Intelligence, a
necessary attribute of its very essence, as much so as is consciousness
itself.
[Footnote A: Seventy's Second Year Book, Lesson I and IV.]
[Footnote B:
"Freedom and reason make us men,
Take these away, what are we then?
Mere animals, and just as well
The beasts may think of heaven or hell."
--"Latter-day Saints' Hymn Book," p. 263.]
_8. Recapitulation:_ We have found, then,
1. That Intelligences are eternal--self-existing intelligent entities;
2. That they are called Intelligences because intelligence is their
chief characteristic;
3. That being intelligent consciousness is in them a necessary quality;
4. That they are both self-conscious, and conscious of an external
universe not self;
5. That Intelligences have the power to generalize--to rise from the
contemplation of the particular to the general, from the individual to
universal;
6. That Intelligences can perceive the existence of certain a priori
principles that are incontrovertible--necessary truths--which form a
basis of knowledge;
7. That Intelligences as known through men possess a power of
imagination or imaginative memory by which they hold pictures of sense
perceptions before the mind and may form from them new combinations of
thought and consciousness;
8. That Intelligences have power to reason (ratiocination), to
deliberate, to form judgments;
9. That Intelligences have volition, physical, mental and moral, within
certain limitations--a power both to will and to do; in other words
they are free, or free agents.
It should be understood that these brief remarks respecting
Intelligence and Intelligences are in no sense a treatise, even brief
and cursory, on psychology; they are made merely to indicate some of
the chief qualities that are inseparably connected with Intelligence
and Intelligences so that when the words are used in this treatise,
some definite idea may be had as to what is meant.
LESSON II.
(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
ETERNITY OF INTELLIGENCES.
ANALYSIS.
I. Eternal Existence of the Word--the Christ.
II. Eternal Existence of All Intelligences.
III. Proofs of Eternity.
1. Book of Abraham.
2. Joseph Smith's Writings.
IV. Of Words Used Interchangeably.
REFERENCES.
Doc. & Cov., Sec. 93; Seventy's Year Book II, Lesson i and iv; Book of
Abraham, Ch. iii; Joseph Smith, "King Follett's Sermon," Improvement
Era, Jan. 1909; Art. "Immortality," Ibid., April, 1907.
_SPECIAL TEXT: "Man was also in the beginning with God. Intelligence,
or the light of truth, was not created or made, neither indeed can be."
(Doc. & Cov., Sec. 93:29.)_
DISCUSSION.
_1. Eternity of Intelligence:_ In the preface of St. John's Gospel
it is written: "I. the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All
things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was
made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. * * And the
Word was made flesh and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, the
glory as of the only begotten of the Father), full of grace and truth"
(John 1:1-4, 14). This is in plain allusion to the Christ, and bears
witness, as all are agreed,[A] to the co-eternity of the Word of Christ
with God, the Father.
[Footnote A: See "Commentary," Jamieson,--Fauset-Brown on St. John
1:1-4. Also "International Revision Commentary," Schaff--on St.
John 1:1-4. The latter contrasting Gen. 1:1 with St. John's "in the
beginning," says that the sacred historian (Moses) starts from the
beginning and comes downwards, thus keeping us in the course of time.
John starts from the same point, but goes upwards, thus taking us into
the eternity preceding time. In Gen. 1:1, we are told that God "in the
beginning created,"--an act done in time. Here (John 1:1) we are told
that "in the beginning the Word was," a very strongly antithetical
to "come into being" (verses 3, 14, comp. 8:58), and implying an
absolute existence preceding, the point referred to. As that which is
absolute self-existent, not created--that which is--is eternal, so
the predication of eternity is involved in the clause before us taken
as a whole. He who thus "was in the beginning," who, as we afterwards
read, "was with God," and "was God," here bears the name of the "Word,"
Logos, which means both reason--[intelligence?] and word [expression?]
For justification of the interpolated words in brackets, I refer to
Dummelow's Commentary on the same passage: "Logos has two meanings in
Greek: (1) Reason or intelligence as it exists inwardly in the mind;
and (2) reason or intelligence as it is expressed outwardly in speech
and both these meanings are to be understood when Christ is called the
"Word of God." Commentary on John 1:1-4.]
In the Doctrine and Covenants this doctrine of the co-eternity of the
"Word" with God is reaffirmed, and also is expressed more explicitly.
"John," the Christ is represented as saying, "saw and bore record of
the fullness of my glory. * * * And he bore record saying, 'I saw his
glory that he was in the beginning before the world was. Therefore in
the beginning the Word was, for he was the Word, even the messenger of
salvation, the light and the Redeemer of the World'" (Doc. & Cov. Sec.
93:6-9).
_2. Extension of the Doctrine of Co-eternity:_ But not only is the
doctrine of the co-eternity of the Christ with God the Father affirmed
in this revelation, but that co-eternity is extended to the spirits
(Intelligences--of which more later) of men. "Verily I say unto you,"
the Christ is represented as saying, "I was in the beginning with
the Father, and am the first born. * * * Ye, [addressing the brethren
present when the revelation was given]--Ye were also in the beginning
with the Father; that which is spirit [that is, that part of you which
is spirit--i. e., Intelligence--that was in the beginning with God],
even the spirit of truth."
_3. Extension of the Doctrine of Co-Eternity to all
Intelligences:_ In a subsequent verse this doctrine of co-eternity
is extended to the whole race of men; "man [the race] was also in
the beginning with God." And that statement is immediately followed
with this: "Intelligence, or the light of truth [that which perceives
truth], was not created or made, neither indeed can be" (Doc. & Cov.
Sec. 93:29). Let us recapitulate: The co-eternity of the Christ and
God the Father "in the beginning before the world was," is affirmed.
Then the like co-eternity of the spirits of the men present when the
revelation was given is affirmed. After which the like co-eternity
of "Man"--used in the generic sense, meaning the race, is affirmed;
followed by the declaration that "Intelligence, or the light of truth,
was not created or made, neither indeed can be," then of course, it
follows that Intelligences are eternal, self-existing things.
It may be urged, however, that the word "Intelligence" in the
revelation quoted above is used in the singular, not in the plural
form. And hence may refer to "Intelligence" in general, as being
uncreated and unbeatable, and not to the eternity of individual
Intelligences. But the passage immediately preceding the declaration
"Man also was in the beginning with God," stands as an explanation
of that declaration. The word Intelligence in the passage quoted is
governed as to its meaning by "Man" in the sentence--"Man was also in
the beginning with God:" and now, "Intelligence," [the intelligent
entity in man, in the race--and surely the Intelligence in each man
is a complete and separate entity] "was not created or made, neither
indeed can be." In other words, these Intelligences are as eternal as
God is, or as the Christ is, or the Holy Spirit. This becomes more
apparent when we learn in a subsequent verse of the revelation that
"man is spirit" (verse 33). That is, in the inner fact of him, in the
power and glory of him, man is not so many pounds avoirdupois of bone,
muscle, lime, phosphate, water and the like; but in the great fact of
him he is spirit--spirit substance and Intelligence.[A] And so far as
human or revealed knowledge can aid one in forming a conclusion, there
is no "Intelligence" existing separate and apart from persons, from
intelligent entities, from individuals. Either it exists as persons, or
as preceding from them, as a power or force, but never separated from
them, any more than a ray of light is separated from the luminous body
whence it proceeds. So that if any affirm a "universal Intelligence,"
or "Cosmic Mind," or "Over Soul," in the universe, it is an influence,
a power proceeding either from an individual Intelligence or from
harmonized individual Intelligences, a mind atmosphere proceeding from
them--a projection of their mind power into the universe, as the sun
and all suns, project light and warmth into the universe.[B]
[Footnote A: "That is the more real part of a man in which his
characteristics and his qualities are. All the facts and phenomena of
life confirm the doctrine that the soul is the real man. What makes the
quality of a man? What gives him character as good or bad, small or
great, lovable or detestable? Do these qualities pertain to the body?
Every one knows that they do not. But they are qualities of the mind.
Then the real man is not the body, but the living soul" (Samuel M.
Warren, "World's Parliament of Religions," Vol. I, p. 480).]
[Footnote B: "Mormon Doctrine of Deity," p. 166-169, where the subject
is discussed at some length under the title, "Of God, the Spirit of the
Gods."]
_4. Proof of the Co-eternity of all Intelligences:_ In further
evidence of the eternal existence of individual Intelligences I quote
from the Book of Abraham:
"If two things exist and there be one above the other, there shall
be greater things above them. * * * If there be two spirits,
and one shall be more intelligent than the other, yet these two
spirits, notwithstanding one is more intelligent than the other,
have no beginning; they existed before, they shall have no end,
they shall exist after, for they are gnolaum, or eternal" (Book of
Abraham, Chs. 3, 16, 18).
To this may be added the teaching of the Prophet Joseph Smith who, in
the closing days of his earthly ministry, dwelt much upon this subject
and treated it with great emphasis. At the conference of the Church at
Nauvoo in April, 1844, in a sermon, he said.
"The soul--the mind of man--the immortal spirit--where did it come
from? All learned men and doctors of divinity say that God created
it in the beginning, but it is not so; the very idea lessens man
in my estimation. I do not believe the doctrine. I know better.
Hear it, all ye ends of the world, for God has told me so, if you
don't believe me, it will not make the truth without effect We say
that God himself is a self-existent being. Who told you so? It is
correct enough, but how did it get into your head? Who told you
that man did not exists in like manner, upon the same principles?
Man does exist upon the same principles. * * * The mind or the
intelligence which man possess is co-equal, [co-eternal][A] with
God himself. I know my testimony is true. * * * I am dwelling on
the immorality of the spirit of man. Is it logical to say that the
intelligence of spirits is immortal, and yet that it (i. e., the
intelligence) had a beginning? The intelligence of spirits had no
beginning, neither will it have an end. That is good logic. That
which has a beginning may have an end. There never was a time when
there were no spirits, for they are co-equal [co-eternal] with our
Father in heaven. * * * Intelligence is eternal and exists upon a
self-existent principle. It is a spirit from age to age and there
is no creation about it. * * * The first principles of a man are
self-existent with God."[B]
[Footnote A: The Prophet could not have intended to teach that the
intelligence in man was "co-equal with God," except as to being
co-equal in eternity with God, since the Book of Abraham teaches that
God is more intelligent than all other intelligences (Ch. iii:19), and
the Prophet himself taught the same truth. Hence the insertion of the
word above in brackets. It must be remembered that the report of this
discourse was not stenographic and this was doubtless a verbal error,
due to imperfect reporting.]
[Footnote B: King Follett Sermon, April, 1844, "Improvement Era," Vol.
XII, Jan. 1909. Also "Journal of Discourses," Vol. VI.]
_5. Words used Interchangeably:_ Here it is necessary to repeat
with some additions, what was said in Year Book II, on the use of words
interchangeably: It is often the case that misconceptions arise through
a careless use of words, and through using words interchangeably,
without regard to shades of differences that attach to them; and this
in the scriptures as in other writings. Indeed, this fault is more
frequent in the scriptures perhaps than in any other writings for
the reason that, for the most part, they are composed by men who did
not aim at scientific exactness in the use of words. They were not
in most cases equal to such precision in the use of language, in the
first place; and in the second, they depended more upon the general
tenor of what they wrote for making truth apparent than upon technical
precision in a choice of words; ideas, not niceness of expression,
was the burden of their souls; thought, not its dress. Hence, in
scripture, and I might say especially in modern scripture, a lack
of careful or precise choice of words, a large dependence upon the
general tenor of what is written to convey the truth, a wide range in
using words interchangeably that are not always exact equivalents,
are characteristics. Thus the expression, "Kingdom of God," "Kingdom
of Heaven," "the Whole Family in Heaven," "the Church of Christ,"
"the Church of God," are often used interchangeably for the Church of
Christ when they are not always equivalents; so, too, are used the
terms "Spirit of God," and "Holy Ghost;" "Spirit of Christ," and "the
Holy Ghost;" "Spirit," and "Soul;" "intelligences," and "spirits," and
"angels." I mention this in passing, because I believe many of the
differences of opinion and much of the confusion of ideas that exist
arise out of our not recognizing, or our not remembering these facts.
Hereafter let the student be on his guard in relation to the use of the
words "intelligences," "spirits," "soul," "mind," etc.; and he will
find his way out of many a difficulty.
Let the closing part of the quotation from the Prophet's discourse
above be considered in the light of the suggestions made here
respecting the use of words interchangeably. It is observed that he
uses the words "Intelligence" and "spirit" interchangeably--one for
the other; and yet we can discern that it is the "intelligence of
spirits," not "spirits" entire (see next subdivision) that is the
subject of his thought. It is the "Intelligence of Spirits" that
he declares uncreated and uncreatable--eternal as God is. The same
interchangeable use of the terms is to be observed in the Book of
Abraham (Ch. iii:16-28) and in other scriptures.
LESSON III.
(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
INTELLIGENCES AND SPIRITS.
ANALYSIS.
I. The Differences Between Uncreated Intelligences and Spirits.
II. Men and Jesus of the Same Order of Intelligences.
III. Jesus but the First Born of Many Brethren.
REFERENCES.
Improvement Era, Art. "Immortality," April, 1907.
Seventy's Second Year Book, Lessons i and ii.
Book of Abraham, Ch. iii; "King Follett Sermon," Improvement Era, Jan.,
1909.
Doc. & Cov., Sec. 93.
"Joseph Smith's Doctrines Vindicated," Improvement Era, March and
April, 1910.
_SPECIAL TEXT: "Go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my
Father, and to your Father; to my God and your God." (Jesus Christ: St.
John xx:19.)_
DISCUSSION.
_1. Uncreated "Intelligences" and "Spirits":_ In the Book of
Mormon we have the revelation which gives the most light upon the
spiritexistence of Jesus, and, through his spirit-existence, light upon
the spiritexistence of all men. The light is given in that complete
revelation of the pre-existent, personal spirit of Jesus Christ, made
to the brother of Jared, ages before the spirit of Jesus tabernacled in
the flesh. The essential part of the passage follows:
"Behold, I am he who was prepared from the foundation of the world
to redeem my people. Behold, I am Jesus Christ And never have
I showed myself to man whom I have created, for never has man
believed in me as thou hast. Seest thou that ye are created after
mine own image? Yea, even all men were created in the beginning
after mine own image. Behold this body which ye now behold, is the
body of my spirit, and man have I created after the body of my
spirit; and even as I appear unto thee to be in the spirit, will I
appear unto my people in the flesh."[A]
[Footnote A: Ether, Ch. iii:14-16.]
What do we learn from all this? First, let it be re-called that
according to the express word of God "intelligences" are not created,
neither indeed can they be. Now, with the above revelation from the
Book of Mormon concerning the spirit-body of Jesus, before us, we
are face to face with a something that was begotten, and in that
sense a "creation," a spirit, the "first born of many brethren;" the
"beginning of the creations of God." The spirit is in human form--for
we are told that as Christ's spirit-body looked to Jared's brother, so
would the Christ look to men when he came among them in the flesh; the
body of flesh conforming to the appearance of the spirit, the earthly
to the heavenly. "This body which ye now behold is the body of my
spirit"--the house, the tenement of that uncreated intelligence which
had been begotten of the Father a spirit, as later that spirit-body
with the intelligent, uncreated entity inhabiting it, will be begotten
a man. "This body which you now behold is the body of my spirit,"
or spirit-body. There can be no doubt but what here "spirit" as in
the Book of Abraham, and in the passages quoted from the Prophet's
King Follet's Sermon, is used interchangeably with "intelligence,"
and refers to the uncreated entity; as if the passage stood: "This
is the body inhabited by an intelligence." The intelligent entity
inhabiting a spirit-body make up the spiritual personage. It is
this spirit life we have so often thought about, and sang about. In
this state of existence occurred the spirit's "primevil childhood;"
here spirits were "nurtured" near the side of the heavenly Father,
in his "high and glorious place;" thence spirits were sent to earth
to unite spirit-elements with earth-elements--in some way essential
to a fullness of glory and happiness. "Man is Spirit. The elements
are eternal, and Spirit and Element inseparably connected receive a
fullness of joy; and when separated man cannot receive a fullness of
joy. The elements are the tabernacle of God; Yea, man is the tabernacle
of God even temples."[A] Hence spirits are sent to earth, to take on
its elements, and to learn the lessons earth-life has to teach. The
half awakened recollections of the human mind may be chiefly engaged
with scenes, incidents and impressions of that former spirit life; but
that does not argue the non-existence of the uncreated intelligences
who preceded the begotten spiritual personages as so plainly set forth
in the revelations of God.
[Footnote A: Doc. & Cov. Sec. 93:32-35.]
The difference, then, between "spirits" and "intelligences," as here
used, is this: Spirits are uncreated intelligences inhabiting spiritual
bodies; while "intelligences," pure and simple, are intelligent
entities, but unembodied in either spirit bodies or bodies of flesh
and bone. They are uncreated, self-existent entities; but let it be
observed, in passing, that nothing is here said in relation to the
form of these intelligent entities, nor anything as to their mode of
existence. Indeed, so far as I know, nothing has been revealed in
relation to their form or mode of existence; nothing beyond the fact
of existence, their eternity and the qualities necessary to them as
Intelligences.
_2. Jesus and Men of the same Order of Intelligences:_ The
scriptures teach that Jesus Christ and men are of the same order of
beings; that men are of the same race with Jesus, of the same nature
and essence; that he is indeed our elder brother. "For it became
him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing
many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect
through suffering. _For both he that sanctifieth and they who are
sanctified are all of one:_ [i. e., essence or nature; or, regarding
men's spirits, of one Father] for which cause he is not ashamed to
call them brethren."[A] Hence, though the Christ is more perfect in
righteousness, and more highly developed in intellectual and spiritual
powers than men, yet these differences are of degree, not of kind; so
that what is revealed concerning Jesus, the Christ, may be of infinite
helpfulness in throwing light upon the nature of man and the several
estates he has occupied and will occupy hereafter. The coeternity of
Jesus Christ with God, the Father, and the extension of the principle
of co-eternity of the Intelligences in men with Jesus Christ and God
has been already pointed out.[B]
[Footnote A: Heb. ii:10, 11.]
[Footnote B: Lesson II, this treatise.]
Again at the resurrection of the Christ, according to the testimony
of St. John, the Master said to Mary of Magdala: "Go to my brethren
[the apostles] and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your
Father, and to my God, and your God" (St. John 20:17). Hence we have
Jesus and the apostles with the same Father, the same God, and the
fact of brotherhood proclaimed. If such relation exists between Jesus
and the apostles, then it exists between Jesus and all men, since
the apostles were men of like nature with other men. In his great
discourse in Mars Hill, Paul not only declares that God "hath made of
one blood all nations of men"--but he also quoted with approval the
Greek poet Aratus, where the latter says: "For we are also his (God's)
offspring;" and to this the apostle adds: "For as much, then, as we
are the offspring of God [hence of the same race and nature], we ought
not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone,
graven by art after man's device."[A] Our own nature, one might add,
in continuation of the apostle's reasoning, should teach those who
recognize men as the offspring of God, better than to think of the
Godhead as of gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art after man's
device, since the nature of the offspring partakes of the nature of the
parent; and our own nature teaches us that men are not as stocks and
stones, though the latter be graven by art after the devices of men.
[Footnote A: Acts xvii:26-30.]
Paul might also have quoted the great Hebrew poet: "God standeth in the
congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the Gods. * * * * I have
said ye are Gods; and all of you are children of the Most High."[A]
[Footnote A: Psalms lxxxii:1, 6, 7.]
The matter is clear then, men and Gods are of the same race; Jesus is
the Son of God, and so, too, are all men the offspring of God, and
Jesus but the first born of many brethren. Eternal Intelligences are
begotten of God, spirits; and hence are sons of God--a dignity that
never leaves them. "Behold," said one of old, "now are we the sons of
God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that when
he shall appear we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is."[A]
[Footnote A: I John iii:2. I am not unmindful of the array of evidence
that may be massed to prove that it is chiefly through adoption,
through obedience to the Gospel of Christ, that man in the scripture is
spoken of as being a son of God. But this does not weaken the evidence
for the fact for which I am contending, viz., that man is by nature
the son of God. He becomes alienated from his Father and the Father's
kingdom through sin, through the transgression of the law of God; hence
the need of adoption into the heavenly kingdom, and into son-ship with
God. But though alienated from God through sin, man is nevertheless by
nature the son of God.]
_3. Jesus the First Born of Many Brethren:_ Sure it is that God,
the Father, is the Father of the spirits of men. "We," says Paul,
"have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them
reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of
spirits and live?" (Heb. 12:9).
According to this, then there is a "Father of Spirits." It follows, of
course, that "spirits," have a father--they are begotten. It should be
remarked that the term, "spirits" in the above passage cannot refer to
self-existent, unbegotten intelligences of the revelations, considered
in the foregoing lessons; and certainly this relationship of father
to spirits is not one brought about in connection with generation of
human life in this world. Paul makes a very sharp distinction between
"Fathers of our flesh" and the "Father of spirits" in the above. Father
to spirits is manifestly a relationship established independent of
man's earth-existence; and, of course, is an existence which preceded
earth-life, and where the uncreated Intelligences are begotten spirits.
Hence, the phrase "shall we not be subject to the Father of spirits and
live?"
Christ is referred to by the writer of the epistle to the Colossians,
as the "first born of every creature" (i:15); and the Revelator speaks
of him as "the beginning of the creation of God" (Rev. 3:14); and in
the revelation already quoted so often (Doc. & Cov. Sec. xciii) Jesus
represents himself as being in the "beginning with the Father;" and as
"the first born."
The reference to Jesus as the "first born of every creature" cannot
refer to his birth into earth-life, for he was not the first-born into
this world; therefore, his birth here referred to must have reference
to the birth of his spirit before his earth life.
The reference to Jesus as the "beginning of the creation of God,"
cannot refer to his creation or generation in earth-life; for
manifestly he was not the beginning of the creations of God in this
world; therefore, he must have been the "beginning" of God's creation
elsewhere, viz., in the spirit world, where he was begotten a spiritual
personage; a son of God.
The reference to Jesus as the "first born"--and hence the justification
for our calling him "our Elder Brother" cannot refer to any
relationship that he established in his earth-life, since as to the
flesh he is not our "elder brother" any more than he is the "first
born" in the flesh; there were many born in the flesh before he was,
and older brothers to us, in the flesh, than he was. The relationship
of "elder brother" cannot have reference to that estate where all
were self-existent, uncreated and unbegotten, eternal Intelligences;
for that estate admits of no such relation as "elder," or "younger;"
for as to succession in time, the fact on which "younger" or "elder"
depend, the Intelligences are equal, that is,--equal as to their
eternity. Therefore, since the relationship of "elder brother" was
not established by any circumstance in the earth-life of Jesus, and
could not be established by any possible fact in that estate where all
were self-existing Intelligences, it must have been established in the
spirit life, where Jesus, with reference to the hosts of Intelligences
designed to our earth, was the "first born spirit," and by that fact
became our "Elder Brother," the "first born of every creature," "the
beginning of the creations of God,".as pertaining to our order of
existence.
_4. Views of Sir Oliver Lodge on the Eternity of Mind:_ Some
scientists also bear testimony to the truth of the principle here
contended for. Sir Oliver Lodge, when arguing for the reality of that
mysterious, vital "something" which builds up from earth elements an
oak, an eagle or a man, closes with the question, "Is it something
which is really nothing, and soon shall it be manifestly nothing?"
"Not so," he answers, "nor is it so with intellect and consciousness
and will, nor with memory and love and adoration, nor all the manifold
activities which at present strangely interact with matter and appeal
to our bodily senses and terrestrial knowledge; they are not nothing,
nor shall they ever vanish into nothingness or cease to be. They did
not arise with us; _they never did spring into being; they are as
eternal as the Godhead itself,_ and in the eternal Being they shall
endure for ever. * * * And surely in this respect there is a unity
running through the universe, and a kinship between the human and the
Divine; witness the eloquent ejaculation of Carlyle:[A]
[Footnote A: Of Paul, too, and of David before him. See Hebrews ii:6,
and Psalms viii:4.]
'What then, is man! What, then, is man!
'He endures but for an hour, and is crushed before the moth. Yet
in the being and in the working of a faithful man is there already
(as all faith from the beginning, gives assurance) a something that
pertains not to this wild death-element of Time; that triumphs over
Time, and is, and will be, when Time shall be no more."--"Science and
Immortality," pp. 160, 161.
LESSON IV.
(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
INTELLIGENCES AND PROGRESS.
ANALYSIS.
I. Intelligences Differ in Degree of--
1. Intelligence.
2. Nobility.
3. Greatness.
4. Moral quality.
II. The "One" "Greater than All"--God.
1. Where Intelligences differ in degree there must be One Most
Intelligent of all.
2. His greatness immeasurable.
III. Capacity of Intelligences for Progress.
1. Inherent Powers of,
2. Led and helped in Progress by Higher Intelligences.
IV. Union of Spirit and Earth-Elements Essential to Progress of
Intelligences.
REFERENCES
Book of Abraham, Ch. iii; Book of Moses (in Pearl of Great Price), Ch.
i:25-38.
New Witnesses for God, Vol. III, pp. 198-207.
King Follett Sermon, Improvement Era, January, 1909.
"Immortality of Man," Improvement Era, April 1907. Doc. & Cov., Sec. 93
and Sec. 88.
Seventy's Year Book II, Lessons II and III.
_SPECIAL TEXT: "They who keep their first estate shall be added upon;
and they who keep not their first estate shall not have glory in the
same kingdom with those who keep their first estate; and they who keep
their second estate, shall have glory added upon their heads for ever
and ever." (Book of Abraham, Ch. iii:24-26.)_
DISCUSSION.
_1. The Varying Degrees of Intelligence Among Intelligences:_ We
are already made aware of the fact in the preceding lessons that though
Intelligences are equal in eternity of existence, it does not follow
that they are equal in degree of intelligence. (Lesson II. Subdivision
4.) "If two things exist," said the Lord to Abraham, and there be
one above the other, there shall be greater things above them. * * *
These two facts do exist, that there are two spirits, one being more
intelligent than the other; there shall be another more intelligent
than they."[A]
Not only do intelligences differ in regard to the degree of
intelligence, but they differ also in moral quality and greatness and
nobility.
"Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the Intelligences that
were organized before the world was; and among all these there
were many of the _noble_ and _great ones_; And God saw these souls
that they _were good_, and he stood in the midst of them, and he
said: These I will make my rulers; for he stood among those that
were spirits, and he saw that they were good; and he said unto me:
Abraham, thou art one of them; thou wast chosen before thou wast
born."[A]
[Footnote A: Book of Abraham, Ch. iii.]
The "among all these were many of the noble and great ones;" and "he
saw that they were good," clearly manifests that reference is made to
capacity, to largeness of mind-power, and to moral quality; and from
among these "noble and great ones," shall the "rulers" come. Abraham
was a type of the "noble and great ones," and was chosen before he was
born, and assigned to the part he took in his earth life, and is known
preeminently as the "friend of God," the "Father of the faithful."
Similarly was Jeremiah foreknown and foreordained to be a Prophet
(Jeremiah i:5); so, too, was St. John, the friend of Jesus, (I Nephi,
xiv:18-27). So also the Christ was chosen and his mission appointed--he
was "the Lamb slain from before the foundation of the World" (Rev.
xiii:8). And in his great prayer, before his passion, he said: "And
now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory
which I had with thee before the world was."[A]
[Footnote A: St. John xvii:5.]
Varying degrees of intelligence, then, among the Intelligences, as also
varying degrees of greatness and nobility of soul and of moral quality
are established; and doubtless the variation in the pre-earth existence
is as great as it is in earth life.
_2. The "One" More Intelligent Than All--God:_ When it is conceded
that among Intelligences there are varying degrees of intelligence,
and greatness and nobility and moral quality, then it follows that
there may be _One_ who is the most intelligent of all, greatest,
noblest, best; most wise and most powerful. And how far this greatest
and best may arise above the other Intelligences, who may say? There
are no terms of comparison for the superlative. It rises above all
comparisons, and how far above that to which it stands next--how far
above the "better" the "best" rises--none may say. The same holds as
to the "greatest" and the "noblest"--how far "greatest" rises above
"great;" how far "noblest" rises above "noble," or "best" above
"good," none may say. It may be that the "most intelligent," may
mean not only more intelligent than any other one out of the mass
of Intelligences, but more intelligent than all combined; and this
indeed is the interpretation I place upon the following passage in
the Book of Abraham: "These two facts do exist, that there are two
spirits, one being more intelligent than the other, there shall be
another more intelligent than they; _I am the Lord thy God, I am
more intelligent than them All._" That is, than "All" combined, and
for that reason is He God. "I dwell in the midst of them all," says
the Lord to Abraham. "I now, therefore, have come down unto thee to
deliver (i. e., _reveal_, see verses 1-15, Ch. iii) unto thee the works
which my hands have made, wherein my wisdom excelleth them all, for
I rule in the heavens above, and in the earth beneath, in all wisdom
and prudence, over all the Intelligences thou hast seen" (Book of
Abraham, Ch. iii:19-21). And to this agrees the following doctrine of
the Prophet: "In knowledge there is power. God has more power than all
other beings, because he has greater knowledge; hence he knows how to
subject all other beings to himself. He has power over all" (Sermon
at Nauvoo, April 8th, 1843, Hist, of the Church, Vol. V, p. 340.) And
as I have said elsewhere: This Mighty Intelligence, who is "more
intelligent than All" is also the All-Wise One; the All-Powerful One!
What he tells other Intelligences to do must be precisely the wisest,
fittest thing that they could anywhere or anyhow learn--the thing
which it will in all ways behoove them with right loyal thankfulness,
and nothing doubting, to do. There goes with this, too, the thought
that this All-Wise One is the Un-Selfish One, the All-Loving One,
the One who desires that which is highest, and best; not for Himself
alone, but for all; and that, too, will be best for Him. His glory,
His power, His joy will be enhanced by the uplifting of all, by
enlarging them; by increasing their joy, power, and glory. And because
this Most-Intelligent One is all this, and does all this, the other
Intelligencies worship Him, submit their judgments and their will to
His judgment and His will. He knows, and can do that which is best; and
this submission of the mind to the most Intelligent, Wisest--wiser than
All--is worship. This is the whole meaning of the doctrine and the life
of the Christ expressed in--"Father, not my will but Thy will, be done."
_3. The Capacity of Intelligences for Progress:_ If what has
been set forth as to the qualities, or attributes of Intelligences
be true--that they are conscious of self and of not self; that they
have powers of perception, comparison, deliberation, reason, judgment,
imagination and volition, (See Lesson I, this treatise) then they have
in them the inherent elements of progress. All they need with this
inherent equipment for progress is proper environment and action, and
the guidance of the Highest Intelligence; at least it must be admitted,
as to the last, that progress would be more sure, more rapid when so
guided.
_4. Purpose in the Earth-Life of Man:_ To provide the means and
opportunity for progress the earth-life of man was planned. As God
stood among the Intelligences, he said to those that were with him:
"We will go down, for there is space there, and we will take of
these materials, and we will make an earth whereon these may dwell;
and we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things
whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them; and they who keep
their first estate shall be added upon; and they who keep not their
first estate shall not have glory in the same kingdom with those
who keep their first estate; and they who keep their second estate
shall have glory added upon their heads for ever and ever."[A]
[Footnote A: Book of Abraham, Ch. iii:24-26.]
That is, interpreting the closing declaration, they shall have the
blessings of eternal progress. Progress, then, is the purpose for which
the earth life of man was planned--that Intelligences might be "added
upon," and that eternally.
"This is my work and my glory," says the Lord, "to bring to pass the
immortality and eternal life of man;" (Book of Moses, Ch. i:39, Pearl
of Great Price). That is of man _as_ man. Not the immortality of the
personal Intelligence or spirit of man, for that is already assured;
but the immortality of the spirit and body in their united condition,
and which together constitute "man;" or the soul, for, in the
revelations of God in this last dispensation, the spirit and the body
are said to be the "soul:" "Through the redemption which is made for
you is brought to pass the resurrection from the dead. And the spirit
and the body is the soul of man. And the resurrection from the dead is
the redemption of the soul" (Doc. & Cov. Sec. 88:14-16).
Again, "Men are that they might have joy," said the Prophet Lehi.[A]
"Men are that they might have joy!" Have we here the reappearance of
the old Epicurean doctrine, "pleasure is the supreme good, and chief
end of life?" No, verily! Nor any other form of old "hedonism"--the
Greek ethics of gross self-interest. For mark, in the first place,
the different words "joy" and "pleasure." They are not synonymous.
The first does not necessarily arise from the second, "joy" may arise
from quite other sources than "pleasure;" from pain, even, when the
endurance of pain is to eventuate in the achievement of some good:
such as the travail of a mother in bringing forth her offspring;
the weariness and pain and danger of toil by a father, to secure
comforts for loved ones. Nor is the "joy" here contemplated the "joy"
of mere innocence--mere innocence, which say what you will of it,
is but a negative sort of virtue. A virtue that is colorless, never
quite sure of itself, always more or less uncertain, because untried.
Such a virtue--if mere absence of vice may be called virtue--would
be unproductive of that "joy" the attainment of which is set forth
in the Book of Mormon as the purpose of man's existence; for in the
context it is written, "They [Adam and Eve] would have remained in a
state of 'innocence.' Having no joy, for they knew no misery; doing
no good, for they knew no sin." From which it appears that the "joy"
contemplated in our Book of Mormon passage is to arise from something
more than mere innocence, which is, impliedly, unproductive of "joy."
The "joy" contemplated in the Book of Mormon passage is to arise out
of man's knowledge of evil, of sin; through knowing misery, sorrow,
pain and suffering; through seeing good and evil locked in awful
conflict; through a consciousness of having chosen in that conflict
the better part, the good; and not only in having chosen it, but in
having wedded it by eternal compact; made it his by right of conquest
over evil. It is a "joy" that will arise from a consciousness of having
"fought the good fight," of having "kept the faith." It will arises
from a consciousness of moral, spiritual and physical strength. Of
strength gained in conflict. The strength that comes from experience;
from having sounded the depths of the soul; from experiencing all
emotions of which mind is susceptible; from testing all the qualities
and strength of the intellect. A "joy" that will come to man from
a contemplation of the universe, and a consciousness that he is an
heir to all that is--a joint heir with Jesus Christ and God; from
knowing that he is an essential part of all that is. It is a joy that
will be born of the consciousness of existence itself--that will
revel in existence--in thoughts of and realizations of existence's
limitless possibilities. A "joy" born of the consciousness of the
power of eternal increase. A "joy" arising from association with the
Intelligences of innumerable heavens--the Gods of all eternities. A
"joy" born of a consciousness of being, of intelligence, of faith,
knowledge, light, truth, mercy, justice, love, glory, dominion, wisdom,
power; all feelings, affections, emotions, passions; all heights and
all depths! "Men are that they might have joy;" and that "joy" is based
upon and contemplates all that is here set down. (New Witnesses, Vol.
III, pp. 199-120.)
[Footnote A: II Nephi ii:25.]
The foregoing considerations discover the purpose of God in the
earth-life of man to be the progress and joy of men, kindred
Intelligences with God; and with that progress and joy of kindred
Intelligences, there must be an ever widening manifestation of the
glory of God. "The glory of God is Intelligence, or, in other words,
light and truth" (Doc. & Cov. Sec. 93:36); but not "Intelligence"
only as it inheres in Himself; but also as it finds expression and
development in others.
_5. A Union of Spirit and Element Essential to a Fulness of Joy:_
In this progress of Intelligences there must be movement, action, new
environment, estates, experiences through which they pass.--Hence
Intelligences are begotten spirits, and spirits are begotten men--the
"deathless element"--Intelligence--must be united with earth-element,
to learn what earth-life has to teach, and get itself expressed through
earth-elements; which also--so far as such elements shall be essential
to an added dignity and power to the spirit of man--will be made
immortal, become an indissoluble part of the spiritual personage, the
spirit and the body thus inseparably united constituting the "_soul_
of man."[A] "Man is spirit."[B] "The elements"--earth elements--"are
eternal; and spirit and element, inseparably connected receive a
fullness of joy; and when separated man cannot receive a fullness of
joy." Hence for man, earth-existence became a necessity to progress,
and therefore it was provided.
[Footnote A: "Now, verily I say unto you, that through the redemption
which is made for you is brought to pass the resurrection from
the dead. And the spirit and the body is the soul of man. And the
resurrection from the dead is the redemption of the soul;" (Doc. & Cov.
Sec. 88, verses 14, 15, 16).]
[Footnote B: Doc. & Cov. Sec. 93:33, 34.]
LESSON V.
(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
THE WAR IN HEAVEN.
ANALYSIS.
I. The War Vaguely Alluded to in Hebrew Scriptures.
II. The War More Definitely Described.
III. The Causes of the War.
REFERENCES.
Luke x:17, 18 and John viii:44.
Rev. xii:7-12; Jude 6.
Book of Abraham, Ch. iii:27-28; Book of Moses (Pearl of Great Price),
Ch. iv:4.[A]
[Footnote A: As side reading, I suggest "Milton's Paradise Lost," and
Elder Orson F. Whitney's "Elias," Canto III.]
_SPECIAL TEXT: "And there was war in heaven: Michael and, his angels
fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, and
prevailed not; neither was there place found any more in heaven. And
the great dragon was cast out. He was cast out into the earth, and his
angels were cast out with him." (Rev. xii.7-9.)_
DISCUSSION.
_1. Recapitulatory:_ The fact of the Eternity of Intelligences,
their essential qualities, their capacity for progress, the necessity
for union with earth-elements in order to attain a fulness of joy, the
purpose of God with reference to man's earth-life--all these subjects
having been treated in the preceding lessons; we are now prepared to
consider the several steps taken with reference to bringing to pass the
earth-life of the spirits of men.
Running throughout the Hebrew scriptures, but more or less vague, there
are traces of the pre-earth existence of intelligences, and of strife
and struggle in that existence; rebellion and war; failure of certain
ones to keep first estates, their being cast out and reserved in chains
of darkness to some future day of judgment; some reference also to
eternal life that was promised of God before the world was made. Though
these lack somewhat in clearness, let me, if they may not be set forth
in anything like order, at least mass them, that they may be before us
in one view.
_2. The Hebrew Scriptures on the War in Heaven:_ In the very
beginning of the Hebrew scripture God, in the creation, is represented
as addressing others engaged with him in the creation work: "And God
said let us make man in _our_ image, after _our_ likeness."[A] Then
after the Fall: "And the Lord God said: Behold the man has become as
one of us to know good and evil."[B] Perfectly blending with this idea
of a plurality of divine Intelligences engaging in the work of creation
is the Lord's question to Job: "Gird up now thy loins like a man, for
I will demand of thee, and answer thou me: Where wast thou when I laid
the foundations of the earth? declare if thou hast understanding. Who
hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched
the line upon it? Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened?
or who laid the corner stone thereof, _when the morning stars sang
together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?"_[C]
[Footnote A: Gen. i:26.]
[Footnote B: Gen. iii:22.]
[Footnote C: Job xxxviii:4-7.]
It seems, then, that there were sons of God before the foundations of
the earth were laid, or even the measuring line was stretched upon it.
And may it not have been these Sons of God, whom God addressed in the
creation work, saying to them: "Let us make man in our image"--"The man
has become as one of us?"
On the return of the Seventy whom Jesus sent out on a special mission
into every city and place where he himself proposed to go, they said:
"Lord, even the devils are subject to us in thy name." To which Jesus
answered: "I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven" (Luke x:17,
18). As if he would say, "Your victory over evil spirits in my name, is
not the first I have won over Satan. I saw him as lightning fall from
heaven."[A] One other reference to Lucifer in this same connection is
made by the Christ; when addressing contentious Jews, he said: "Ye are
of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He
was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because
there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his
own; for he is a liar, and the father of it."[B]
[Footnote A: There is much confusion among the commentators on this
passage c. f. Jamieson--Fausset-Brown with the International Revision
Commentary on the passage. Dummelow's Commentary, however, says: "Our
Lord poetically compares Satan's discomfiture at the successful mission
of the Seventy, to his original fall from heaven." He also regards John
viii:44, as referring to the same event.]
[Footnote B: St. John viii:44.]
In the Book of Revelation, however, and also in Jude, this "war in
heaven" is more minutely described. In the former it is said:
"And there was a war in heaven; Michael and his angels fought
against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, and
prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the
Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world; he was cast out
into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. And I heard
a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength,
and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ; for the
accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our
God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb,
and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives
unto the death. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in
them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the
devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth
that he hath but a short time."[A]
[Footnote A: Rev. xii:7-12.]
And this from Jude: "And the angels which kept not their first estate,
but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains
under darkness unto the judgment of the great day" (Jude 6). Peter also
alludes to this event when he says: "God spared not the angels that
sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of
darkness, to be reserved unto judgment" (II Peter ii:4).[A]
[Footnote A: It is upon these declarations of Scripture that Milton has
based his gorgeous epic, "Paradise Lost."]
_2. Modern Scriptures on the War in Heaven:_ These are the
scripture passages which I said in a vague way represent both the
pre-earth existence of Intelligences, and a state of strife, struggle,
rebellion, war; attended with the loss of "first estate," and place
in heaven, being thrust out into outer darkness. But what the point
of controversy, the cause of difference upon which the "war" was
based--all this we are left in ignorance of in these scriptures;
and even in those other scriptures yet to be quoted, the brevity is
painful, and yet they shed great light upon conditions that one feels
must have existed in heaven, from the passages of Hebrew scripture
massed above. In the Doctrine and Covenants occurs the following
passage:
"Behold, the Devil was before Adam [speaking of Adam in the Garden
of Eden, and of his temptation], for he rebelled against me, saying
give me thine honor, which is my power; also a third part of the
hosts of heaven turned he away from me because of their agency;
and they were thrust down and became the Devil and his angels. And
behold there is a place prepared for them from the beginning, which
place is hell."[A]
[Footnote A: Doc. & Cov., Sec. 29:36-38.]
Again, in the revelation called the "Vision," or "Vision of the Three
Glories," the Prophet says:
"And this we saw also, and bear record, that an angel of God who
was in authority in the presence of God, who rebelled against the
Only Begotten Son, whom the Father loved, and who was in the bosom
of the Father--was thrust down from the presence of God and the
Son. And was called Perdition, for the heavens wept over him--he
was Lucifer, a son of the morning. And we beheld and lo, he is
fallen! is fallen! even a son of the morning. And while we were
yet in the Spirit, the Lord commanded us that we should write the
vision, for we beheld Satan, that old serpent--even the Devil--who
rebelled against God, and sought to take the kingdom of our God,
and his Christ."[A]
[Footnote A: Doc. & Cov., Sec. 76:25-38.]
The Book of Abraham, after representing God's purpose to create an
earth in order that the Intelligences in the midst of whom he dwelt
might have earth-existence, and be put in the way of eternal progress
(Ch. iii:24, 26), then asks: "Whom shall I send? And one answered like
unto the Son of Man: Here am I, send me. And another answered and said:
Here am I, send me. And the Lord said: I will send the first. And the
second was angry, and kept not his first estate; and, at that day, many
followed after him" (Book of Abraham, Ch. iii:27-28).
Again in the Book of Moses (Pearl of Great Price), after detailing an
experience which Moses had with Satan, the Lord said to him:
"That Satan, whom thou hast commanded in the name of mine Only
Begotten, is the same which was from the beginning, and he came
before me, saying: Behold, here am I, send me, I will be thy son,
and I will redeem all mankind, that one soul shall not be lost, and
surely I will do it; wherefore give me thine honor. But, behold, my
beloved Son, which was my Beloved and Chosen from the beginning,
said unto me, Father, thy will be done, and the glory be thine
forever. Wherefore, because that Satan rebelled against me, and
sought to destroy the agency of man, which I, the Lord God, had
given him, and also that I should give unto him mine own power; by
the power of mine Only Begotten, I caused that he should be cast
down; and he became Satan, yea, even the Devil, the father of all
lies, to deceive and to blind men, and to lead them captive at his
will, even as many as would not hearken unto my voice."[A]
[Footnote A: Book of Moses iv:1-4.]
This last passage from the Book of Abraham discloses the important
truth that this war in heaven was connected with a controversy
concerning the redemption of man from conditions in which, apparently,
the contemplated earth-life would involve him. The controversy
concerned also the choice of One to perform this work of redemption.
Two offered themselves, but the terms of one involved at least the
sacrifice of two mighty principles; one, the agency of man; the other,
the honor and glory of God. "Here am I, Father, send me," said the
Christ. Then Lucifer--the Light Bearer, and "one in authority in the
presence of God"--said: "Behold, here am I, send me, I will be thy
Son, and I will redeem all mankind, that one soul shall not be lost,
and surely I will do it; wherefore give me thine honor." But the first
spake again, saying,[A] "Father, thy will be done, and the glory be
thine forever." Whereupon the election fell upon the Christ, and
Lucifer rebelled.
[Footnote A: I am presenting the order of events here as they may be
implied from the two accounts here presented, one from the Book of
Abraham, the other from the Book of Moses. The former is a very brief
statement, the latter, more elaborate.]
LESSON VI.
(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
THE BATTLE FOR MAN'S MORAL FREEDOM IN MAN'S EARTH-LIFE.
ANALYSIS.
I. Free Agency of Intelligences.
1. The moral freedom of Intelligences did not begin with earth-life.
2. Freedom, an inherent quality of Intelligences.
3. Freedom follows them through all estates, and in all spheres in
which they are placed by God.
II. Transfer of the Honor and Glory of God Demanded.
1. The spirit of Lucifer.
2. The spirit of Christ.
REFERENCES.
Pearl of Great Price, Book of Moses, Chs. i-iv.
Doc. & Cov., Sec. 29:36-38.
Seventy's Course in Theology, Year Book II, Lesson iv.
Book of Mormon, Alma xxix:4; II Nephi ii:27.
New Witnesses for God, Vol. III, pp. 207-214.
_SPECIAL TEXT: "All truth is independent in that sphere in which God
has placed it, to act for itself, as all Intelligence also. Otherwise
there is no existence." (Doc. & Cov., Sec. 93.)_
DISCUSSION.
_1. Of the Nature of Moral Freedom:_ The controversy in the
heavenly council between Christ and Lucifer, gives emphasis to the
importance of man's agency--his freedom to will and to do as he shall
elect. The choice of the Christ as the Redeemer of the world cannot
be regarded as being connected with any event by which the agency or
moral freedom of Intelligences was then created. It was the maintenance
of that which already existed rather than the creation of any new
thing which was involved. Indeed the moral freedom of Intelligences
is something which is as eternal as they are. Freedom is an attribute
of Intelligences and may not be taken from them without robbing them
of all joy and glory and dignity of existence. "Intelligence, or the
light of truth, was not created or made, neither indeed can be. All
truth is independent in that sphere in which God has placed it, to act
for itself, as all Intelligence also, otherwise there is no existence.
Behold, here is the agency of man and here is the condemnation of man,
because that which was from the beginning is plainly manifest unto
them, and they receive not the light. And every man who receiveth not
the light is under condemnation, for man is spirit."[A]
[Footnote A: Doc. & Cov., Sec. 93:30-33.]
Whenever God, therefore, speaks of the agency or moral freedom
of man,[A] reference is had to the spirit or Intelligence which
constitutes the real man, "for man is spirit," that is, mind,
Intelligence is the real fact of him. All truth and all Intelligences
are independent in that sphere in which God has placed them, to act
for themselves, otherwise there is no existence (see above quotation).
That is to say, there is no existence where this fact of the freedom of
truth and of Intelligences does not obtain. Freedom of man, then, means
freedom of the Intelligence which is the chief fact of man; freedom in
all estates through which he shall be called to pass, in all spheres in
which God shall place him to act, the quality of freedom never leaves
him. In obedience or in rebellion against God, it is his freedom that
keeps him in either condition, and ministers to his joy or his misery
respectively.
[Footnote A: It will be observed that these terms are used
interchangeably.]
"I know," says the Nephite Prophet Alma, "that he [God] granteth unto
men according to their desire, whether it be unto death or unto life;
yea, I know that he alloteth unto men, according to their wills;
whether they be unto salvation or unto destruction" (xxix:4).
The second Nephi says: "The Lord God gave unto man that he should act
for himself. Men are free according to the flesh; and all things are
given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose
liberty and eternal life, through the great mediation of all men, or
to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of
the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto
himself."[A] Upon these principles it is manifest that God designed
that freedom should follow Intelligences into their earth-life.
[Footnote A: II Nephi ii:27.]
_2. Moral Freedom to Follow Man in all Estates:_ When the
earthlife was proposed, Intelligences were about to exercise that
freedom in a new sphere of existence; in a new environment, under new,
and to them, doubtless, strange conditions. The plan Lucifer proposed
involved the destruction of his freedom. "Satan rebelled against
me, and sought to destroy the agency of man," says the Lord. "Here
am I," said Lucifer, "send me. I will be thy son, and I will redeem
all mankind that not one soul shall be lost."[A] Under this plan,
Intelligences were to have an earth-life in which there would be no
losses; a world where there was nothing adventurous and dangerous, a
"game" in which there are no real stakes; all that was "hazarded" would
be given back. All must be saved; and no price is to be paid in the
work of salvation. The last word is to be sweet. All is to be "yes,"
"yes" in the universe.[B] The fact of "no" was nowhere to stand at the
core of things. There could be no seriousness attributed to life under
such a plan, since there were to be no insuperable "noes" and "losses;"
no genuine sacrifices anywhere; nothing permanently drastic and bitter
to remain at the bottom of the cup. "I will redeem all mankind, that
not one soul shall be lost," said Lucifer; "and surely I will do
it." Man was to have nothing to do in the achievement, all was to be
done for him. He was to be passive, merely. Not a thing to act, but
something to be acted upon. Such only could be the outcome of a world
where all mankind would be saved, "that not one soul should be lost."
It would be an utterly meaningless world. Without heroism; listless
indifference would claim it. Passage through such an estate would add
nothing to Intelligences. And yet, beyond question, there were natures
among the Intelligences of heaven that longed for such a scheme of
things, so much they dreaded danger, adventure and the stress of life
that comes from individual struggle and individual responsibility.
"Give us ease, let us have things done for us without our concern and
the pain of striving," is their cry. And a third part of the hosts of
heaven Lucifer turned away from the Lord in that day, because they made
this election, and they became the devil and his angels (Doc. & Cov.,
Sec. xxix).
[Footnote A: Book of Moses, Ch. iv:4.]
[Footnote B: The expressions here used are a paraphrase of a passage
in a lecture of the late Prof. Wm. James, on "Pragmatism" (page 295),
on the thought, "May not the notion of a world already saved in toto
anyhow, be too saccharine to stand."]
_3. The Thoughts of a Modern Philosopher:_ Mr. Wm. James, in his
"Pragmatism," has a very wonderful passage bearing upon the whole
thought here dwelt upon; and it is so pregnant with suggestion relative
to our theme, so supported by philosophical thought and analysis of
human nature, both strong and weak, that one marvels at the idea and
thought in it which so parallels our own doctrines advanced in the Book
of Moses--the doctrines above considered and given to the Church, in
large part, in the very first years of her existence.[A] The following
is the passage from Mr. James:
[Footnote A: For full account of the Book of Moses, see Seventy's
Year Book. No. I, Lessons v and vi. It was published in full by F. D.
Richards in the Pearl of Great Price, 1851, Liverpool, England.]
"Suppose that the world's Author put the case to you before
creation, saying: 'I am going to make a world not certain to be
saved, a world the perfection of which shall be conditional merely,
the condition being that each several agent does its own "level
best." I offer you the chance of taking part in such a world.
Its safety, you see, is unwarranted. It is a real adventure,
with real danger, yet it may win through. It is a social scheme
of co-operative work genuinely to be done. Will you join the
procession? Will you trust yourself and trust the other agents
enough to face the risk?
"Should you, in all seriousness, if participation in such a
world were proposed to you, feel bound to reject it as not safe
enough? Would you say that, rather than be part and parcel of so
fundamentally pluralistic and irrational a universe, you preferred
to relapse into the slumber of nonentity from which you had been
momentarily aroused by the tempter's voice?[A]
[Footnote A: Of course this proposition of relapsing into "nonentity"
is no part of the "Mormon" scheme of thought, since the actual
proposition of our revelations was made to Intelligences alike
uncreated and uncreatable, and alike indestructible; so that while
in the exercise of their freedom these Intelligences might decline
participation in the scheme of things proposed, they could not sink
back into nonentities.]
"Of course, if you are normally constituted, you would do nothing
of the sort. There is a healthy-minded buoyancy in most of us which
such a universe would exactly fit. We would therefore accept the
offer--'Top! and schlag auf schlag!" It would be just like the
world we practically live in; and loyalty to our old nurse Nature
would forbid us to say no. The world proposed would seem 'rational'
to us in the most living way.
"Most of us, I say, would therefore welcome the proposition and add
our fiat to the fiat of the creator. Yet perhaps some would not;
for there are morbid minds in every human collection, and to them
the prospect of a universe with only a fighting chance of safety
would probably make no appeal. There are moments of discouragement
in us all, when we are sick of self and tired of vainly striving.
Our own life breaks down, and we fall into the attitude of the
prodigal son. We mistrust the chances of things. We want a universe
where we can just give up, fall on our father's neck, and be
absorbed into the absolute life as a drop of water melts into the
river or the sea.
"The peace and rest, the security desiderated at such moments
is security against the bewildering accidents of so much finite
experience. Nirvana means safety from this everlasting round of
adventures of which the world of sense consists. The Hindo and
the Buddhist, for this is essentially their attitude, are simply
afraid, afraid of more experience, afraid of life!
"And to men of this complexion, religious monism comes with its
consoling words: 'All is needed and essential--even you and your
sick soul and heart. All are one with God, and with God all is
well. The everlasting arms are beneath, whether in the world of
finite appearance you seem to fail or to succeed.' There can be
no doubt that when men are reduced to their last sick extremity,
absolutism is the only saving scheme. Pluralistic moralism simply
makes their teeth chatter, it refrigerates the very heart within
their breast. * * *
"I find myself willing to take the universe to be really dangerous
and adventurous, without therefore backing out and crying, no play.
I am willing to think that the prodigal son attitude, open to us
as it is in many vicissitudes, is not the right and final attitude
towards the whole of life. I am willing that there should be real
losses and real losers, and no total preservation of all that is. I
can believe in the ideal as an ultimate, not as an origin, and as
an extract, not the whole. When the cup is poured off, the dregs
are left behind forever, but the possibility of what is poured off
is sweet enough to accept.
"As a matter of fact, countless human imaginations live in this
moralistic and epic kind of a universe, and find its disseminated
and strung along successes sufficient for their rational needs.
There is a finely translated epigram in the Greek anthology which
admirably expresses this state of mind, this acceptance of loss as
unatoned for, even though the lost element might be one's self:
"A shipwrecked sailor, buried on this coast,
Bids you set sail.
Full many a gallant bark, when we were lost,
Weathered the gale."
"It is, then, perfectly possible to accept sincerely a drastic kind
of a universe from which the element of 'seriousness' is not to be
expelled. Whoso does so is, it seems to me, a genuine pragmatist.
He is willing to live on a scheme of uncertified possibilities
which he trusts; willing to pay with his own person, if need be,
for the realization of the ideals which he frames."[A]
[Footnote A: "Pragmatism" (1908), Wm. James, pp. 290-297.]
4. The Startling Parallel Between the Reflections of the Philosopher
and the Doctrines of the Book of Moses: Such the voice of a modern,
and, without disparagement of others, I think I may venture to say,
our greatest American, philosopher. In this statement, as I said
in introducing it, Professor James puts the case of the proposed
earth-existence of man, as set forth in the early revelations to
the Church, in a way that is startling. The proposition put to
Intelligences before the earth was made, in each case; an earth-life
full of adventure and danger, safety not guaranteed,[A] in each case;
the counter plan proposed that would guarantee safety rejected; and
yet the existence of some "morbid minds" among the spirits--found "in
every human collection," to whom "the prospect of a universe with only
a fighting chance" made no appeal, and accordingly their rejection
of it, and their rebellion. But, thank God, the Christ in that great
council prevailed, as also he prevailed in the war of the Rebellion
in Heaven, which followed upon that Council's decision. The Christ's
spirit stood for the freedom of man in that great controversy. He stood
for a serious earth-life for Intelligences, in which though there would
be some losses, many losses, in fact, yet also there would be much
gain and glory. Gain, however, that could not be obtained but through
great strivings; the exercise of all the great virtues, of trust and
patience, endurance and courage, wisdom and temperance, together with
faith and hope and charity. Thank God, I say, that Jesus the Christ,
in the pre-existence, stood for all those things which make earth-life
worth while and existence itself endurable--for the moral freedom of
man.
[Footnote A: "We will go down, for there is space there, and we will
take of these materials, and we will make an earth whereon these
[Intelligences] may dwell; and we will prove them herewith, to see if
they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command
them; and they who keep their first estate shall be added upon; and
they who keep not their first estate shall not have glory in the same
kingdom with those who keep their first estate; and they who keep their
second estate shall have glory added upon their heads for ever and
ever" (Book of Abraham, Ch. iii:24-26).]
_5. The Spirit of Lucifer:_ In the closing paragraph of Lesson V
it is stated that two mighty principles were involved in the plan of
earth-life for Intelligences. One the agency of man; the other, the
honor and glory of God. The first has been considered; the second must
now receive attention:
"I will redeem all mankind that one soul shall not be lost; and surely
I will do it; _wherefore give me thine honor_." To this the Christ
is said to have replied: "Father, thy will be done, and the glory be
thine forever" (Book of Moses, Ch. iv:1, 2). These two propositions
represent the spirit of the two characters here in contention. The
one, self-seeking, vainglorious, selfish--willing that the agency
of man shall be destroyed if only he may be exalted. Willing that
Intelligences shall be bereft of freedom--if only he can be Lord.
"And surely I will do it," self sufficiency. "Wherefore give me thine
honor!" With which would go also the power of God and the glory! (See
Book of Moses, Ch. iv:3.) Hence this scheme of Lucifer's contemplated
not only the despoliation of man, but the dishonoring of God. Truly the
ambition of Lucifer was boundless, as his selfishness was fathomless.
Well might the poet make lord Wolsey say:
"I charge thee, fling away ambition;
By this sin fell the angels."[A]
[Footnote A: King Henry VIII.]
_6. The Christ Spirit:_ In contrast with Lucifer's characteristics
revealed in this controversy, contemplate the plan and character of the
Christ. Standing as it does in antithesis to the agency-destroying plan
of Lucifer, it must be held to be agency-preserving, hence offers not
salvation to all so "that one soul shall not be lost," but predicates
salvation upon compliance with some conditions, on obedience, say,
to God. Under this agency-preserving plan, then, the Christ said:
"Father, thy will be done." Equivalent to saying, Father, let thy
freedom-preserving plan obtain, and be carried into effect--"Thy will
be done, and the glory be thine forever!" And it was in this spirit
that the work of the atonement was wrought out in the earth-life of the
Christ. "I came down from heaven," said he, "not to do my own will, but
the will of him that sent me" (St. John vi:38). "I seek not mine own
will, but the will of the Father which sent me" (St. John v:30). Thrice
in that hour when the shadows and sorrows due to a world's sin were
falling upon him, the Christ prayed, "O, my Father, if this cup may not
pass away from me: except I drink it, thy will be done" (Matt. xxvi).
And when the betrayer came, and with him the agents of the earthly
government, and one drew the sword to resist them, the Christ chided
him, and told him to put up his sword, and gave his impulsive follower
to understand that his course in submitting to the world's forces was
voluntary on his part. "Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my
Father, and he shall presently give more than twelve legions of angels?
But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?"
(Matt. 26:53, 54.) And so "he humbled himself, and became obedient unto
death, even the death of the cross" (Phil. ii:8). Such the spirit of
the Christ--humble submissiveness--
"Thy will, O God, not mine be done,
Adorned his mortal life."
LESSON VII.
(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
THE FALL OF MAN.
ANALYSIS.
I. The Fall and Its Relation to the Purposes of God.
II. The Nobility of Adam Manifested in the Fall.
III. The Effects of the Fall Physical and Moral.
IV. The Relation of the Fall to Man's Life as Man.
REFERENCES.
Book of Moses (Pearl of Great Price), Ch. v:1-2; also Ch. vi:43-68.
Book of Mormon, II Nephi ii; Alma, Chs. xii, xiii and xlii.
Richards and Little's Compendium, Art. "Fall of Adam," pp. 3-5, and all
their references.
Seventy's Year Book II, Lesson viii.
New Witnesses for God, Vol. III, Ch. xl, pp. 180-192, 214-218; 227-230.
_SPECIAL TEXT: "Adam fell that man might be; men are that they might
have joy." (II Nephi ii:25.)_
DISCUSSION.
_1. A Suggested Review:_ It is suggested to the student that he at
this point review, either in class or by private reading, the following
lessons in Seventy's Course in Theology, Second Year Book:
Lesson V.--Preparation of the Earth for the Abode of Man.
Lesson VII.--The Adamic Dispensation I.
Lesson VIII.--The Adamic Dispensation II.
Lesson IX.--The Adamic Dispensation III.
I refer the student to those lessons in order that the necessity might
be avoided of entering again into detail on those subjects; for here
I shall only say respecting the "fall" so much as may be necessary to
keep up the continuity of the theme.
_2. The "Fall" of Man as Related to the Purposes of God:_ From
what is set forth in Part I of this treatise, it is evident that the
"fall of Adam" did not surprise the purposes of God with reference
to man's earth life. Nor is it thinkable that it was an accident, or
that it in any way thwarted the original purposes of God in respect
of man. Indeed the subject as developed up to this point brings us to
the fall of man as the next step in the sequence of the purposes of
God in regard to man's earth life. There must be a transition from
a spirit-existence to a man-existence for those Intelligences in
heaven designed for habitation on our earth. There must be brought
to pass a change from heavenly conditions to earth conditions if the
Intelligences designed for habitation on our earth are to have the
experiences that earth life can impart; a life where evil is manifest
and active; where the moral harmony is broken; where men must walk
by faith, and not by sight. This transition from spirit-existence to
man-existence; from a state of moral harmony to one where moral harmony
is broken and evil is active is called "the fall;" and was essential to
the accomplishment of God's purposes. Of its details, and its processes
it becomes one to speak cautiously, for but little is revealed, and
beyond what is revealed upon the subject, we have no knowledge.
_3. "Adam Fell that Men Might Be:_" I think it cannot be doubted
when the whole story of man's fall is taken into account that in some
way--however hidden it may be under allegory--his fall was closely
associated with the propagation of the race. Before the fall we are
told that Adam and Eve were in a state of innocence; but after the fall
"The eyes of them both were opened and they knew that they were naked,
and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons," and
also hid from the presence of the Lord.[A]
[Footnote A: Gen. iii:7-9.]
In an incidental way Paul gives us to understand that Adam in the
matter of this first transgression "was not deceived," but that
the woman was.[A] It therefore follows that Adam must have sinned
knowingly, and perhaps deliberately; making choice of obedience between
two laws pressing upon him. With his spouse Eve, he had received a
commandment from God to be fruitful, to perpetuate his race in the
earth. He had also been told not to partake of a certain fruit of
the Garden of Eden; but according to the story of Genesis, as also
according to the assertion of Paul, Eve, who with Adam received
the commandment to multiply in the earth, was deceived, and by the
persuasion of Lucifer, induced to partake of the forbidden fruit. She,
therefore, was in transgression, and subject to the penalty of that
law, which from the scriptures, we learn included banishment from Eden,
banishment from the presence of God, and also the death of the body.
This meant, if Eve were permitted to stand alone in her transgression,
that she must be alone also in suffering the penalty thereof. In that
event she would have been separated from Adam, which necessarily would
have prevented obedience to the commandment given to them conjointly,
to multiply in the earth. In the presence of this situation, therefore,
it is to be believed that Adam was not deceived, either by the cunning
of Lucifer or the blandishments of the woman, deliberately, and with a
full knowledge of his act and its consequences, and in order to carry
out the purpose of God in the existence of man in the earth, he shared
alike the woman's transgression and its effects, and this in order that
the first great commandment he had received from God, viz--"Be fruitful
and multiply and replenish the earth, and subdue it"--might not fail of
fulfillment. Hence "Adam fell that men might be."
[Footnote A: "Adam was not deceived, but the woman, being deceived, was
in the transgression" III Tim. ii:14.]
_4. The Nobility of Adam in the Fall:_ The effect of this doctrine
upon the ideas of men concerning the great Patriarch of our race will
be revolutionary. It seems to be the fashion of those who assume to
teach the Christian religion to denounce Adam in unmeasured terms; as
if the fall of man had surprised, if, indeed, it did altogether thwart,
the original plan of God respecting the existence of man in the earth.
The creeds of the churches generally fail to consider the "fall" as
part of God's purpose regarding this world, and, in its way, just as
essential to the accomplishment of that purpose as the "redemption"
through Jesus Christ. Certainly there would have been no occasion for
Atonement and redemption had there been no fall; and hence no occasion
for the display of all that wealth of grace and mercy and justice and
love--all that richness of experience involved in man's earth life,
and the Atonement of Jesus Christ, had there been no fall. It cannot
be but that it was part of God's purpose to give man these experiences
and display the above named qualities in their true relation, for the
benefit and blessing and enlargement and ultimate uplifting of man;
and since there would have been no occasion for displaying them but
for the fall, it logically follows that the fall, no less than the
Atonement and redemption, must have been part of God's original plan
respecting the earth probation of man. The fall, undoubtedly, was a
fact as much present to the foreknowledge of God as was the atonement,
and the act which encompassed it must be regarded as more praise-worthy
than blame-worthy, since it was essential to the accomplishment of
the divine purpose. Yet, as I say, those who assume to teach the
Christian religion roundly denounce Adam for his transgression[A] and
especially for the recital of the circumstances of his fall, "The woman
thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat."
In which they seem to find an attempt to shift responsibility for the
fall upon woman instead of a plain statement of fact. The truth is,
that nothing could be more courageous, sympathetic, or nobly honorable
than the course of our world's great Patriarch in his relations to his
wife Eve and the fall. The woman by deception of Lucifer is led into
transgression, and stands under the penalty of a broken law. Banishment
from the presence of God; banishment from Eden and the presence of her
husband, if he partakes not with her in the transgression; dissolution
of spirit and body--physical death--all await her, and her alone!
Thereupon the man, not deceived, but knowingly (as we are assured by
Paul), also transgressed. Why? In one aspect of the case in order
that he might share the woman's banishment from the dear presence of
God, and with her to die--than which no higher proof of love could
be given--no nobler act of chivalry performed. But primarily he
transgressed that "Man might be." He transgressed a less important law
that he might comply with one more important, if one may so speak of
any of God's laws.
[Footnote A: See Seventy's Year Book No. II, Lesson VIII.]
_5. The Purpose and Effect of the Fall:_ Adam transgressed, or
fell, "that man might be," as the Book of Mormon states it.[D] That is
to say, that man might "be" (i. e., exist), in earth life; and not only
"be" but "be" as man; an eternal Intelligence begotten a spirit in the
heavenly kingdom, and now on earth taking on through painful process
and at much hazard eternal elements of matter as a covering, a body,
that there might be a fullness of joy, and power, and without which
union of spirit and element there could be no fullness of joy or power
(Doc. & Cov. Sec. 93).
Also Adam fell that man might "be" in the environment of earthlife;
in the midst of broken harmonies, where good and evil are seen in
conflict; in a life of adventure and danger; in a life where real
losses may have to be sustained; and sorrows as well as joys are
realities; where death as well as life is encountered; and where
spiritual deaths may be as endless, as spiritual lives may be eternal.
To bring to pass these conditions essential to man's earth-experiences,
on which is to be builded his future progress, the "fall" must be;
which is only another way of saying that the transition from heaven
conditions to earth must be made. In no way else could this earth
department of God's great university for Intelligences be established.
May it not, however, from some points of view be regarded as a
misnomer, this "fall?" Certainly it is but an incident in the process
of rising to greater heights. It is but the crouch for the spring;
the steps backward in order to gain momentum for the rush forward; a
descending below all things only that there might be a rising above all
things. Such the benefits to arise from the fall; at least to some,
and doubtless to the benefit ultimately, of most of the Intelligences
that participate in earth-life, though there will be real losses
in the adventure.[B] The fall is to eventuate in the advantage of
God's children, then, in the main. Adam did not sin because deceived
by another. He did not sin maliciously, or with evil intent; or to
gratify an inclination to rebellion against God, or to thwart the
Divine purposes, or to manifest his own pride. Had his act of sin
involved the taking of life rather than eating a forbidden fruit, it
would be regarded as a "sacrifice" rather than as a "murder." This is
to show the nature of Adam's transgression. It was a transgression of
the law--"for sin is the transgression of the law"--that conditions
deemed necessary to the progress of eternal Intelligences might obtain.
But Adam did sin. He did break the law, which is sin, and violation
of law involves the violator in its penalties, as surely as effect
follows cause. Upon this principle depends the dignity and majesty of
law. Take this fact away from moral government and your moral laws
become mere nullities. Therefore, notwithstanding Adam fell that men
might be, and that in his transgression there was at bottom a really
exalted motive--a motive that contemplated nothing less than bringing
to pass the highly necessary purposes of God with respect to man's
existence in the earth--yet his transgression of law was real; he did
brave the conditions that would be brought into existence by his sin;
it was followed by certain moral effects in the nature of men and in
the world. The harmony of things was broken; discord ruled; changed
relations between God and men took place; moral and intellectual
darkness, sin and death--death, the wages of sin--stalked through the
world, and made necessary the Atonement for man, and his redemption.
[Footnote A: Elsewhere of this Book of Mormon passage I have said: In
the second book of Nephi, chapter ii, occurs the following direct,
explicit statement: _Adam fell that men might be; and men are that they
might have joy._
This sentence is the summing up of a somewhat lengthy discussion
on the Atonement, by the Prophet Lehi. It is a most excellent and
important generalization, and is worthy to be classed with the
great generalizations of the Jewish scriptures, such for instance
as that in the closing chapter of Ecclesiastes, "Fear God and keep
his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man;" Paul's famous
generalization: "As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be
made alive;" or the Apostle James' summing up of religion: "Pure
religion and undefiled before God and the Father, is this: To visit
the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to kep one's self
unspotted from the world." Or the Messiah's great summing up of the
whole law and gospel: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with all they
heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first
and great commandment, and the second is like unto it, Thou shalt
love thy neighbor as thy self. On these two commandments hang all the
law and all the prophets." I care not whether you regard the literary
excellence of this Book of Mormon generalization or the importance of
the great truths which it announces, I repeat it, it is worthy in every
way to stand with the great generalizations quoted above.]
[Footnote B: A question presses on the optimists, * * * Are the
rebellious and the sinful not also on the up grade? Ultimately and in
the last resort will not they, too, put themselves in time with the
harmony of existence? Who is to say? Time is infinite, Eternity is
before us as well as behind us, and the end is not yet. There is no
"ultimately" in the matter, for there is no end; There is room for an
eternity of rebellion and degradation and misery as well as of hope and
love" ("Science and Immortality," Sir Oliver Lodge, p. 291)--and hence,
doubtless, real losses to be sustained.]
LESSON VIII.
(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
THE FALL OF MAN.--(Continued.)
ANALYSIS.
V. The Importance of Life--Be Fruitful and Replenish the Earth.
VI. The Fall Beneficent.
VII. The Book of Mormon View of the Fall.--Necessary to the Purposes of
God.
VIII. Summary of the Subjects of Lessons VII and VIII.
REFERENCES.
Same references as in Lesson VII.
_SPECIAL TEXT: "And now behold, if Adam had not transgressed, he would
not have fallen; but he would have remained in the garden of Eden. And
all things which were created must have remained in the same state
which they were [in], after they were created; and they must have
remained for ever, and had no end. And they would have had no children;
wherefore, they would have remained in a state of innocence, having no
joy, for they knew no misery; doing no good, for they knew no sin. But
behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of Him who knoweth all
things."_
NOTES.
_1. Be Fruitful.--Importance of Life:_ The purpose of God in the
earth-life of man already has been considered (Lesson IV, Subdivision
4), and it was found to bring to pass the immortality and eternal
life of man as man; and to bring to him an increase of joy, by
enlargement of capacity to enjoy; by adding upon him new powers of
self expression; by adding an earth-body to a heavenly born spirit;
"for man is spirit:" but "spirit" in order to receive "a fullness of
joy" must be inseparably connected with element (Doc. & Cov. Sec.
xciii:32-35, also note 2, Year Book II, Lesson II); hence the earth
life of Intelligences; hence the advent of Adam and his wife Eve upon
our earth; hence the commandment "Be fruitful;" hence the importance of
man obtaining his body (Lesson II, note 2); hence the resurrection from
the dead, which brings to pass the eternal union of spirit and body
(element), to be sanctified as a "soul;" for the "spirit and the body
is the soul of man" (Doc. & Cov., Sec. xxxviii:15). These principles
enlarge the view of the importance of the earth-life of man, and give
the idea of sanctity to the commandment, "Be fruitful." Undoubtedly
the most important thing in life is life itself, since there flows
from life all other things--experiences, joys, sorrows, sympathies,
achievements, righteousness, honor, power--it is the root, the base of
all. To protect and preserve life, whence spring all things else, God
has issued his decree. "Thou shalt not kill"--the Everlasting's cannon,
fixed alike against self-slaughter and the killing of others; and on
the crime of murder is placed the heaviest of all penalties--"whoso
sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed" (Gen. ix:6); "No
murderer hath eternal abiding in him" (I John iii:15).
And on the other hand, for the promotion of life, what encouragement
has God not given? First, this commandment, "Be fruitful and multiply
and replenish (refill) the earth;" second, in making sex desire and
love of offspring the strongest of passions, refining both, however, by
the sentiment of love, and confining by his law the exercise of these
life-functions to the limits of wedlock relations. "Lo, children are
an heritage of the Lord; and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As
arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.
Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them; they shall not be
ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate" (Psalms
127:3-5). And when the Lord would give his highest blessing to Abraham,
his friend, for his supreme act of obedience, he could but say: "In
blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy
seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea
shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; and in thy
seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast
obeyed my voice" (Genesis, xxii:17-18). And to Jacob the Lord also
said: "Behold, I will make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, and I will
make of thee a multitude of people" (Gen. xlviii:4).
_2. Nature's Testimony to the Value of Life:_ In nature, too,
this law of life is written, until our philosophers who treat on life
in its various forms, declare that the very "object of nature is
function"--i. e., life, (Lester F. Ward, Outlines of Sociology, 1904,
Ch. V). So superabundant is the fertility of all forms of life, animal
and vegetable, that if it were not limited by destructive agencies
the earth would soon be overwhelmed. "Every being," says Mr. Darwin,
"which during its natural life time produces several eggs or seeds,
must suffer destruction during some period of its life, and during some
season or occasional year, otherwise, on the principle of geometrical
increase, its numbers would quickly become so inordinately great that
no country could support the product. * * * There is no exception
to the rule that every organic being naturally increases at so high
a rate, that, if not destroyed, the earth would soon be covered by
the progeny of a single pair. Even slow-breeding man has doubled in
twenty-five years, and at this rate, in less than a thousand years,
there would literally not be standing room for his progeny. * * * In
a state of nature almost every full-grown plant annually produces
seed, and amongst animals there are very few which do not annually
pair. Hence we may confidently assert, that all plants and animals are
tending to increase at a geometrical ratio,--that all would rapidly
stock every station in which they could any how exist--and that this
geometrical tendency to increase must be checked by destruction at some
period of life" ("The Origin of Species," p. 50, 51, 52).
What is the significance of this rich endowment with the power of
reproduction in all forms of life, animal and vegetable, until it
assumes the appearance of actual redundancy? Is it not nature's
testimony to the fact of the desirability of life? And hence she
has equipped the various species with power to perpetuate life,
notwithstanding the destructive forces with which life in its great
variety of forms has to contend. Is life--especially human life--worth
living? Undoubtedly, since nature has so abundantly provided the means
for its perpetuation, and God has given the commandment, "Be fruitful
and replenish the earth."
_3. "The Fall" Regarded as Beneficent by Adam and Eve:_ Much that
is remarked in the foregoing paragraphs of this lesson on the nature
of the fall finds its warrant in the Book of Moses, (Pearl of Great
Price) and in the Book of Mormon, in what is said of Adam and Eve,
and what is said by them when the fact of the Atonement was expounded
to them; for one of the effects the fall seems to have had upon Adam
and his spouse--the effect of transition from heaven conditions to
earth conditions--was to veil their knowledge, to some extent, as to
pre-earth life conditions and purposes of God;[A] hence they lost their
knowledge apparently of the earth-life scheme of things, and had to
be instructed anew as to the plan of "eternal life, which God, that
cannot lie, promised before the world began."[B] And after Adam had been
re-instated in a knowledge of the things of God, and made to understand
that notwithstanding he had fallen yet could he be redeemed, "and all
mankind, even as many as will"--"In that day Adam blessed God and
was filled, and began to prophesy concerning all the families of the
earth: Blessed be the name of God, for because of my transgression my
eyes are opened, and in this life I shall have joy, and again in the
flesh I shall see God. And Eve, his wife, heard all these things and
was glad, saying: Were it not for our transgression we never should
have had seed, and never should have known good and evil, and the joy
of our redemption, and the eternal life which God giveth unto all the
obedient. And Adam and Eve blessed the name of God, and they made all
things known unto their sons and their daughters."[C]
[Footnote A: It will be observed that in speaking of Adam and Eve and
their part in the affairs of our earth and the beginning of the human
race upon it. I am passing by the evident allegory of Genesis as to
the earth origin of Adam and Eve. Our doctrine regard these first
parents of the human race as simply coming from another sphere upon a
mission to this earth to perform the work assigned them in peopling
the earth as prepared for them at their advent. The account in Genesis
of man's earth origin, of his being made of the dust of the earth, and
woman manufactured from man's rib gives in allegory the process of
the generation of human life. But human life is but a continuation of
pre-earth existing life which has no beginning and which will have no
end, being of the eternal things. So that in the system of philosophic
thought that is born of the revelations in which the New Dispensation
of the gospel has its origin, man was not moulded from the earth as
a brick nor woman manufactured from a rib; but, as well stated by
Elder Parley P. Pratt, the earth having been prepared and made ready
for the human race, "A royal planter now descends from yonder world
of older date, and bearing in his hand the choice seeds of the older
Paradise, he plants them in the virgin soil of our new born earth. They
grow and flourish there, and, bearing seed, replant themselves, and
thus clothed the naked earth with scenes of beauty, and-the air with
fragrant incense. Ripening fruits and herbs at length abound. When lo!
from yonder world is transferred every species of animal life. Male
and female, they come, with blessings on their heads, and a voice is
heard again, "Be fruitful and multiply." Earth, its mineral, vegetable
and animal wealth, its Paradise prepared, down comes from yonder world
on high a son of God, with his beloved spouse. And thus a colony from
heaven * * * is transplanted on our soil. The blessings of their Father
are upon them, and the first great law of heaven and earth is again
repeated, "Be fruitful and multiply." Hence, the nations which have
swarmed our earth." "Key to Theology," Ch. vi.]
[Footnote B: Titus i:2. Also Book of Moses, Ch. v:1-12. For a fuller
consideration of the facts of the text see Seventy's Year Book II,
Lesson XI. Notes 5 and 6.]
[Footnote C: Book of Moses (Pearl of Great Price) Ch. v. 10-12.]
_4. Book of Mormon View of the Fall--Necessary to the Purposes of
God:_ After a most remarkable process of reasoning upon the fact of
opposite existences, good and evil, sin and righteousness, and reaching
the conclusion that there "must needs be an opposition in all things,"
the Nephite prophet applies his principles to the fall of Adam in the
following passage:
"To bring about his [God's] eternal purposes in the end of man,
after he had created our first parents. * * * It must needs be that
there was an opposition; even the forbidden fruit in opposition
to the tree of life; the one being sweet and the other bitter;
wherefore, the Lord God gave unto man that he should act for
himself. Wherefore man could not act for himself, save it should be
that he was enticed by the one or the other. And I, Lehi, according
to the things which I have read, must needs suppose, that an angel
of God, according to that which is written, had fallen from heaven;
wherefore he became a devil, having sought that which was evil
before God, and because he had fallen from heaven, and had become
miserable for ever he said unto Eve, yea, even that old serpent,
who is the devil, who is the father of all lies, wherefore he
said, Partake of the forbidden fruit, and ye shall not die, but ye
shall be as God, knowing good and evil. And after Adam and Eve had
partaken of the forbidden fruit, they were driven out of the garden
of Eden, to till the earth. And they have brought forth children;
yea, even the family of all the earth. And the days of the children
of men were prolonged, according to the will of God, that they
might repent while in the flesh: wherefore, their state became a
state of probation, and their time was lengthened, according to
the commandments which the Lord God gave unto the children of men.
For he gave commandment that all men must repent; for he showed
unto all men that they were lost, because of the transgression of
their parents. And now, behold, if Adam had not transgressed, he
would not have fallen; but he would have remained in the garden of
Eden. And all things which were created, must have remained in the
same state in which they were, after they were created; and they
must have remained forever, and had no end. _And they would have
had no children; wherefore they would have remained in a state of
innocence,_ having no joy, for they knew no misery; doing no good,
for they knew no sin. But behold, all things have been done in the
wisdom of him who knoweth all things. Adam fell that men might be;
and men are that they might have joy."[A]
[Footnote A: II Nephi ii:15-25. For a treatise on "Opposite
Existences," see "New Witnesses for God," Vol. III, pp. 219-227.]
_5. Summary of Views of the Fall:_ I shall depend on the two
foregoing passages, to sustain, in large measure, the views of this
lesson, viz., that the fall of Adam was not an accident; that it did
not surprise the purposes of God with reference to man's earth-life,
much less thwart them; that the fall was as much embraced in the
sovereign purposes of God with reference to the earth-life of man as
was the Atonement; that without the first the second could not be; that
the transition from heaven conditions to earth conditions, the fall,
in some way was connected with the propagation of the earth-life of
man: "Were it not for our transgression we never should have had seed"
is the declaration of Eve, allowed to stand in the Book of Moses as
an undoubted truth. But for the transgression of Adam, as the Prophet
Lehi tells us, in the above passage, "all things which were created,
must have remained in the same state which they were [in] after they
were created; and they must have remained forever and had no end. _And
they_ [Adam and Eve] _would have had no children_: Wherefore they
would have remained in a state of innocence, having no joy, for they
knew no misery; doing no good, for they knew no sin." But Adam made
the necessary transition from a state of mere innocence, he fell that
man might be, and that the experiences of earth-life might follow, and
eventuate in something better and greater than mere innocence, _viz._,
in virtue; which is goodness, and strength, acquired by conquest of
evil.[A]
[Footnote A: See Seventy's Year Book No. II, Part II, Lesson IX, p. 50.
On this distinction between mere innocence and virtue, Professor Joseph
Le Conte of the University of California says: "It will, I think,
be admitted by all that innocence and virtue are two very different
things. Innocence is a pre-established, virtue a self-established,
harmony of spiritual activities. The course of human development,
whether individual or racial, is from innocence through more or less
discord and conflict to virtue. And virtue completed, regarded as a
condition, is holiness, as an activity, it is spiritual freedom. Not
happiness nor innocence but virtue is the goal of humanity. Happiness
will surely come in the train of virtue, but if we seek primarily
happiness we miss both. Two things must be borne steadily in mind;
virtue is the goal of humanity; virtue can not be given, it must be
self-acquired. * * * Why could not man have been made a perfectly
pure, innocent, happy being, unplagued by evil and incapable of sin? I
answer: The thing is impossible even to Omnipotence, because it is a
contradiction in terms. Such a being would also be incapable of virtue,
would not be a moral being at all, would not in fact be man. We can not
even conceive of a moral being without freedom to choose. We can not
even conceive of virtue without successful conflict with solicitations
to debasement. But these solicitations are so strong and so often
overcome us, that we are prone to regard the solicitations themselves
as essential evil, instead of our weak surrender to them." (Evolution
and Its Relation to Religious Thought--1902--pp. 372-3.)]
LESSON IX.
(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
THE DOCTRINE OF THE ATONEMENT IN ANCIENT TIMES--THE OLD TESTAMENT.
ANALYSIS.
I. The First Promise of an Atonement.
II. Adam's Sacrifices and the Atonement.
III. The Mosaic Sacrifices:
1. The Sin Offering.
2. The Day of Atonement.
IV. The Christian Fathers on the Significance of Ancient Sacrifices.
REFERENCES.
Genesis iii; Book of Moses (P. of G. P.), Chs. v and vi.
Hebrews Chs. ix and x. Dr. William Smith's Old Testament History, Chs.
ii and Appendix to Book III, Sec. iv--"Sacrifices and Oblations."
Smith's Bible Dictionary (Hackett Edition), Vol. IV, Art. "Sacrifices."
Also Kitto's Biblical Literature, Art. "Sacrifices."
"Mediation and Atonement" (Pres. John Taylor), Ch. xvi.
_SPECIAL TEXT: "When Moses had spoken every precept to all the people
according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with
water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book and
all the people, saying, This is the blood of the testament which God
hath enjoined unto you. Moreover, he sprinkled with blood both the
tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry. And almost all things
are by the law purged with blood and without shedding of blood is no
remission." (Heb. ix:19-22.)_
DISCUSSION.
_1. The Idea of an Atonement of Ancient Origin:_ From the earliest
times the fact of an Atonement for man is foreshadowed. "The serpent
beguiled me, and I did eat," said Eve, to the Lord. "And the Lord God
said unto the serpent * * * I will put enmity between thee and the
woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and
thou shalt bruise his heel."[A]
[Footnote A: Gen. iii:13, 15.]
In this passage Christians with justice have always seen the
proclamation of the good tidings of the final victory over sin. "It is
in Christ that the seed of the woman crushes the serpent."[A]
[Footnote A: Dummelow's Commentary on Gen. iii.]
_2. Atonement Foreshadowed in Ancient Sacrifices:_ The Atonement
is also foreshadowed in the sacrifices of burnt offerings of Adam, his
son Abel and the early Bible patriarchs. So meagre is the Bible account
of the origin of sacrifices that some have doubted if they bore any
relation to the sacrifice to be offered by the Christ, or were at all
of divine origin.[A] Our scripture, however, the Book, of Moses, sets
the matter at rest for Latter-day Saints; for there it is written:
[Footnote A: "In tracing the history of sacrifice, from its first
beginning to its perfect development in the Mosaic ritual, we are at
once met by the long-disputed question, as to the origin of sacrifice;
whether it arose from a natural instinct of man, sanctioned and guided
by God, or whether it was the subject of some distinct primeval
revelation. * * * The great difficulty in the theory which refers it to
a distinct command of God, is the total silence of Holy Scriptures--a
silence the more remarkable, when contrasted with the distinct
reference made in Gen. ii to the origin of the Sabbath. Sacrifice,
when first mentioned, in the case of Cain and Abel, is referred to as
a thing of course; it is said to have been 'brought' by men; there is
no hint of any command given by God. This consideration, the strength
of which no ingenuity has been able to impair, although it does not
actually disprove the formal revelation of sacrifice; yet at least
forbids the assertion of it, as of a positive and important doctrine."
(Smith's "Bible Dictionary"--Hackett ed.--Art. "Sacrifice," Vol. IV, p.
2770).
Was sacrifice in its origin "a human invention or a divine institution;
and whether any of the sacrifices before the law, or under the law,
were sacrifices of expiation. Eminent and numerous are the authorities
on both sides of these questions; but the balance of theological
opinion preponderated greatly for the affirmative in each of them. On
the lower point, however, (viz., were the sacrifices sacrifices of
expiation) most of those who deny that there was an expiatory sacrifice
before the law, admit its existence under the law; and on the first,
those who hold that sacrifice was of divine origin, but became much
corrupted, and was restored by the Mosaic law, do not in substance
differ much from those who hold it to have been a human invention,
formally recognized, and remodelled by the law of Moses." Kitto's
"Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature," Art. "Sacrifices." The difficulty
and doubt in respect of both questions presented by these authorities
is overcome by the passage which follows in the text from the Book of
Moses.]
"And Adam and Eve, his wife, called upon the name of the Lord, and
they heard the voice of the Lord from the way toward the Garden
of Eden, speaking unto them, and they saw him not; for they were
shut out from his presence. And he gave unto them commandments,
that they should worship the Lord their God, and should offer the
firstlings of their flocks, for an offering unto the Lord.[A] And
Adam was obedient unto the commandments of the Lord. And after many
days an angel of the Lord appeared unto Adam, saying: Why dost thou
offer sacrifices unto the Lord? And Adam said unto him, I know not,
save the Lord commanded me. And then the angel spake saying: This
thing is a similitude of the sacrifice of the Only Begotten of the
Father, which is full of grace and truth. Wherefore, thou shalt do
all that thou doest in the name of the Son, and thou shalt repent
and call upon God in the name of the Son forevermore. And in that
day the Holy Ghost fell upon Adam, which beareth record of the
Father and the Son, saying: I am the only begotten of the Father
from the beginning, henceforth and forever, that as thou hast
fallen thou mayest be redeemed, and all mankind, even as many as
will."
[Footnote A: This doubtless gives the ground of explanation for the
acceptance of Abel's offering for a sacrifice, the firstlings of his
flock; and the rejection of Cain's offering, the fruits of the ground
(Gen. iv:3-7). The one was brought in compliance with the appointment
of God, the other was not of divine appointment, but was an unwarranted
deviation from the commandment, hence, "the Lord had respect unto
Abel and his offering," but not unto Cain's. In Kitto's article on
"Sacrifices" there is another very great reason urged as to why Abel's
sacrifice was acceptable and why Cain's was not. It is reasonable, and
in harmony with the importance of the whole doctrine of the Atonement,
and I have nowhere else found the idea so well expressed. "It amounts
then to this--that Cain, by bringing an eucharistic (expressing thanks
merely) offering, when his brother brought one which was expiatory,
denied virtually that his sins deserved death, or that he needed the
blood of Atonement. Some go further, and allege that in the text
itself, God actually commanded Cain to offer a piacular [expiatory,
atoning] sacrifice. The argument does not require this additional
circumstance; but it is certainly strengthened by it. When Cain became
angry that Abel's offering was regarded with divine complacency, and
his own refused, God said to him, 'Why art thou wroth; and why is thy
countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted?
And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door.' Now the word
'chattah,' translated 'sin' denotes in the law a 'sin-offering' and the
word translated 'lieth' is usually applied to the recumbency of the
beast. It is therefore proposed to translate the clause, 'sin-offering
coucheth at the door; which by paraphrase would mean, 'an animal fit
for a sin-offering is here, couching at the door, which thou mayest
offer in sacrifice, and thereby render to me an offering as acceptable
as that which Abel has presented." (Kitto's "Bible Literature," Art.
"Sacrifice.")]
This clearly establishes the divine origin of sacrifices among the
antediluvian patriarchs; and, indeed, of all antiquity;[A] and also the
fact, that they but foreshadowed the great sacrifice to be made in due
time by the Son of God himself. Doctor Wm. Smith, the author of the
"Old Testament History," says:
[Footnote A: A strong moral argument in favor of the divine institution
of sacrifice, somewhat feebly put by Hallet (Comment, on Heb. xi:4,
cited by Magee, "On the Atonement"), has been reproduced with increased
force by Faber ("Prim. Sacrifice," p. 183). It amounts to this:
"Sacrifice, when uncommanded by God, is a mere act of gratuitous
superstition. Whence, on the principle of St. Paul's reprobation of
what he denominates will-worship, it is neither acceptable nor pleasing
to God.
"But sacrifice, during the patriarchal ages, was accepted by God, and
was plainly honored with his approbation.
"Therefore sacrifice, during the patriarchal age, could not have been
an act of superstition uncommanded by God.
"If, then, such was the character of primitive sacrifice; that is to
say, if primitive sacrifice was uncommanded by God,--it must, in that
case indubitably have been a divine, and not a human institution."
(Kitto's "Cyclopedia Biblical Knowledge," Vol. II, Art. "Sacrifice.")]
"The curse upon the serpent and promise to the woman point clearly
to a Redeemer, who should be born of a woman, and by his own
suffering, should destroy the power of the devil; and here we have
the first prophecy of the Messiah. * * * There can be no reasonable
doubt that the sacrifice of living animals was now instituted as a
prophetic figure of the great sacrifice which should fulfill this
promise. Animals must have been slain to provide the skins that
clothed Adam and Eve; and wherefore slain, except in sacrifice?
This might not seem conclusive in itself; but the whole reason for
sacrifice began to exist now; its use is taken for granted in the
next chapter (Gen. iv); and it continues throughout the patriarchal
age without the record of any other beginning. Thus early, then,
man learned that, "without shedding of blood, there is no remission
of sin;" that his own forfeited life was redeemed, and to be
restored by the sacrifice of the coming "seed of the woman;" and
that he was placed by God under a new dispensation of mercy. Nay,
even his punishment was a mercy; for his suffering was a discipline
to train him in submission to God's will. The repentance of our
first parents is nowhere expressly stated; but it is implied here
and in the subsequent narrative."[A]
[Footnote A: We must not omit to notice the traces of these truths,
which are found among many nations. The Greek legend of Pandora traces
the entrance of evil to a woman; the Buddhist and Chinese traditions
refer the beginning of sin to eating forbidden fruit and desiring
forbidden knowledge; and most systems of mythology make the serpent
a type of the power of evil, and a divine personage his destroyer.
Delitzch well says, "The story of the Fall, like that of the Creation,
has wandered over the world. Heathen nations have transplanted and
mixed it up with their geography, their history, their mythology,
although it has never so completely changed form, and color, and
spirit, that you can not recognize it. Here, however, in the Law,
it preserves the character of a universal, human, world-wide fact;
and the groans of Creation, the Redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
and the heart of every man, conspire in their testimony to the most
literal truth of the narrative." The recollection of the tree of life
is preserved in the sacred tree of the Assyrians and Hindoos, and in
the other Eastern systems of mythology ("Old Testament History"--Wm.
Smith--p. 29.)]
The fact of Adam's repentance, however, is clearly set forth in the
Book of Moses, and his acceptance of the whole scheme of salvation
through the atonement of Christ.[A]
[Footnote A: See Book of Moses (P. of G. P.), Ch. v:4-16 and Ch.
vi:48-68.]
_3. The Atonement of Christ Foreshadowed in the Mosaic
Sacrifices:_ It is very generally conceded that the sacrifices
and oblations of the Mosaic ritual have a direct relationship to the
great atoning sacrifice to be made by the Christ. From the ninth and
tenth chapters of the Epistle to the Hebrews it is evident that "the
law" was "a shadow of good things to come;" the law's sacrifices for
sin and reconciliation with God but figured forth the greater and
more efficient sacrifice to be made by the Son of God; nay, whatever
of virtue there was in the sacrifices of the law were dependent upon
the great sacrifice to follow. Of themselves, the sacrifices of the
law had no virtue at all unconnected with the sacrifice to be made by
the Christ;[A] they were but symbols figuring forth that sacrifice in
which the virtue was, the sacrifice of the Christ himself. "For it
is expedient," says the Nephite Prophet Alma--"It is expedient that
an Atonement should be made; for according to the great plan of the
eternal God, there must be an Atonement made, or else all mankind must
unavoidably perish; yea, all are hardened; yea, all are fallen and
are lost, and must perish except it be through the Atonement which it
is expedient should be made. Therefore, it is expedient that there
should be a great and last sacrifice; and then shall there be, or it is
expedient there should be, a stop to the shedding of blood; then shall
the law of Moses be fulfilled; yea, it shall be all fulfilled; every
jot and tittle, and none shall have passed away. And behold, this is
the whole meaning of the law; every whit pointing to that great and
last sacrifice; and that great and last sacrifice will be the Son of
God; yea, infinite and eternal."[B]
[Footnote A: Hebrews x:1-10.]
[Footnote B: Alma xxxiv:9, 13, 14.]
The late President John Taylor upon this subject said:
"These sacrifices, which were offered up from the days of Adam
until the time of our Savior's advent, were typical of the great
expiatory sacrifice which He was to make by the sacrifice of
himself. They were so many types, shadows and forms of which he
was the great prototype--the substance, the reality prefigured and
foreshadowed by the other sacrifices which had been offered up from
the beginning.
"When the law was given to Moses, all the forms pertaining to
the sacrificial ceremonies were revealed in detail, and the
instructions in relation thereto were not simply of a general
nature, but they entered into minute particulars in relation to all
things connected with those who officiated, the form and pattern
of the sacred utensils and of the vestments of the Priesthood,
the creatures to be sacrificed, the order of the proceedings, and
indeed of all matters associated with the observance of these
rites. Almost the whole of the book of Leviticus, and considerable
of the book of Numbers, is occupied with these instructions and
kindred matters. This Mosaic law, with all its duties, observances,
ceremonies and sacrifices, continued in force until Christ's
death."[A]
[Footnote A: "Mediation and Atonement" (1882), p. 124.]
_4. The Sin Offering of the Mosaic Law:_ The Author of the Article
on "Sacrifices," in Smith's "Bible Dictionary" (Hackett edition),
Vol. IV--Rev. Alfred Barry, Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, in
describing the "Sin Offering of the Mosaic law," says:
"The nature and meaning of the various kinds of sacrifice is partly
gathered from the form of their institution and ceremonial, partly
from the teaching of the prophets, and partly from the New Testament,
especially the Epistle to the Hebrews. All had relation, under
different aspects, to a covenant between God and man.
"The sin offering represented that covenant as broken by man, and as
knit together again, by God's appointment, through the 'shedding of
blood.' Its characteristic ceremony was the sprinkling of the blood
before the veil of the sanctuary, the putting some of it on the horns
of the altar, incense, and the pouring out of all the rest at the foot
of the altar of burnt offering. The flesh was in no case touched by
the offerer; either it was consumed by fire without the camp, or it
was eaten by the priest alone in the holy place, and everything that
touched it was holy. This latter point marked the distinction from
the peace-offering, and showed that the sacrificer had been rendered
unworthy of communion with God. The shedding of blood, the symbol of
life, signified that the death of the offender was deserved for sin,
but that the death of the victim was accepted for his death by the
ordinance of God's mercy."
_5. The Ceremonial of the Day of Atonement:_ "This [the truth of
the preceding paragraph] is seen most clearly in the ceremonial of
the 'Day of Atonement,' when, after the sacrifice of the one goat,[A]
the high priest's hand was laid on the head of the scape-goat--which
was the other part of the sin-offering--with confession of the sins
of the people, that it might visibly bear them away, and so bring out
explicitly, what in other sin-offerings was but implied. Accordingly we
find that, in all cases, it was the custom for the offerer to lay his
hand on the head of the sin-offering, to confess generally or specially
his sins, and to say, 'Let this be my expiation.' Beyond all doubt, the
sin-offering distinctly witnessed that sin existed in man, that the
'wages of that sin was death,' and that God had provided an Atonement
by the vicarious suffering of an appointed victim. The reference of the
Baptist to a 'Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the world,' was
one understood and hailed at once by a 'true Israelite.'"[B]
[Footnote A: Two goats were used in this ceremonial, one of which
was killed and made a "sin offering" and the other a scape-goat to
figuratively bear off the sins of the people.
"And he shall take the two goats, and present them before the Lord at
the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And Aaron shall cast
lots upon the two goats; one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for
the scape-goat. And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the Lord's
lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering. But the goat, on which the
lot fell to be the scape-goat, shall be presented alive before the
Lord, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scape-goat
into the wilderness" (Lev. xvi:7-10).]
[Footnote B: Smith "Dictionary," Vol. IV, p. 2774.]
_6. The Paschal Sacrifice or Passover:_ In some respects the
Paschal Sacrifice more perfectly than any other, perhaps, foreshadowed
the future sacrifice of the Son of God for the deliverance of his
people--those who would trust the sign of deliverance in his blood. The
institution of the sacrifice and feast was as follows. When all other
judgments upon Pharaoh failed to persuade him to let God's people go,
then said the Lord to Moses:
"About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt: and all the
first-born in the land of Egypt shall die, from the first-born of
Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the first-born of the
maid-servant that is behind the mill; and all the first-born of beasts.
And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such
as there was none like it, nor shall be like it any more. But against
any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against
man or beast; that ye may know how that the Lord doth put a difference
between the Egyptians and Israel."[A]
[Footnote A: Exodus xi:4-7.]
When this terrible judgment was about to be executed the Lord provided
the following means of deliverance for his people: Each family in
Israel were commanded at a given time to take a lamb without blemish,
a male of the first year, for a Passover Offering, and it was to be
killed in the evening.
"And they shall take of the blood and strike it on the two side-posts,
and on the upper doorpost of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. And
they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened
bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. * * * And ye shall eat
it in haste; it is the Lord's passover. For I will pass through the
land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the first-born in the
land of Egypt, both man and beast: and against all the gods of Egypt,
I will execute judgment: I am the Lord. And the blood shall be to you
for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I
will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy
you, when I smite the land of Egypt. And this day shall be unto you for
a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your
generations: ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance forever."[A]
[Footnote A: Exodus xii.]
Thus was the Passover established. Of it the late President Taylor said:
"It appears, that when the destroying angel passed by the houses
of the children of Israel he found the blood of a lamb sprinkled
on the doorpost; which was a type of the blood of Christ, the
lamb of God. The angel who was the executor of justice could not
touch those who were protected by that sacred symbol; because that
prefigured the sacrifice of the Son of God, which was provided at
the beginning of creation for the redemption of the human family,
and which was strictly in accordance with provisions then made by
the Almighty for that purpose--'the Lamb slain from before the
foundation of the world'--and accepted in full as an atonement for
the transgressions of mankind, according to the requirements of
eternal justice and agreed to by the Savior and his Father."[A]
[Footnote A: "Mediation and Atonement," p. 106.]
Of course it cannot be doubted that this festival of the Passover
was instituted as a great memorial of the deliverance from Egyptian
bondage, and the birth of the nation of Israel; and there are not
wanting those who maintain that this was its primary significance.
But the leading feature in the festival, the Paschal Lamb, "a male,
without blemish;" the killing of it; the blood sprinkled upon the door
post, the sign of safety to God's people; the eating of the lamb in
preparation of the journey; the subsequent honoring of this feast by
the Christ with his disciples; the substitution of the Sacrament of
the Lord's Supper for the Passover festival at the very time and on
the very occasion of celebrating the feast of the passover among the
Jews;[A] together with the subsequent inspired reference to Christ
as the Paschal Lamb of the Christians,[B] are circumstances too
numerous and too nearly related to doubt of the significance of the
Passover festival having reference to the great sacrifice to be made
by the Son of God through the shedding of his blood in atonement for
the deliverance of his people. Of the Passover being a symbol of the
sacrifice of the Son of God, the writer upon that theme in Smith's
"Bible Dictionary" says:
[Footnote A: Matt. xxvi and Luke xxii.]
[Footnote B: I Cor. v:7.]
"No other 'shadow of good things to come' contained in the law
can vie with the festival of the passover in expressiveness and
completeness. Hence we are so often reminded of it, more or less
distinctly, in the ritual and language of the Church. Its outline,
considered in reference to the great deliverance of the Israelites
which it commemorated, and many of its minute details, have been
appropriated as current expressions of the truths which God has
revealed to us in the fullness of times in sending his Son upon
earth."[A]
[Footnote A: Smith's "Dictionary of the Bible" (Hackett's edition),
Vol. IV, p. 2355.]
_7. The Testimony of Some "Christian Fathers:_" Certain of the
socalled Christian Fathers agree with this view of the Old Testament
sacrifices figuring forth the sacrifice to be made by the Christ, both
as to sacrifices in the early patriarchal times and under the law of
Moses. Of these, first, is
(a) _Eusebius of Caesarea:_ Born 264 A. D. (about); died 349 (about).
"Eusebius of Caesarea, in a passage too long for quotation, alleges,
that animal sacrifice was first of all practiced by the ancient lovers
of God (the patriarchs) and that not by accident, but through a certain
divine contrivance, under which, as taught by the divine spirit, it
became their duty thus to shadow forth the great and venerable victim,
really acceptable to God, which was, in time then future, destined to
be offered in behalf of the whole human race ("Demonst. Evang." i:8,
pp. 24,25)."[A]
[Footnote A: Kitto, Vol. II, p. 661.]
(b) _Athanasius:_ Born 296 A. D.; died 373.
"Next we come to Athanasius, who, speaking of the consent of the Old
Testament to the fundamental doctrines of the New, says: 'What Moses
taught, these things his predecessor Abraham had preserved; and what
Abraham had preserved, with those things Enoch and Noah were well
acquainted; for they made a distinction between the clean and the
unclean [animals], and were acceptable to God. Thus also in like manner
Abel bore testimony; for he knew what he had learned from Adam, and
Adam himself taught only what he had previously learned from the Lord"
(Synod. Nicen. contr. Haer, Arian, Decret., Opp. i, 403).[A]
[Footnote A: Ibid.]
(c) _Augustine_: Bp. of Hippo. Born 354 A. D.; died 430.
"Augustine, after expressly referring the origin of sacrifice to the
divine command, more distinctly evolves his meaning by saying: 'The
prophetic immolation of blood, testifying from the very commencement of
the human race the future passion of the Mediator, is a matter of deep
antiquity inasmuch as Abel is found in Holy Scripture to have been the
first who offered up his prophetic immolation (Cont. Faust. Manich.
Onp. vi:145). These testimonies certainly vindicate the opinion of the
divine origin of primitive sacrifice from the charge of being a modern
innovation, with no voice of antiquity in its favor."[A]
[Footnote A: Kitto, Vol. II, p. 661.]
LESSON X.
(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
THE FACT OF THE ATONEMENT IN NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES.[A]
ANALYSIS.
I. The Atonement Considered as a Fact.
II. The Testimony to the Fact.
1. Gabriel;
2. John the Baptist;
3. The Christ;
4. The Judean Apostles:
(a) Paul,
(b) Peter,
(c) John.
REFERENCES.
St. Luke, Ch. i; also Heb. ix and x, and all the New Testament
citations in the text of this lesson--the context of these passages
should also be considered.
Richard-Little Compendium, Art. "Atonement," pp. 8-13, and all its
references.
Mediation and Atonement (Taylor), Chs. iii, iv, v and vi.
The Gospel (Roberts), Ch. ii (3rd Edition).
_SPECIAL TEXT: "And almost all things are by the law purged with blood
and without shedding of blood is no remission." (Heb. ix:22.)_
[Footnote A: "New Testament Scriptures," as here used means more than
the New Testament of the Bible. It means that New Testament of course,
but that plus the Book of Mormon books written after the birth of
Messiah, beginning with III Nephi, and also the immediate scriptures of
the New Dispensation, viz., the Doctrine and Covenants.]
DISCUSSION.
_1. The Fact of the Atonement:_ The important thing to be
established in the mind of man concerning the atonement is the fact
of it. While it is not the intention of this treatise to avoid the
discussion of the philosophy of the Atonement[A]--by which is meant
only a discussion of the reasonableness of it--and rest in the mere
fact of it as proved from the Scriptures, still I repeat that the fact
of it and man's acceptance of it as a fact, is of first importance.[B]
This and the following lesson of Part II, therefore, are devoted to
grouping the scriptural texts for the fact of the Atonement from "New
Testament Scriptures."
[Footnote A: Part III is wholly devoted to that division of the
subject.]
[Footnote B: Elsewhere on this theme I have said: How is it that
through the sacrifice of one who is innocent salvation may be purchased
for those under the dominion of death? I will observe, in passing, that
what should most concern us is, not so much how it is that such is the
case, but is it a fact? Is it true that God has established such a
scheme of redemption, is what should concern us most.
To that question the blood sprinkled upon a thousand Jewish altars,
and the smoke that darkened the heavens for ages from burnt offerings,
answer yes. For those sacrifices, and that sprinkled blood were but
typical of the great sacrifice to be made by the Messiah.
Even the mythology of the heathen nations retains the idea of an
Atonement that either has been, or is to be made for mankind.
Fantastic, distorted, confused; buried under the rubbish of savage
superstition it may be, but it nevertheless exists. So easily traced,
so distinct is this feature of heathen mythology, that some writers
have endeavored to prove that the gospel plan of redemption was derived
from heathen mythology. Whereas the fact is that the gospel was
understood and extensively preached in the earliest ages; men retained
in their tradition a knowledge of those principles or parts of them,
and however much they may have been distorted, traces of them may still
be found in nearly all the mythologies of the world.
The prophets of the Jewish scriptures answer the foregoing question
in the affirmative. The writers of the New Testament make Christ's
Atonement the principal theme of their discourses and epistles. The
Book of Mormon, speaking as the voice of an entire continent of people,
whose prophets and righteous men sought and found God, testifies to
the same great fact, and the revelations of God as given through the
Prophet Joseph Smith are replete with passages confirming this doctrine.
* * * The evidence here indicated is more than sufficient, it seems to
me, to establish the _fact_ of the Atonement beyond the possibility of
a doubt: and if there are some things in it not yet within the scope
of our comprehension, still there is sufficient foundation for our
glorious hope and faith of eternal life through its power: for the
evidence proving the fact of that Atonement is sufficient, wanting
nothing, either in quality or quantity" "(The Gospel," Ch. ii.)]
_2. The Angel's Testimony to the Atonement of Christ:_ "Joseph,
thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: * * * She
shall bring forth a Son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus; for he
shall save his people from their sins."[A]
[Footnote A: Matt. i:18, 23.]
Such were the words of the angel to Joseph, the betrothed husband of
Mary, the Mother of Christ.
_3. John the Baptist's Testimony:_ "Behold, the Lamb of God, that
taketh away the sins of the world * * * and I saw and bear record that
this is the Son of God."[A]
[Footnote A: St. John, Ch. i:29, 34.]
Such John's testimony concerning Jesus of Nazareth, as he saw that more
than Prophet coming to his baptism.
_4. The Christ's Testimony to the Atonement:_ "And as Moses lifted
up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted
up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal
life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting
life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but
that the world through him might be saved."[A]
[Footnote A: St. John iii:15-17.]
Such the Christ's testimony of himself. And again the Christ:
"When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am
he[A] [i. e., the one that taketh away the sins of men]."[B] "And I, if
I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men unto me." This he
said signifying by what death he should die."[C]
[Footnote A: Ibid viii:28.]
[Footnote B: Ibid, verse 24.]
[Footnote C: St. John xii:32, 33.]
When instituting the sacrament, at the passover supper, celebrated upon
the night of his betrayal, as the disciples were eating, "Jesus took
bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples,
and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave
thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it, for this is my
blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission
of sins."[A] Mark and Luke practically give the same account of the
incident.
[Footnote A: Matt. xxvi:26-28.]
After the resurrection, Jesus, overtaking two of the disciples on their
way to Emmaus, engaged them in conversation respecting the crucifixion
of Jesus. And in course of their narrative of the missing body of the
Christ, the resurrected Messiah interrupted them, saying:
"O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have
spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to
enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets
he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning
himself."[A]
[Footnote A: St. Luke xxiv:25-27.]
Subsequently, he was known of these two disciples by the breaking of
bread. And after these two astonished disciples returned to Jerusalem
and were detailing their experience to the eleven Apostles, and those
that were with them, Jesus entered the room where they were gathered:
"And he said unto them: These are the words which I spake unto
you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled
which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and
in the psalms, concerning me. Then opened he their understanding,
that they might understand the scriptures, and said unto them, Thus
it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise
from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of
sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at
Jerusalem."[A]
[Footnote A: St. Luke xxiv:44-47.]
_5. Testimony of the Judean Apostles:_ Turning now to the
disciples after the departure of the resurrected Christ from their
midst, and the endowment of the apostles with the Holy Ghost, they
teach: "Neither is there salvation in any other [name than the
Christ's]: for there is none other name under heaven given among men,
whereby we must be saved."[A] "Feed the church of God which he hath
purchased with his own blood."[B] "For all have sinned, and come short
of the glory of God; being justified freely by his grace, through the
redemption that is in Christ Jesus; whom God hath set forth to be a
propitiation, through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness
for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of
God."[C]
[Footnote A: Acts iv:10-12.]
[Footnote B: Acts xx:28.]
[Footnote C: Rom. iii:23-25.]
"If we believe on him that raiseth up Jesus our Lord from the dead;
who was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our
justification."[A]
[Footnote A: Rom. iv:24, 25.]
_6. Paul's Testimony to the Atonement:_ An extended passage in
his letter to the Romans, Paul reasons upon the atonement made by the
Christ in the following manner:
"For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for
the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet
peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God
commandeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his
blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we
were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son,
much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not
only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by
whom we have now received the Atonement. Wherefore, as by one man
sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed
upon all men, for that all have sinned. But not as the offense, so
also is the free gift. For if through the offense of one many be
dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is
by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many."[A]
[Footnote A: Romans v:6-12, 15. See also Ch. vii.]
All will remember Paul's passage in the first letter to the
Corinthians: "Since by man [Adam] came death, by man [the man Christ
Jesus] came also the resurrection from the dead. For as in Adam all
die; even so in Christ shall all be made alive."[A]
[Footnote A: I Cor. xv:21, 22.]
"For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how
that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that
he was buried, and that he arose again the third day according to the
scriptures."[A]
[Footnote A: I. Cor. xv:3-4.]
"To the praise of the glory of his grace wherein he hath made us
accepted in the beloved: in whom we have redemption through his blood,
the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace."[A]
[Footnote A: Eph. i:6,7.]
"Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers
of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from
the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of
his dear Son: in whom we have redemption through his blood; even the
forgiveness of sins."[A]
[Footnote A: Col. i:12-14.]
"For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the man
Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified of in
due time."[A]
[Footnote A: I Tim. ii:5, 6.]
"We see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels[A] for the
suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor; that by the grace
of God should taste death for every man."[B] "Who needeth not daily
as those high priests [i. e., of the Mosaic law] to offer sacrifices,
first for his own sins, and then for the people's: for this he [the
Christ] did once, when he offered up himself."[C]
[Footnote A: "A little while inferior to" is the marginal rendering of
the passage. See also "Mormon Doctrine of Deity," p. 163--Note--for a
discussion of the passage.]
[Footnote B: Heb. ii:8-10.]
[Footnote C: Hebrews vii.]
"But Christ * * * by his own blood * * * entered in once into the holy
place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood
of the bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the
unclean, sanctified to the purifying of the flesh: _how much more shall
the blood of Christ_ who through the eternal Spirit offered himself
without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve
the living God. * * * And almost all things are by the law purged with
blood; _and without shedding of blood is no remission_."[A]
[Footnote A: Heb. ix:12-14. 22.]
_7. The Testimony of the Apostle Peter to the Atonement:_ The
Apostle Peter is equally emphatic with Paul in testifying of the virtue
of the Atonement of Christ in bringing to pass the redemption of man
through his death, as witness the following:
"Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through
sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the
blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied. * * *
Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible
things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received
by tradition from your fathers; _but with the precious blood of
Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:_ who verily
was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was
manifest in these last times for you."[A]
[Footnote A: I Peter i:2, 18-20.]
Again: "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the
unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh,
but quickened by the Spirit: by which also he went and preached unto
the spirits in prison."[A]
[Footnote A: I Peter iii:18-19.]
_8. The Testimony of John, the Beloved Disciple, to the
Atonement:_ So also John, the beloved disciple, testifies to the
same effect: "If we walk in the light as he [God] is in the light, we
have fellowships one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his
Son cleanseth us from all sin."[A]
[Footnote A: I John i:5-7.]
"My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin
not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus
Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins: and
not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world."[A]
"And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the
book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast
redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue,
and people and nation: and hast made us unto our God kings and
priests; and we shall reign on the earth."[B]
"And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him [the
dragon--Satan], whose names are not written in the book of life of
the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world."[C]
[Footnote A: I John ii:1.2.]
[Footnote B: Rev. v:9, 10.]
[Footnote C: Rev. xiii:8.]
LESSON XI.
(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
THE FACT OF THE ATONEMENT IN THE NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES--(Continued).
ANALYSIS.
III. The Testimony to the fact of the Atonement (Continued).
5. The Book of Mormon as a Witness:
(a) The Testimony of the Christ to the Nephites.
(b) The Testimony of Christian Institutions.
(1) The Ordinance of Baptism.
(2) The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper.
IV. Testimony of the New Dispensation Scriptures--Doctrine and
Covenants.
V. The Only Adequate Gospel Sermon--Jesus Christ.
REFERENCES.
References same as those in Lesson X, with the citations in the body
of this Lesson, and the contexts of the texts, which should be fully
considered.
_SPECIAL TEXT: "Behold, I am Jesus Christ, the Son of God. * * * I have
come into the world to bring redemption unto the world, to save the
world from sin." (The Christ to the Nephites: III Nephi ix:15, 21.)_
DISCUSSION.
_1. The Testimony of the Book of Mormon to the Atonement:_ The
third book of Nephi, in the Book of Mormon, may well be called the
"Fifth Gospel,"[A] the beginning of the New Testament of the Nephite
scriptures. In it is detailed the account of the Christ's visit to
the western hemisphere and the circumstances attendant upon the
establishment of his Church among the Nephites. The voice of God, which
was heard after the great destruction which swept over the land during
the entombment of the Christ, said:
[Footnote A: The term was first used by Dr. Paden of Salt Lake. See
"Defense of the Faith and the Saints," Vol. 1, pp. 371-399, for full
treatment of the subject.]
"Behold, I am Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I created the heavens
and the earth, and all things that in them are. I was with the
Father from the beginning. I am in the Father, and the Father in
me; and in me hath the Father glorified his name. I came unto my
own, and my own received me not. And the scriptures concerning my
coming are fulfilled. And as many as have received me, to them have
I given to become the Sons of God; and even so will I to as many as
shall believe on my name, for behold, by me redemption cometh, and
in me is the law of Moses fulfilled. * * * For behold, I have come unto
the world to bring redemption unto the world, to save the world
from sin."[A]
[Footnote A: III Nephi ix:15-17.]
_2. The Testimony of the Resurrected Christ:_ Then again, upon
his appearing among the Nephites after his resurrection and his
post-resurrection ministry in Palestine, the Christ said:
"Behold, I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified should come
into the world: and behold, I am the light and the life of the
world; and I have drunk out of that bitter cup which the Father
hath given me, and have glorified the Father in taking upon me the
sins of the world, in the which I have suffered the will of the
Father in all things from the beginning. * * * And it came to pass
that the Lord spake unto them saying: Arise and come forth unto
me, that ye may thrust your hands into my side, and also that ye
may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that
ye may know that I am the God of Israel, and the God of the whole
earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world."[A]
[Footnote A: III Nephi xi:10-14.]
_3. Evidence of the Atonement in the Symbol of Baptism:_
Convincing as testimony to the fact of the Atonement is the Christian
institution of baptism, the formula of which is given in the Book of
Mormon. In it is shown the authority of the Christ in this ordinance
of salvation, since in addition to the Holy Trinity being named as
authorizing the ordinance, the administrator specifically declares that
he has authority from Jesus Christ for performing it. The ordinance
itself, providing as it does for the immersion of the candidate,
symbolizes the Christ's death and burial for the sinner; and also in
bringing forth the baptized from the watery grave, symbolizes the
resurrection--all which is done that forgiveness of sin might be
granted to those who thus palpably manifest that they do most solemnly
accept the Atonement of the Christ of which his baptism is a most
beautiful symbol--of his death, burial and resurrection.[A]
[Footnote A: III Nephi xi:10-14. The matter is treated somewhat more in
detail in Lesson XXI.]
_4. Evidence of the Atonement in the Symbol of the Lord's Supper:_
The Christ also established the sacrament of the Lord's Supper among
the Nephites and constituted it the symbol of the Atonement. After
breaking bread and blessing it, he gave it to his Nephite disciples
and said: "This shall ye do in remembrance of my body, which I have
shown unto you, and it shall be a testimony unto the Father that ye do
always remember me, and if you do always remember me, ye shall have my
spirit to be with you."[A] So also with the wine which he blessed and
gave them to drink, adding, "Ye shall do it in remembrance of my blood,
which I have shed for you, that you may witness unto the Father that ye
do always remember me."[B]
[Footnote A: III Nephi xviii.]
[Footnote B: Ibid.]
What may be called the "New Testament"[A] part of the Book of Mormon,
then, no less than the New Testament of the Bible testifies to the fact
of the Atonement. The same may be said of the immediate scriptures of
the New Dispensation, the Doctrine and Covenants.
[Footnote A: Referring to those parts of the Book of Mormon which were
written after the birth of the Christ, beginning with the III Nephi.]
_6. Testimony of the New Dispensation Scriptures--Doctrine and
Covenants:_ In a revelation to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery,
given in June, 1829, the Lord said: "Remember the worth of souls is
great in the sight of God: For behold, the Lord your Redeemer suffered
death in the flesh; wherefore he suffered the pain of all men, that
all men might repent and come unto him. And he hath risen again from
the dead, that he might bring all men unto him, on conditions of
repentance."[A]
[Footnote A: Doc. & Cov. Sec. 18:10-12.]
Again, in a revelation to Martin Harris, given through Joseph the
Prophet, in March, 1830, the Lord said: "Therefore I command you to
repent--repent, lest I smite you by the rod of my mouth, and by my
wrath, and by my anger, and your sufferings be sore--how sore you know
not! how exquisite you know not! yea, how hard to bear you know not!
For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all that they
might not suffer if they would repent, but if they would not repent,
they must suffer even as I. Which suffering caused myself, even God,
the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every
pore, and to suffer both body and spirit: and would that I might not
drink the bitter cup and shrink--Nevertheless, glory be to the Father,
and I partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men."[A]
[Footnote A: Doc. & Cov. Sec. 19:15-19.]
The declaration that Jesus Christ made an atonement for man is
frequently repeated as follows:
"I am Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who was crucified for the sins
of the world, even as many as will believe on my name, that they
may become the sons of God, even one in me as I am in the Father,
as the Father is one in me, that we may be one."[A]
"I am Christ, and in mine own name, by the virtue of the blood
which I have spilt, have I pleaded before the Father for them; but
behold, the residue of the wicked have I kept in chains of darkness
until the judgment of the great day; which shall come at the end of
the earth."[B]
[Footnote A: Doc. & Cov. Sec. xxxv:1, 2.]
[Footnote B: Doc. & Cov., Sec. xxxviii:4, 5.]
Again:
"Listen to him who is the Advocate with the Father, who is pleading
your cause before him, saying, Father, behold the sufferings and
death of him who did no sin, in whom thou wast well pleased; behold
the blood of thy Son which was shed--the blood of him whom thou
gavest that thyself might be glorified; wherefore, Father, spare
these my brethren that believe on my name, that they may come unto
me and have everlasting life."[A]
[Footnote A: Doc. & Cov., Sec. xlv:3-5.]
_7. The One Adequate Gospel Discourse (Brigham Young):_ Perhaps
this branch of our treatise--the fact of the atonement--cannot be more
fittingly closed than by quoting a passage from one of the discourses
of Brigham Young, setting forth the impossibility of a man adequately
preaching a gospel discourse in this our mortal life; and holding that
Christ alone, in his creative work under the Fathers direction, in his
earth-life, death, resurrection, and the final presentation of the
finished work to his Father--this alone is the adequate gospel sermon:
"There is but one discourse to be preached to all the children of
Adam; and that discourse should be believed by them, and lived up
to. To commence, continue, and finish this gospel sermon, will
require all the time that is alloted to man, to the earth, and
all things upon it, in their mortal state; that is my idea with
regard to preaching. No man is able to set before a congregation
all the items of the gospel, in this life, and continue these
items to their termination, for this mortal life is too short.
It is inseparably connected, one part with the other, in all the
doctrines that have been revealed to man, which are now called the
various doctrines of Christianity, of which all the professors of
religion believe a portion; but severally reject, or desire to
reject, other portions of the truth: each sect or individual taking
to themselves portions of the Bible, portions of the doctrine of
salvation, that are the most pleasing to them, rejecting all the
rest, and mingling these doctrines with the tenets of men.
"But let a gospel sermon be preached, wherein all the principles
of salvation are embodied, and we will acknowledge, at the end of
the mortality of this earth, and all things created upon it--at
the closing up scene, at the final consummation of all things that
have been from the commencement of the creation of the world, and
the peopling of it, unto the latest generation of Adam and Eve,
and the final finishing up of the work of Christ--I say, we shall
acknowledge that there is the gospel sermon, and that it could not
be preached to finite beings in one short life.
"Christ is the author of this gospel, of this earth, of men and
women, of all the posterity of Adam and Eve, and of every living
creature that lives upon the face of the earth, that flies in the
heavens, that swims in the waters, or dwells in the field. Christ
is the author of salvation to all this creation; to all things
pertaining to this terrestrial globe we occupy.
"He has redeemed the earth; he has redeemed mankind and every
living thing that moves upon it; and he will finish his gospel
discourse when he overcomes his enemies and puts his last enemy
under his feet--when he destroys death, and him that hath the power
of it--when he has raised up this kingdom, and finished his work
which the Father gave him to do, and presents it to his Father,
saying, 'I have done the work, I have finished it; I have not only
created the world, but I have redeemed it; I have watched over it,
and I have given to those intelligent beings, that you have created
by me, their agency, and it has been held with perfection to
every creature of intelligence, to every grade of mankind; I have
preserved inviolate their agency; I have watched over them, and
overruled all their actions, and held in my hand the destinies of
men; and I have finished up my gospel sermon,' as he presents the
finished work to his Father.
"It takes just such a character as the Savior, to preach one gospel
discourse; and this was commenced with the commencement of all men
upon this earth or any other; and it will never close until the
winding up scene, and all is finished, and the kingdom is presented
to the Father."[A]
[Footnote A: Journal of Discourses, Vol. III, pp. 80, 81.]
LESSON XII.
(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
THE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD RELATED TO THE ATONEMENT.
ANALYSIS.
I. Attributes[A] Ascribed to God--First Group.
1. Eternity;
2. Immutability;
3. Omnipotence;
4. Omniscience;
5. Omnipresence.
II. The Attributes Expounded--Limitations.
REFERENCES.
Doc. & Cov.: "Lectures on Faith," Lectures III and IV. Catechism (John
Jaques), Ch. v; Doc. & Cov. Sec. 20:17-28.
Richards and Little's Compendium: "True and Living God," pp. 187-193.
Also collection of passages in Oxford or Cambridge "Bible Helps," or
"Bible Treasury," under captions, "God" and "Attributes." Also the
scripture passages quoted and cited in the body of this lesson.
_SPECIAL TEXT: "Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever
thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to
everlasting, thou art God." (Psalms xc:2.)_
[Footnote A: Attribute: A characteristic or distinguishing mark,
especially an excellent or lofty quality or trait (Cent. Diet.).
"By this word 'attribute' is meant something which is immovable and
inseparable from the essence of its subject, as that which constitutes
it (Descartes). Attribute is considered a word of lofty significance:
Thus, for example, it would be felt as indecorous to speak of the
'qualities' of God, and as ridiculous to talk of the 'attributes' of
matter."--Hamilton.]
DISCUSSION.
_1. The Attributes Ascribed to God:_ As the attributes of God are
necessarily involved in the philosophy of the Atonement, I think it
proper here to make brief allusion to them, especially to those more
immediately involved in the Atonement. The attributes usually assigned
to God, either upon the ground of scripture or the supposed necessity
of his nature are: Eternity, Immutability, Omnipotence, Omniscience,
Omnipresence, Wisdom, Holiness, Truth, Justice, Mercy, Love.
_2. Eternity:_ By "Eternity," spoken of as an attribute of God, is
meant God's eternal existence. We may not in rational thought assume
a time when God was not--or when He did not exist. God's eternity
is sustained by such scripture as David's 90th Psalm, "Before the
mountains were brought forth, or thou hadst formed the earth and the
world, even from everlasting to everlasting thou art God." Also Paul
bears the same witness: "And thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid
the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine
hands. They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax
old as doth a garment; and as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and
they shall be changed; but thou art the same and thy years shall not
fail."[A]
[Footnote A: Heb. i:10-12.]
_3. Immutability:_ God's "Immutability," his unchangeableness,
is sustained in such passages of both ancient and modern scriptures
as follow: "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and
cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness,
neither shadow of turning."[A] "For I am the Lord, I change not;
therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed."[B] "For God does not
walk in crooked paths, neither does he turn to the right hand nor to
the left, or vary from that which he has said; therefore his paths
are straight, and his course is one eternal round,"[C] "Listen to the
voice of the Lord your God, even Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the
end, whose course is one eternal round, the same yesterday, today and
forever."[D]
[Footnote A: James i:17.]
[Footnote B: Malachi iii:6.]
[Footnote C: Doc. & Cov., Sec. 3, v. 2.]
[Footnote D: Doc. & Cov., Sec. 35, v. 1.]
_4. Omnipotence:_ By "Omnipotence" is meant all-powerfulness. This
attribute is essential to all rational thinking upon God. We may not
think upon God and then think upon him as being overruled by a higher
power, and still have him remain to our thought as God. The Scriptures
in their whole spirit present this view of the Omnipotence of Deity.
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. * * * And God
said, Let there be light, and there was light. * * * And God said. Let
the waters be gathered together in one place, and let the dry land
appear: and it was so." In this manner the work proceeds throughout the
creation periods.[A]
[Footnote A: Gen. i-iii.]
Of this attribute David sings: "The heavens shall praise thy wonders,
O Lord: * * * for who in the heaven can be compared unto the Lord? Who
among the sons of the Mighty can be likened unto the Lord? * * * O Lord
God of hosts, who is a strong Lord like unto thee? Thou rulest the
raging of the sea: when the waves arise thou stillest them. * * * The
heavens they are thine, the earth also is thine: as for the world and
the fulness thereof, thou hast founded them. * * * Thou hast a mighty
arm: strong is thy hand, and high is thy right hand."[A] To the same
effect sang Isaiah (Ch. xl:10-15); also Jeremiah (Ch. xxvii:17), and
Daniel (Ch. iv:35).
[Footnote A: Psalms lxxxix.]
In the New Testament, the Christ teaches that "with God all things
are possible;"[A] and negatively, "with God nothing shall be
impossible."[B] The Revelation uses the term "omnipotent" direct: "And
I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of
many waters, and the voice of the mighty thunderings, saying Alleluia:
for the Lord God _omnipotent_ reigneth."[C]
[Footnote A: Matt. xix:26.]
[Footnote B: Luke i:37.]
[Footnote C: Rev. xix:6. Also "Lectures on Faith," Doc. & Cov., Lecture
III. So, too, in Mosiah iii:17, 18, 21.]
_5. Omniscience:_ By "Omniscience" is meant all-knowing. "Known
unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world,"[A] said
the Holy Spirit-inspired council of the apostles and elders of the
early Christian church. "Remember the former things of old. * * * I am
God and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning,
and from ancient time the things that are not yet done, saying my
counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure."[B] A sparrow
falls not to the ground without the Father's notice.[C] In reasoning
with Abraham upon the Intelligences in heaven and the fact that they
varied in degree of intelligence, the Lord said that where there were
two intelligences and the one was more intelligent than the other,
"there shall be another more intelligent than they: I am the Lord, thy
God, _I am more intelligent than them all_."[D] By which is meant, as
I think, not that God is more intelligent than any other one of the
Intelligences, but more intelligent than all of them together.
[Footnote A: Acts xv:18.]
[Footnote B: Isaiah xlvi:9, 10.]
[Footnote C: Matt. x:29.]
[Footnote D: Book of Abraham iii:17-19.]
_6. Omnipresence:_ "Omnipresence" means everywhere present; and
perhaps the best description of this attribute of God is in David's
passage--"Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee
from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I
make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of
the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there
shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say
surely darkness shall cover me: even the night shall be light about
me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee: but the night shineth as
the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to these."[A] "Will
God indeed dwell on the earth," asked Solomon, in dedicating the first
temple, "Behold the heaven, and heaven of heavens cannot contain Thee;
how much less this house that I have builded."[B] And Paul, in teaching
the nearness of God to men, said that God had made of one blood all
nations of men: and had given to all the privilege of seeking the Lord,
if happily they might feel after him, and find him, "though he be not
far removed from every one of us, for in him we live and move and have
our being."[C]
[Footnote A: Psalms cxxxix:27.]
[Footnote B: I Kings viii:27.]
[Footnote C: Acts xvii:26-28.]
Under the attribute of "Omnipotence"--all-powerful--I include "Power,"
which is sometimes, and usually, treated separately as an attribute
of God: and under "Omniscience" I include "Knowledge," which is also
usually regarded separately as an attribute of Deity; but both these
terms--"Power" and "Knowledge"--may very appropriately fall under the
larger terms--"Omnipotence" and "Omniscience"--which, respectively,
include them.
_7. Limitation in the Attributes of God:_ W. may now consider
somewhat the limitations of the attributes so far named. The Eternity
of God may be regarded as absolute. "I am that I am," the Eternal One,
the Self-existent, admits of no modification as to his Eternity.
His Immutability should be regarded as stability, adherence to
principle. What stands among men under the name of "constitutional
morality," fixed devotion to law; and working through law to the
achievement of his divine purposes, rather than by caprice, or by
arbitrary, personal action. But God's immutability should not be
so understood as to exclude the idea of advancement or progress of
God. Thus, for example: God's kingdom and glory may be enlarged, as
more and more redeemed souls are added to his kingdom: as worlds and
world-systems are multiplied and redeemed and enrolled with celestial
spheres, so God's kingdom is enlarged and his glory increased. So that
in this sense there may come change and progress even for God. Hence we
could not say of God's immutability as we do of his eternity that it is
absolute, since there may come change through progress even for God:
but an absolute immutability would require eternal immobility--which
would reduce God to a condition eternally static, which, from the
nature of things, would bar him from participation in that enlargement
of kingdom and increasing glory that comes from redemption and
the progress of men. And is it too bold a thought, that with this
progress, even for the Mightiest, new thoughts, and new vistas may
appear, inviting to new adventures and enterprises that will yield new
experiences, advancement, and enlargement even for the Most High?[A]
It ought to be constantly remembered that terms absolute to man may be
relative terms to God, so far above our thinking is his thinking; and
his ways above our ways.
[Footnote A: On this point Sir Oliver Lodge has a passage at once
advanced and bold, and yet for which he claims Christian warrant.
It is, however, far removed from modern Christian orthodoxy, though
splendidly true: "The universe is not a 'being,' but a 'becoming'--an
ancient but light bringing doctrine when realized,--it is in change,
in development, in movement upward and downward, that activity
consist. A stationary condition, or stagnation, would be to us simple
non-existence: the element of progression, of change, of activity,
must be as durable as the universe itself. Monotony, in the sense of
absolute immobility, is unthinkable, unreal, and cannot anywhere exist:
save where things have ceased to be.
"Such ideas, the ideas of development and progress, extend even up to
God himself, according to the Christian conception. So we return to
that with which we started: The Christian idea of God is not that of a
being outside the universe, above its struggles, and taking no part in
the process, solely exalted, beneficent, self-determined and complete;
no, it is also that of a God who loves, who yearns, who suffers, who
keenly laments the rebellious and misguided activity of the free agents
brought into being by himself as part of himself, who enters into the
storm and conflict, and is subject to condition as the Soul of it all:
conditions not artificial and transitory, but inherent in the process
of producing free and conscious beings, and essential to the full
self-development even of Deity.
"It is a marvelous and bewildering thought, but whatever its value, and
whether it be an ultimate revelation or not, it is the revelation of
Christ." ("Science and Immortality," p. 292.)]
The attribute "Omnipotence" must needs be thought upon also as
somewhat limited. Even God, notwithstanding the ascription to him of
all-powerfulness in such scripture phrases as "With God all things are
possible," "Nothing shall be impossible with God"--notwithstanding all
this, I say, not even God may have two mountain ranges without a valley
between. Not even God may place himself beyond the boundary of space:
nor on the outside of duration. Nor is it conceivable to human thought
that he can create space, or annihilate matter. These are things that
limit even God's Omnipotence. What then, is meant by the ascription of
the attribute Omnipotence to God? Simply that all that may or can be
done by power conditioned by other eternal existences--duration, space,
matter, truth, justice--God can do. But even he may not act out of
harmony with the other eternal existences which condition or limit even
him.
So with the All-knowing attribute, Omniscience: that must be understood
somewhat in the same light as the other attributes considered: not that
God is Omniscient up to the point that further progress in knowledge is
impossible to him; but that all knowledge that is, all that exists, God
knows. He is Universal Consciousness, and Mind--he is the All-knowing
One, because he knows all that is known.
So the attribute "Omnipresence"--the Everywhere Present attribute. This
must be so far limited as to be ascribed to God's Spirit, or Influence,
or Power: but not of God as a Person or Individual; for in these
latter respects even God is limited by the law that one body cannot
occupy two places at one and the same time. But radiating from his
presence, as beams of light and warmth radiate from our sun, is God's
Spirit, penetrating and permeating space, making space and all worlds
in space vibrate with his life and thought and presence: holding all
forces--dynamic and static--under control, making them to subserve his
will and purposes.
God also uses other agencies to reflect himself, his power or
authority: also his Wisdom, Goodness, Justice and Mercy--angels and
arch-angels, both in heaven and on earth; and in the earth prophets,
apostles, teachers--all that make for up-lift, for righteousness; all
that catch some ray of the Divine Spirit in poem, music, painting,
sculpture, state-craft or mechanical arts--all these but reflect God
and are a means of multiplying and expressing him, the Divine. And in a
special way, as witness for God, and under very special conditions, the
Holy Ghost, that Being accounted the Third Person of the Godhead--he
reflects and stands for God, his Power, and Wisdom; his Justice, Truth
and Mercy--for all that can be, or is, called God, or is God. All these
means, direct and indirect, convey God into the universe, and keep him
everywhere present in all his essentials of Wisdom, Power and Goodness,
while his bodily presence remains at the center of it all.
LESSON XIII.
(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
THE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD RELATED TO THE ATONEMENT (Continued).
ANALYSIS.
III. Attributes Ascribed to God--Second Group.
1. Wisdom:
2. Holiness;
3. Truth;
4. Justice;
5. Mercy;
6. Love.
IV. The Attributes of God Constitute a Harmony--This Relates Them to
the Atonement.
REFERENCES.
References same as in Lesson XII. Also Scriptures quoted and cited in
the body of this lesson.
_SPECIAL TEXT: "God does not walk in crooked paths, neither does he
turn to the right hand nor to the left, or vary from that which he has
said; therefore his paths are straight, and his course is one eternal
round." (Doc. & Cov., Sec. 2:2.)_
DISCUSSION.
There is yet to be considered the attributes of Wisdom, Holiness,
Truth, Justice, Mercy, Love; and these are the attributes referred to
which are more immediately involved in the doctrine of Atonement.
_1. Wisdom:_ Wisdom that arises from knowledge seems essentially
an attribute of Deity; as well from the nature of the attribute as
from the declaration of scripture. God as un-wise is unthinkable;
unpossessed of this attribute, he could not appeal to the consciousness
of man as God at all. Therefore it is agreeable to think with Elihu in
Job, that God "is mighty in strength and wisdom."[A] Also with David:
"O Lord, how manifold are thy works! In wisdom thou hast made them
all: the earth is full of thy riches."[B] And again David: "Great is
our Lord, and great of power; his understanding is infinite."[C] So
Paul: "To God, only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever;"[D]
"The wisdom of the world is foolishness with God;"[E] He says, so high
above the wisdom of men does he esteem the wisdom of God; and even
"the foolishness of God is wiser than men."[F] We may fittingly close
his testimony with his prayer: "Now, unto the King Eternal, immortal,
invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory forever, and ever.
Amen."[G]
[Footnote A: Job xxvi:5.]
[Footnote B: Psalms cxv:24.]
[Footnote C: Psalms cxvii:5.]
[Footnote D: Rom. xvi:27.]
[Footnote E: I Cor. i:25.]
[Footnote F: I Cor. i:26.]
[Footnote G: I Tim. i:17.]
Worthy to go with this testimony is that of Joseph Smith, in which is
found the same spiritual music: "The Lord is God, and beside him there
is no Savior; great is his Wisdom, marvelous are his ways, and the
extent of his doings none can find out; his purposes fail not, neither
are there any who can stay his hand."[A]
[Footnote A: Doc. & Cov., Sec. 76:1-3.]
_2. Holiness:_ "Holiness," as an attribute of God, is equally
indispensable as Wisdom. Equally unthinkable is it that Deity should
not possess it. No marvel that Moses sang, "Who is like unto thee, O
Lord, among the gods, glorious in holiness?"[A] "I am the Lord your
God; * * * ye shall be holy: for I am holy,"[B] was God's word to
ancient Israel. Throughout the scriptures God is spoken of as the
"Holy One of Israel." "Thou art Holy, O thou that inhabitest the
praises in Israel."[C] "Sing unto the Lord * * * at the remembrance
of his Holiness."[D] "God that is Holy shall be sanctified in
righteousness."[E] "And one cried unto another, and said: Holy, holy,
holy is the Lord God of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory."
Such Isaiah's vision.[F] Both the Old and the New Testaments are
replete with the doctrine. In one of the prophets it is written: "O
Lord, * * * thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not
look on iniquity."[G] And again in the scripture: "I the Lord cannot
look upon sin with the least degree of allowance;"[H] which perhaps
more than any other utterance of holy writ, asserts the Holiness of God.
[Footnote A: Ex. xv:11.]
[Footnote B: Lev. xi:44.]
[Footnote C: Psalms xxii:3.]
[Footnote D: Psalms xxx:4.]
[Footnote E: Isaiah v:16.]
[Footnote F: Isaiah vi:3.]
[Footnote G: Hab. i:12,-13.]
[Footnote H: Doc. & Cov., Sec. i:31: "Nevertheless," continues the
passage, "he that repents and does the commandments of the Lord shall
be forgiven." Showing that while God may not compromise with sin by
looking upon it with any degree of allowance, yet he has compassion
upon the sinner who repents.]
_3. Truth:_ The attribute of "Truth" is ascribed to God; and
here we again come in touch with the absolute, as when speaking of
God's Eternity. God can be no other than absolute in this quality. An
untruthful God! the thought is blasphemy. "God is not a man that he
should lie, neither the son of man that he should repent."[A] "Mercy
and Truth shall go before thy face."[B] "A God of truth and without
iniquity, just and right is he."[C] "Thou hast redeemed me, O Lord
God of Truth."[D] "Abundant in goodness and Truth."[E] So our modern
scriptures: "God does not walk in crooked paths, neither does he
turn to the right hand nor the left, or vary from that which he has
said, therefore his paths are straight, and his course is one eternal
round."[F] It cannot be emphasized too strongly--God is a God of Truth;
and does not, and cannot lie without ceasing to be God. It would wreck
the moral universe for God to lie. He must _be_, he is TRUTH! "A God of
truth, without iniquity, just and right is he."[G]
[Footnote A: Numbers xxiii:19.]
[Footnote B: Psalms lxxxix:14.]
[Footnote C: Deut. xxxii:4.]
[Footnote D: Psalms xxxi:5.]
[Footnote E: Ex. xxxiv:6.]
[Footnote F: Doc. & Cov., Sec. 3:2.]
[Footnote G: Deut. xxxii:4.]
_4. Justice:_ "Justice," as an attribute, is of the same quality
as the attribute of Truth--it must be conceived as absolute in Deity.
God not just! The thought would be blasphemous. Of course we have
scripture warrant for the doctrine: "Justice and judgment are the
habitation of thy throne."[A] "There is no God beside me: a Just God
and a Savior."[B] "The Just God is in the midst thereof."[C] "Behold
thy King cometh unto thee: he is Just and having salvation."[D]
[Footnote A: Psalms lxxxix:14.]
[Footnote B: Isaiah xv:21.]
[Footnote C: Zech. iii:5.]
[Footnote D: Zech. ix:9.]
_5. Mercy:_ "Mercy" as an attribute of God is in a class with
Truth and Justice and Holiness. A God without compassion--only another
name for mercy--would be a monstrosity. No, God must be Merciful! Else
what shall become of man? God not merciful! It is unthinkable, that is
all. The quality of Mercy as an attribute of God is not strained;
"It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath; it is twice blest;
It blesses him that gives, and him that takes;
'Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown;
* * * It is an attribute to God himself!"
"Mercy and truth shall go before his face," is the testimony of the
Psalmist.[A] "And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The
Lord, the Lord God, Merciful and gracious."[B] "But thou art a God
ready to pardon, gracious and merciful."[C]
[Footnote A: Psalms lxxxix:14.]
[Footnote B: Ex. xxxiv:6.]
[Footnote C: Neh. ix:17.]
_6. Love:_ Love! the crowning glory of all the attributes of
God! We may revel in this attribute. "He that loveth not, knoweth not
God; for God is Love!"[A] "God is Love, and he that dwelleth in love
dwelleth in God, and God in him."[B] "Every one that loveth is born of
God."[C] "In this was manifested the Love of God towards us, because
that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live
through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved
us, and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins."[D]
[Footnote A: I John iv:8.]
[Footnote B: I John iv:16.]
[Footnote C: St. John iii:16.]
[Footnote D: I John iv:9,10.]
"God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting
life."[A] More perfect evidence than this of love, even God cannot give.
[Footnote A: St. John iii:16.]
_7. The Harmony of God's Attributes:_ These attributes as well as
those considered in lesson XII, must be thought upon as constituting a
harmony; those with the existences as real and eternal as themselves;
these with reference to harmony within or among themselves. Thus
Justice may not deny the claims of Mercy. Mercy may not rob Justice.
Even Love may not allow God to intrude upon Justice, or Wisdom or
Truth. At the same time it must be remembered that Mercy and Love, no
less than Justice, are attributes of God and somehow and somewhere must
find entrance into the divine economy, must get themselves expressed
and that worthily; worthy of their intrinsic nature, and worthy of God
in whom they inhere. And while "all must be law" or at least in harmony
with law; all "must be love," in harmony with love--for God, from first
to last, is Love.
The attributes of God must be preserved in perfect accord if the moral
harmony of the universe is to be maintained. It is these considerations
which unite the attributes of God with the subject of Atonement.
If God's moral government of the universe is, like his physical
government, one of law, then Law, not personal, arbitrary, capricious
Will must rule.
LESSON XIV.
(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
THE REIGN OF LAW.[A]
ANALYSIS.
I. The Government of the Universe--Two Methods Conceived of:
1. By Unvarying Law;
2. By Special Providence.
II. Harmonization of Government by Unvarying Law, and the Existence of
Special Providence.
1. Misconception of Unvarying Law; Laws Have Their Limitations.
2. Misconception of "Miracles."
III. The New Dispensation--Its Prophet and Doctrine Committed to the
Reign of Law in Both the Physical and the Spiritual World.
REFERENCES.
Doc. & Cov., Sec. 88; also Sec. 130.
A History of the Warfare of Science with Theology (White); Conflict
Between Religion and Science (Draper); Natural Law in the Spiritual
World (Drummond).
Joseph Smith, the Prophet-Teacher (Roberts), pp. 42-49.
Studies in Religion (Fiske), pp. 158-169, 337, 338.
_SPECIAL TEXT: "There are many kingdoms, and to every kingdom is given
a law; and to every law there are certain bounds also, and conditions.
All beings who abide not in those conditions [i. e., laws] are not
justified." (Doc. & Cov., Sec. 88:37-39.)_
DISCUSSION.
_1. Government of the Universe--(A) By Unvarying Law:_ "Two
interpretations may be given of the mode of government of the world,"
says Professor John W. Draper.
[Footnote A: "The fundamental conception of law is an ascertained
working sequence or constant order among the phenomena of nature.
* * "The laws of nature are simply statements of the orderly condition
of things in nature, what is found in nature by a sufficient number of
competent observers.
"And despite the limitations of its sphere on every side, Law is still
the largest, richest, and surest source of human knowledge." (Henry
Drummond: Natural Law in the Spiritual World, Introduction, pp. 4, 5.)]
"It may be by incessant, divine interventions, or by the operation of
unvarying law." The former view is held by Draper to be the view of
the Roman religion (pre-Christian); and later of the Roman Christian
religion. A priesthood, he holds, will always incline to the theory
of "divine interventions," "since it must desire to be considered as
standing between the prayer of the votary and the providential act."
"Not without reason, therefore," he continues, "did they [the priests]
look upon the doctrine of government by 'unvarying law' with disfavor."
And then continues in the following manner:
_2. Draper's View--Unvarying Law:_ "The orderly movement of
the heavens could not fail in all ages to make a deep impression on
thoughtful observers--the rising and setting of the sun; the increasing
or diminishing light of the day; the waxing and waning of the moon; the
return of the seasons in their proper course; the measured march of the
wandering planets in the sky--what are all these and a thousand such,
but manifestations of an orderly and unchanging procession of events?
The faith of early observers in this interpretation may perhaps have
been shaken by the occurrence of such a phenomenon as an eclipse, a
sudden and mysterious breach of the ordinary course of events; but it
would be resumed in tenfold strength as soon as the discovery was made
that eclipses themselves recur, and may be predicted.
"Astronomical predictions of all kinds depend upon the admission of
this fact--that there never has been and never will be any intervention
in the operation of natural laws. The scientific philosopher affirms
that the condition of the world at any given moment is the direct
result of its condition in the preceding moment, and the direct cause
of its condition in the subsequent moment."[A]
[Footnote A: Conflict Between Religion and Science, p. 229.]
In the remainder of the chapter here quoted, Draper traces the struggle
between the idea of government by special Providence and government
by "unvarying law." until the latter triumphs in modern thought and
science.
_3. White's View--Unvarying Law:_ To the same purpose, Andrew D.
White, once professor of History at Cornell University, and President
of the University for twenty-five years, published his great work, "A
History of the Warfare of Science with Theology,"[A] The title of a few
of the chapters will show the drift of the thought: "From Creation to
Evolution," "From 'Signs and Wonders' to Law in Heaven," "From Genesis
to Geology," "From Magic to Chemistry and Physics," "From Miracles to
Medicine," and so following.
[Footnote A: The Work is in Two Volumes, Appleton and Co., 1903.]
_4. John Fiske's View--Unvarying Law:_ Of course John Fiske (and
the same may be said practically of all our modern scientists and
philosophers) inclines to the same view--government of the universe by
"unvarying law." Fiske describes the effect of the modern intellectual
movement to be "to discredit more than ever before the Latin idea
of God as a power outside of the course of nature and occasionally
interfering with it. In all directions the process of evolution has
been discovered, working after similar methods, and this has forced
upon us the belief in the Unity of Nature. We are thus driven to the
Greek conception of God as the power working in and through nature,
without interference or infraction of law. We have so far spelled out
the history of creation as to see that all has been done in strict
accordance with law. * * * So beautiful is all this orderly coherence, so
satisfying to some of our intellectual needs, that many minds are
inclined to doubt if anything more can be said of the universe than
that it is a Reign of Law, an endless aggregate of coexistences and
sequences."[A]
[Footnote A: Studies in Religion, pp. 337-8.]
_5. Henry Drummond's View--Unvarying Law:_ Drummond, in 1893,
published his "Natural Law in the Spiritual World," with a view, as
the title suggests, of bringing the phenomena of the spirit-world into
harmony with the modern scientific conceptions that obtain respecting
the natural world. His self-imposed task was to "demonstrate the
naturalness of the supernatural;" that the natural and the spiritual
world are one. Drummond's conception was a noble one, and resulted in
the production of a very notable and convincing work, though meeting in
some quarters with the impatience that attaches to works of its class,
viz., the class that attempts to work out harmony between science and
religion; or between the natural and the spiritual world.[A]
[Footnote A: Thus Andrew D. White, in his "Warfare of Science
with Theology," speaking of the phases of theological attack upon
science, represents the third and the last--as "an attempt" at
compromise--"compromise by means of far-fetched reconciliations of
textual statements with ascertained fact" (Warfare, Vol. I, p. 218).
That Drummond himself was aware that these "attempts at compromise"
of the differences between science and religion, or the "natural and
spiritual world," is evident from his preface, where he says: "No class
of works is received with more suspicion, I had almost said derision,
than those which deal with Science and Religion. Science is tired
of reconciliations between two things which never should have been
contrasted. Religion is offended by the patronage of an ally which it
professes not to need; and the critics have rightly discovered that,
in most cases where Science is either pitted against Religion or fused
with it, there is some fatal misconception to begin with as to the
scope and province of either."]
_6. Difficulties in the Way of Government by Unvarying Law; (1)
Limitations of Laws:_ The difficulties between the conception of
government of the world by "unvarying law," and the facts of man's
spiritual or religious experiences, which seems at times to be in
contravention of law, answers to prayer, healing the sick through
faith, foreknowledge of coming events, and the like, would disappear
if only men would recognize the fact that laws have their limitations;
and that laws in nature known to us may have their force broken or
counteracted by the operation of other forces. For example: the power
of ocean currents and the winds to carry objects with them in the
direction of their movement is overcome by another force, though no
less operating under law, viz., the force found in steam; the force
of gravitation by the levitating power of gas; the natural tendency
of water to seek its level by evaporation and the absorbing power of
the atmosphere, are examples. This principle of "law being governed
by law," was taught by Joseph Smith as early as 1832, in a revelation
received in that year, and in which it was said: "Unto every kingdom
is given a law; _and unto every law there are certain bounds also and
conditions_." The context of the passage makes it clear that "kingdoms"
here are not groups of men or nations over which a monarch reigns; but
substances, matter; worlds and world-systems, and their inhabitants
under the dominion of law; the universe considered in its divisions
and subdivisions. "Verily I say unto you," continues the revelation,
"he [God] hath given a law unto all things by which they move in their
times and their seasons; and their courses are fixed; even the courses
of the heavens and the earth, which comprehend the earth and all the
planets."[A] And yet these laws have their metes and bounds, their
limitations; fixed, however, by the operation of other laws, not by the
arbitrary will of an absolute monarch.
[Footnote A: Doc. & Cov., Sec. 88:42, 43.]
_(2) "Miracles" Part of the Divine Economy:_ The criticism of
religionists on the conception of the government of the universe by
the operation of "unvarying law," is that it bars out of the economy
of things any place for the special providences of God; destroys all
value in prayer; and eliminates miracles. To which the answer is "Not
at all!" The whole seeming difficulty arises from a misconception of
the means by which the providences of God are wrought; and the means
by which socalled "miracles" are brought to pass. This subdivision
of the subject may be treated under a brief discussion of "Miracles"
usually defined to be an "event in derogation of the laws of nature."
What I have said elsewhere upon this subject will answer my purpose
here.[A] There is a general misapprehension of the term miracle.
It is usually understood as "an event or effect contrary to the
established constitution and course of things, or a deviation from
the known laws of nature." Renan defines a miracle to be, "not simply
the inexplicable, it is a formal derogation from recognized laws in
the name of a particular desire." What is especially faulty in these
definitions is this: Miracles are held to be events outside or contrary
to the laws of nature. Let us examine this:
[Footnote A: "New Witnesses for God," Vol. I, p. 252.]
Two hundred years ago the only motive powers known to ocean navigators
were wind and the ocean currents. Suppose at that time those old
mariners had seen one of our modern ocean steamers running against
both ocean currents and the wind, and, withal, making better speed, in
spite of both wind and tide than the old sailing vessel could match
even when running before the wind and the ocean currents in her favor.
What would have been the effect on the mind of the old-time sailor? "It
is a miracle!" he would have exclaimed; that is, it would have been an
"effect contrary to the established constitution and course of things,"
"a derogation from recognized laws." But is such an effect to us who
know something of the force of steam contrary to the laws of nature?
No; it is simply the employment of forces in nature of which the
old-time mariner was ignorant; and while it would have been a miracle
to him, to us it is merely the application of a newly-discovered force
of nature, and it is now so common that we cease to look upon it with
wonder. So with the things that we in our ignorance call miracles--such
as healing the sick, restoring the blind to sight, making the lame
to walk, through exercise of faith; and the resurrection of the
dead--instead of these things being in "derogation from recognized
laws, we shall yet learn that they are done simply by the application
of laws of which we are as yet in ignorance."[A] With man's limited
knowledge of the laws of nature, how presumptuous it is in him to say
that the healing of the sick or even the resurrection of the dead are
in "derogation of the laws of nature," or that deviation from those
few laws of nature with which he is acquainted will never happen, or
is impossible! Better reasoners are they who, like George Rawlinson,
say: "Miraculous interpositions on fitting occasions may be as much a
regular, fixed, and established rule of his [God's] government, as the
working ordinarily by what are called natural laws." In other words,
what we in our ignorance call miracles, are to God merely the results
of the application of higher laws or forces of nature not yet learned
by man. Miracles are to be viewed as a part of the divine economy.
[Footnote A: "In the progress of science, all phenomena have been
shown, by indisputable evidence, to be amenable to law, and even in the
cases in which those laws have not yet been exactly ascertained, delay
in ascertaining them is fully accounted for by the special difficulties
of the subject; the defenders of miracles have adapted their argument
to this altered state of things, by maintaining that a miracle need
not necessarily be a violation of law. It may, they say, take place in
fulfilment of a more recondite law, to us unknown.
"If by this it be only meant that the Divine Being, in the exercise
of his power of interfering with and suspending his own laws, guides
himself by some general principle or rule of action, this, of course,
cannot be disproved, and is in itself the most probable supposition."
("Theism," in "Three Essays on Religion"--Mill,--pp. 223-4.)
Shedd treats upon the same theme and much in the same spirit; "The
miracle is not contrary to all nature but only to nature as known to
us," he represents the Apologists of early Christianity as saying, and
then quotes a long and admirable passage from Augustine. ("History of
Christian Doctrine," Vol. I, pp. 167-169.)]
_3. The New Dispensation Committed to the Reign of Law:_ The
Prophet of the New Dispensation, as we have seen, taught the doctrine
of the reign of law in God's universe; and not alone in the physical or
natural universe, but as well in the spiritual and moral phases of that
universe.
In the revelation already quoted for the reign of law in the physical
universe, he also says: "And again, verily I say unto you, that
which is governed by law is also preserved by law, and perfected and
sanctified by the same. That which breaketh a law, and abideth not by
law, but seeketh to become a law unto itself, and willeth to abide
in sin, and altogether abideth in sin, cannot be sanctified by law,
neither by mercy, justice nor judgment. Therefore they must remain
filthy still." And again he said: "There is a law irrevocably decreed
in heaven before the foundations of this world upon which all blessings
are predicated; and when we obtain any blessing from God it is by
obedience to that law upon which it is predicated."[A] The Prophet
of the New Dispensation, then, the gospel of that dispensation, its
Theology, stand committed to the sublime doctrine that the universe
in every way is under the reign of law; and hence, in some way, the
Atonement, by and through which man is redeemed; the necessity,--the
absolute necessity--for it; the reason why that means, and that means
alone, could bring redemption and put man in the way of salvation--all
this must be by reason of the existence of some law by which the facts
in the case are governed. These laws and an understanding of them are
the object of our research.
[Footnote A: Doc. & Cov., Sec. 130:21,22.]
LESSON XV.
(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
THE EXORABLENESS[A] OF LAW.
ANALYSIS.
I. The Effective Quality in Law--Inexorableness.
II. Reign of Law vs. Government by "Arbitrary Will."
III. Mercy and Special Providence in a Reign of Law.
IV. Law and Destructive and Constructive Forces.
V. God No Respector of Persons; Mercy and Special Providence Under
Dominion of Law.
REFERENCES.
Doc. & Cov., Sec. 88: also Sec. 130.
Drummond's Natural Law in the Spiritual World--Introduction.
Fiske's Studies in Religion, pp. 337-340; and the works and passages
quoted in the body of this lesson.
_SPECIAL TEXTS: "Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come
out thence [from prison] till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing."
(The Christ: Matt, v.26.)_
_"Think not I am come to destroy the law I a. not come to destroy,
but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass
one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be
fulfilled." (Matt, v.17, 18.)_
[Footnote A: "Inexorable"--literally not to be moved or changed by
petition or prayer. Immovable, relentless. See Cent. Dict.]
DISCUSSION.
_1. The Essence of Law:_ Inexorableness is of the essence of law.
There can be no force in law only as it is inexorable. What effect is
to cause, in the physical world, that penalty must be to violation of
law in the moral and spiritual kingdom. This is what is meant by the
inexorableness of law.
The inexorableness of law is at once both its majesty and glory;
without it neither majesty nor glory could exist; neither respect nor
sense of security, nor safety, nor rational faith. If the idea of the
"reign of law" be set aside and there be substituted for it the reign
of God by his sovereign will, independent of law, even then we must
postulate such conception of the attributes of God that regularity will
result from his personal government, not capriciousness, today one
thing, tomorrow another. Hence one of old viewing God's government from
the side of its being a direct, personal reign of God rather than a
reign of God through law, wrote his message from God as follows:
"I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not
consumed."[A]
[Footnote A: Malachi iii:6. For the notion expressed in the text that
Malachi viewed God's government from the side of a personal reign, see
the preceding verses of the chapter cited.]
And another occupying the same point of view, said:
"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down
from the Father of light--"
And then he adds immediately, "With whom is no variableness, neither
shadow of turning."[A]
[Footnote A: James i:17.]
_2. The Quality of Regularity of Law--How Secured:_ View the
matter, then, from which standpoint you may, government of the world by
the personal, sovereign will of God, or the government of God through
the reign of law, the quality of regularity, that can only come of
inexorableness--arising either from the quality of God's attributes,
or the inherent nature of law--is necessary to a sense of security,
to right mental attitude, to rational thinking and right conduct. All
this becomes apparent if the matter is thought upon conversely. If a
reign of law is supposed to exist and the law is not inexorable, but
may be set aside, suspended, abridged, enlarged, or its penalties
annulled; and these changes affected not by the operation of any fixed
principle, or by some controlling higher law, but capriciously, through
the interposition of some sovereign will, call it special providence
or what not, then, of course, you have no reign of law at all; but the
reign of a sovereign will that operates independent of law. Under such
government--if, indeed, it could be called government--all would be
confusion, uncertainty, perplexity, doubt, despair. Happily no such
conditions exist; but instead there exists a divine government in the
world, operating through a reign of law; and the virtue and value of
that government arises from the inexorableness of law.
_3. Where, Then, is Mercy?_ If, however, the exorableness of
law is to be insisted upon up to this degree of emphasis, where then
does mercy, which is supposed to mitigate somewhat the severity and
inexorableness of law; and, furthermore, is supposed in some way to
represent the direct and gracious act of God when mitigating the law's
severity--where does Mercy appear? At what point does she enter into
the moral and spiritual economy? A large question, this, and one not to
be considered just yet, except to say that the entrance of Mercy into
the economy of the moral and spiritual kingdom, is not in violation of
law, but in harmony with it. In fact, as we shall see somewhat later,
Mercy takes her part in the economy of the moral and spiritual kingdoms
because of the existence of a reign of law, rather than in derogation
of it.
_4. Destructive Forces Under the Dominion of Law:_ When a reign
of law is conceived as governing in the physical world, then the
conception must include the destructive, or disintegrating forces as
operating under law as well as the constructive or integrating forces,
else your reign of law is not universal.
Moses stood with God and beheld the multitude of his creations: "And
the Lord God said unto Moses, For mine own purpose have I made these
things; * * * and by the word of my power, have I created them. * * *
And worlds without number have I created; and I have created them for
mine own purpose. * * * Behold there are many worlds that have passed
away by the word of my power. And there are many that now stand, and
innumerable are they with man. * * * And as one earth shall pass away,
and the heavens thereof, even so shall another come, and there is no
end to my works, neither to my words."[A]
[Footnote A: Book of Moses (P. of G. P.) i:31-38.]
This passage implies constant movement in the universe. The statement,
"As one earth shall pass away and the heavens thereof, even so shall
another come," corresponds somewhat to the modern scientist's notion
of "evolution and devolution;"[A] but the thing to be noted here is
that not only is God represented as having created these worlds and
world-systems "by the word of his power;" but also that "there are many
worlds that have passed away by the word of his power." By which we
are to understand that destructive as well as creating forces in the
physical world operate under law. So also should we understand that in
the moral and spiritual world, where there appears to be a modification
of the inexorableness of law, such as comes in a manifestation of Mercy
in the modification, or suspension, or the obliteration of the penalty
of a law by the forgiveness of sin--for "sin is the transgression of
the law"[B]--all this must not be thought upon as capriciousness, the
arbitrary act of Deity in the interests of special favorites. No; the
manifestation of mercy which seems to set aside the severity of the
law, which seems to soften its inexorableness by allowing an escape
from its penalty, by forgiveness of sins--this is the result of the
operation of law, as much so as when the law proceeds to the utmost of
its severity, to the extreme manifestation of its inexorableness in the
exaction of the utmost farthing of its penalty. It is not by special
and personal favor that men shall have forgiveness of sins, and find
shelter under the wings of Mercy. That must be obtained, if obtained at
all, under the operation of law governing the application of Mercy in
the economy of the moral and spiritual world; by law that operates upon
all alike. Forgiveness of sins, like other blessings, is predicated
upon the obedience to law, and is not based upon personal favor. "There
is a law irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundation of the
world, upon which all blessings are predicated; and when we obtain
any blessing from God it is by obedience to that law upon which it
is predicated"[C]--forgiveness of sins with the rest. It is because
we live under this reign of law that the scriptures teach that God
is no respector of persons. God "regardeth not persons, nor taketh
reward."[D] "Neither doth God respect any person; yet doth he devise
means, that his banished be not expelled from him."[E] "Peace to every
man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile; for
there is no respect of persons with God."[F] "Call on the Father, who
without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work."[G]
[Footnote A: "While new cosmic bodies arise and develop out of rotating
masses of nebula in some parts of the universe, in other parts old,
extinct, frigid suns come into collision, and are once more reduced
by the heat generated to the condition of nebulae. * * * While minute
and then larger bodies are being formed by this pyknotic [condensing]
process in one part of space, and the intermediate ether increases
its strain, the opposite process--the destruction of cosmic bodies by
collision--is taking place in another quarter. The immense quantity of
heat which is generated in this mechanical process of the collision
of swiftly moving bodies represents the new kinetic energy which
effects the movement of the resultant nebulae and the construction of
new rotating bodies. The eternal drama begins afresh. Even our mother
earth, which was formed of part of the gyrating solar system millions
of ages ago, will grow cold and lifeless after the lapse of further
millions, and, gradually narrowing its orbit, will fall eventually into
the sun." (Ernest Haeckel: "Riddle of the Universe"--1900,--pp. 240,
243).]
[Footnote B: I John iii:4.]
[Footnote C: Doc. & Cov., Sec. 130.]
[Footnote D: Deut. xiv:17.]
[Footnote E: II Sam. xiv:14.]
[Footnote F: Rom. ii:10, 11.]
[Footnote G: I Peter i:17.]
"The collision of suns may have produced nebulae and these nebulae
in turn may gradually develop themselves into suns again. It seems
reasonably certain that nebulae are the stuff from which the stars are
made" ("Science-History of the Universe," Vol. I; "Astronomy," p. 318).]
_5. Sense of Security Under a Reign of Law:_ So here men stand
under the reign of Law, before God. No one may hope to escape the
penalty due to violation of law through favor; no one will fall under
the condemnation of the law-through lack of favor with God, by reason
of capriciousness in him, much less through vindictiveness, which is
unthinkable in God. God will make no infraction of the law, in the
interests of supposed favorites; such "blessings," whether in the
providing of permanent opportunities for individuals, families, or
races, as may reach through the apparent complexity of things to men;
or occasional blessings such as seem to come to some individuals as
special acts of providence; all will come in accordance with the laws
upon which such blessings were predicated before the foundations of the
world were laid; and this notwithstanding inequalities and diversity
of fortunes and misfortunes that exist among individuals, families,
nations, races of men. Underneath all the diversities and equalities
that exist, so difficult to account for in some of their aspects, there
law is operating despite all seeming incongruities; and out of all
these diversities and complexities of experiences, at the last will
come justice--God's justice; and men will be satisfied that it is so.
Meanwhile this reign of law, with all its inexorableness--nay, rather
because of it--present and operating as well in disintegrating as in
integrating processes; present in the manifestations of mercy and
"special acts of providence," as in manifestations of severity in the
moral and spiritual world; how splendid it all is! How satisfying!
What assurance, what confidence it gives! No wonder that John Fiske,
remarking upon the idea of the reign of law, said: "So beautiful is
all this orderly coherence, so satisfying to some of our intellectual
needs, that many minds are inclined to doubt if anything more can be
said of the universe than that it is a 'Reign of Law,' an endless
aggregate of coexistences and sequences."
But the deeper and truer view of things will be, not to accept this
"reign of law" as God; nor mistake it for Deity--for mistake it would
be if confounded with God. Let the reign of law be conceived rather
as the means through which God is working to the achievement of his
high purposes--God in the world, and working through law;[A] God, the
administrative Power in the reign of law.
[Footnote A: It is only just to John Fiske to say that such is his
conception of the matter; for, commenting upon the effect upon the
thinker who has this conception of the reign of law in the world, he
says: "The thinker in whose mind divine action is thus identified
with orderly action and reign of law, and to whom a really irregular
phenomenon would seem like a manifestation of sheer diabolism, foresees
in every possible extension of knowledge a fresh confirmation of
his faith in God. From his point of view there can be no antagonism
between our duty as inquirers and our duty as worshipers. To him
no part of the universe is godless. In the swaying to and fro of
molecules and ceaseless pulsations of ether, in the secular shifting
of planetary orbits, in the busy work of frost and raindrop, in the
mysterious sprouting of the seed, in the everlasting tale of death and
life renewed, in the dawning of babe's intelligence, in the varied
deeds of men from age to age, he finds that which awakens the soul to
reverential awe: and each act of scientific explanation but reveals
an opening through which shines the glory of the Eternal Majesty"
("Studies in Religion," pp. 167-8).]
It is this quality of exorableness in law, excellent and essential as
it is, that made the Atonement of the Christ necessary to the salvation
of man.
LESSON XVI.
(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
THE APPLICATION OF PRINCIPLES--(A) ARBITRARY ACTION EXCLUDED IN MAN'S
REDEMPTION.
ANALYSIS.
I. Recapitulation of Principles.
II. The Commandment Given--Violated--Effects
III. The Commandment Given as to an Immortal Person--The Penalty
Eternal.
IV. The Problem Propounded--
1. What can man do?
2. What can God do?
V. Redemption by the Sovereign Act of God--Arbitrary Action Under Reign
of Law, Inadmissable.
REFERENCES.
Doc. & Cov., Sec. 29; Gen. ii and iii.
Hebrews ix and x.
Alma xxxiv and the works and passages cited in the body of this lesson.
_SPECIAL TEXT: "And thus we see that all mankind were fallen, and they
were in the grasp of justice yea the justice of God, which consigned
them forever to be cut off from his presence." (Book of Alma xlii:14.)_
DISCUSSION.
_1. Recapitulation:_ Let us now begin the application of our
principles to the Atonement. But first a brief recapitulation of them.
We have seen in preceding lessons--
That Intelligences, though differing in degree of intelligence are all
eternal; and are begotten spirits in a heavenly kingdom; and God is
their Father;
That the purpose of God with reference to his spirit-offspring is to
bring to pass their eternal life and progress and joy;
That to bring to pass possible progress and happiness to the spirits
of men, union of the spirits with earth elements is necessary, hence
earth-birth and earth-life are provided for man;
That to get an environment bringing man in contact with sin and
suffering and death, all which shall give him the experience
essential to his progress--the harmony in the "reign of law" must be
broken--there must be violation of law, there must be a fall of man;
That the fall of man did not surprise the purposes of God, but
furthered them;
That violations of law, however ignorantly done or designedly planned,
and that even for right ends, involves destruction nevertheless of the
harmony of things, and relations, and also involves the transgressor
in the penalties inseparably connected with law, and without which law
would be of no force at all;
That the attributes of God, each complete and perfect, must exist in
harmony with each other, no one supplanting another or intruding upon
its domain;
That a reign of law subsists throughout the universe as well in the
moral and spiritual kingdom as in the physical world;
That any manifestations of mercy, or special providence prompted by
love must not violate the harmony subsisting in the attributes of God,
or be contrary to the conception of the universal reign of law;
That Love and Mercy, however, must enter into the economy of the
earth-order of things; they must get themselves in some way worthily
expressed; no divine economy can exist without them, and without such
expression; even justice crys aloud for their presence.
To get Love and Mercy adequately expressed in the earth-order of
things, and in harmony with law, is the burden and mission of the
Christ through the Atonement.
This is the point to which our previous lessons have led us; and now to
the working out of the application of our principles.
_2. The Commandment Given and Violated.--Effects:_ The commandment
is given, saying: "O. every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat;
but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat
of it; for in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."[A]
[Footnote A: Gen. ii:16, 17.]
We need not speculate upon the nature of the thing forbidden. It is
enough to know here that partaking of the thing forbidden by the
commandment led to the knowledge of evil, as well as of good--to
knowledge that comes of experience; and though, as I have before
argued, the transgression so far from surprising the purposes of God
was essential to them, yet when law is transgressed, in the nature of
things, penalties must follow, else laws are but a mockery and the
reign of law a myth.
Adam transgressed the law, as already detailed;[A] the penalties
followed. The nature of those penalties must be found in the events
following the "fall" as consequences as well as in the penalty
pronounced--"In the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."
The harmony of things was broken: innocence fled; union with God was
severed; God banished man from his presence--spiritual death;[B]
physical death also followed; for as to his body, dust man is, and unto
dust shall he return, was the decree of God,[C] and all the woes that
make up the sum of evil in man's earth life followed.
[Footnote A: Lessons VII and VIII.]
[Footnote B: "The task we have set ourselves is to investigate the
essential nature of Spiritual Death. And we have found it to consist of
a want of communion with God" (Drummond's "Natural Law in the Spiritual
World," p. 158). So that spiritual life consists in a union with God;
destroy that union--and sinning against God destroys it--and spiritual
death ensues. For this doctrine we have the warrant of revelation:
"Adam * * * partook of the forbidden fruit and transgressed the
commandment; * * * whereupon I, the Lord God, caused that he should
be cast out from the Garden of Eden, from my presence, because of
his transgression, wherein he became spiritually dead, which is the
first death, even that same death which is the last death, which is
spiritual, which shall be pronounced upon the wicked when I shall say,
'Depart ye cursed'" (Doc. & Cov., Sec. xxix:40, 41). "The fall had
brought upon all mankind a spiritual death as well as a temporal; that
is, they were cut off from the presence of the Lord" (Alma xlii:9).]
[Footnote C: Gen. iii:19. The several sentences of this chapter
pronounced upon man and woman should be included as penalties affixed
to the commandment, "Thou shalt not eat of it," as well as "Thou shalt
surely die."]
_3. The Commandment is Given as to An Immortal Being:_ This is now
the situation: The law is broken. The penalty is incurred. The law is
inexorable. The law was addressed to one provisionally immortal--had
not man sinned his life would have been eternal. The law was not
temporal, but eternal. "Not at any time," said the Lord to Joseph
Smith and six elders, in Fayette, September, 1830--"not at any time
have I given unto you a law which was temporal; neither Adam your
father whom I created. Behold, I gave unto him that he should be an
agent unto himself; and I gave unto him commandment, but no temporal
commandment gave I unto him, for my commandments are spiritual; they
are not natural, nor temporal, neither carnal nor sensual."[A] The
Prophet Joseph also said: "All things whatsoever God in his infinite
wisdom has seen fit and proper to reveal to us, while we are dwelling
in mortality, in regard to our mortal bodies, are revealed to us in the
abstract, and independent of affinity with this mortal tabernacle; but
are revealed to our spirits precisely as though we had no bodies at
all; and those revelations which will save our spirits will save our
bodies. God reveals them to us in view of no eternal dissolution of the
body, or tabernacle."[B]
[Footnote A: Doc. & Cov., Sec. xxix:34, 35.]
[Footnote B: Sermon of April Conference, 1844--the "King Follett
Sermon," "Improvement Era" for January, 1909; published also in
"History of the Church," Vol. VI, with notes by the Editor.]
_4. The Problem:_ What, Then, Can Man or God Do? The commandment,
then, is given to Adam as to an eternal being, and by violating the
law, and doubtless an eternal law, he and the race he shall beget is
under an eternal penalty.[A] Under these circumstances what shall man
do? Nay, rather, what can he do? What shall God do? Nay, what can he
do? Forgive man his transgression out of hand as becomes the true
sovereign of the universe? An ancient and, I might say, a time-honored
suggestion. Origen the theologian of the third Christian century, and
held to be "the greatest Christian mind of the ante-nicene age," at
least held forth the possibility of such procedure. For in his views
"the remission of sin is made to depend upon arbitrary will, without
reference to retributive justice, as is evidenced by his assertion that
God might have chosen milder means to save man than he did; e. g.,
that he might by a sovereign act of his will have made the sacrifices
of the Old Testament to suffice for man's sin."[B] "But logic," as
Shedd subsequently remarked, "could not stop at this point;" for
if the provision for ratifying the broken law is resolved into an
optional act on the part of God, it follows that an Atonement might be
dispensed with altogether. "For the tribitrary and almighty will that
was competent to declare the claims of justice to be satisfied by the
finite sacrifice of bulls and goats would be competent also to declare
that those claims should receive no satisfaction at all."
[Footnote A: On this particular point the late Elder Orson Pratt
wrote: "We believe that all mankind, by the transgression of their
first parents, and not by their own sins, were brought under the curse
and penalty of that transgression, which consigned them to an eternal
banishment from the presence of God, and their bodies to an endless
sleep in the dust, never more to rise, and their spirits to endless
misery under the power of Satan; and that, in this awful condition,
they were utterly lost and fallen and had no power of their own to
extricate themselves therefrom" (Pratt's Works, "Remarkable Visions)."
Also the Book of Mormon: "Wherefore the first judgment which came upon
man [the judgment of death] must needs have remained to an endless
duration" (II Nephi ix:7).]
[Footnote A: Shedd, "History of Christian Doctrine," Vol. II, p. 234.
He cites Redepenning; Origines II, 409, for his authority.
The views of Origen are all the more surprising from the fact that the
Epistle to the Hebrews makes clear the inadequacy of the sacrifices
of animals for the satisfaction of the claims of justice for man's
transgression of the law (Chs. ix and x). On this point the Prophet
Alma is very clear: "Behold. I say unto you, that I do know that
Christ shall come among the children of men, to take upon himself the
transgressions of his people, and that he shall atone for the sins of
the world; for the Lord God hath spoken it; for it is expedient that
an Atonement should be made; for according to the great plan of the
eternal God, there must be an Atonement made or else all mankind must
unavoidably perish; yea, all are hardened; yea, all are fallen and
are lost, and must perish except it be through the Atonement which it
is expedient should be made; for it is expedient that there should
be a great and last sacrifice; yea, not a sacrifice of man, neither
of beast, neither of any manner of fowl; for it shall not be a human
sacrifice; but it must be an infinite and eternal sacrifice. * * * *
And behold, this is the whole meaning of the law; every whit pointing
to that great and last sacrifice; and that great and last sacrifice
will be the Son of God; yea, infinite and eternal."]
Abelard (twelfth century) also held that there was "nothing in the
Divine nature which necessitates a satisfaction for past transgression
antecedently to remission of penalty; like creating out of nothing,
redemption may and does take place by a _fiat_, by which sin is
abolished by a word, and the sinner is received into favor. * * *
Abelard denies the doctrine of satisfaction and contends that God may
remit penalty by a sovereign act of will.[A] Even Augustine, according
to Neander, declared that if considered from the point of view of the
divine omnipotence" he believed the answer must be in the affirmative;
that is, that choice of other means for man's redemption than the
Atonement could have been made. "But no other way," Augustine supposed,
"would have been so well adapted for man's recovery from his wretched
condition," as the one that was adopted in the Atonement of Christ.
Not, however, from the "intrinsic nature of the case; not from the daws
of the moral government of the world;" but because of the subjective
influence that the union of the divine nature with the human--effected
in the incarnation and the Atonement by the Christ, would have upon
man.[B]
[Footnote A: Shedd, "History of Christian Doctrine," Vol. II, pp. 260,
261.]
[Footnote B: The matter is stated at length in Neander's "History
of the Christian Religion and Church," Vol. IV, pp. 497-8. See also
Augustine (De Trinitate), Lib. xiii, Ch. x. "This idea of an 'abstract'
omnipotence accompanies the history of the doctrine of atonement down
from the earliest to the latest times. In the ancient church, Irenaeus
(Adv. Haer. III, XX.), Cyril of Jerusalem, Basil, and Ambrose contend
for an absolute necessity of Christ's satisfaction; while Athanasius,
Augustine, Cyril of Alexandria, Theodoret, and John Damascene assert
only a relative necessity. In the mediaeval church, Anselm, and perhaps
Hugh St. Victor assert an absolute, while Abelard, Bernard, Lombard,
Hales, Bonaventure, and Aquinas (Cont. Gent. IV, liv, lv) concede
only a relative necessity. In the seventeenth century, the subject
was discussed by Owen, and Twise (the prolocutor of the Westminster
Assembly); the former asserting and the latter denying, the absolute
necessity of a satisfaction. See Owen's tract, 'On the Nature of
Justice'" ("History of Christian Doctrine," Vol. II, p. 302, note).]
It should be remembered, however, that the doctrine of the "reign
of law," in the moral government of the world, excludes arbitrary
action--action independent of law--even though beneficent; and if that
were not true, then God must act in harmony with his own attributes.
Mercy must not be at variance with Justice. Even God's Omnipotence must
keep step with the attributes of Truth and Wisdom. Satisfaction for
violated law, satisfaction to divine justice is a claim that may no
more be set aside than the pleadings of Mercy. A way shall be found out
of these difficulties, but it must not be by "a schism in the Deity,
and an intestine conflict between the divine attributes."[A]
[Footnote A: Shedd's "History of Christian Doctrine," p. 300.]
It can be readily understood that not even God's Omnipotence could make
it possible for him to act contrary to Truth and Justice.[A] It ought
to be no more difficult to understand that God's Omnipotence could
not permit him to set aside a satisfaction to Justice as an arbitrary
concession to Mercy. Mere power has not the right to nullify law. Not
even Omnipotence has the light to abolish Justice. Might in Deity is
not more fundamental than Right. God we must conclude will act in
harmony with all his attributes, else confusion in the moral government
of the world.
[Footnote A: See closing paragraphs Lesson XII.]
These reflections lead to the inevitable conclusion that there must be
a satisfaction made to justice before there can be redemption for man.
But how?
LESSON XVII.
(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
APPLICATION OF PRINCIPLES--(B) THE REDEMPTION TO BE THE WORK OF GOD.
ANALYSIS.
VI. Repentance and Future Obedience--Ineffectual as Satisfaction for
the Past; Atonement Must Equal Offense.
VII. The Atonement Also a Matter of Power--Ability to Restore that
which was Lost.
VIII. Man May Not Be Left Under the Sentence of a Broken Law, as that
Would Violate God's Promise of Eternal Life.
IX. Conditions that Must Be Met in the Atonement of Deity for the
Salvation of Man.
REFERENCES.
Book of Alma xxxiv; Book of Mosiah xv; St. John x:14-18; also v:19-29.
Mormon Doctrine of Deity--"Jesus Christ the Revelation of God," Ch. iv.
And the quotations and references in the body of this lesson.
_SPECIAL TEXTS: "For as the Father hath life in himself, so hath he
given to the Son to have life in himself." (St. John v.26.)_
_"For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them, even so
the Son quickeneth whom he will." (St. John v.21.)_
DISCUSSION.
_1. The Helplessness of Man in the Presence of Broken Law:_ The
preceding lesson closed with the question how can satisfaction be made
to justice in order that redemption may reach fallen man. Admittedly
man, the transgressor of law, is powerless to make such satisfaction.
True, it is conceivable that he might repent of his transgression, and
through struggle maintain himself in righteousness for the future. But
that does not reach the past. If he should by struggle maintain himself
in righteousness for the future, that is no more than he ought to do.
Man owes that duty every day in the present and in the future. It is
the breach in the law that must be mended. Man is under the sentence
of eternal death, spiritual and temporal;[A] for a past transgression
of the law of God. Doing what is merely his duty in the present and
the future will not make satisfaction for the past. Man is helpless
in the presence of that broken law; no act of his can atone for the
transgression of Adam or stay the effects of the fall upon the race, or
redeem them from the penalty of death.
[Footnote A: "Wherefore the first judgment which came upon man [the
judgment of death] must needs have remained to an endless duration.
And if so, this flesh must have laid down to rot and to crumble to its
mother earth, to rise no more" (II Nephi ix:7). Because of the fall of
Adam "all mankind were fallen, and they were in the grasp of justice;
yea, the justice of God, which consigned them forever to be cut off
from his presence" (Alma xl ii; 14).]
_2. Only Deity Can Satisfy the Claims of Deity:_ The sin of Adam
was a sin against divine law; a sin against the majesty of God. Only a
God can render a satisfaction to that insulted honor and majesty. Only
Deity can satisfy the claims of Deity.
And hence Alma says, in speaking of the Atonement, and in view of the
inadequacy of any atonement man himself can make: "It shall not be a
human sacrifice; but it must be an infinite and eternal sacrifice. * * *
And behold, this is the whole meaning of the law; every white pointing
to that great and last sacrifice; and that great and last sacrifice
will be the Son of God; yea, infinite and eternal. * * * The plan of
mercy could not be brought about except an atonement should be made;
therefore God himself atoneth for the sins of the world to bring about
the plan of Mercy, to appease the demands of Justice."[A]
[Footnote A: Alma xxxiv:10-14; xlii:15. See also II Nephi ix:7]
_3. The Atonement Also a Matter of Power to Make It--Capacity:_
Moreover the Atonement is not only a matter of satisfying the insulted
honor and majesty of God adequately by like meeting like, and measure
answering measure; but it is also a question of power. Not only must
the dishonor towards God be removed by satisfaction, but there must be
power over death; there must be a power of life that that which was
lost may be restored; and not only as to the spiritual life of man with
God; but restored union between the spirit and body of man--physical
life upon which the happiness and progress that God has designed for
man depends. "Man," it should be always remembered, "is spirit." "The
elements [meaning elements of matter] are eternal; and spirit and
element inseparably connected receive a fulness of joy."[A] Hence the
importance of man's physical life, the union of his deathless spirit
with a body that must be made equally immortal; and since the fall
brought to man this physical death as well as the spiritual death; his
redemption, to be complete, must re-establish that physical life by
reuniting the essential elements of the body of man and his spirit, in
the resurrection, and the resurrection must be universal; the Atonement
in its redeeming effects must be as universal as the fall. As in Adam
all die, so through the Redeemer of men must all be made alive,[B] if
the redemption is to be complete. It was doubtless these considerations
which led some of the Nephite prophets to say that the Atonement
"must needs be an infinite atonement;" by which, as I think, they
sought to express the idea of the sufficiency of it; its completeness;
the universality and power of it to restore all that was lost, both
spiritual and physical, as well as to express the rank and dignity of
him who would make the Atonement.
[Footnote A: Doc. & Cov., Sec. 93:33, 34.]
[Footnote B: I Cor. xv:22.]
The Redeemer, then, must be a Lord of life, hence Deity. He must not
only have the power of life within himself, but the power to impart it
to others--a God-like power; and to inspire faith in his possession
of such power, the manner of the Atonement must be such as to include
demonstration of that fact, else how shall men have faith in him? All
these considerations lift the Redeemer and the Atonement far above man
and what man can do. Truly the redemption of man is to be the work of
God.
_4. Scripture Warrant for Above Conclusions:_ And now for the
scripture warrant for these conclusions:
"I lay down my life for the sheep [men]. * * * Therefore doth my
Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it
again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I
have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This
commandment have I received of my Father.[A]
"Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up; * * *
he spake of the temple of his body, when therefore he was risen
from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto
them."[B] "Thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the
dead the third day."[C]
"In him was life; and the life was the light of men."[D] "Verily,
verily I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what
he seeth the Father do; for what things soever he doeth, these also
doeth the Son likewise. For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth
him all things that himself doeth; and he will shew him greater
works than these, that ye may marvel. For as the Father raiseth up
the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he
will.[E] Verily, verily, I say unto you, the hour is come and now
is when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and they
that hear shall live. For as the Father hath life in himself so
hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; and hath given
him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of
man. Marvel not at this; for the hour is coming, in which all that
are in the graves shall hear his voice. And shall come forth; they
have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have
done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation."[F]
[Footnote A: St. John x:17, 18.]
[Footnote B: Ibid ii:19-22.]
[Footnote C: Luke xxiv:46.]
[Footnote D: St. John i:4.]
[Footnote E: St. John v:19-29.]
[Footnote F: St. John v:25-29.]
_5. Man May Not Be Left to Suffer the Course of Justice, As That
Would Thwart the Divine Purposes and Promises:_ But to return
now to the thought that God himself must make atonement for man's
transgression. And we come back to that thought with increased
conviction after considering the necessary element of power in
connection with the Atonement, the ability to restore that which was
lost--life, spiritual and physical; not the work of man, but the work
of a Deity, a Lord of life--God must himself redeem man. That or
justice must take its course and the sinner be left to satisfy the
justice of God by an endless misery under the sentence of law; without
union with God--spiritual death; and subject to the dissolution of
spirit and body, without the power of resurrection--physical death. But
that would thwart the purpose of God with reference to the earth-life
of man, which was designed for his progress, that progress might bring
him joy.[A] Moreover, to leave man under the penalty of a broken law,
which means to him eternal death, physical and spiritual, would be
contrary to the pledge of eternal life "which God, that cannot lie,
promised before the world began."[B] Under these circumstances justice
may not be left to take its course. There must be an atonement made for
man and as none but God can make an adequate atonement in the case,
then a Deity must make it. And hence one of the Nephite prophets,
coming to the same conclusion, wrote: "And now the plan of mercy could
not be brought about, except an atonement should be made; therefore God
himself atoneth for the sins of the world, to bring about the plan of
mercy, to appease the demands of justice, that God might be a perfect,
just God, and a merciful God also"[C] The Atonement, we conclude, must
be made by a Deity, in order to be adequate; but it must be made by a
Deity living a man's life--hence the incarnation of the spirit of a
Deity in the person of Jesus Christ.[D] It must be made by a Deity
who will live man's life with all its temptations, yet remain without
sin that the sacrifice might be without spot or blemish;" by one who
will give to the world the illustration and the one demonstration of a
perfect life--a life in which the will is wholly subjected to the will
of God Also the Atonement must be made by a Deity living man's life
that the satisfaction to the justice of God may be rendered from the
same plane on which the offense was offered, and essentially from amid
the same conditions. Hence the special temptation of Jesus by Lucifer.
The Atonement must be made by a Deity who shall die man's death, but
who shall not be holden of it, but break its bands and demonstrate
the power of the resurrection of which he is the first fruits, and
ever after Lord of life and the power of the resurrection--such, for
instance, as was Jesus Christ.
[Footnote A: II Nephi ii:25; Doc. & Cov., Sec. 93:33,34, and I Peter
i:18-20.]
[Footnote B: Paul to Titus: Titus i:1, 2; see also Lesson IV.]
[Footnote C: Jesus Christ not only Divine but Deity. See Lecture by
the writer, "Mormon Doctrine of Deity," Ch. iv.]
[Footnote D: "Ye know that ye were not redeemed by corruptible things,
* * but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without
blemish, and without spot" (I Peter i:18, 19). All the victims in the
sacrifices under the law which typified the Christ were required to be
perfect, spotless, without blemish, foreshadowing that he, too, who was
to atone for man's sin would be without fault.]
LESSON XVIII.
(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
SCOPE AND MOTIVE FORCE OF THE ATONEMENT.
ANALYSIS.
I. Scope of the Atonement Broader Than Individual Sins.
II. Distinction Between Adam's Sin and Individual Sins.
1. Free Redemption from the First.
2. Conditional Redemption from the Second.
III. The Same Principle Involved in Both General and Individual
Atonement.
IV. The Motive Force of the Atonement.
REFERENCES.
Orson Pratt's Remarkable Visions, closing pages. Also The Kingdom of
God, part III, subdivision V, Pratt's Works.
The Gospel (Roberts), Chs. ii and iii.
II Nephi ii, and Alma xii and xlii.
And the text and context of passages quoted and cited in this lesson.
_SPECIAL TEXT: "Wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world, and
death by sin and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.
* * * Therefore as by the offense of one judgment came upon all men to
condemnation, even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came
upon all men unto justification of life." (Rom. v:12, 18.)_
DISCUSSION.
1. The Atonement of Broader Scope than Making Satisfaction for Adam's
Sin: So far the Atonement has been considered only with reference to
its effect upon the transgression of Adam. It is, however, of much
broader scope than that. Not only must the sin of Adam be atoned, but
satisfaction must be made for the sins of every man, if the integrity
of the moral government of the world is to be preserved. Man is just
as helpless with reference to his own, individual sins, as Adam was
with reference to his sin. Man when he sins by breaking the laws of
God, sins of course against divine law; commits a crime against the
majesty of God, and thereby dishonors him. And man is just as helpless
to make adequate satisfaction to God, I repeat, as Adam was for his sin
in Eden; and is just as hopelessly in the grasp of inexorable law as
Adam and his race were after the first transgression. For individual
man from the beginning was as much in duty bound to keep the law of God
as Adam was; and if now, in the present and for the future he observes
the law of God and remains righteous, he is doing no more than he ought
to have done from the beginning; and doing his duty now and for the
future can not free him from the consequences of his past violations
of God's law. The individual man, then, is just as much in need of
a satisfaction being made to the justice of God for his individual
transgression of divine law, for his violence to the honor of God, for
his insult to the majesty of God, as was Adam for his sin.
_2. Distinction Between Adam's Sin and Individual Sin:_ The
difference between the sin of Adam and the sin of the individual man
is this: First, Adam's sin, which the scriptures call the fall, was
racial, in that it involved all the race of Adam in its consequences,
bringing upon them both a spiritual and a physical death, the nature
of which has already been explained.[A] Man's individual sin is more
limited in its consequences though for a time his personal sins may
involve the happiness of others in their consequences, yet ultimately
they will be narrowed down to personal results; affecting the actual
sinner's personal relationship to God, to righteousness, to truth, to
progress, to happiness.
[Footnote A: Lesson XV.]
Second. Adam's sin was necessary to the creation of those conditions
under which man could obtain the experiences of earth-life necessary to
the union of his spirit with earth elements; necessary to his progress
as a divine Intelligence; necessary to his knowledge of good and evil
in actual conflict; joy and sorrow; pleasure and pain; life and death;
in a word, necessary that man might become acquainted with these
opposite existences,[A] their conflicts and their values; all which
was essential to, and designed for man's progress, for his development
in virtue and power and largeness and splendor of existence. But man's
individual sins are not necessary to these general purposes of God.
That is, the fall of Adam was necessary to the accomplishment of the
general purposes of God; but it was not necessary to those purposes
that Cain should kill Abel, his brother; or "that every imagination of
the thoughts of man's heart" should be "evil continually."[B]
[Footnote A: See II Nephi, ii also "New Witness for God," Vol. III, pp.
219-227.]
[Footnote B: Gen. vi:5.]
The fall of Adam, I say, was necessary to the attainment of these
possibilities and hence the atonement made for Adam's sin is of
universal effect and application without stipulations or conditions, or
obedience or any other act as a condition precedent to participation
in the full benefits of release from the consequences of Adam's
transgression. Hence it is written: "Since by man came death, by man
came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even
so in Christ shall all be made alive."[A] And again: "Therefore, as
by the offense of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation;
even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men
to the justification of life."[B] Free redemption then is provided
from the consequences of Adam's transgression, because the fall was
essential to the achievement of God's purpose with reference to man.
Not so, however, with the individual man. His individual sinning is not
absolutely necessary to the achievement of God's purposes. All men may
sin; nay, all who come to years of accountability, doubtless, do sin;
"For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God."[C] "And so
death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." "There is none
righteous, no not one; * * They are all gone out of the way; * * there
is none that doeth good, no, not one."[D] But while all men sin--except
those who die in infancy or early childhood--it is not necessary that
men should sin, and hence they may be held fully accountable to the
justice of God for their individual transgressions of law, and are
so held accountable. The penalty for the individual sins of men is
a second spiritual death, not a physical death, not a separation of
the spirit and the body of man after the resurrection, for what is
achieved for man's physical life by the resurrection remains.[E] But
for his own individual sins (and this constitutes the third distinction
between Adam's sin and the sins of other men) he is subject to a second
spiritual death, to banishment from the presence of God; his spiritual
union and communion with God is broken, and spiritual death ensues.
The Lord, in speaking of Adam and his first transgression, says: "I
the Lord caused that he should be cast out from the Garden of Eden,
from my presence, because of his transgression, wherein he became
spiritually dead, which is the first death, even that same death, which
is spiritual, which shall be pronounced upon the wicked when I shall
say--Depart, ye cursed."[F]
[Footnote A: I Cor. xv:21, 22.]
[Footnote B: Rom. v:18.]
[Footnote C: Rom. iii:23.]
[Footnote D: Rom. iii:10-12.]
[Footnote E: "Now, there is a death which is called a temporal death;
and the death of Christ shall loose the bands of this temporal death,
that all shall be raised from this temporal death; the spirit and the
body shall be reunited again in perfect form; both limb and joint shall
be restored to its proper frame, even as we now are at this time; and
we shall be brought to stand before God, knowing even as we know now
and have a bright recollection of all our guilt. Now this restoration
shall come to all, both old and young, both bond and free; both male
and female, both the wicked and the righteous and even there shall
not so much as a hair of their heads be lost but all things shall be
restored to their perfect frame, as it is now, or in the body, and
shall be brought and arraigned before the bar of Christ the Son, and
God, the Father, and the Holy Spirit which is one Eternal God, to be
judged according to their works, whether they be good or whether they
be evil. Now, behold, I have spoken unto you, concerning the death of
the mortal body, and also concerning the resurrection of the mortal
body. I say unto you that this mortal body is raised to an immortal
body; that is from death; even from the first death unto life, that
they can die no more; their spirits uniting with their bodies, never to
be divided. Thus the whole becoming spiritual and immortal, that they
can no more see corruption" (Alma Ch. xi:42-45).]
[Footnote F: Doc. & Cov. Sec. 29:41.]
So Alma, explaining the fall of man, and how God gave unto men
commandments, after having made known unto them the plan of redemption,
saying: "That they should not do evil, the penalty thereof being a
second death, which was an everlasting death as to things pertaining to
righteousness."[A]
[Footnote A: Alma xii:31, 32.]
Again Alma, describing the impenitent dead before the bar of God, says:
"And now behold I say unto you, then cometh a death, even a second
death, which is a spiritual death; then is a time that whosoever
dieth in sins, as to a temporal death, shall also die a spiritual
death; yea he shall die as to things pertaining unto righteousness;
* * * Then I say unto you, they shall be as though there had been
no redemption made; for they cannot be redeemed according to God's
justice; and they cannot die, seeing there is no more corruption."[A]
[Footnote A: Alma xii:16, 18.]
Samuel the Lamanite prophet says: "The resurrection of Christ redeemeth
mankind, yea, even all mankind, and bringeth them back into the
presence of the Lord; * * * but whosoever repenteth not * * * then cometh
upon them again a spiritual death, for they are cut off again as to
things pertaining to righteousness."[A]
[Footnote A: Helaman Ch. xiv:17, 18.]
3. Men as Dependent on the Atonement for Individual Sins as for
Redemption from Adam's Sin: As already remarked, men having
transgressed the law of God by their own personal violations of it,
they are helpless of themselves to make satisfaction to the justice of
God;[A] and are just as dependent upon a Redeemer to rescue them from
the spiritual effects of their personal transgression of the divine law
as from the effects of Adam's fall. Also, under a reign of law, God may
not pardon men for their individual sins by arbitrary act of sovereign
will. He may no more set aside the claims of justice unsatisfied in
the case of men's personal sins than in the case of Adam's first sin.
In both cases "a necessary and immanent attribute of Deity" stands
in the way of the non-infliction of the penalty due to sin, _viz._,
the attribute of Justice, which not even the attribute of Mercy may
displace, or rob of that satisfaction which is due. God must act in
harmony with his own attributes.
[Footnote A: The late Elder Orson Pratt, put this doctrine of the
helplessness of man to escape the penalty of his own sin in the most
forcible manner. He said: "We believe that all who have done evil,
having a knowledge of the law, or afterwards in this life coming to
the knowledge thereof, are under a penalty, which is not inflicted
in this world but in the world to come. Therefore such in this world
are prisoners, shut up under the sentence of law, awaiting with awful
fear for the time of judgment, when the penalty shall be inflicted,
consigning them to a second banishment from the presence of their
Redeemer, who had redeemed them from the penalty of the first law.
But, enquires the sinner, is there no way for escape? Is my case
hopeless? Can I not devise some way by which I can extricate myself
from the penalty of the second law and escape this second banishment?
The answer is,--if thou canst hide thyself from the all-searching eye
of an Omnipresent God, that he shall not find thee, or if thou canst
prevail with him to deny justice its claim, or if thou canst clothe
thyself with power, and contend with the Almighty, and prevent him
from executing the sentence of the law, then thou canst escape. If
thou canst cause repentance, or baptism in water, or any of thine
own works, to atone for the least of thy transgressions, then thou
canst deliver thyself from the awful penalty that awaits thee. But be
assured, O sinner, that thou canst not devise any way of thine own to
escape, nor do anything that will atone for thy sins, therefore, thy
case is hopeless, unless God hath devised some way for thy deliverance"
(Remarkable Visions, Orson Pratt's Works).]
_4. Identical Principles Operative in Man's Individual Sins as in
Adam's Sin:_ In the case of man's individual violations of law,
as in Adam's sin, the inexorableness of law holds good.[A] Thus
satisfaction to justice in the case of individual sins like the
satisfaction to justice for Adam's sin, must be rendered by God to
God, "since only Deity can satisfy the claims of Deity." There is the
same act against the honor of God; hence the same question of rank
and dignity in the one who makes the Atonement. The same necessity
for one not only willing but capable of making the Atonement, by
suffering the penalty due to the sins of all men. He must suffer for
them; for the ground work of their forgiveness and restoration to union
with God must be that the penalty due to their sin has been paid.
This or Justice goes unsatisfied--Mercy robs Justice or else the law
must take its course and punishment be actually inflicted upon the
transgressors which leaves man to a life of eternal misery, alienated
from God, separated from the source of spiritual life and light; no
longer in union with the power divine that could uplift and direct him
to sublime heights of moral and spiritual excellence--man, under such
circumstances, would indeed be spiritually dead, and dead eternally,
since he is helpless to extricate himself from such conditions, as a
sinner can not justify his sin, nor a criminal pardon his own crime.
But to leave the punishment to be actually inflicted upon man would
thwart the purpose of God with reference to man's earth-life; for God
designed that mail's earth-life should eventuate in his happiness,
in the union of man with God. "Men are that they might have joy." By
other Book of Mormon teachers the plan for man's redemption is called
"the plan of happiness," "the great plan of happiness;"[B] and as this
happiness depends upon union and communion with God, it is proper to
think of the gospel as contemplating the spiritual union of man with
Deity.
[Footnote A: Behold justice exerciseth all his demands. * * * What! do
ye suppose that mercy-can rob justice? I say unto you, nay; not point
urged by the Nephite writer is that God will act in harmony with his
attributes, see the context--the whole chapter.]
[Footnote B: Alma xlii:8, 15.]
We conclude then that for man's individual sins as for Adam's sin,
though differing in some respects already noted, involves the same
necessity of Atonement to the honor of God by one equal with God--hence
God.
There is the same inexorableness of law; the same helplessness on the
part of man to make satisfaction for his sin, hence man's dependence
upon a vicarious atonement, if he is to find redemption at all. There
is the same need for capacity in the one making the atonement to
make full satisfaction to the justice of God by paying the uttermost
farthing of man's obligations to the law; the idea of satisfaction
necessarily involves that of penal suffering, coupling together those
two ideas, satisfaction and expiation; or satisfaction to Justice
through expiation. The Deity who redeems man must pay the penalty due
to sin by suffering in man's stead.
_5. Motive Force of the Atonement:_ And what shall prompt a Deity
to make such an atonement? Two attributes of the Deity now a long
time kept in the back ground, viz., Love and Mercy. We have seen and
considered at some length the helplessness of man in the midst of
those earth conditions necessary to his progress; God saw it from the
beginning; and--
"God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth on him might not perish but have everlasting
life.
"For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but
that the world through him might be saved."
"He that believeth on him is not condemned; but he that believeth
not is condemned already because he hath not believed in the name
of the only begotten Son of God.
"And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world,
and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were
evil."[A]
[Footnote A: St. John iii:16-19.]
LESSON XIX.
(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
THE ADVENT OF MERCY INTO THE EARTH-SCHEME OF THINGS.
ANALYSIS.
I. Source of Redemption.
II. Antiquity of the Plan of Redemption.
III. Vicarious Work of the Christ.
IV. The Balancing of the Claims of Justice and Mercy.
V. Man's Part in the Scheme of Redemption--Repent or Suffer.
VI. The Advent of Mercy--Alternatives.
VII. The Justice, Wisdom and Mercy of God.
REFERENCES.
The references of Lesson XVIII.
Also Taylor's Mediation and Atonement, Chs. xix, xxiv, xxv; and the
text and context of the passages of scriptures quoted and cited in this
lesson.
_SPECIAL TEXT: "The law entered that sin might abound. But when sin
abounded, grace did more abound that as sin hath reigned unto death,
even so might grace reign through righteousness, unto eternal life by
Jesus Christ our Lord." (Rom. v:20, 21.)_
DISCUSSION.
_1. Manner of the Christ's Atonement Foreshadowed:_ This lesson
continues with the truth with which the last one concluded, viz., "God
so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever
believeth on him might not perish, but have everlasting life." This
declaration is preceded in the testimony of John with the following:
"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must
the Son of man be lifted up; that whosoever believeth in him should
not perish but have eternal life."[A]
[Footnote A: St. John iii:14, 15.]
Showing the manner of Christ's atonement.
Peter the chief of the Judean apostles, and hence chief of the
witnesses for the great truth of salvation through Christ, says: "For
Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that
he might bring us to God."[A]
[Footnote A: I Peter iii:18.]
_2. Source of Redemption:_ Inexorableness of Justice: The Nephite
writers are even more explicit. Lehi says:
"The way is prepared and salvation is free, and men are
sufficiently instructed that they know good from evil. And the law
is given unto men. And by the law, no flesh is justified; or, by
the law, men are cut off. Yea, by the temporal law, they were cut
off; and also, by the spiritual law they perish from that which is
good, and become miserable forever. Wherefore, redemption cometh in
and through the Holy Messiah; for he is full of grace and truth.
Behold he offereth himself a sacrifice for sin, to answer the ends
of the law, unto all those who have a broken heart and a contrite
spirit; and unto none else can the ends of the law be answered."[A]
[Footnote A: II Nephi ii;4-7.]
So also Jacob, brother of the first Nephi, said: "And he [the Christ]
cometh into the world that he may save all men, if they will hearken
unto his voice; for behold, he suffereth the pains of all men; yea the
pains of every living creature, both men, women, and children, who
belong to the family of Adam."[A]
[Footnote A: Ibid ix:21.]
_3. Antiquity of the Plan of Man's Redemption:_ After explaining
that it was appointed unto men to die, "and after death they must
come to judgment;" and that God saw that it was expedient that men
should come to a knowledge of these things and accordingly, from early
time,[A] "sent angels to converse with them, who caused men to behold
the glory of God"--Alma says:
[Footnote A: Book of Moses--P. of G. P--Ch. v:6-8, 58.]
"And they began from that time forth to call on his name;
therefore God conversed with men, and made known unto them the
plan of redemption, which had been prepared from the foundation
of the world; and this he made known unto them according to their
faith and repentance, and their holy works; wherefore he gave
commandments unto men, they having first transgressed the first
commandments as to things which were temporal and becoming as
Gods, knowing good from evil, placing themselves in a state to
act, or being placed in a state to act according to their wills
and pleasures, whether to do evil or to do good; therefore God
gave unto them commandments, after having made known unto them
the plan of redemption, that they should not do evil, the penalty
thereof being a second death, which was everlasting death as to
things pertaining unto righteousness; for on such the plan of
redemption could have no power, for the works of justice could not
be destroyed, according to the supreme goodness of God. But God
did call on men, in the name of his Son, (this being the plan of
redemption which was laid) saying, 'If ye will repent, and harden
not your hearts, then will I have mercy upon you, through mine
only begotten Son; therefore, whosoever repenteth and hardeneth
not his heart, he shall have a claim on mercy through mine only
begotten Son, unto a remission of his sins; and these shall enter
into my rest. And whosoever will harden his heart, and will do
iniquity, behold, I swear in my wrath that he shall not enter into
my rest."[A]
[Footnote A: Alma xii:29-35.]
_4. The Vicarious Work of the Christ and Its Purpose:_ Again Alma:
"Behold I say unto you, that I do know that Christ shall come among
the children of men, to take upon him the transgressions of his
people, and that he shall atone for the sins of the world; for the
Lord God hath spoken it; for it is expedient that an atonement
should be made; for according to the great plan of the eternal
God, there must be an atonement made, or else all mankind must
unavoidably perish; yea, all are fallen and are lost, and must
perish except it be through the atonement which it is expedient
should be made And behold, this is the whole meaning of the law;
every whit pointing to that great and last sacrifice; and that
great and last sacrifice will be the Son of God; yea, infinite
and eternal; and thus he shall bring salvation to all those who
shall believe on his name; and this being the intent of this last
sacrifice to bring about the bowels of mercy, which over powereth
justice, and bringeth about means unto men that they may have faith
unto repentance. And thus mercy can satisfy the demands of justice,
and encircle them [the penitent sinners] in the arms of safety,
while he that exercises no faith unto repentance, is exposed to the
whole law of the demands of justice therefore only unto him that
has faith unto repentance is brought about the great and eternal
plan of redemption."[A]
[Footnote A: Alma xxxiv:8, 9, 14-16.]
_5. The Counter Claims of Justice and Mercy--Mercy Triumphant:_
And again Alma:
"All mankind were fallen, and they were in the grasp of justice;
yea, the justice of God which consigned them for ever to be cut
off from his presence. And now the plan of mercy could not be
brought about, except an atonement should be made; therefore God
himself atoneth for the sins of the world to bring about the plan
of mercy, to appease the demands of justice, that God might be a
perfect, just God, and a merciful God also. * * * But there is a
law given, and a punishment affixed, and a repentance granted;
which repentance, mercy claimeth: otherwise justice claimeth
the creature, and executeth the law, and the law inflicteth the
punishment; if not so, the works of justice would be destroyed,
and God would cease to be God. But God ceaseth not to be God,
and mercy claimeth the penitent, and mercy cometh because of the
atonement; and the atonement bringeth to pass the resurrection of
the dead; and the resurrection of the dead bringeth back men into
the presence of God; and thus they are restored into his presence,
to be judged according to their works; according to the law and
justice; for behold justice exerciseth all his demands, and also
mercy claimeth all which is her own; and thus none but the truly
penitent are saved. What! do ye suppose that mercy can rob justice?
I say unto you, nay; not one whit. If so, God would cease to be
God. And thus God bringeth about his great and eternal purposes
which were prepared from the foundation of the world. And thus
cometh about the salvation and the redemption of men, and also
their destruction and misery."[A]
[Footnote A: Alma xlii.]
The revelations given through Joseph Smith are equally explicit:
"Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God; for,
behold, the Lord your Redeemer suffered death in the flesh;
wherefore he suffered the pain of all men, that all men might
repent and come unto him."[A]
[Footnote A: Doc. & Cov. Sec. 18:10, 11.]
_6. Man Must Repent or Suffer:_ And again:
"And surely every man must repent or suffer, for I, God, am
endless; wherefore, I revoke not the judgment which I shall pass,
but woes shall go forth, weeping wailing and gnashing of teeth,
yea, to those who are found on my left hand; nevertheless it is
not written that there shall be no end to this torment, but it
is written endless torment. * * * Therefore I command you to repent,
repent, lest I smite you by the rod of my mouth, and by my wrath,
and by my anger, and your sufferings be sore--how sore you know
not! how exquisite you know not! yea, how hard to bear ye know
not! For behold, I, God have suffered these things for all, that
they might not suffer if they would repent. But if they would not
repent, they must suffer even as I. Which suffering caused myself,
even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to
bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit; and would
that I might not drink the bitter cup and shrink--nevertheless,
glory be to the Father, and I partook and finished my preparations
unto the children of men; wherefore, I command you again to repent,
lest I humble you with my almighty power, and that you confess your
sins, lest you suffer these punishments of which I have spoken,
of which in the smallest, yea, even in the least degree you have
tasted at the time I withdrew my spirit."[A]
[Footnote A: Doc. & Cov. Sec. 19:4-6, and 15-20.]
_7. The Advent of Mercy--Summary:_ From the doctrines of these
scriptures, how like a flood comes rushing into this world-scheme
of things the Love and Mercy of God! The Justice of God, as we have
seen, has been exacting--otherwise it would not be Justice, the very
nature of Justice is to be exacting--demanding all that is its due
satisfaction for the injured honor and majesty of God; and the penalty
due to broken law. But once these claims are satisfied, Justice is
silent, and Love and Mercy have free range to bring to pass the
complete redemption of man.
Let us for a moment contemplate our theme from this view-point though
at the cost of iteration.
God, loving always the spirits of men, desires their progress and their
eternal happiness.[A]
[Footnote A: See Lesson IV where the doctrine is worked out in detail.]
To achieve this the union of spirit and earth-elements are necessary,
that the spirit may get more perfect self expression, and attain to
higher manifestations and power than would otherwise be possible.[A]
[Footnote A: See Lesson IV where the doctrine is developed somewhat in
detail.]
Also to achieve this end, the experience of earth-life amid broken
harmonies is necessary; the experience of viewing opposite existences
in conflict--good and evil; faith and doubt; hope and despair; victory
and defeat; freedom and bondage; joy and sorrow; perfect health and
physical pain; life and death.[A]
[Footnote A: The subject is discussed at length in Lesson VII.]
To bring to pass these broken harmonies that the rich lessons and
necessary experiences they teach may be available to man, there must
needs be "a fall of man," a violation of law, else there can be no
broken harmonies.
Man falls; Adam transgresses law and the earth-life of man begins among
all the conditions essential to his instruction and experience with
opposite existences in conflict.
But this violation of law, though necessary to these ends, is
nevertheless a violation of law, for which a satisfaction must be made
and that the broken harmonies may be restored.
Not only did Adam transgress law in order to bring to pass the
conditions necessary to man's instruction and consequent progress, but
man--all men--coming to years of accountability, also violate law--sin
on their own account and incur the consequences due to sin.
In both cases men are unable to restore that which was lost--give
satisfaction to the injured honor and insulted majesty of God, or
create grounds of justification for the pardon of man's sin; either for
Adam's transgression--the fall--or for man's personal sins.
_8. Alternatives--But One Admissable:_ This creates a situation
that can only be met in one of two ways if justice is to be maintained,
the integrity of the moral government of the world perpetuated, and the
harmony of God's attributes remain unbroken;
First: _Justice must take its course, the punishment must be inflicted
upon the actual sinner, leaving man to satisfy justice by an endless
misery; or_
Second: _God must satisfy his own claims against man; he must make a
satisfaction to justice, there must be a vicarious Atonement made for
man, since, as we have seen, man himself is helpless._
The adoption of the first of these alternatives would thwart the
general purpose of God with reference to man, the bringing to pass
his progress and the possibility of his eternal happiness; and also
it would violate the covenant of God with man, made before the world
began, the promise of eternal life.[A] This alternative, is impossible,
then, and may be dismissed without further consideration.
[Footnote A: Titus i:2.]
The second alternative is all that remains. God must make a vicarious
Atonement for man; a Deity must satisfy the claims of God's honor. God
must satisfy the demands of justice, that Mercy may assert her claims
and redeem man.
And that order of things is in force; that is "the great plan of
happiness"--the Gospel--"Glad tidings;" "Glad tidings of great joy,
which shall be unto all people."[A] Back of it, underlying it, is the
great Love of God for man; Love manifested in great acts of mercy; for
Mercy is but Love active.
[Footnote A: Luke ii:10.]
This Love prompts God to make reparation to God's honor, and satisfy
Justice by undergoing the penalty due to Adam's sin, that he might
bring to pass the resurrection from the dead; and make it possible for
man spirit and body united, to resume his union with God.
This Love prompts God to suffer for the individual sins of men; to pay
the penalty due to each man's sin, that there might be ground for man's
justification under the law. That Mercy might claim the sinner upon
conditions that Love may prescribe.
_9. The Justice, Wisdom, and Mercy of God:_ In view of all this is
it any marvel that men coming to a full consciousness of the balanced
claims of Justice and Mercy in ecstasy exclaim--as Jacob the brother of
Nephi did--
"O the greatness and the justice of our God! For he executeth all
his words, and they have gone forth out of his mouth, and his law
must be fulfilled. * * *
"O the greatness of the mercy of our God, the Holy One of Israel!
for he delivereth his saints, from that awful monster the devil,
and death and hell."[A]
"O the wisdom of God! his mercy and grace! For behold, if the flesh
should rise no more, our spirits must become subject to that angel
who fell from before the presence of the eternal God, and became
the devil, to rise no more."
"And our spirits must have become like unto him, and we become
devils, angels to a devil, to be shut out from the presence of our
God, and to remain with the Father of lies, in misery, like unto
himself; yea, to that being who beguiled our first parents; who
transformeth himself nigh unto an angel of light, and stirreth up
the children of men unto secret combinations of murder, and all
manner of secret works of darkness."[B]
[Footnote A: II Nephi ix:17, 19.]
[Footnote B: II Nephi ix:8-9.]
Or else with Paul declare--
"By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves;
it is the gift of God."[A]
"The law entered that sin might abound. But where sin abounded,
grace did more abound; that as sin hath reigned unto death, even so
might grace reign through righteousness, unto eternal life by Jesus
Christ our Lord."[B]
[Footnote A: Eph. ii.]
[Footnote B: Rom. v:20-21.]
LESSON XX.
(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
CO-OPERATION OF MAN NECESSARY TO INDIVIDUAL REDEMPTION.
ANALYSIS.
I. The Two Effects of the Atonement.
II. The Necessity of Man's Co-operation in Individual Salvation.
III. Sanctification as Well as Justification.
IV. Spiritual and Moral Growth.
V. Free Redemption of Little Children and Those Who Die without Law.
REFERENCES.
Book of Mormon: II Nephi ix; Doc. & Cov., Sec. 19; Alma xi.
The Gospel (Roberts), Ch. iii.
Orson Pratt's Kingdom of God, Part III, Subdivision V. Works
Taylor's Mediation and Atonement, Chs. xxi and XXV.
The texts and contexts of the scriptures quoted in the body of this
lesson.
_SPECIAL TEXT: "Wherefore the rather brethren, give diligence to make
your calling and election sure." (II Peter i:10.)_
DISCUSSION.
_1. The Atonement as Related to Adam's Transgression, and Man's
Individual Sins:_ As already observed a difference is to be noted
between the results flowing out of the Atonement for Adam's first
sin--the fall; and the results derived from the satisfaction made by
the Christ for man's individual sins.
The difference consists in this: First, from the consequences of
Adam's transgression, there comes full and free redemption--salvation
unconditional and universal. "By Adam came the fall of man. And
because of the fall of man, came Jesus Christ even the Father and the
Son;[A] and because of Jesus Christ came the redemption of man. And
because of the redemption of man, which came by Jesus Christ, they
are brought back into the presence of the Lord; yea, this is wherein
all men are redeemed, because the death of Christ bringeth to pass
the resurrection, which bringeth to pass a redemption from an endless
sleep, from which sleep all men shall be awakened by the power of God
when the trump shall sound; and they shall come forth, both small and
great, and all shall stand before his bar, being redeemed and loosed
from this eternal band of death, which death is a temporal death."[B]
[Footnote A: For explanation see Doc. & Cov. Sec. xciii:1-6.]
[Footnote B: Book of Mormon, Ch. ix:12, 13. Also II Nephi Ch. ix.
Both chapters are devoted to the idea of the text above, and should be
studied carefully; they are too long for quotation here.]
To this may be added Paul's great generalization: "Since by man came
death, by man came also the resurrection from the dead; for as in Adam
all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive."[A]
[Footnote A: I Cor. xv:21, 22.]
The universal physical death is overcome by the equally universal
resurrection.[A] The universal banishment of men from the presence of
God, the spiritual death, is overcome by the universally established
possibility of reunion with God; and all will be brought back into
the presence of God at the day of judgment; but their right and power
to remain in that presence and maintain union with God, will depend
upon conditions to be considered later. Second, redemption from the
consequences of man's individual sins, the penalties for which the
Christ has expiated, are granted to men only upon compliance with
certain conditions. "By grace are ye saved _through faith_"[B] "He that
believeth and is baptized shall be saved."[C] "Wo unto him who knoweth
that he rebelleth against God; for salvation cometh to none such except
it be through repentance and faith on the Lord Jesus Christ."[D] "He
shall take upon himself the transgression of those who believe on his
name; and these are they that shall have eternal life, and salvation
cometh to none else."[E] "Behold, I God, have suffered these things for
all that they might not suffer if they would repent, but if they would
not repent they must suffer even as I, which suffering caused myself,
even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain and to bleed
at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit."[F] "And being made
perfect, he became the author of eternal life unto all them that obey
him."[G]
[Footnote A: Doc. & Cov. Sec. xix:26-29, 41. Matt. xxv:31-46. Alma
xi:40, 41.]
[Footnote B: Eph. ii:8.]
[Footnote C: Mark xvi:16.]
[Footnote D: Mosiah iii:11, 12.]
[Footnote E: Alma xi:40, 41.]
[Footnote F: Doc. & Cov. Sec. xix:16-19.]
[Footnote G: Heb. v:9.]
_2. Man's Co-operation With God in Working out Man's Salvation,
Grounded in Necessity:_ These scriptures establish the truth that
for redemption from the consequences of man's individual sins the
co-operation of man is required, his faith, his repentance; in a word
his obedience.
The Gospel so far as the individual man is concerned, is the power of
God unto salvation to everyone that believes and obeys the same. In the
difference between the redemption from the transgression of Adam and
redemption from man's personal sins, the one being free, unconditional,
universal; and the other being free, possible to all, but conditional,
and therefore limited to those who comply with the conditions, there
is to be observed nice discriminations in the justice of God. Free
and universal redemption comes from the consequences of Adam's fall
because that fall is absolutely necessary to the accomplishment of
the purposes of God with reference to man; without it nothing may
be done for his progress, therefore since that fall is necessary to
these ends Justice demands that there be provided free and universal
and complete and unconditional redemption from its consequences. But
in the case of man's personal sins they are not absolutely necessary
to the accomplishment of the general purposes of God. Of course the
earth-environment of man, including the broken harmonies as we find
them, including the self-wilfullness, and even the personal sins of
men, with the consequent suffering and sorrow, may be necessary to
the experience of man; but all that will abundantly come once men
are at the same time free to choose, and good and evil is set before
them. But what is here meant is that it is not absolute necessity that
individual men should sin, or that they sin without limit. Men can
refrain from sin if they will; the power is in them. They are able
to stand, "yet free to fall." They have power to choose good and to
follow that instead of evil if they so elect. Therefore, while it is
eminently proper that the Atonement of the Christ should be made to
include satisfaction to Justice for the personal sins of men, and the
debt of suffering due to them should be paid vicariously,--especially
since man is powerless to offer expiation himself--for it is needful
that ample provision be made for the justification of man's pardon;
yet it is also in accordance with Justice that man shall co-operate
with God in bringing about the blessed result of his deliverance from
the consequences of his personal sins; and that conditions shall be
required as necessary to participation in the forgiveness provided;
such conditions as belief in and acceptance of the terms of Atonement;
repentance of sin, and a hearty co-operation with God in overcoming
evil and its effects in the human soul.
_3. The Work of Salvation a Work of Sanctification as well as of
Justification:_ Moreover, this salvation from the effects of
personal sins is not only a matter of forgiveness of past sins; a
matter of justification before God; a matter of re-establishing union
with God, which is spiritual life; but it is a matter of sanctification
of the soul; and of power to maintain the renewed spiritual life with
God. It is a matter that involves human desires and human will. Surely
it is unthinkable that God would hold man in union with himself against
his desire, or against his will. Such a condition would not be "union"
but bondage. The co-operation of man then in this work of his personal
salvation becomes an absolute necessity, and hence the conditions of
individual salvation already noted, and which may be summed up in the
doctrine of man's self-surrender unto God, manifested by his obedience
to God under the law; and the declared intention of that obedience by
receiving the symbols of the Atonement, to be found in the ordinances
of the Gospel, especially in baptism and the sacrament of the Lord's
supper.
_4. Spiritual and Moral Growth:_ The attainment of this condition
of Christian righteousness, however, becomes a matter of character
building under the favorable conditions provided by the gospel; and
character building, even under favorable conditions is a matter of
slow, self-conquest, It means to follow the admonition of the chief
Judean apostle, and "add to your faith, virtue; and to virtue,
knowledge; and to knowledge, temperance; and to temperance, patience;
and to patience, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and
to brotherly kindness, charity. For if these things be in you and
abound," said he, "they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor
unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ."[A]
[Footnote A: II Peter i.]
To be fruitful in that knowledge means to be growing in grace, in
knowledge of the truth, in righteousness. It means development
according to the type of the Christian spiritual life, which is Christ
Jesus. "If you wish to go where God is," said the Prophet Joseph, "you
must be like God, or possess the principles God possesses." All of
which, of course, may not be possessed without divine help, as well
as human effort. "He that lacketh these things"--the virtues above
enumerated by Peter, and the disposition to build them up by his own
effort, as well as by divine grace, "is blind and cannot see afar off,"
continues that apostle, "and hath forgotten that he was purged from his
old sins. Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your
calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never
fall: for so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into
the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."[A]
[Footnote A: II Peter i:9-11.]
_5. Phase of the Atonement Peculiar to "Mormonism:"_ It may
be remarked in passing that the difference noted in the foregoing
paragraphs of this lesson on applying the Christ's Atonement to Adam's
sin and man's personal sins--in the first case unconditional, and in
the second conditional--is a doctrine, in modern times, peculiar to
"Mormonism;" or, to speak more accurately, to the New Dispensation
of the Gospel revealed to Joseph Smith; and is derived almost wholly
from the teachings of the Book of Mormon.[A] In that distinction the
beauty and glory of the Atonement, the balanced claims of justice and
mercy shine forth as no where else, even in holy writ,--much less in
the uninspired writings of men. It may be regarded as the "Mormon"
contribution to views of the Atonement of Christ, for it is to be found
no where else except in Mormon literature.
[Footnote A: See II Nephi ii. Ibid ix. Alma xxxiv and xlii. Mormon ix.]
_7. The Free and Complete Redemption of Little Children:_ From the
foregoing difference in the application of the Atonement to the sin
of Adam and the individual sins of men there arises another important
matter viz.: If redemption from the consequences of Adam's fall is to
be absolutely unconditional, and universal, and that entirely through
the Atonement of the Christ and without the co-operation of man, then
it logically follows that if man himself remains absolutely without
sin, he would stand in need of no satisfaction being made for his sin
and no forgiveness of sins, since in the case supposed they have no
existence; and therefore the Atonement of the Christ for the sin of
Adam, would be all sufficient to redeem man from the power of death and
restore him to union with God. It follows that if any part of the human
race die in this state of personal innocence then they are redeemed
by virtue of the Atonement of Christ without any other consideration
whatsoever. Hence Mormon said:
"Listen to the words of Christ, your Redeemer, your Lord and your
God. Behold, I came into the world not to call the righteous but
the sinners to repentance; the whole need no physician, but they
that are sick! wherefore little children are whole, for they are
not capable of committing sin; wherefore the curse of Adam is taken
from them in me, that it hath no power over them. * * * Little
children need no repentance, neither baptism. * * * Little children
are alive in Christ, even from the foundation of the world."[A]
[Footnote A: Moroni viii:8-12.]
No less explicit is the word of the Lord through the Prophet Joseph
Smith:
"But, behold, I say unto you, that little children are redeemed
from the foundation of the world through mine only Begotten,
wherefore they cannot sin, for power is not given unto Satan to
tempt little children, until they begin to become accountable
before me."[A]
[Footnote A: Doc. & Cov. Sec. xxix:46, 47.]
_8. The Redemption of Those Who Die Without Law:_ Moreover, it
appears that Mercy has special claims upon those men and women, and
also upon nations and races who know not the Gospel. The first Nephi in
speaking of the Atonement of Christ and its effects where proclaimed
and rejected, says:
"Wherefore he [God] has given a law; and where there is no law
given there is no punishment; and where there is no punishment,
there is no condemnation; and where there is no condemnation, the
mercies of the Holy One of Israel have claim upon them because of
the atonement; for they are delivered by the power of him [Christ];
for the atonement satisfieth the demands of his justice upon all
those who have not the law given to them, that they are delivered
from that awful monster, death and hell, and the devil, and the
lake of fire and brimstone [See Alma xii:17],[A] which is endless
torment; and they are restored to that God who gave them breath,
which is the Holy One of Israel."[B]
[Footnote A: The torments of the ungodly sinners are likened unto a
lake of fire and brimstone by this writer, Nephi. Not that the sinners
are plunged into a lake of fire and brimstone as so-called orthodox
Christians teach. Indeed, in the above passage there is a definition of
what the lake of fire is--it is "endless torment," which ever exists
for the punishment of impenitent sinners--each one partaking of it to
such a degree and for such time as is necessary to satisfy the demand
of justice. In this very chapter above quoted Nephi says of the wicked:
"And their torment is as a lake of fire and brimstone, whose flames
ascend up for ever, and have no end."]
[Footnote B: Nephi ix:25, 26.]
And so Moroni:
"For the power of redemption cometh on all they that have no
law; wherefore, he that is not condemned, or he that is under
no condemnation, cannot repent; and unto such baptism availeth
nothing."[A]
[Footnote A: Moroni viii:22.]
To this also agrees the teachings of Paul:
"For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without
law:[A] and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by
the law."[B]
[Footnote A: I venture the suggestion, basing it on the sense of the
whole passage, that it should read: "Shall also be judged without the
law."]
[Footnote B: Rom. ii:12.]
LESSON XXI.
(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
SYMBOLS OF THE ATONEMENT.
ANALYSIS.
I. The Two Great Christian Symbols.
II. Baptism.
1. Introduction and Formula.
2. Symbolism of Atonement in Baptism.
3. Realities Give Virtue to Symbols.
III. The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper--Eucharist.[A]
1. The Prayer of Consecration--Formula of.
2. Symbolism of the Atonement in the Eucharist.
3. Realities Back of Symbols.
REFERENCES.
All the texts and contexts of this lesson, and also
Matt. xi:26-29; Luke xxii; I Cor. xi:23-30.
Doc. & Cov., Sec. xx.
Moroni ix, v.
_SPECIAL TEXT: "Except a man be born of the water and of the spirit he
can not enter into the kingdom of God." (St. John iii:5.)_
_"For as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do show the
Lord's death till he come." (I Cor. xi:26.)_
[Footnote A: The commemoration of the sacrifice of our Lord is often
and I may say generally called Eucharist. "The Lord's Supper, a solemn
rite commemorating the dying of Christ for the salvation of men; the
Holy Sacrament, the communion of the body and the blood of Christ" (Funk
& Wagnall Dic.).]
DISCUSSION.
_1. The Two Great Christian Symbols:_ The two great Christian
institutions of baptism and the sacrament of the Lord's supper have
already been alluded to as evidence of the fact of the Atonement.[A]
They are now to be considered as symbols of the Atonement. I take up
baptism first, as introduced by the Christ himself among the Nephites,
because there more perfectly than elsewhere we have this symbol set
forth, and only there, in ancient scripture, is the exact formula of
the ceremony given. The account of it in the Nephite record stands as
follows:
[Footnote A: Lesson XI which see.]
_2. Introduction of Baptism Among the Nephites--Its Formula:_
"And he said unto them, on this wise shall ye baptize; and there
shall be no disputations among you. Verily I say unto you that who
so repenteth of his sins through your words, and desireth to be
baptized in my name, on this wise shall ye baptize him; behold,
ye shall go down and stand in the water, and in my name shall ye
baptize them. And now, behold, these are the words which ye shall
say, calling them by name, saying:
'Having authority given me of Jesus Christ, I baptize you in the
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.'
And then shall we immerse them in the water and come forth again
out of the water."[A]
[Footnote A: III Nephi xi:22-26.]
_3. The Symbol of the Atonement in Baptism:_ In this ordinance
we have recognized first of all Jesus Christ in whose authority the
administrator acts--"Having authority given me of Jesus Christ," etc.
"I baptize you * * * then shall we immerse them in the water and come
forth again out of the water." By this immersion in the water is
symbolized the death and burial of the Christ, the Atonement he made
for the sins of man. In the coming forth again out of the water, is
symbolized the resurrection of the Christ, his triumph over death, the
victory side of the Atonement; death is conquered, life is triumphant;
Christ is the first fruits of the resurrection and through him all men
participate in the resurrection. "For since by man came death by man
came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so
in Christ shall all be made alive.'"[A]
[Footnote A: Cor. xv:21, 22.]
Nor is this all; but in baptism is symbolized the forgiveness of sins
to the baptized. John preached "the baptism of repentance for the
remission of sins."[A] Peter commanded the multitude on the day of
Pentecost to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for
the remission of sins.[B] "Arise and be baptized and wash away thy
sins."[C] "Come unto me and be baptized in my name that ye may receive
a remission of your sins."[D] "Thou shalt declare * * * remission of
sins by baptism."[E] "Preach repentance and remission of sins by way of
baptism in the name of Jesus Christ."[F]
[Footnote A: Mark i:4. Luke iii:3.]
[Footnote B: Acts ii:38.]
[Footnote C: Acts xxii:16.]
[Footnote D: III Nephi xxx:2.]
[Footnote E: Doc. & Cov. Sec. xix:31.]
[Footnote F: Doc. & Cov. Sec. iv:2.]
"Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ
were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by
baptism into death; that like as Christ was raised up from the dead
by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness
of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of
his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection."[A]
[Footnote A: Rom. vi:4, 5. See also "The Gospel"--Third Edition, Ch.
xvi.]
Baptism then not only becomes a symbol of the Christ's death, burial
and resurrection to newness of life; but also the death and burial to
sin of the baptized; and his resurrection to a newness of moral and
spiritual life. To him it is a birth to righteousness.
Water baptism is completed by the baptism of the spirit, by which man
is placed in union with God, through the reception of the Holy Ghost,
foreshadowing that more complete union which shall come when man shall
dwell in the very presence of God the Father, and God the Son after the
resurrection.[A]
[Footnote A: Doc. & Cov. Sec. xxvi.]
And thus the symbols of the Atonement of Christ to the very uttermost
are found in this Christian institution of baptism.
_4. Realities Give Virtue to Symbols:_ Let it be said here,
however, and because following the above presentation of baptism it
may be seen better than in any other connection, that it is not the
physical fact of being immersed in water that brings remission of sins,
nor the physical fact of the imposition of hands that re-established
the union with God through the medium of the Holy Ghost. These as we
have tried to explain are symbols of the deeper and greater realities
that produce the results of forgiveness of sins and union with God.
Back of the physical fact of baptism is the Atonement of Christ,
wrought out by his making satisfaction to the injured honor of God,
occasioned by sin, and bringing to pass the resurrection from the dead,
because a Lord of life, and having the power to impart life to others,
to the dead. Back of the physical fact of the immersion of a man in
water, in order to a remission of his individual sins, is the fact that
Jesus by his own suffering paid the penalty due to that and every other
man's sins in the world, and thus brought all men within the claims of
Mercy, and made it possible for the sins of men to be forgiven without
violence to the Justice of God. This ordinance of baptism supplies the
symbols of these realities; it is, however, in the realities instead of
the signs or symbols of the realities whence arises the power of God
unto salvation. Still the symbols of the realities may not be dispensed
with; they are necessary to the perpetuation, in palpable form, of the
realities behind them, hence the Church teaches and will always teach
the necessity of conforming to or obeying them; they are but the signs
and seals of our salvation, however, rather than the ground of it;
and they would have no virtue at all except for the existence of the
realities which they image forth to outward senses, and witness to the
world the covenant which those who accept the gospel make with God.
_5. The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper as a Symbol of the
Atonement:_ This, like baptism, is a permanent Christian
institution; and also like baptism it is best set forth in the Nephite
scriptures,[A] the Book of Mormon; for there, and no where else in
ancient scripture, is the formula of the institution as given by the
Christ to be found. The prayer of consecration of these symbols is of
the highest value, and one of the noblest monuments of Nephite or any
other Christian literature extant. I give the prayers of consecration
together with the introductory remarks of Moroni which declare their
origin.
[Footnote A: The best New Testament account of the introduction of the
Lord's Supper is (1) That given by Matthew; and (2) by Paul. The first
of these is as follows: "And as they were eating, Jesus took bread and
blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples and said, Take
eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it
to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; for this is my blood of the new
testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins" (Matthew
Ch. xxvi:26-28).
The second in Paul's first letter to the Corinthians: "For I have
received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the
Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread; and when
he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take eat; this is my body,
which is broken for you; this do in remembrance of me. After the same
manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is
the new testament in my blood; this do ye, as oft as ye drink of it in
remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this
cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come. Wherefore whosoever
shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall
be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine
himself and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he
that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to
himself not discerning the Lord's body" (I Corinthians, Ch. xi:23-29).]
_Introduction:_
"The manner of their Elders and Priests administering the flesh and
blood of Christ unto the church. And they administered it according to
the commandments of Christ; wherefore we know the manner to be true;
and the Elder or Priest did minister it. And they did kneel down with
the Church and prayed to the Father in the name of Christ, saying:
_Prayer of Consecration over the Broken Bread--the Body:_
"O God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee in the name of thy Son Jesus
Christ, to bless and sanctify this bread to the souls of all those who
partake of it, that they may eat in remembrance of the body of thy Son,
and witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that they are willing
to take upon them the name of thy Son, and always remember him, and
keep his commandments which he hath given them, that they may always
have his spirit to be with them. Amen."
"The manner of administering the wine. Behold they took the cup, and
said:
_Consecration of the Wine--the Blood:_
"O God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee, in the name of thy Son Jesus
Christ, to bless and sanctify this wine to the souls of all those who
drink of it, that they may do it in remembrance of the blood of thy
Son, which was shed for them, that they may witness unto thee, O God,
the Eternal Father, that they do always remember him, that they may
have his spirit to be with them. Amen."[A]
[Footnote A: Book of Moroni, Chs. iv and v. Of these formulas I have
elsewhere said what Archdeacon Paley has said of the Lord's prayer,
when appealing to its excellence as evidence of its divine origin--"For
a succession of solemn thoughts, for fixing the attention on a few
great points, for suitableness, for sufficiency, for conciseness
without obscurity, for the weight and real importance of their
petitions, these prayers are without an equal." The composition of
them in excellence arises far above any performance that Joseph Smith
could be considered equal to; and, in a word, carry within themselves
the evidence of a divine authorship. Such passages as these need no
argument in support of their divine origin. We may trust entirely
to the self-evidence which breathes through every sentence" ("New
Witnesses for God," Vol. III, p. 489).]
_6. Exposition of the Symbols of the Atonement in Holy Sacrament:_
In these prayers, the whole scheme of man's salvation is generalized
and symbolized. There is a more solemn and awe-inspiring title used in
addressing the Deity than is used in the Lord's prayer, but that is
wholly warranted from the nature of the prayer of consecration which is
to follow--"O, God, the Eternal Father." And this is repeated in the
body of both prayers in a second appeal to God the Father. But this
does not fall under the head of "vain repetition," since it is the
repetition of emphasis, of deep solemnity, as any one will determine if
he considers it with attention and will allow for both the solemnity
and greatness of the occasion. But not only is God the Eternal Father
recognized in this prayer, but the Son also--"We ask thee in the
name of thy Son, Jesus Christ," etc. And not only is the Father and
Son recognized but the Holy Spirit also--"That they may always have
his Spirit to be with them." This prayer of consecration, then, is a
confession of faith in the Holy Trinity.
"Bless and sanctify this bread to the souls of all those who partake
of it, that they may eat in remembrance of the body of thy Son."
* * * "Bless and sanctify this wine to the souls of all those who
drink of it, that they may do it in remembrance of the blood of thy
Son, which was shed for them." The broken bread is the symbol of the
broken or wounded body of the Christ, broken for sinful man. The
wine is the symbol of the blood--the blood shed for the sins of men:
and the sincere Christian eats of the one and drinks of the other
in grateful remembrance of what the Christ has done for him--the
suffering he underwent in order to establish justification of man and
the forgiveness of his sin under a reign of law, without violence to
the Justice of God or the exclusion of Mercy from our earth-scheme
of things. In all this the Atonement is recognized and celebrated
most beautifully, and its benefits accepted and appropriated by the
celebrants. Moreover, they witness in the act of eating and drinking
these emblems of the body and the blood of the Christ, "that they
are willing to take upon them the name," of the Christ, become
"Christians." "And always remember him;" and who could remember him
and not with gratitude in view of what he had done for mankind! "And
keep his commandments which he hath given them"--a solemn covenant of
obedience upon which, as we have seen, depends the reception of the
benefits of the Atonement made for man's individual sins--"he [the
Christ] became the author of eternal salvation to all them that obey
him." And to what end does all this lead--this covenanting to take
upon them the name of Christ; to always remember him; to keep his
commandments--to what culmination does all this conduct the celebrant?
To union with God, the one thing most important; the climax is "that
they may always have his spirit to be with them!" Just as the several
steps of faith, repentance and baptism culminate in possession of the
Holy Ghost.[A]
[Footnote A: Acts ii:38, 39. Heb. vi:1-6.]
Thus in two paragraphs, making less than fifteen lines of printed
matter is given the story of man's redemption, in this symbol of the
Atonement--the Lord's Supper. As in the case of baptism, however,
I would remind the student that the virtue is not in the symbols,
but in the realities they represent; in the actually broken body
of Christ--broken by nail-wounds, by crown of thorns, by spear
thrusts in the side; by suffering of mental and spiritual agony that
made blood-sweat for the body, and torture for the sin-burdened
spirit--vicariously suffering for the sins of all men. By these
realities was our salvation purchased; and the virtue lies in them,
not in the symbols of them. The symbols we use in remembrance of the
realities, and without mistaking them for the realities themselves.
LESSON XXII.
(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
DOES THE NECESSITY OF THE ATONEMENT ARISE FROM THE NATURE OF THE CASE,
OR FROM ARBITRARY ARRANGEMENT?
ANALYSIS.
I. Could Other Means than the Atonement Have Been Provided for Man's
Salvation?
1. The Evidence from the Fact of Divine Institution.
2. The Evidence of Scripture.
II. The Severity of the Atonement Justified.
1. By the Value of the Things Purchased.
2. On the Ground that it was a Voluntary Sacrifice.
3. By the Lessons it Teaches Man.
REFERENCES.
The texts and contexts of scriptures quoted and cited in the body of
this lesson.
History of Christian Doctrine (Shedd), Book V, Ch. ii; Anselm's Theory
of Satisfaction; Neander's History of the Christian Religion and
Doctrine, Vol. IV, pp 49-511.
Taylor's Mediation and Atonement.
_SPECIAL TEXT: "Put up thy sword into its place. Thinkest thou that
I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more
than Twelve legions of angels? But how then shall the scriptures be
fulfilled, that thus it must be?" (Matt. xxvi:52, 54.)_
DISCUSSION.
1. Could Other Means than the Atonement Have Been Devised for Man's
Salvation: The question, could any other plan have been devised for
the redemption of man than the Atonement as made by the Christ,
was discussed, in part, in a previous lesson when considering the
question of possible redemption by the sovereign act of God.[A] It
is a question that has been often asked, and oftener in our own day
perhaps than at any previous time, since our age is pre-eminently
critical, and questions the rationality of the Atonement as set forth
in the scriptures and also as taught by the Catholic and the Protestant
churches. Shedd propounds the question in this form:
[Footnote A: See Lesson XVI.]
"Does the necessity of expiation in order to pardon arise from the
nature of the case, or from an arbitrary arrangement? Could the
Deity have dispensed with any or all satisfaction of Justice, or is
Justice of such an absolute and necessary character, that it would
be impossible to save the guilty without an antecedent satisfaction
of this attribute [Justice] as it would be for God to lie?"[A]
[Footnote A: "History of Christian Doctrine," Shedd--Vol. II, p. 223.]
Answering these questions from the point of view developed in this
treatise, it would be necessary to say (1) that the necessity of
expiation in order to pardon does arise from the nature of the case and
not from arbitrary arrangement; (2) that the Deity could not dispense
with any or all satisfaction to Justice since Justice as an attribute
of God is of such an absolute and necessary character that it would be
as impossible to save the guilty without an antecedent[A] satisfaction
as it would be for God to lie. The attribute of Justice is as necessary
to maintain in Deity as the attribute Truth.
[Footnote A: Or pre-determined satisfaction, that ultimately must
be realized in fact. I make this qualification of "antecedent"
satisfaction in the interest of the great truth that the effects of
the Atonement were realized by the ancient saints previous to the
coming of Christ to earth and hence previous to his actually making
the Atonement; but that was because the Atonement for man's sins, the
satisfaction to Justice, had been pre-determined upon, and this fact
gave virtue to their faith, repentance and obedience to ordinances of
the Gospel. (See Seventy's Year Book II, Lesson XX. "Antiquity of the
Gospel.")]
_2. (a). The Evidence of Scripture:_ Considered from the
standpoint of scriptural evidence, there can be no doubt of the
absolute necessity of the Atonement as it was wrought out in the
suffering and death of the Christ. The two disciples overtaken on their
way to Emmaus by the unrecognized, risen Savior, gave him an account
of the crucifixion and the reported resurrection of Jesus. They also
voiced their own great disappointment in the seeming anti-climax of the
events which had resulted in the crucifixion by saying: "But we trusted
that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel;" but it was now
three days since the crucifixion, and consequently their hopes were
disappointed. Then said the Christ unto them:
"O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have
spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to
enter into his glory?"[A]
[Footnote A: Luke xxiv:13-27.]
The same evening Jesus appeared to a company of his disciples and gave
the most palpable demonstration of his resurrection, and said to them:
"These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with
you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the
law of Moses, and in the Prophets and in the Psalms, concerning me.
Then opened he their understanding that they might understand the
scriptures. And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it
behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day;
and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his
name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem."[A]
[Footnote A: Luke xxiv:44-47.]
If, then, "all things must be fulfilled" which are written in Moses
and in the Prophets and in the Psalms concerning Christ; and if it
"_behoved Christ thus to suffer and to rise from the dead_ * * that
repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among
all nations;" then it would seem that there must have been absolute
necessity for that order of procedure followed in the events which make
up and attend upon the Atonement as we now know it. To this evidence
there must be added the thrice repeated, agonized prayer of the Christ,
in Gethsemane, when contemplating the approaching climax of his
passion:[A] "O, my Father, if it be possible let this cup pass from me!
nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt."[B]
[Footnote A: Passion--Any suffering or endurance of imposed or
inflicted pain * * especially the suffering of Christ between the time
of the last supper and his death--especially in the garden and on the
cross. (Webster.)]
[Footnote B: Matt. xxvi:39.]
The silence of God in the presence of that prayer tells us that it
was not possible for other means to be devised for man's salvation.
And when the officers and the rabble led by Judas came upon Jesus and
his friends in the garden and Peter drew the sword in defense of the
Master, the latter said:
"Put up thy sword into its place; * * thinkest thou that I cannot
now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than
twelve legions of angels? But how then shall the scriptures be
fulfilled, _that thus it must be?_"[A]
[Footnote A: Ibid, verses 52-54.]
"_Thus it must be_," confirms again the absolute necessity of the
Atonement as the Christ made it.
_3. (b). Evidence of Necessity from the Fact that God Instituted
It:_ The opinions of some of the early Christian fathers upon the
possibility of other and perhaps milder means being used to save men
than the Atonement, have already been considered, as connected with
the suggestion that God might arbitrarily forgive sin by the virtue
of his Omnipotence. Also a list was given of both the principal early
Christian fathers and the medieval Christian doctors and the views they
respectively supported;[A] and from the necessity of the principles
involved, the conclusion was reached that the Atonement as made by
Christ was absolutely necessary. It might be argued with great force
that since God instituted the Atonement it must have been necessary or
it would never have been ordained; especially if milder means could
have been made to answer or the satisfaction to justice could have been
set aside, and man's reconciliation with God brought about by an act of
pure benevolence; for it is inconceivable that either God's Justice or
his Mercy[B] would require or permit more suffering on the part of the
Redeemer than was absolutely necessary to accomplish the end proposed.
[Footnote A: Lesson XVI.]
[Footnote A: Ibid, p.-- and note --]
On the influence of pain and suffering Baring-Gould has the following
fine passage:
"There was no necessity, some theologians have taught, for Christ
to have died but as S. Bernard says, "perhaps that method is best,
whereby in a land of forgetfulness and sloth we might be more
powerfully and vividly reminded of our fall, through the so great
and so manifold sufferings of Him who repaired it." Then quoting
Oxenham:
"'Pain is one of the deepest and truest things in our nature; we
feel instinctively that it is so, even before we can tell why. Pain
is what binds us most closely to one another and to God. It appeals
most directly to our sympathies, as the very structure of our
language indicates. To go no further than our own, we have English
words, such as condolence, to express sympathy with grief; we have
no one word to express sympathy with joy. So, again, it is a common
remark that, if a funeral and wedding procession were to meet,
something of the shadow of death would be cast over the bridal
train, but no reflection of bridal happiness would pass into the
mourners' hearts. Scripture itself has been not inaptly called 'a
record of human sorrow.' The same name might be given to history.
Friendship is scarcely sure till it has been proved in suffering,
but the chains of an affection riveted in the fiery furnace are
not easily broken. So much, then, at least, is clear, that the
Passion of Jesus was the greatest revelation of sympathy: 'Greater
love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his
friends.' And hence fathers and schoolmen alike conspire to teach,
that one reason why he chose the road of suffering was to knit us
more closely to himself. For this he exalted his head, not on a
throne of earthly glory, but on the cross of death. It is, indeed,
no accident of the few, but a law of our present being, which the
poet's words express:
'That to the Cross the mourner's eve should turn
Sooner than where the stars of Christmas burn.'
For in all, in their several ways and degrees, are mourners. The
dark threads are woven more thickly than the bright ones into the
tangled skein of human life; and as time passes on, the conviction
that it is so is brought home to us with increasing force.' I
(Oxenham: "Doctrine of the Atonement, 1869, pp. 290-292.)
"The Incarnation is the manifestation of perfect love, but perfect
love cannot halt at anything short of the extreme disintegration
wrought by the fall. Christ must sacrifice Himself wholly to man,
or his love is not sufficient to draw man to him. He must enter
into man's joys and man's woes, to meet him at every turn of the
winding lane of life. Love is not satisfied till it has made
every sacrifice that is in its power to make and no more complete
sacrifice can be imagined than that of honor, ease, and finally
life.
The narrative of Christ's life is, therefore, one of continuous
sacrifice, of emptying himself of everything in the overflowing
Passion of his love, counting all as nought if only he might catch
man's eye and draw him towards himself.
"He came to seek and to save that which was lost. Such is reported
by the Evangelist to be the account he gave of his mission." * * *
"Pain is the deepest thing we have in our nature, and union through
pain has always seemed more real and more holy than any other.[A]
[Footnote A: "Origin and Development of Religious Beliefs," Vol. II,
pp, 305, 307, 330.]
_4. The Severity of the Atonement Justified from the Value of Things
Purchased by It:_ The severity of the Atonement may be justified
if viewed with reference to what it purchased for man, and the effect
it was doubtless designed to have in forever fixing the values upon
certain great things, in the mind of man. When the plan of redemption
is contemplated with reference to what it cost the Christ, then we must
have exalted notions ever after of the majesty and Justice of God, for
it was to make ample satisfaction to that majesty and Justice of God
that the Christ suffered and died; we must have exalted conceptions of
the value of that stately fabric known as the moral government of the
world, for it was for the preservation of its integrity that the Christ
suffered and died; we must hence forth have a higher regard for God's
attribute of Mercy, for it was that Mercy might be brought into the
earth-scheme of things, and claim her own, that the Christ suffered and
died; we must set a higher value even upon physical life hereafter, for
it was in order to bring to pass the resurrection of man to physical
life, and to make that life immortal, that the Christ suffered and
died; new glory must attach hereafter to spiritual life,--perpetual
union between soul of man and soul of God,--for to bring to pass that
spiritual life, that indissoluble union with God on which it depends
for existence, that the Christ suffered and died; we must henceforth
have a deeper reverence for the Love of God and the Love of the Christ
for man,--and a higher regard for man himself since God so loved
him--for it was to give a manifestation of that Love, that the Christ
suffered and died.
If it be true, and it is, that men value things in proportion to what
they cost, then how dear to them must be the Atonement, since it cost
the Christ so much in suffering that he may be said to have been
baptized by blood-sweat in Gethsemane, before he reached the climax of
his passion, on calvary. "Behold he suffereth the pains of all men;
yea, the pains of every living creature, both men, women, and children,
who belong to the family of Adam;"[A] "surely every man must repent or
suffer [i. e., the eternal consequences of sin]. * * * For behold, I
God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if
they would repent, but if they would not repent, they must suffer even
as I, which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to
tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both
body and spirit, and would that I might not drink the bitter cup."[B]
Advantages to be realized in eternal life purchased at such a cost as
this, should indeed be regarded by men as pearls of great price, to
obtain which a man would be justified in selling all that he hath, that
he might buy them.
[Footnote A: II Nephi ix:21.]
[Footnote B: Doc. & Cov. Sec. xix:4, 16-18.]
But on the other hand if high values for the great and important things
enumerated above could only be secured by the severity of suffering
that attended upon the Atonement made by the Christ, then, I say, and I
trust with becoming reverence, that they were worth all that even the
Christ by his blessed suffering paid for them.
_5. The Atonement a Voluntary Offering:_ Another thing may be
urged in justification of the severity of the plan of redemption
through the Atonement--it was a voluntary act; and no one was compelled
to undertake the terrible mission unless he himself elected to do so.
"Whom shall I send," asked God the Father, after he had explained the
necessity of a Redeemer for man in the earth-scheme of things.[A]
"Whom shall I send? And one answered like unto the Son of man, saying,
'Here am I, send me.'" The act was voluntary. Indeed the glory of the
Atonement as well as the justification for its severity depend upon
its being so. "Therefore doth my father love me," said the Christ,
"because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. _No man taketh
it from me, but I lay it down of myself._ I have power to lay it down
and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of
my Father."[B] And when one would have defended him by physical force
the Christ bade him put up his sword, saying, "Thinkest thou that I
cannot now pray to my father and he shall give me more than twelve
legions of angels?" That is, to deliver him from his captors. "But," he
added, after declaring the possibility of his deliverance by legions of
angels, "how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that _thus it must
be?_"[C]
[Footnote A: See Lesson VI.]
[Footnote B: John x:17, 18.]
[Footnote C: Matt. xxvi:53, 54.]
_6. Lesson Taught by Severity of the Atonement:_ Let the severity
of the Atonement impress men with one very important truth, viz.,
that breaking up the harmony of the moral government of the world
is a serious, adventurous, and dangerous business, even though when
necessary to bring about conditions essential to the progress of
Intelligences; and more serious when man in his presumption and
apostasy from God, of his own perverse will, to gratify his ambition,
or pride or appetite or passions, violates the law of God and breaks
the union between himself and Deity. That is serious; and how difficult
it is to re-establish that union, to purchase forgiveness for that sin!
How hard it is to make amends to the majesty of God, dishonored by
man's individual transgression of divine law--let the severity of the
Christ's Atonement for man's sin bear witness; for it required all that
the Christ gave in suffering and agony of spirit and body, to lay the
grounds for man's forgiveness and reconciliation with God.
The severity of the Atonement should impress men with the fact that we
live in a world of stern realities; that human actions draw with them
tremendous consequences that may not be easily set aside if the actions
in which they have their origin are wrong.
Moral laws have their penalties as physical laws have their
consequences; there could be no moral laws without penalties; and
penalties of laws must be enforced, else laws are mere nullities.
Violations of moral law are attended by shame and suffering; suffering
is the consequence or the penalty of violating divine, moral law; and
the penalty must be paid, either by the one sinning or by another who
shall suffer vicariously for him.
This brings us to one of the great questions inseparably connected
with the Atonement. Can there be such a thing as vicarious suffering?
And can the vicarious suffering of an innocent victim pay the debt to
justice due from one who is guilty of the transgression of law?
LESSON XXIII.
(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
THE EFFICACY OF VICARIOUS ATONEMENT.
ANALYSIS.
I. The Law of Righteousness.
II. Possibility of the Spirit Suffering.
III. The Suffering of Men.
1. Because of Their Own Sins.
2. Because of the Sins of Others.
3. With Each Other on Account of Sin.
4. Willingness of Men to Suffer for Others and what it Suggests.
IV. Vicarious Suffering the Doctrine of Christ.
V. The Reign of Law and Love.
REFERENCES.
The texts and contexts of the scriptures quoted and cited in the body
of this lesson.
_SPECIAL TEXT: "He that loveth not knoweth not God, for God is love. * *
* Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent
his Son to be the Propitiation for our sins._
_"Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." (I
John iv:8-11.)_
DISCUSSION.
_1. The Law of Righteousness:_ All sin against moral law is
followed by suffering. At first glance that statement may not be
accepted without qualification; but it is true. "Sin is transgression
of the law," is scripture definition of sin.[A] No difficulty will
arise from that definition, but there might arise difference of opinion
as to what constitutes "moral law," which to violate would be sin.
Of course moral law, varies among different races, and nations; and
indeed varies in the same race and nation in different periods of time;
but no matter how variant the law may be, between different races or
nations; or how variant it may be between individuals, the principle
announced that suffering follows sin will hold good. Of course between
the Christian whose conscience is trained in the moral law of the
doctrine of Christ, and the heathen, "who know not God," there is a
wide difference. Many things which are sin to the Christian conscience
are not sin to the heathen races, unenlightened by the ethics of the
Christian religion; but, nevertheless, what I say is true; and if
heathen peoples do not have the same moral standards that prevail in
Christian lands, they have _some_ moral standards; and whenever they
violate what to them is the "rule of righteousness," it is followed
by chagrin, by sorrow, by mental suffering for them; and so with the
Christian people who are instructed in the high, moral principles of
the Christian religion. When they fall below their ideals, when they
consciously violate their rule of righteousness, it is followed by
suffering, by sense of shame, by sorrow; and, indeed, the great bulk
of the sorrows of this world spring from sin, the transgression of the
moral law, and there is no escaping its penalty--suffering.
[Footnote A: I John iii:4; and Rom. iv:15.]
_2. Possibility of the Spirit Suffering:_ It is just as real,
this suffering of the spirit for the violation of the moral law, as
the suffering of physical pain that comes from the violation of some
physical law. The mind no less than the body may be hurt, wounded as
deeply as the body, and carry its scars as the evidence of its wounds
as long. Mental suffering is as real and poignant as physical pain; and
he who sins suffers. "And it often happens," says Guizot, "that the
best men, that is, those who have best conformed their will to reason,
have often been the most struck with their insufficiency, the most
convinced of the inequality between the conduct of man and his task
between liberty and law;" and therefore have they suffered most. It is
possible, then, for men to suffer because of their own sins.
_3. Men Suffer Because of the Sins of Others:_ This we know, also,
it is possible for men to suffer _because_ of the sins of others, and
they often do it. You can scarcely conceive of a man being so far
isolated, so far outside the sympathies of the world, that it can be
said of him that he lives unto himself alone; that his sinning and
his suffering concerns only himself. We are so knit together in a net
work of sympathies--not seen, but real nevertheless--that we suffer
_because_ of each other. It is easily proven. Take the case of an
honorable father and mother who have led we will say--and there are
such fathers and mothers--ideal lives. They have lived in honor; they
have met their obligations to the world with reasonable fidelity; they
have lived lives of righteousness; they have set good examples to their
children; they have taught the Christian truths at the fireside; they
have surrounded their family with every advantage that would prepare
them for honorable stations among men. They have taken pride as they
have seen their children grow from infancy to manhood, and their souls
have hoped that a sort of immortality would subsist in the perpetuation
of their race through their children. Then out of this family group,
over which the parents have watched with such anxious solicitude, there
comes forth a reprobate youth, in whom there seems to be scarcely any
moral sense. He violates all the conventions of society, and of moral
living; he destroys his intellect by his excesses, and he becomes
a vagabond and outcast among men, a degenerate, perhaps finds his
way through the sewers of sin, into the prison house, and at last,
perchance, may go to the very gallows itself.
And what is the condition of that righteous father and mother the
while, when they look upon this sad mischance in their household?
Sorrow! The one who has led the shameful life, though he may suffer
somewhat for his sins, has not suffered the one-thousandth part of the
shame and humiliation and disgrace that has been experienced by this
father and mother. They suffer _because_ of the sins of this wayward
son. They illustrate in their experience the fact that men can suffer
because of each other; _the innocent are involved in the sins and
crimes of the guilty._
From this confessedly extreme case all down the line of human
experiences and relationships in constantly varying degrees men suffer
_because_ of each other.
_4. Men Suffer With Each Other on Account of Sin:_ Then men suffer
_with_ each other? An outsider, looking at this scene I have presented
--I mean one not a member of the grief-stricken family--witnessing
the sorrow of the father, and the inconsolable grief of the mother;
the mental distress and shame experienced by brother and sisters; the
stranger witnessing all this, weeps with the sorrowing father and
mother; he suffers _with_ them.
_5. Willingness of Men to Suffer for Each Other:_ There is still
another phase of this suffering on account of sin, and one that draws
very near to the point I am trying to reach. There is among men, and
especially among men of highly sensitive natures, a willingness to
suffer _for_ others. Take the case, for instance, of David and Absolom.
Absolom was the most worthless of all David's many worthless sons;
he had planned rebellion against the grand old king; he would have
clutched the crown from the hoary head of David and put it upon his
own. In every way he had warred against the honor and the interests
o. his noble father. Yet when news was brought to the king that the
worthless young man had been caught in the battle and slain, the old
king was stricken with sorrow, and gave vent to the parent-cry that
rings through all the ages--"Oh Absolom, my son! my son! would to
God I had died for thee!" In this experience of David's we see the
willingness of one to suffer _for_ another. Nor is this willingness
confined to parents alone who would so often and so willingly take upon
themselves the consequences of their children's sins, though those
consequences involved death. The same willingness exists on the part
of the children, but perhaps is less frequently manifested, to suffer
for their parents. The same is true also as to brothers and sisters,
and among friends, where no tie of consanguinity exists; and even among
strangers, on the occasion of great, imminent danger, this impulse in
man, this willingness to risk his own life for others is frequently
manifested. Such experiences make up the history of heroism, which is
the chief glory of our human race.
_6. The Great Principle Suggested by the Foregoing Facts:_ Does
this fact of willingness to suffer for others, so abundantly attested
in human experiences, bear witness to the existence of no great and
eternal principle, that may be of incalculable benefit in the moral
economy of the world? Is it meaningless? I think not. On the contrary
it suggests the existence of a great and effective truth, namely, that
the Intelligences of the universe are so bound together in sympathetic
relations that at need they can suffer for each other, as well as with
each other, and because of each other. "Greater love hath no man than
this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."[A] This is true
because when a man lays down his life for a cause or for a friend he
has then given all he has to give; for with life goes all things else;
he can give no more. Shall those Intelligences we must needs think of
as Divine, as making up David's "congregation of the Mighty," the Gods
among whom God the greatest of all the Intelligences, standeth and
judges,[B] shall these be denied the privilege of love-manifestation
which goes with this giving of all? And shall this suffering for others
have no benefiting effect upon those others for whom the suffering is
endured? Shall this love-force of men and of divine Intelligences be
mere waste of the highest and most refined of all forces--spiritual
force? Not so, if reason answers the question. Certainly not so if
scripture answers it. "Here by perceive we the love of God, because he
laid down his life for us."[C] "God so loved the world that he gave his
only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish
but have everlasting life."[D] "For Christ hath also once suffered for
sin, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God."[E] "When
we were yet without strength in due time Christ died for us. * * * Being
now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. *
* * When we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his
son * * *."[F] The scriptures then abundantly confirm the declaration
made that divine Intelligences are not denied the power of giving the
highest love manifestation for others by suffering for them; and in
that love-manifestation giving all they can give even to taking upon
themselves the consequences of the sins of others and making Atonement
for them; suffering that others might have placed within their reach
the means of escape from suffering, if only they would accept such
means and apply them. Otherwise, of course, the sinners themselves must
suffer all the consequences due to their sins; for nothing is clearer
in the revealed word of God, developed in this treatise, than that
satisfaction must be made to Justice whenever the domain of Justice is
trespassed upon, else all is confusion in the moral government of the
world; so that if men will not avail themselves of means which Mercy
provides for their redemption, then they themselves must meet the
inexorable demands of Justice.
[Footnote A: St. John iii:15.]
[Footnote B: Psalms lxxxii.]
[Footnote C: I John iii:16.]
[Footnote D: St. John iii:16.]
[Footnote E: I Peter iii:16.]
[Footnote F: Rom. v:6-10.]
_7. Vicarious Suffering. Its Reality and Its Effectiveness is the
Doctrine of the Christ:_ This, then, is the especial doctrine of the
Christ on which his earth-life's mission is based. One Intelligence at
need can suffer for others. It is possible for one to stand responsible
for another; a man can be his brother's keeper, and vicariously endure
even suffering for another's sins; make a satisfaction to justice, and
bring the quality of Mercy into the moral economy of things, and give
it legitimate standing under a reign of law, softening somewhat the
otherwise harsh aspect of things.
_8. The Reign of Law and Love:_ To this then our inquiry and
discussions lead us; to recognize in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the
central truth of which is the Atonement, a reign of Law and Love; and
that to preserve this Law, and to manifest this Love was the purpose of
the earth-life's mission of the Christ. To teach and to demonstrate,
first of all, God-love for man, by a sacrifice that tasks God that
man might be saved;[A] and second, to inspire man-love for God, by
the demonstration that God first loved man, and how deeply God loved
man;[B] and third, to teach man-love for man. "For beloved," said
the apostle whom Jesus loved pre-eminently--"If God so loved us, we
also ought to love one another."[C] In this love for one another
the children of God are manifest, he contends. "Whosoever doeth not
righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.
For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we
should love one another. * * We know that we have passed from death into
life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother
abideth in death. * * Here by perceive we the love of God, because he
laid down his life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for
the brethren."[D] It is not to be marveled at that this same apostle
declared that "He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love,"[E]
or that Paul, accepting the same principles, should say, "he that
loveth another, hath fulfilled the law. * * * Love worketh no ill to
his neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law."[F]
[Footnote A: St. John iii:16, 17.]
[Footnote B: "In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because
that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live
through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved
us, and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins" (I John iv:9,
10.)]
[Footnote C: I John iv:11.]
[Footnote D: I John iii:10-16.]
[Footnote E: I John iv:8.]
[Footnote F: Rom. xiii:8, 10.]
Jesus, however, teacheth the matter most perfectly. Accepting the love
of God for man as assured, then the great commandment for man is--
"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with
all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great
commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy
neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and
the prophets."[A] "Love is the fulfilling of the law"[B]--
_"All's Love, yet all's Law."_[C]
[Footnote A: Matt. xxii.]
[Footnote B: Rom. xiii:10.]
[Footnote C: Browning.]
Love exists in the earth-scheme of things, in the moral government of
the world, as we have seen, in harmony with the universal reign of law.
It is not born of some caprice, or mere impulse, howsoever beneficent;
but interwoven it is into the very web of things, and is immanent
in them, an indestructible _Presence_. It is because love reigns in
harmony with law that we mortals can be so sure of it; and rest so
secure in it. For as it was not born of caprice, so, too, it will
not depart from the world, nor from individuals on caprice; but will
endure as space itself endures--from the very nature of it; as truth
abides; as law itself subsists; as God lives; for it is of the _Eternal
Things--the Things that do not pass away._
APPENDIX.
Other Views of the Atonement.
I.
HISTORY OF SOTERIOLOGY[A] FROM APOSTOLIC TIMES UNTIL IT TAKES
DEFINITE FORM UNDER THE TEACHING OF ANSELM IN THE TWELFTH CENTURY.
[Footnote A: Soteriology is that branch of theological science which
treats of the work of the Redeemer, or of the divine agency in the
salvation of the soul (Die. Funk & Wagnall). This brief historical
statement of soteriology is either condensed or quoted from Shedd's
work on the "History of Christian Doctrine," and is not mine.]
Not even an epitome of the history of the doctrine of the Atonement may
be attempted here. The title is written out, not to attempt a summary
of the history of this branch of theological science; but merely to
make a few remarks about that history.
It is quite generally conceded that the doctrine of the Atonement
developed slowly. "Taking the term Atonement in its technical
signification to denote the satisfaction of divine justice for the sin
of man, by the substituted penal sufferings of the son of God, we shall
find a slower scientific unfolding of this great cardinal doctrine than
of any other of the principal truths of Christianity."[A]
[Footnote A: "History of Christian Doctrine" V. "History of
Soteriology," Vol. II, p. 204.]
_Heretical Views During the First Two Christian Centuries:_
There were two views of the atonement held to be heretical during the
two first Christian centuries, the Gnostic[A] and the Ebionite,[B]
respectively.
[Footnote A: The Gnostics were a sect which arose in the Christian
Church in the first century, flourished in the second, and had
almost entirely disappeared by the sixth. The Gnostics held that
knowledge rather than faith was the road to heaven, and professed to
have a peculiar knowledge of religious mysteries. They rejected the
literal interpretation of the scriptures, and attempted to combine
their teachings with those of the Greek and Oriental philosophies
and religions. They held that God was the unknowable and the
unapproachable; that from him proceeded, by emanation, subordinate
deities termed "eons," from whom again proceeded other still inferior
spirits (Cent. Dict.--Gnostics).]
[Footnote B: The Ebionites were a party of Judaizing Christians which
appeared in the church as early as the second century and disappeared
about the fourth century. They agreed in (1) the recognition of Jesus
as the messiah; (2) the denial of the divinity; (3) belief in the
universal obligation of the Mosaic law, and (4) rejection of Paul and
his writings The two great divisions of Ebionites were the Pharisaic
Ebionites, who emphasized the obligation of the Mosaic law, and the
Essentic Ebionites, who were more speculative and leaned toward
Gnosticism (Cent. Diet.--Ebionites).]
The Gnostic heresy as affecting the Atonement brought against the
scripture doctrine on that subject two contradictions; the first by
one Basilides (A. D. 125), who affirmed only a human suffering in the
Redeemer, which was not expiatory for the reason, first, because as
merely human it was finite, and inadequate to atone for the sins of
the whole world; and, second, because the idea of substituted penal
suffering is inadmissible. "Suffering for the purposes of justice,"
their teacher said, of necessity implied personal criminality in the
sufferer," and therefore can never be endured by an innocent person
like Christ." "The principle of vicarious substitution, in reference to
justice, he held to be untenable.
The other contradiction of Gnosticism was made by Marcion (A. D.
150). He affirmed a divine suffering in the Redeemer, which was but
apparent, however, because the "Logos," or "Word"--Christ--having
assumed a phantom, not a real body, only a seeming suffering could
occur, and could not, of course, be expiatory. "It was merely
emblematical--designed to symbolize the religious truth, that man, in
order to attain his true and highest life must die to his earthly life."
"If now we examine these Gnostic and Judaizing theories," says Shedd,
from whom I am condensing this account, "we find that they agree in one
capital respect, viz., in the rejection of the scripture doctrine of a
real and true expiation of human guilt."
_2. Soteriology of the Apostolic Fathers:_ In the writings of the
Apostolic Fathers, we obtain the views of the Church upon the doctrine
of the Atonement during the first half century after the death of the
last inspired apostle (A. D. 100-150). Examining them, we find chiefly
the repetition of Scripture phraseology, without further attempt at an
explanatory doctrinal statement. There is no scientific construction
of the doctrine of Atonement in the writings of these devout and pious
disciples of Paul and John; yet the idea of vicarious satisfaction is
distinctly enunciated by them."
Our author then quotes from the Apostolic Fathers in proof of the above
statement.[A]
[Footnote A: See "History of Christian Doctrine," Vol. II, pp. 208-212.]
_3. Early Patristic Soteriology:_[A] One characteristic of
the early Patristic Soteriology which strikes the attention is the
important part which the doctrine of Satan plays in it. The death
of Christ is often represented as ransoming man from the power and
slavery of the devil. Such passages as Colossians ii:15, and Hebrews
ii:14: "Having spoiled principalities and powers (Satanic dominion),
he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it. * * * That
through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that
is, the devil,"--were made the foundation of this view. The writer who
exhibits it more plainly and fully than any other is Iranaeus (+200?)
As an illustration of his sentiments, we quote a passage from the first
chapter of the fifth book of his important work, "Adversus Haereses:"
"The Word of God (the Logos), omnipotent and not wanting in essential
justice, proceeded with strict justice even against the apostasy or
kingdom of evil itself, redeeming from it that which was his own
originally, not by using violence, as did the devil in the beginning,
but my persuasion, as it became God, as that neither justice should be
infringed upon, nor the original creation of God perish."
[Footnote A: This period extends into the last quarter of the 2nd
century.]
All true scientific development of the doctrine of the Atonement it is
very evident, must take its departure from the idea of divine justice.
This conception is the primary one in the Biblical representation of
this doctrine. The terms, "propitiation" and "sacrifice," and the
phraseology, "made a curse for us," "made sin for us," "justified by
blood," "saved from wrath," which so frequently occur in the revealed
statement of the truth, immediately direct the attention of the
theologian to that side of the divine character, and that class of
divine attributes, which are summed up in the idea of justice. And
as we follow the history of the doctrine down, we shall find that
just in proportion as the mind of the Church obtained a distinct and
philosophic conception of this great attribute, as an absolute and
necessary principle in the divine nature, and in human nature, was
it enabled to specify with distinctness the real meaning and purport
of the Redeemer's passion, and to exhibit the rational and necessary
grounds for it.
Now, turning to the writings of the Patristic period, we shall see that
sufferings and death of the Redeemer are, in the main, represented as
sustaining their most immediate and important relation to the justice
of God. It is not to be disguised that the distinctness with which this
is done varies with different writers. We shall find in this period,
as in every other one, some minds for whom the pollution of sin is
more impressive than its criminality, and in whose experience the
doctrine of justification[A] is less formative than the doctrine of
sanctification.[B]
[Footnote A: Justification, as here used, is the act of God by which
the sinner is declared righteous, or justly free from obligation to
penalty, and fully restored to divine favor.]
[Footnote B: Sanctification, the act of sanctifying or making holy. In
Theology the act of God's grace, coupled with the efforts of man, by
which the affection are purified and the soul is cleansed from sin and
consecrated to God.]
_4. Soteriology of Athanasius and the Greek Fathers:_ "Athanasius
(373) is distinct and firm in maintaining the expiatory nature of
the work of Christ. He recognizes its relations to the attribute of
divine justice, and has less to say than his predecessors respecting
its relations to the kingdom and claims of Satan. The more important
bearings of the doctrine of vicarious satisfaction, it is evident, were
now beginning to receive a closer attention, while less stress was
laid upon its secondary aspects. We can find in the representations of
Athanasius the substance of that doctrine of plenary satisfaction of
eternal justice by the theanthropic sufferings of Christ which acquired
its full scientific form in the mind of Anselm, and which lies under
the whole Protestant church and theology."
"Athanasius composed no tract or treatise upon the Atonement and we
must consequently deduce his opinions upon this subject from his
incidental statements while discussing other topics. In his discourses
against Arians, there are frequent statements respecting the work of
Christ, in connection with those respecting his person and dignity, and
from these we select a few of the most distinct and conclusive: 'Christ
as man endured death for us, inasmuch as he offered himself for that
purpose to the Father.' Here, the substitutionary nature of his work
is indicated. 'Christ takes our sufferings upon himself, and presents
them to the Father, entreating for us that they be satisfied in him.'
Here, the piacular[A] nature of his work is taught, together with his
intercessory office. 'The death of the incarnate Logos is a ransom for
the sins of men, and a death of death.' 'Desiring to annual our death,
he took on himself a body from the Virgin Mary, that by offering this
unto the Father a sacrifice for all, he might deliver us all, who by
fear of death were all our life through subject to bondage.' 'Laden
with guilt, the world was condemned of law, but Logos assumed the
condemnation and suffering in the flesh gave salvation to all.' Here,
the obligation of the guilty world is represented not as relating to
Satan but to law; and the Redeemer assumes a condemnation, or in modern
Protestant phraseology becomes a voluntary substitute for the guilty,
for purposes of legal satisfaction."
[Footnote A: "Piacular"--expiatory.]
"If we examine the soteriology of the Greek church during the last half
of the fourth and the first half of the fifth centuries, we meet with
very clear conceptions of the atonement of Christ. The distinctiveness
of the views of Athanasius upon this subject undoubtedly contributed
to this; for this great mind exerted as powerful an influence upon the
Eastern doctrinal system, generally, as Augustine exercised over the
Western."
_5. Soteriology of Augustine and Gregory the Great:_ "Augustine
(430): Augustine's view of the work of the Christ is essentially that
of the fathers who had preceded him, neither falling short nor making
any marked advance in scientific respects. * * * 'All men,' he says,
'are separated from God by sin. Hence they can be reconciled with him,
only through the remission of sin, and this only through the grace of
a most merciful Savior, and this grace through the one only victim
of the most true and only priest.' In another place, alluding to our
Lord's comparison of his own crucifixion with the lifting up of the
serpent by Moses, Augustine thus expresses himself: 'Our Lord did not,
indeed, transfer sin itself into his flesh as if it were the poison of
the serpent, but he did transfer death; so that there might be, in the
likeness of human flesh, the punishment of sin without its personal
guilt, whereby both the personal guilt and punishment of sin might be
abolished from human flesh.'
"These passages, and many others like them, scattered all through
his writings, prove indisputably that Augustine held the doctrine of
vicarious satisfaction."
_Gregory, the Great, Bishop of Rome (604):_ Gregory, in his
writings, lays great stress upon the idea of a sacrifice offered in
the death of Christ. He starts from the conception of guilt, and from
this derives immediately the necessity of a theanthropic[A] sacrifice.
"Guilt," he says, "can be extinguished only by a penal offering to
justice. But it would contradict the idea of justice, if for the sin
of a rational being like man, the death of an irrational animal should
be accepted as a sufficient atonement. Hence, a man must be offered as
the sacrifice for man; so that a rational victim may be slain for a
rational criminal. But how could a man, himself stained with sin, be
an offering for sin? Hence a sinless man must be offered. But what man
descending in the ordinary course would be free from sin? Hence, the
Son of God must be born of a virgin, and become man for us. He assumed
our nature without corruption. He made himself a sacrifice for us, and
set forth for sinners his own body, a victim without sin, and able
both to die by virtue of its humanity, and to cleanse the guilty, upon
grounds of justice."
[Footnote A: Theantropic--both divine and human; being or pertaining to
the God-man.]
_6. Anselm's Theory of Satisfaction:_ A. Anselm's views of
the Atonement (1109 A. D.) are fundamentally those of Protestant
Christendom, it is important that they be stated in sufficient detail
to make the leading principle clear.
The fundamental position of Anselm is that "the Atonement of the Son
of God is absolutely or metaphysically necessary in order to the
remission of sin. Anselm concedes by implication, throughout his work,
that if it cannot be made out that the vicarious satisfaction of divine
justice by the theanthropic suffering of Jesus Christ is required
by a necessary and immanent attribute of the Divine Nature, then a
scientific character cannot be vindicated for the doctrine; for nothing
that is not metaphysically necessary is scientific. Hence, in the
very beginning of the tract, he affirms that a mere reference to the
divine benevolence, without any regard to the divine justice, cannot
satisfy the mind that is seeking a necessary basis in the doctrine
of atonement. For benevolence is inclined to dispense with penal
suffering, and of itself does not demand it.
"It is not the attribute of mercy, but the attribute of justice,
which insists upon legal satisfaction, and opposes an obstacle to
the salvation of a sinner. Setting aside, therefore, the divine
justice, and taking into view merely the divine compassion, there
does not appear to be any reason why God should not by an act of bare
omnipotence deliver the sinner from suffering and make him happy. This
conducts Anselm to that higher position from which the full-orbed
nature and character of the Deity is beheld, and he proceeds to show
that compassion cannot operate in an isolated and independent manner in
the work of redemption, and that if anything is done for the recovery
and weal of the transgressor, it cannot be at the expense of any
necessary quality in the divine nature, through the mere exercise of an
arbitrary volition, and unbridled omnipotence.
"The leading positions, and the connection of ideals, in this
exceedingly profound, clear, and logical tract of the eleventh century
are as follows:
"Beginning with the idea of sin, Anselm defines this as the withholding
from God what is due to him from man. Sin is debt. But man owes to God
the absolute and entire subjection of his will, at all times to the
divine law and will. This is not given, and hence the guilt, or debt,
of a man to Deity. The extinction of this guilt does not consist in
simply beginning again to subject the will entirely to its rightful
sovereign, but in giving satisfaction for the previous cessation in so
doing. God has been robbed of his honor in the past, and it must be
restored to him in some way, while at the same time the present and
future honor due to him is being given. But how is man, who is still
a sinner, and constantly sinning, to render this double satisfaction,
viz.: satisfy the law in the future by perfectly obeying it, and in
the past by enduring its whole penalty? It is impossible for him to
render it; and yet this impossibility, argues Anselm, does not release
him from his indebtedness or guilt, because this impossibility is
the effect of a free act, and a free act must be held responsible
for all its consequences, in conformity with the ethical maxim, that
the cause is answerable for the effect. But now the question arises:
Cannot the love and compassion of God abstracted from his justice come
in at this point, and remit the sin of man without any satisfaction?
This is impossible because it would be irregularity and injustice. If
unrighteousness is punished neither in the person of transgressor, nor
in that of a proper substitute, then unrighteousness is not subject
to any law or regulations of any sort; it enjoys more liberty than
righteousness itself, which would be a contradiction and a wrong.
Furthermore, it would contradict the divine justice itself, if the
creature would defraud the creator of that which is his due, without
giving any satisfaction for the robbery. Since there is no attribute
more just and necessary than that primitive righteousness innate to
deity which maintains the honor of God. This justice, indeed, is God
himself, so that to satisfy it, is to satisfy God himself.
"Having in this manner carried the discussion into the very heart of
the divine nature, and shown that a necessary and immanent attribute
of the Deity stands in the way of non-infliction of punishment and
the happiness of the transgressor, Anselm proceeds to consider the
possibility of satisfying the claims of justice--the claims of Satan
being expressly denied. There are two ways, he says, in which this
attribute can be satisfied. First, the punishment may be actually
inflicted upon the transgressor. But this, of course, would be
incompatible with his salvation from sin, and his eternal happiness,
because the punishment required is eternal, in order to offset the
infinite demerit of robbing God of his honor. It is plain, therefore,
that man cannot be his own atoner, and render satisfaction for his
own sin. A sinner cannot justify a sinner, any more than a criminal
can pardon his own crime. The second, and only other way in which the
attribute of justice can be satisfied is by substituted or vicarious
suffering. This requires the agency of another being than the
transgressor. But here everything depends upon the nature and character
of the being who renders the substituted satisfaction. For it would be
an illegitimate procedure to defraud justice by substituting a less for
a more valuable satisfaction. It belongs, therefore, to the conception
of a true vicarious satisfaction, that something be offered to justice
for the sin of man that is greater than the finite and created, or,
in Anselm's phrase, is 'greater than all that is not God.' In other
words, an infinite value must pertain to that satisfaction which is
substituted for the sufferings of mankind. But he who can give and has
the right to give, out of his own resources, something that is greater
than the infinite universe, must himself be greater than all that is
not God, or than all that is infinite and created. But God alone is
greater than all that is not in God, or the created universe. Only
God, therefore, can make this satisfaction. Only Deity can satisfy the
claims of Deity.
But, on the other hand, man must render it, otherwise it would not
be a satisfaction for man's sin. Consequently, the required and
adequate satisfaction must be theanthropic, i. e., rendered by a
God-Man. As God, the God-Man can give to Deity more than the whole
finite creation combined could render. Furthermore, this theanthropic
obedience and suffering was not due from the mere humanity of Christ.
This was sinless and innocent, and justice had no claims, in the way
of suffering, upon it. And, moreover, only a man's obedience, and not
that of a God-Man, could be required of a man. Consequently this Divine
Human obedience and suffering was a surplusage, in respect to the man
Christ Jesus, and might overflow and inure to the benefit of a third
party--in other words, to the benefit of the transgressor for whom it
was voluntarily rendered and endured.
"This satisfaction made by incarnate Deity to meet the claims of one of
his own attributes, Anselm represents as even more than an equivalent
for the sin of mankind."
This brings us to the point where now the view of the Atonement by
Catholics and Protestants respectively may be stated.
II.
THE ROMAN CATHOLIC VIEW OF THE ATONEMENT.
_Original Sin:_[A] "Original sin is distinguished from actual,
or personal sin, because actual or personal sin is the sin which we
personally with our own free will commit, whilst original sin is that
sin which our human nature has committed with the will of Adam, in
whom all our human nature was included, and with whom our human nature
is united as a branch to a root, as a child to a parent, as men who
partake with Adam the same nature which we have derived from him, and
as members of the same human family of which Adam was the head. The
difference that exists between original and personal sin is, that the
latter is committed with the will physically our own, whilst original
sin is committed with a will physically of another, and only morally
our own, because it forms with that other (Adam), who is our head, one
moral body.
[Footnote A: I take the Catholic doctrine of the Atonement from
"Catholic Belief," by Very Rev. Joseph Faa Di Bruno, D. D., which is
based, of course, upon the decisions of the Council of Trent, held from
1545 to 1563, and which among other things declared what the Catholic
doctrine was upon "Original Sin" and "Justification."]
"If our hand strike a fellow-creature unjustly, though the hand has
itself no will, yet it is considered guilty, not indeed as viewed
separately by itself, but inasmuch as it is united to the rest of the
body, and to the soul, forming one human being therewith, and thus
sharing in the will of the soul with which it is connected.
"Also the sin committed inwardly by the human will, by a bad desire,
belongs to the whole human being.
"Of the original sin in which we are born we are not personally guilty
with our own personal will, but our nature is guilty of it by the will
of Adam, our head, with whom we form one moral body through the human
nature which we derive from him. * * * The Catholic Church teaches that
Adam, by his sin, has not only caused harm to himself, but to the whole
human race; that by it he lost the supernatural justice and holiness
which he received gratuitously from God, and lost it, not only for
himself, but also for all of us; and that he, having stained himself
with the sin of disobedience, has transmitted not only death and other
bodily pains and infirmities to the whole human race, but also sin,
which is the death of the soul.
"The teaching of the Council of Trent (Session V) is confirmed by these
words of St. Paul: 'Wherefore as by one man sin entered into this
world, and by sin death; and so death passed upon all men, in whom all
have sinned' (Rom. v:12).
"Surely the early Christians believed in original sin, as it can be
gathered from what St. Augustine said to Pelagius, opposing him on the
matter: 'I did not invent original sin, which Catholic faith holds from
ancient time; but thou, who deniest it, thou, without doubt, art a new
heretic" (De nuptiis, lib. xi, c. 12).
"It may be said that this belief is as old as the human race, for
traces of this ancient tradition are spread in all nations, insomuch
that Voltaire had to confess that 'The fall of man is the base of the
theology of nearly all ancient people' (Philosophic de l'histoire,
chapter xvii).
"Beside the guilt of original sin, which is that habitual state of
sinfulness in which we are born (because our human nature is justly
considered to have consented in Adam to the rejection of original
justice), there is also in man the stain of original sin, entailing the
privation in the human soul of that supernatural lustre which, had we
born in the state of original justice, we all should have had.
"As neither Adam nor any of his offspring could repair the evil done
by his sin, we should ever have remained in the state of original sin
and degradation in which we were born, and we should have been forever
shut out from the Beatific Vision of God in Heaven, had not God, in his
infinite mercy, provided for us a Redeemer."
_The Incarnation of God the Son:_ Respecting this great mystery,
Catholics believe that the Holy Trinity, out of infinite mercy, decreed
to provide for us a Redeemer, who could suffer, and suffer as an
individual of the human race, and at the same time be in himself so
exalted as to be able to give infinite value to his sufferings; because
sin, being an offense against the infinite majesty of God could only be
atoned for by an expiation of infinite value.
"To accomplish this end, God the Son, the second person of the Holy
Trinity, the Eternal Word, chose the Blessed Virgin Mary of Nazareth,
to become his Mother, and on receiving her consent, he, by the
supernatural agency of the Holy Spirit, took human flesh from her, and
thus became man, and his holy name is Jesus Christ.
"By becoming man the Eternal Word did not lay aside his divine nature,
but, remaining what he had ever been from all eternity, took upon
himself human nature without a human personality, so that from the
first moment of his incarnation there was in him, and there ever will
be, not one only but two natures, the divine and the human, united in
his divine personality, the person of God the Son.
"The divine nature of Jesus is one and the same as that of the Eternal
Father and of the Holy Spirit, and his human nature is in all things
like ours, sin and tendency to sin excepted. He is equal to the Father
as to his Godhead, and less than the Father as to his manhood.
"Our Lord Jesus Christ suffered and died in his human nature on Mount
Calvary, and thereby effectually interposed his atonement between his
eternal Father and man, and thus made a plentiful expiation and paid a
full ransom to the Eternal Justice for the sins of the whole world. * *
_"Jesus Our Only Mediator of Redemption:_ "Catholics believe
that our Lord Jesus Christ is alone the great Centre of the Christian
religion, the Fountain of all grace, virtue, and merit as in the
natural world (if the comparison may be allowed), the sun is the centre
and enlivening created source of light, heat, and growth.
"This grand truth they believe to be the vital, essential part of
Christianity, 'for other foundation no man can lay but that which is
laid; which is Christ Jesus' (I Corinthians iii:11).
"They hold that to be united to Jesus Christ is the highest and noblest
aim of man, and that only the holy Catholic church supplies the means
for the closest union with Jesus Christ; and they are convinced that
the yearning to possess this closer communion with Christ has, by
divine attraction, drawn thousands of earnest minds to seek in the
Catholic church this, the highest happiness to be enjoyed on earth.
"They believe that Jesus Christ is our Redeemer, because he has
redeemed us from the bondage of Satan, with the ransom of his most
precious blood; that he alone is our Savior because he saves us from
stain, the guilt, and the curse of sin; that he is our only mediator
of redemption and salvation, because he alone, by his own merits, has
efficiently interposed between God and man, to obtain the full pardon
of our sins through the sacrifice of himself: 'There is one God, and
one mediator of God and men, the man Jesus Christ, who gave himself a
redemption for all' (I St. Timothy ii:5, 6). Neither is there salvation
in any other. For there is no other name under heaven given to man,
whereby we must be saved' (Acts iv:12).
"They believe that Jesus died on the cross to purchase mercy, grace,
and salvation for all men--'Who will have all men to be saved, and to
come to the knowledge of the truth' (I St. Timothy ii:4). And that
since Adam's fall, mercy, grace, and salvation can be obtained by man
only through the passion and death of Jesus Christ.
"Believing that Jesus Christ is truly God, they hold that the homage
of supreme adoration is due to Him, the God-man, as well as to God the
Father, and to God the Holy Spirit."
_Catholic View of Justification:_ "Justification is a divine act
which conveys sanctifying grace, and by that grace communicates a
supernatural life to the soul which by sin, whether original or actual,
had incurred spiritual death: that is to say, justification is a change
in the human soul or translation from the state of sin into the state
of grace.
"It is a gift of Almighty God, a ray, as it were, coming direct from
the divine goodness and filling the soul, which makes those who receive
it pleasing to God and justified in his sight.
"The grace of justification produces a change affecting the soul of the
regenerate by its presence, elevating and perfecting it. By this grace
the likeness of God is brought out in them, and they are raised to a
state of friendship with him, and of divine sonship.
"The Catholic church teaches that the grace of justification not merely
covers sin, but blots it out; that is, blots out the guilt and stain
arising from sin, and remits the everlasting punishment due to it.
"Justifying is not dressing splendidly a dead man's body, it is
vivifying it. It is not covering a leprosy with a beautiful shining
dress, it is curing it thoroughly. It is not gilding a piece of coal,
leaving it inwardly black, but it is transforming it into a brilliant
diamond.
"What unspeakable regrets it would leave in the justified man if he had
ever to see his soul, indeed magnificently arrayed, still in itself
stained with sin, deformed, corrupt, black, and horrible as before.
"Merely covering sin is a human way of forgiving, which consists in
passing over the crime of a sinner, and in treating him outwardly as
if he had not committed it, and as if no stain were in the soul in
consequence of it, though the guilt and the stain are still there.
"God's way of pardoning a sinner is very different, and wholly divine.
It is a way worthy of his infinite goodness, sanctity, omnipotence
and worthy too of the immense efficacy of Christ's blood, and of his
superabundant redemption, and of his infinite merits.
"God's way of pardoning is to cleanse away entirely the guilt and stain
of sin, so that instead of it, God sees in the pardoned sinner the
"charity of God poured forth in our hearts by the Holy Ghost" (Rom.
v:5), which, like a fire, has destroyed all the dross of sin, and
rendered man pure, upright, and holy.
"Hence the justification of a sinner is represented in Scripture as
the putting on of the new man who is "created in justice, and holiness
of truth" (Ephesians iv:24): the "renovation of the Holy Ghost" (Titus
iii:5).
"In the case of the grown-up persons, some dispositions are required on
the part of the sinner in order to be fit to obtain this habitual and
abiding grace of justification. A man can only dispose himself by the
help of divine grace, and the dispositions which he shows do not by any
means effect or merit justification, but only serve to prepare him for
it; and for that reason are simply called dispositions or preparations.
This is the teaching of the Council of Trent, which declares: "We are
said to be justified gratuitously, because none of the things which
precede justification, whether it be faith or good works, can merit
this blessing for us." (Session VI, chapter viii.) The same holy
council declares that sins are remitted gratuitously by the mercy of
God through the merits of Jesus Christ (Session VI, chapter vii).
"The principal dispositions required for justification are the
following acts, which can only be made by the assistance of God's
actual grace, namely, an act of faith or belief in revealed truths,
of fear of God, of hope, and of charity; an act of repentance for
past sins, with a purpose to avoid sin in future, and to keep the
commandments: a desire of receiving baptism for those who have not yet
been baptized, and for those who have fallen into sin after baptism,
a resolution to approach the sacrament of penance (Council of Trent,
Session VI, chapter vi).
"Justification may be lost by wilfully violating a commandment of God,
either by doing what is forbidden, or by not doing what is commanded.
Justification is a talent or gift which should be made to bear fruit,
or we shall be punished for the neglect.
"By justification we are raised to the dignity of Sons of God, heirs
of his kingdom; and this entails upon us the duty of acting in a way
becoming to so high a dignity. If thou wilt enter into life, keep the
commandments,' said the Lord (St. Matt. xix:17). By justification we
are incorporated with Christ, like a branch growing on a vine; but
if the branch produces no fruit it will be cut off and cast into the
fire (St. John xv:6). Hence the grace of justification is compared
by our Savior, not to a pond, but to a fountain, whose waters reach
unto heaven: 'But the water that I will give him shall become in him a
fountain of water springing up into life everlasting" (St. John iv:14).
_"How Christ's Redemption is Applied to Men that They May Be
Justified and Sanctified:_ "Jesus Christ died for all mankind; he
truly died that 'he might taste death for all' (Hebrews ii:9). Yet we
know that all men will not be saved but only those who do his will,
for we read in St. Paul: 'And being consummated, he became to all
that obey him the cause of eternal salvation' (Hebrews v:9). And so,
notwithstanding Christ's redemption, it is stated in the gospel that
some 'shall go into everlasting punishment' (St. Matt. xxv:46). St.
Paul did not say that God will save all men, but, 'who will have all
men to be saved' (I Timothy ii:4), implying thereby that for salvation,
man's will and co-operation is required to fulfill the conditions, and
use the means appointed by God himself for the purpose.
"Only those who "have washed their robes and have made them white in
the blood of the Lamb" (Apocalypse [Rev.] vii:14), that is, who have
the merits of Christ applied to them, and who persevere to the end in
doing what is commanded, will be saved.
"The direct means instituted by Christ himself for applying his
infinite merits to the souls of men are the holy sacraments, which are
so many channels instituted by Jesus Christ to convey to men his grace
purchased for us at the price of his most precious blood.
_"The Holy Sacraments:_ "The Catholic church teaches that there
are truly and properly seven, and only seven sacraments of the new law,
instituted by Jesus Christ our Lord, and necessary for the salvation
of mankind, though not all of them necessary for every person, as, for
instance, holy order and matrimony.
"These seven sacraments are:
"1st, Baptism, by which we are made Christians, children of God, and
members of his holy church..
"2nd, Confirmation, by which we receive the Holy Ghost, to make us
strong and perfect Christians and soldiers of Jesus Christ.
"3rd, Holy Eucharist, which is the true body and blood, with the soul
and divinity, of Jesus Christ, under the appearances of bread and wine.
"4th, Penance, by which the sins that we commit after baptism are
forgiven.
"5th, Extreme Unction, which in serious or dangerous illness, comforts
the soul, remits sin, and restores health of body, if God sees it to be
expedient.
"6th, Holy Order, by which bishops, priests, and other ministers of the
Church are ordained.
"7th, Matrimony, the sacrament which sanctifies the union by marriage
of man and woman.
"Each of these has the three conditions necessary for a sacrament
understood in the strict sense of the word, namely, the outward sign,
the inward grace, and the institution by Jesus Christ, who alone has
the power to institute sacraments, that is, outward signs as means of
grace."
III.
THE PROTESTANT VIEW OF THE ATONEMENT.
There are some slight variations in the views of the leading
subdivisions of Protestant Christendom in relation to the Atonement;
but these do not so much concern the nature of the Atonement itself
as the manner of appropriating or receiving its benefits. At any rate
their views of the Atonement are so nearly alike that they may be
stated with sufficient clearness from any one of the standard works of
these subdivisions.[A] The statement here used to represent the views
of the leading subdivisions of Protestant Christendom is from the
"Westminster Confession of Faith" of the Presbyterian church.
[Footnote A: "At the time of the Reformation, we have seen that both
Lutheran and Calvanistic theologians adopted the Anselmic theory of
a strict satisfaction. This soteriology enters into all the Lutheran
and Calvanistic symbols of the continent, and into the Episcopalian,
Presbyterian, and Congregational symbols of England and America. So
far, therefore, as the principal Protestant creeds are concerned, the
theory of an absolute necessity of atonement, and a strict satisfaction
of justice by the suffering of Christ, is the prevalent one" ("History
of Christian Doctrine," Shedd, Vol. II, p. 349).]
_Of the Fall of Man, of Sin, and of the Punishment Thereof:_
Section I.--Our first parents being seduced by the subtlety and
temptation of Satan, sinned in eating the forbidden fruit. This their
sin God was pleased, according to his wise and holy counsel, to permit,
having purposed to order it to his own glory.
"Section II.--By this sin they fell from their original righteousness,
and communion with God, and so became dead in sin, and wholly defiled
in all faculties and parts of soul and body.
"Section III.--They being the root of all mankind, the guilt of this
sin was imputed, and the same death in sin and corrupted nature
conveyed to all their posterity, descending from them by ordinary
generation.
"Section IV.--From this original corruption, whereby we are utterly
indisposed, disabled, and made opposite to all good, and wholly
inclined to all evil, do proceed all actual transgressions.
"Section V.--This corruption of nature, during this life, doth remain
in those that are regenerated; and although it be through Christ
pardoned and mortified, yet both itself, and all the motions thereof,
are truly and properly sin.
"Section VI.--Every sin, both original and actual, being a
transgression of the righteous law of God, and contrary thereunto,
doth, in its own nature, bring guilt upon the sinner, whereby he is
bound over to the wrath of God, and curse of law, and so made subject
to death, with all miseries, spiritual, temporal, and eternal.
_"Of God's Covenant with Man:_ Section I.--The distance between
God and the creature is so great, that although reasonable creatures do
owe obedience unto him as their Creator, yet they could never have any
fruition of him as their blessedness and reward, but by some voluntary
condescension on God's part, which he hath been pleased to express by
way of covenant.
"Section II.--The first covenant made with man was a covenant of works,
wherein life was promised to Adam, and in him to his posterity, upon,
condition of perfect and personal obedience.
"Section III.--Man by his fall having made himself incapable of life by
that covenant, the Lord was pleased to make a second, commonly called
the covenant of grace: whereby he freely offereth unto sinners life and
salvation by Jesus Christ, requiring of them faith in him, that they
may be saved; and promising to give unto all those that are ordained
unto life his Holy Spirit, to make them willing and able to believe.
"Section IV.--This covenant of grace is frequently set forth in the
Scripture by the name of a testament, in reference to the death of
Jesus Christ the testator, and to the everlasting inheritance, with all
things belonging to it, therein bequeathed.
"Section V.--This covenant was differently administered in the time
of the law, and in the time of the gospel: under the law it was
administered by promises, sacrifices, circumcision, the paschal lamb,
and other types and ordinances delivered to the people of the Jews, all
fore-signifying Christ to come, which were for that time sufficient
and efficacious, through the operation of the Spirit, to instruct and
build up the elect in faith in the promised Messiah, by whom they had
full remission of sins, and eternal salvation: and is called the Old
Testament.
"Section VI.--Under the gospel, when Christ the substance was
exhibited, the ordinances in which this covenant is dispensed are, the
preaching the Word, and the administration of the sacraments of baptism
and the Lord's supper: which, though fewer in number, and administered
with more simplicity and less outward glory, yet in them it is held
forth in more fulness, evidence, and spiritual efficacy, to all
nations, both Jews and Gentiles; and is called the New Testament. There
are not, therefore, two covenants of grace differing in substance, but
one and the same under various dispensations.
_"Of Christ the Mediator:_ Section I."--It pleased God in his
eternal purpose, to choose and ordain the Lord Jesus, his only begotten
Son, to be mediator between God and man; the Prophet, Priest, and King;
the Head and Savior of his Church; the Heir of all things; and Judge of
the world: unto whom he did from all eternity give a people to be his
seed, and to be by him in time redeemed, called, justified, sanctified,
and glorified.
"Section II.--The Son of God, the second person in the Trinity, being
very and eternal God, of one substance, and equal with the Father, did,
when the fulness of time was come, take upon him man's nature, with all
the essential properties and common infirmities thereof, yet without
sin; being conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost, in the womb of the
Virgin Mary, of her substance. So that two whole, perfect, and distinct
natures, the Godhead and the Manhood, were inseparably joined together
in one person, without conversion, composition, or confusion. Which
person is very God and very man, yet one Christ, the only Mediator
between God and man.
"Section III.--The Lord Jesus, in his human nature thus united to the
divine, was sanctified and anointed with the Holy Spirit above measure;
having in him all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge; in whom it
pleased the Father that all fulness should dwell: to the end that being
holy, harmless, undefiled, and full of grace and truth, he might be
thoroughly furnished to execute the office of a Mediator and Surety.
Which office he took not unto himself, but was thereunto called by his
Father; who put all power and judgment into his hands, and gave him
commandment to execute the same.
"Section IV.--This office the Lord Jesus did most willingly undertake;
which that he might discharge, he was made under the law, and did
perfectly fulfil it endured most grievous torments immediately in his
soul, and most painful sufferings in his body; was crucified, and
died; was buried, and remained under the power of death, yet saw no
corruption. On the third day he arose from the dead, with the same body
in which he suffered; with which he ascended into heaven, and there
sitteth at the right hand of his Father, making intercession; and shall
return to judge men and angels at the end of the world.
"Section VII.--Christ, in the work of mediation, acteth according to
both natures; by each nature doing that which is proper to itself;
yet by reason of the unity of the person, that which is proper to one
nature is sometimes in Scripture attributed to the person denominated
by the other nature.
"Section VIII.--To all those for whom Christ hath purchased redemption,
he doth certainly and effectually apply and communicate the same:
making intercession for them; and revealing unto them, in and by the
Word, the mysteries of salvation; effectually persuading them by his
Spirit to believe and obey; and governing their hearts by his Word and
Spirit; overcoming all their enemies by his almighty power and wisdom,
in such manner and ways as are most consonant to his wonderful and
unsearchable dispensation" (Westminster Confession of Faith).
IV.
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CATHOLIC AND PROTESTANT SOTERIOLOGY.
The difference between the Soteriology of these great divisions
of Christendom--Catholic and Protestant--consists chiefly in the
conception of the mode in which the Atonement of the Son of God became
available to the believers. Shedd, in pointing out these differences,
states that the decisions of the Council of Trent, which, as we
have seen, formulated the church's doctrine on "Original Sin," and
"Justification," "makes inward holiness in conjunction with the merits
of Christ the ground of justification. The unintentional confounding of
the distinction between justification and sanctification," which Shedd
admits appears occasionally in the writings of some of the Christian
Fathers--Augustine especially--"becomes a deliberate and emphatic
identification in the scheme of the papal church." He then sets forth
the Protestant view as follows:
_The Protestant Position:_ "The Anselmic and Protestant
soteriologies mean by the term 'justification,' that divine act,
instantaneous and complete, by which sin is pardoned. If we
distinguish the entire work of redemption into two parts, a negative
and a positive, justification in the Pauline and in the Reformed
sanctification would include the former and would include nothing more.
Justification is the negative acquittal from condemnation, and not in
the least the positive infusion of righteousness, or production of
holiness. This positive element, the Reformers were careful to teach,
invariably accompanies the negative; but they were equally careful
to teach that it is not identical with it. The forgiveness of sin is
distinct and different from the sanctification of the heart. It is an
antecedent which is always followed, indeed, by its consequent; but
this does not render the consequent a substitute for the antecedent, or
one and the same thing with it."
In a foot note our author quotes the Westminster Confession on the
distinction of justification and sanctification:
"The Westminster Confession thus states the distinction between
justification and sanctification. 'Although sanctification be
inseparably joined with justification, yet they differ, in that
God in justification _imputeth_ the righteousness of Christ; in
sanctification, his Spirits _infuseth_ grace, and enableth to the
exercise thereof: in the former, sin is _pardoned_; in the other it is
_subdued_; the _one_ doth equally free all believers from the revenging
wrath of God, and that perfectly in this life, that they never fall
into condemnation; the _other_ is neither equal in all, nor in this
life perfect in any, but growing up to perfection" (Larger Catechism,
Q. 77).
Shedd, continuing the discussion of the differences between the
Catholics and Protestants upon this subject, says:
"The Council of Trent resolved _justification_ into _sanctification_,
and in the place of a gratuitous justification and remission of sins
through the expiation of the Redeemer, substituted the most subtle form
of the doctrine of justification by works that has yet appeared, or
that can appear. Man is justified and accepted at the bar of justice
by his _external acts_ of obedience to the moral or the ecclesiastical
law. This is, indeed, the doctrine that prevails in the common practice
of the papal church, but it is not the form in which it appears in the
Tridentine canons. According to these, man is justified by an inward
and spiritual act which is denominated the act of faith; by a truly
divine and holy habit or principle infused by the gracious working of
the Holy Spirit. The ground of the sinner's justification is thus a
divine and a gracious one. God works in the sinful soul to will and
to do, and by making it inherently just justifies it. And all this is
accomplished through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ; sot
that, in justification there is a combination of the objective work of
Christ with the subjective character of the believer. This statement
is the more subtle, because it distinctly refers the infused grace or
holiness to God as the author, and thereby seems to preclude the notion
of self-righteousness. But it is fundamentally erroneous, because this
infused righteousness, or holiness of heart, upon which remission of
sins rests in part, is not _piacular_.[A] It has in it nothing of
the nature of a satisfaction to justice. So far forth, therefore,
as infused grace in the heart is made a ground and procuring cause
of the pardon of sin, the judicial aspects and relations of sin are
overlooked, and man is received into the divine favor without any true
and proper expiation of his guilt."
[Footnote A: "Piacular," expiatory, atoning.]
Our author quotes Hooker as in substantial agreement with the above
views as follows:
"Then what is the fault of the church of Rome? Not that she requireth
works at their hands which will be saved: but that she attributeth unto
works a power of satisfying God for sin" (Hooker "On Justification,"
Works II, 538).
_Another Statement of the Protestant Attitude:_ "It was in their
profound sense of the reality of sin, and of its dominion in the human
will, that the Protestants laid the foundation of their theology. The
body of the Reformers rested on the Anselmic idea of satisfaction [in
the Atonement] which likewise formed a part of the opposing [i. e.,
the Roman Catholic] creed. The point of difference was on the vital
question how the soul, burdened with self-condemnation, is to obtain
forgiveness of sins and peaceful reunion to God in the character of a
reconciled father. In the teachings, injunctions, services, ceremonies
of the Church, the Reformers had sought for this infinite good in vain.
They found it in the doctrine of gratuitous pardon, from the bare
Mercy of God, through the mediation of Christ; a pardon that waits for
nothing but acceptance on the part of the soul--the belief, the trust,
the faith of the penitent. Everything of the nature of satisfaction
or merit on the part of the offender is precluded, by the utterly
gratuitous nature of the gift, by the sufficiency of the Redeemer's
expiation. Every assertion of the necessity of works or merit on the
side of the offender, as the ground of forgiveness, is a disparagement
of the Redeemer's Mercy and of his expiatory office. Faith, thus
laying hold of a free forgiveness and reconnecting the soul with God,
is the fountain of a new life of holiness, which depends not on fear
and homage to law, but on gratitude and on filial sentiments. Christ
himself nourishes this new life by spiritual influences that flow into
the soul through the channel of its fellowship with him. Justification
is thus a forensic[A] term; it is equivalent to the remission of sins.
To justify, signifies not to make the offender righteous, to deliver
him from the accusation of the law by the bestowal of a pardon. Saving
faith is not a virtue to be rewarded, but an apprehensive act; the hand
that takes the free gift. Such, in a brief statement, was the cardinal
principle of the Protestant interpretation of the Gospel. The Christian
life has its centre in this experience of forgiveness. Virtues of
character and victories over temptation grow out of it. Christian
ethics are united to Christian theology by this vital bond.
[Footnote A: A term used in argumentation or discussion.]
[Footnote: This idea of justification is the keynote in Luther's
"Commentary on the Epistle to the Gallatians," and Malancthon's
"Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans." It is the distinctive
feature of the Protestant exegesis of the writings of Paul" (Fisher).]
_The Authority for Protestant Conclusions:_ But to what authority
could the Reformers appeal in behalf of their proposition? What
assurance had they of its truth? How did they arrive at the knowledge
of it? They had found this obscured and half-forgotten truth recorded
as they believed with perfect clearness, in the Scriptures. The
authority of the Scriptures was fully acknowledged by the church in
which they had been trained, however it might superadd to them other
authoritative sources of knowledge, and however it might deny the
competence of the individual to interpret the Bible for himself.
That Christ spoke in the Scriptures all admitted. What his voice
was the Reformer could not doubt; for the truth that he uttered
was one of which they had immediate, spiritual recognition. Their
interpretation verified itself to their hearts by the light and peace
which that truth brought with it, as well as to their understandings
on a critical examination of the text. The church then denied their
interpretation and commanded them to abandon it, was in error; it
could not be authorized, infallible interpreter of Holy Writ. Thus the
traditional belief in the authority of the Roman church gave way, and
the principle of the exclusive authority of the Scriptures, as the rule
of faith, took its place. By this process the second of the distinctive
principles of Protestantism was reached. That the meaning of the Bible
is sufficiently plain and intelligible was implied in this conclusion.
Hence, the right of private judgment is another side of the same
doctrine" ("The Reformation," by Geo. P. Fisher, D. D.--Scribners--pp.
460-462).
_The Roman Catholic Side of the Controversy:_ On the Roman side of
the controversy it is but proper that the statement of the Council of
Trent on essential points at issue should be quoted:
"Justification is not the mere remission of sins, but also the
sanctification and renovation of the inward man through the voluntary
reception of grace and gifts of grace; whereby an unjust man becomes
just, the enemy a friend, so that he may be an heir according to the
hope of eternal life. * * * The only formal cause of justification
is the justice * * * of God, not that by which he himself is just,
but that by which he makes us just--that namely by which we are
gratuitously renewed by him in the spirit of our minds, and are not
only reputed, but really are and are denominated just, receiving
justice into ourselves each one according to his own measure, which the
Holy Spirit imparts to each as he pleases, and also, according to each
one's own disposition and co-operation. * * *
* * * When the Apostle asserts that man is justified by faith and
gratuitously, his language is to be understood in that sense which the
constant agreement of the Catholic church has affixed to it; in such a
manner, namely, as that we are said to be justified by faith, because
faith is the beginning of human salvation, the foundation and root of
all justification, without which it is impossible to please God (Heb.
xi:6). And we are said to be justified gratuitously, because none of
those things which precede justification, whether faith or works,
merits the grace itself of justification."[A]
[Footnote A: Canones Concilii, Tridentini: De Justificatione vii, viii.]
The contrast between Protestant and Catholic views on justification are
even more distinctly seen when the anathematizing clauses of the Trent
Council utterances are considered, and which are added to guard the
Catholic faith. They follow:
"If any one shall say that the sinner is justified by faith alone, in
the sense that nothing else is required which may co-operate towards
the attainment of the grace of justification, and that the sinner does
not need to be prepared and disposed by the motion of his own will:
_let him be accursed_.
"If any one shall say, that men are justified either by the sole
imputation of the righteousness of Christ, or by the sole remission of
sin, to the exclusion of that grace and charity which is shed abroad in
their hearts by the Holy Spirit, and which inheres in them, or shall
say that the grace whereby we are justified is merely and only the
favor of God: _let him be accursed_.
"If any one shall say that justiying faith is nothing but confidence in
the divine mercy remitting sin on account of Christ, or that this faith
is the sole thing by which we are justified; _let him be accursed_."
_Protestant Rejoinder:_ Upon this statement Shedd makes the
following comment, with which, we think, not even Catholics would be
displeased, as it but emphasizes their position on justification:
"It will be perceived from these extracts that the Tridentine
theologian regarded 'justification' as prospective and not
retrospective, in its essential nature. It is not the forgiveness of
'sins that are past,' but the cure and prevention of sins that are
present and future. The element of guilt is lost sight of, and the
piacular [expiatory] work of Christ is lost sight of with it; and
the whole work of redemption is interpreted to be merely a method of
purification. Thus the Tridentine theory implies, logically, that sin
is not guilt, but only disease and pollution. Furthermore, according to
the papal theory, justification is not instantaneous, but successive.
It is not a single and complete act upon the part of God, but a gradual
process in the soul of man. For it is founded upon that inward holiness
or love which has been infused by divine grace."[A]
[Footnote A: History Christian Doctrine--Shedd--Vol. II, p. 326.]
V.
"THE MODERN LIBERAL VIEW" ON THE DOCTRINE OF ATONEMENT.
There is still another class of Christians entertaining views upon
the Atonement whose ideas ought to be presented and yet are extremely
difficult to classify, as they may neither be called Protestant nor
Catholic. They are a modern product, accepting the conclusions of what
is called "higher criticism," and the doctrine of evolution. They make
a wide departure from the old conception of the doctrine of Atonement
as of all things else in the old Christian theological schools, and yet
retain a respect and I may say a veneration for the Christ, and seek to
give him place in the order of things as conceived by them. For want of
a better title I have called their conception of the work of Christ,
"The Modern Liberal View," which, while it may not be as perfectly
descriptive as could be desired, will not, I trust, be offensive, and
will serve the mere purpose of classification.
Perhaps the most complete statement, in concise form, of this Liberal
View is made by Dr. Lyman Abbott in his "Theology of an Evolutionist,"
published in 1897. I begin his statement with what he says of sin.
_"Innocence, Temptation, Fall, Sin:_ This is the biography of
every man, save only Him who passed from innocence to virtue through
temptation, yet without sin. Man cannot grow from innocence to
virtue without temptation; he cannot experience temptation without a
possibility of sin,--that is, of yielding to temptation; and yielding
to temptation is fall. Every man when he yields to temptation and
sins falls from a higher to a lower, from a spiritual to an animal
condition. He falls back from that state from which he had begun to
emerge. It is true that the animal man is worse in his animalism than
the animal from which he has emerged or is emerging. The ferocity of
the tiger is no match for that of the ferocious man; the intemperance
of the brute is far less than that of the brutalized man. How can it be
otherwise when the higher powers which God has conferred upon him are
subordinated to and made the instruments of his animalism?
"Sin, then, is not a means to good. It is not "good in the making."
The fall is not a "fall upward." Every yielding to temptation is a
hindrance, not a help, to moral development; but every temptation
offers what, rightly employed, is an indispensable means of moral
development. For all moral development is through temptation to virtue.
There can be no virtue without temptation; for virtue is victory over
temptation. An untempted soul may be innocent, but cannot be virtuous,
for virtue is the choice of right when wrong presses itself upon us and
demands our choosing. How can we have courage, unless there is danger
and apprehension of the danger? How can we have patience, unless there
are burdens? How can we have fidelity, unless there is some trust to be
maintained, and some temptation calling on us to leave the trust and be
false to it? The scorn of "goody-goody" is justified, for "goody-goody"
is innocence, not virtue; and the boy who never does anything wrong
because he never does anything at all is of no use in the world.
Temptation is struggle, and virtue emerges from struggle. And we cannot
have the choice of right without the possibility of doing wrong; and
choosing wrong is sin; and sin is fall; because it is choosing the
animal from which we are emerging rather than the spiritual condition
into which we have partially emerged.
_The Means of Salvation: Saved by the Blood--i. e., The Life of
the Christ:_ "Vicarious sacrifice is not an episode. It is the
universal law of life. Life comes only from life. This is the first
proposition. Lifegiving costs the life-giver something. That is the
second proposition. Pain is travail-pain, birth-pain; and it is a part
of the divine order--that is, of the order of nature--that the birth of
a higher life should always be through the pain of another.
"This is the law of God,--that is, the nature of God. For the laws of
God are not edicts promulgated; they are the expressions of Himself;
and the law that life comes only by the pouring out of life through
suffering is an expression of the divine nature. This is the meaning
of Paul's teaching in the eighth chapter of Romans: first, that it
is the universal law that all life is by impartation of life; and,
secondly, that this is universal because it is divine; that God Himself
is the great Life-giver, and gives by His own suffering His life to the
children of men.
"This, too, is what is meant by that statement so dear to some and so
shocking to others,--that we are saved by the blood of Christ. Let us
try for a moment to disabuse our minds of traditional opinions and see
what that phrase means looked at in the light of history. Is 'the blood
of Christ' the blood which flowed from Him at the crucifixion? His was
almost a bloodless death; a few drops of blood only trickled from the
pierced hands and feet; for the blood and water that came from the side
when the spear pierced it came after death, when the suffering was all
over. Blood, the Bible itself declares, is life; we are saved by the
blood of Christ when we are saved by the life of Christ, by Christ's
own life imparted to us, by Christ's life transmitted; and by Christ's
life transmitted, as life alone can be transmitted, through the gateway
of pain and suffering. The suffering of Jesus Christ was not a single
episode,--one short hour, one short three years: the suffering of Jesus
Christ was the revelation of the eternal fact that God is from eternity
the Life-giver, and that giving life costs God something as it costs us
something."
_Meaning of Revelation and the Struggle for Righteousness:_
"Knowledge of the truth, clearness of apprehension and tenacity of
grasp upon it, are developed by struggle with error. Revelation is
not a divine contrivance for saving men from struggle, but a divine
incitement to and encouragement in struggle! Virtue is developed by
struggle with temptation. Grace is not an easy bestowment of virtue
on an unstruggling creature, but such aid as is necessary to inspire
the courage of hope and give assurance of victory. But struggle is
for others as well as for self: the struggle of love as well as
of self-interest; the struggle of parents for their offspring, of
reformers for the state, of martyrs for the church. And these struggles
all point to and are prophetic for the service and the sacrifice of the
Son of God. For this struggle of love is divine. It belongs not to the
infirmity of humanity, but is an essential element in that process of
evolution which is God's way of doing things.
"It is only by human experiences that we can interpret the Divine. *
* * * We shall never enter into the mystery of redemption unless we
enter in some measure into these two experiences of wrath and pity, and
into the mystery of their reconciliation. We must realize that God has
an infinite and eternal loathing of sin. If the impure and the unjust,
the drunkard and the licentious, are loathsome to us, what must be
the infinite loathing of an infinitely pure Spirit for those who are
worldly and selfish, licentious and cruel, ambitious and animal! But
with this great loathing is a great pity. And the pity conquers the
loathing, appeases it, satisfies it, is reconciled with it, only as
it redeems the sinner from his loathsomeness, lifts him up from his
degradation, brings him to truth and purity, to love and righteousness;
for only thus is he or can he be brought to God. The Old Theology has,
it seems to me, grievously erred in personifying these two experiences;
in imputing all the hate and wrath to the Father and all the pity and
compassion to the Son. But the New Theology will still more grievously
err if it leaves either the wrath or the pity out of its estimate of
the divine nature, or fails to see and teach that reconciliation is the
reconciliation of a great pity with a great wrath, the issue of which
is a great mercy and a great redemption. * * * * *
"There are many in the Church of Christ who think of God as a just
and punitive God, who must be satisfied either by penalty laid on
the guilty, or by an equivalent for the penalty. That is one form of
paganism. There are many who, reacting against that conception, think
of God, as an indifferent, careless God, who does not care much about
iniquity, does not trouble Himself about it, is not disturbed by it!
That is another form of paganism. And there are many who try to solve
the problem by thinking of two Gods, a just God and a merciful God, and
imagining that the merciful God by the sacrifice of Himself appeases
the wrath of the just God. That also is a modified form of paganism.
The one transcendent truth which distinguishes Christianity from all
forms of paganism is that it represents God as appeasing His own wrath
or satisfying His own justice by the forth-putting of His own love. But
He saves men from their sins by an experience which we can interpret
to ourselves only by calling it a struggle between the sentiments of
justice and pity."
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(Fourth Year), by B. H. Roberts
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