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 T lEOLOGIC'AL CNIOX 
 
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 MOINT AlJ,IS().\ WKSLKVAN COI LHKiK. 
 
 S 
 
 FOU RTH 
 
 ANNUAL LECTt RE 
 
 A> I) 
 
 SERMON. 
 
 Dklivkhki) Jink, l>^82. 
 
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 SAINT JOHN, N.B. 
 
 J. it A. McMlM.AN, i».S I'KINCi: \Vll-l,lAM Sti!i:i,t. 
 
 1.S88. 
 
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TIIEOUKUCAL I'NION 
 
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 MOINT ALLISON WESLEYAN COLLEGE. 
 
 w 
 
 i: 
 
 FOURTH 
 
 Annual Lecture 
 
 ANI» 
 
 Sermon. 
 
 
 Delivered June, 1882. 
 
 i\ 
 
 SAINT JOHN, N. B. 
 J. & A. ^^cMlLLAN, 98 Prince William Strkkt. 
 
 1883. 
 
 Ai\' 
 
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Saint Pauls doctrine 
 
 OK 
 
 The ATONEMENT: 
 
 BEINO THE 
 
 Fourth Annual Lecture before the Theological Union of 
 Mount Allison Wesleyan College. 
 
 DELIVERED JUNE, 1882, 
 
 BY 
 
 REV. HOWARD SPRAGUE, D. D. 
 
 
 nv ! 
 
LECTURE. 
 
 SAINT PAUL'S DOCTRINE OF THE ATONEMENT. 
 
 I 
 
 TITIIETHER it l)e wise or not to s|>Ofiilat<' upon a thcmo so 
 ^^ mysterious as the rationale of Kedeniptiou, the Iniiuan 
 mind, ol)eying a native impulse, has speculated, with ahunchuit 
 and varied, if not with satisfactory results. Numerous theories 
 of Atonement, sanctioned hy illustrious names and supported by 
 ingenious reasoning, are otfered to inquiring Cliristians. Jt is 
 impossible to he indifferent spectators of the many-sided con- 
 troversy, in which the disputants deal witii the fundamental facts 
 of the Christian religion, and in which they freely charge each 
 other with mistaking the central truths of Revelation, and even 
 with misrepresenting and traducing the character of God. JJut 
 what hope is there tiiat we shall be able to decide which ofthc.se 
 theories is true, or whether any is ? Is it worth the effort to do 
 so? Or may we more wisely decline the tedious task, and repose 
 upon the simple facts which they profess to explain ? 
 
 There is a disposition to put the facts and the d(x;trines of 
 Christianity in contrast, the one as the objects of faith and the 
 basis of hope, the other as a field of curious and useless s|xu'ula- 
 tion, and to arrange the Gospels and Epistles in this order of 
 relative importance. But the facts of Redemption can be nothing 
 to us until we have some view of their nature and relations ; and 
 our view of their nature and relations is our doctrine of the 
 Atonement. It may be meagre, and it may be false; but if 
 Christ is our Saviour, and we are Christians, we hold some view 
 of what He has done for us. 
 
 DeQuincey, in old age, reports himself as having been always 
 unable to resolve this theme, and as having obtained no assist- 
 ance either from the philosophizings of Coleridge or the simpler 
 
 (5) 
 
 ! :l 
 
6 
 
 Saint Paul's Doctrink of tiik Atonkment. 
 
 i I 
 
 I' I 
 
 explanations of liia clear-headed and tlion^litful mother. "There 
 are," he says, "countless different schenies to expound this do<'- 
 trine of trust and appropriation ; hut they remind mo of the 
 ancilia at Rome, the eleven copies of the sac-red shield, or Palla- 
 dium : to prevent the true one beint^ stolen, the eleven were made 
 exactly like it. So with the tittc doctrine of the Atonement : it 
 is lurking among the others that look like it ; but who is to say 
 v^hich of them all it is?"* 
 
 So long as speculation busies itself with the construction of 
 theories, for which it afterwards seeks support in the Scri})tures, 
 there will be the variety and confusion of opinion which per- 
 plexed even the acute and brilliant essayist. The Atonement is 
 a matter of revelation : the Scriptures alone can tell us what it is. 
 After we have found it there, we may seek confirmatory evidence 
 in the speculations of the philosoj)her, and illustrations in history 
 and the relations of social life. But what we find, or fail to find, 
 in these fields of inquiry, can neither affect its character as the 
 Bible reveals it, nor disturb the foundations of its truth. 
 
 To this inquiry into the testimony of Revelation, I propose 
 to direct your attention ; and, as it would be impossible to sur- 
 vey the whole field of the teaching even of the New Testament, 
 I select that of a single writer, and ask : " What was St. Paul's 
 doctrine of the Atonement?" 
 
 The question is not intended to suggest that Paul may have 
 had a peculiar view, diflPering in important, or even in subordi- 
 nate details, from that of other Apostles ; but simply that we 
 may hope to find in his writings a view definite and complete. 
 There are, however, in his case, some special reasons for separat- 
 ing his doctrine from that of the others, for the purpose of 
 distinct consideration. One reason is the fact that he reached it 
 independently of them. He tells us that for three years after 
 his conversion he did not visit Jerusalem, and did not see an 
 Apostle ; that for fourteen years longer he pursued an independ- 
 ent course ; that then he visited the Capital to declare and defend 
 the Gospel he preached among the Gentiles, and to assert the 
 
 ♦Page's "Life of DeQuincey," Am. ed., Vol. I., p. 393. 
 
Saint I*aiti/h DocTmNK of thf, Atonkmknt. 
 
 rirlits of the Gentile elmn'he.s ; aiul that the piUars of the mother 
 chureh — Peter, James, and John — eoiihl athl nothin}^ to his 
 knowledge of the truth, Imt, j^iving to him the right hand of fel- 
 lowshi|), reeognized at once the fulin'ss of his (iospel and the 
 frnitfulness of his work.* JJy his own knowledge of the aneient 
 Scriptures; by his reading, in the light of them, the crucifixion 
 and resurrection of the Lord ;t above all, by " the revelation of 
 the Son of God in him,"]; he iiad gained his doctrine independ- 
 ently of iiuinan aid. It was emphatically his. His own thought, 
 his own spiritual experience, his own communings with the divine 
 Saviour, had led him into the atoning myst^ery of Messiah's death. 
 The doctrine of others may confirm his: he did not need the 
 confirmntion. He stood on independent and solid ground. 
 
 Another reason for the septirate consideration of St. Paul's 
 doctrine is the transcendent influence it has had on the religious 
 thinkings of the world. A few great minds, appearing, for the 
 most part, singly and in widely separate epo(!hs, have determined 
 the course and the character of theologic thought ; and, among 
 the few, the chief is Paul. He was ignorant of the Christian 
 faith until near the middle of his life. After he embraced it, he 
 had no leisure for study and system-building, except the three 
 years in Arabia and the time he spent in Tarsus and its neigh- 
 borhood before coming to Antioch. From Antioch onward he 
 was on long journeys and in busy evangelism ; passed through 
 repeated and severe suffering; through much of the time earned 
 his daily bread by manual toil, and through most of it carried 
 the burden of broken health. Yet his occasional letters to the 
 churches reveal an intense activity of thought, contain the sub- 
 stance of Christian doctrine, and have controlled the thinkings 
 of the great Christians of ancient and modern times. No influ- 
 ence is so plainly impressed on the great theologians and systems 
 of the church, — Augustine, Anselm, Luther, Calvin, Arniinius, 
 Edwards, — so that it has become the fashion with rationalistic 
 students of the beginnings of Christianity to speak of St. Paul 
 as the founder of the Christian church and faith. 
 
 *Gal. i. 17— ii. 9. 
 
 fActsxiii. 27-37. 
 
 Gal. i. 12. 
 
8 
 
 Saint Paul's Doctrine of the Atonement. 
 
 i! I 
 
 To avoid any appearance of begging the question in the very 
 title of this discourse, it may be well to explain the sense in which 
 I use the word "Atonement." It occurs but once in the author- 
 ized version of the New Testament,* and disappears from the 
 revised, the substituted word being "reconciliation." This is 
 the etymological meaning of the term, — the at-one-ment, — and 
 was a conmion use of it when the authorized version was made. 
 Frequent use of it, in this sense, is found in Shakespeare : 
 
 " He desires to make atonement 
 Betwixt the Duke of Gloucester and your brothers."t 
 
 " I would do much 
 To atone them, for the love I bear to Cassio ;" X 
 
 and so in maiiy other places. 
 
 This word, like many others, has now transferred its meaning 
 backward from the effect to the cause ; and in the language of 
 theology designates, not the result of the work of Christ, but 
 that work itself, or rather, so much of it as produced this par- 
 ticular result. It is perfectly fair to question the wisdom and 
 convenience of this change ; but it is useless to insist upon the 
 ancient meaning in the theological discussions of the present day; 
 and it is frivolous to produce that meaning as an argument against 
 the reality of the thing which the wo»*d now denotes. Christ 
 reconciled God and man : the harmony thus secured could for- 
 merly be called Atonement. How did He do so ? The answer 
 to this question gives what is meant by Atonement now. The 
 word belongs to no particular theory, but to any theory which 
 professes to answer the question. Did St. Paul give an answer? 
 When we have found it, we have found his doctrine of the 
 Atonement. 
 
 There are two accounts of his teaching, — the fragmentary 
 reports of his preaching in the Acts of the Apostles, and the 
 record of his doctrine in his own Epistles. It is not now possible 
 to discuss the authenticity of the reports and the genuineness of 
 the letters. And it is not necessary. A successful defence has 
 been made by competent scholars against the assaults of Baur and 
 
 *Rom. V. 11. t Richard the Third, I. iii. 36. J Othello IV. i. 244. 
 
Saint Paul's DorrRixK of tiik Atonemknt. 
 
 1) 
 
 ^'|i 
 
 >¥ 
 
 Zi^ller upon the credibility of the Acts. Tlie Pauline Kpistlos 
 are the part of Scripture which lias t^iven the <i;reatcst trouble to 
 the destructive criti(rs. Tliose of them which are the most im- 
 portant for the present purpose are, on all hands, oontcssed to be 
 genuine, and have never been the subjects of serious doubt. 
 Even so free a critic as Kenan, dividing; thenj into five (ilasses, — 
 the unquestioned, tiie certain, the probable, the doubtful, and tln^ 
 false, — j)uts but three Epistles in the fifth class, and one in the 
 fourth, viz., tiiose to Timothy, to Titus, and to the Ephcsians.* So 
 far as I am ca])able of judj^ing, the arguments against tiie genuine- 
 ness of these letters are more than answered by the internal evi- 
 dence and the belief of the ancient church. St. Paul's doctrine of 
 the Atonement would, however, be complete \\ ithout them ; and 
 almost every passage of them to which 1 shall have occasion to 
 refer, has its meaning expressed in parallel passages of the 
 other letters. 
 
 The Epistle to the Hebrews is held by some critics of all 
 schools to be the work of another writer; but some of those who 
 hold this view maintain that it furnishes abundant evidence that 
 its author was familiar with St. Paul's teaching, and probably 
 wrote it under his insj)iratiou or suj)ervision. It is sublime in 
 its Christology, and rich in its treatment of the doctrines of the 
 Cross; and these doctrines are the doctrines of St. Paul. But 
 we are not at liberty to use it in the present inquiry. With this 
 exception, however, all the letters which bear the Apostle's name 
 may be appealed to in illustration of his doctrine. 
 
 It would not be necessary to say that our investigation is 
 purely inductive, and aims at discovering the truth by finding 
 and comparing the facts, were it not that conve?iience and brev- 
 ity of discussion coi ipel a classification of texts from the begin- 
 ning, and that it . ^ay be supposed the texts have been selected 
 and arranged to meot the demands of a foregone concbision. 
 On the contrary, everything that has come down to us from the 
 lips and pen of the Apostle has been carefully exatnined ; every 
 passage bearing upon the subject, unless the bearing is very 
 
 *Renan: Saint Paul, Am. Trans, p. 10. 
 
 ■'. . i ' 
 
 
 
10 
 
 Saint Paul's Doctrine of the Atonement. 
 
 indirect, has been noted ; and the classification to be given is the 
 result. The necessity for some classification arises out of the 
 character of the Epistles, of which nearly all are not formally 
 doctrinal. They were written, save in two instances, to churches 
 or persons whom Paul had directtly instructed, and who must 
 have been familiar with his doctrine in a matter so fundamental 
 as the redeeming work of the Lord. His references to this sub- 
 ject are therefore incidental in the majority of his letters, and, 
 on this very account, have an in)portan('e which docs not Ix-'long 
 to formal reas(»ning; for they imply a general acceptance of the 
 doctrine by the churches and |>ersons addressed, that it was of 
 the very substance of the Christian faith as universally held in 
 the churches planted by Si. Paul. 
 
 I. One characteristic of St. Paul's treatment of the work of 
 Redemption is conspicuous and constant throughout the letters : 
 it is that his notice ( ^" oarthly life of the Redeemer, as related 
 to it, begins at tlie c. . IIo does not detail the facts of the 
 Saviour's history, — only two or three times does he refer to 
 any, — until he comes to the close ; and then he fixes upon the 
 Cross a fascinated eve. The death and the resu.rection of Jesus, 
 these arc for Paul the two monicntous facts : and his whole treat- 
 ment of them implies that in these, but especially in the former, 
 the Cross, the Blood, the Death of Christ, he regards the Lord 
 as sustaining a unique relation to the world. 
 
 This is characteristic both of the general preaching and of 
 the letters of the Apostle. It is not very conspicuous in the 
 discourses reported in the xVcts ; but this is accounted for by 
 their evidently exceptional character, intended, as the selection 
 of them is, to illustrate the bearing of the Apostle in the great 
 crises of his life. There are but six in all ; omitting those spoken 
 in self defence, there are but three ; one, suggested by the idola- 
 try of Athens, on the spirituality and unity of God ;* one, to a 
 congregation of Jews, in which he attempts to convince them of 
 the Messiahship of Jesus by a comparison of Messianic prophe- 
 
 *Actsxvii, 22-31. 
 
 aroi 
 
 enn 
 
 the] 
 
 ass I 
 
 prej 
 
 to 
 
Saint Paul's Doctrine of the Atonement. 
 
 11 
 
 uics witlj tho clrcumstiiiK'cs of His doath and resurrection, and in 
 whieli lie deelare.s the fbrj^ivene^s of sins to l»e dependent on tlie 
 work of Clirist; ■■ and one to tlic Elders at Miletus, — an exhor- 
 tation to i)ast<>ral fidelity, patterned after the exan»|)le he ha<l 
 given them, and sustained by the solemn consideration that the 
 chureh of which they were overseers the J^ord had "|)nrchased 
 with his own blood."! And, further, all these addresses, except 
 that to the Ephesian Elders, were spoken to hearers who were 
 not Christians. It is evident, then, that these discourses afVonl 
 no indication of the general character of the Apostle's ministry, 
 of his way of dealing with the [)enitent and inquiring, or of his 
 education of the newly-formed churches in the truths of the 
 Christian religion. For information on these points we must 
 turn to his letters. There we find, not only the advanced teach- 
 ing which he gave to Christians of mature ex|)erience, but de- 
 scriptions of his way of winning souls and of feeding the infancy 
 of faith. 
 
 In reviewing his niinistrv at Corinth, he savs .e ha<l been 
 sent " to preach the Gospel ; not with wisdom of words, lest the 
 cross of Christ should be made of none effect. * * * Jjnt wc 
 preach Christ crucified. * * * For I determined not to know 
 anything among you, save Jesus Christ and him crucified." \ 
 He gives in brief the same account of his preaching to the 
 Galatians, before whose eyes he had set forth Jesus Christ, as 
 if visibly crucified before them. || There is no room for doubt 
 that this was his theme wherever he preached the Gospel, in 
 the synagogues, the market-places, the houses of friends, from 
 Damascus to Rome. He further tells us what feelings were 
 aroused in his hearers by this preaching of the Cross, by the 
 emphasis which he laid not only on the fact, but on the manner, 
 the infamous and degrading manner, of Jesus' death : for we may 
 assume Corinth to be no exception in this particular. "The 
 preaching of the Cross is to them that perish foolishness * * ♦ 
 to the Jews a stumblingblock, and to the Greeks foolishness." § 
 
 *Acts xiii. 16-41. 
 t Acts XX. 17-35. 
 
 + 1 Cor. i. 17-23— ii. 2. 
 IIGai. iii. 1. 
 
 \\ Cor. i. 18-23. 
 
12 
 
 Saint Paul's Doctrine of the Atonement. 
 
 The unspeakable shame of the Cross may account for the 
 feeling of the Jew, if Paul identified Jesus with Messiah, but it 
 does not explain the derision of the Gentile. As a good man's 
 proof of his sincerity and goodness, it could have offended none. 
 As a wrong inflicted on the innocent by the hands of malice, it 
 (iould only have aroused indignation against Jewish injustice and 
 cruelty, and pity for a good man's fate. As a martyr's final 
 testimony to his high and heroic faith, to the sincerity of his 
 motives, to the importance of his message, it could only have 
 excited admiration of a self-denial and fortitude, at that time rare 
 in the Groco-Roman world. It could not, then, have been these 
 aspects of the Cross that appeared prominently in tjje preaching 
 of Paul. It was, it must have been, the explanation which he 
 put upon the Cross, the relation in which he made it stand to his 
 hearers and to the world, that provoked the scorn of Grecian 
 culture, and the hatred of Pharisees and priests. 
 
 And why, we may ask, finding such feelings aroused by his 
 manner of presenting the Gospel, did he persist in his course? 
 Why, after his reasonings with the wise men of Athens, meeting 
 them upon their own ground, and laying a basis in philosophy 
 for his Christian conception of the Godhead, and the unsatisfac- 
 tory result, did he go on to Corinth with the firm resolve to have 
 no theme but "Christ and Him crucified," and never afterward 
 alter that resolve? To win men to Christ was the supreme pur- 
 pose of his life : he gave up all for it; he bore all things for it; 
 he " took pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in 
 persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake." * Yet his message 
 wins ten, but alienates a hundred. He was not needlessly severe 
 or otfensive in his speech. He was not a narrow-minded bigot, 
 standing upon trifles and contending for things non-essential to 
 the Christian faith. He was courteous in his treatment of all 
 men and skilful in conciliating opponents. He was ready to 
 make concessions to the prejudices of others when no principle 
 was compromised, even at the risk of his own reputation for con- 
 sistency. He would have made any personal sacrifice that " the 
 
 *2 Cor. xii. 10. 
 
■'!?•■ 
 
 Saint Paui/s Doctiune of tiik Atonement. 
 
 13 
 
 1 )!- 
 
 offence of the Cross mi«:;ht cease." But the Cross continues to be 
 so peculiarly prominent in his preaching that everything in Chris- 
 tianity that is beautiful and attractive to the natural mind — and 
 surely there is much — is forgotten in the scorn and hatred aroused 
 by tlie doctrines of the Cross. "Nothing," says Dean Stanley, 
 "shows the confidence of tiie Apostle more strongly than the 
 prominence which he gives to an aspect of his teaching so un- 
 popular."* This may be true ; but it is more evidently true that 
 nothing shows nioi-e strongly that St. Paul believed the Cross to 
 be the most important fact in the (iospel, and that Christ upon 
 tiie C^ross held a uni«jue relation to the world, and one of supreme 
 importance. 
 
 ]5ut, it is said, "while the Apostle lays great stress upon the 
 death of Christ, * * * he lays tenfold more emphasis on the 
 resurrection :" f "This, an<l not the cross with its supposed ctlects, 
 is the grand object to which they (the Aj)ostles) call the attention 
 and the faith of their hearers." | It is of course true that, like 
 Peter in Jerusalem after Pentecost, Paul in Antioch and Athens 
 and Corinth, preached unto the people "Jesus and the Resurrec- 
 tion." And whv not? The resurrection is a ij-lorious fact, and 
 on any theory of the death of Christ, it is the one transcendent 
 miracle on which, as on a sure foundation, the whole Christian 
 fabric rests. The Jews knew that Jesus had died upon the Cross, 
 and tliere was no difficultv in sccurinjr the belief of it amon<r the 
 Gentiles. The resurrection was the remarkable, the wonderful, 
 the incredible fact. That Jesus had died, died by public execu- 
 tion, died upon the cross, by itself proved notiiing in his favour, 
 but was, prima facie, evidence against his claims. But the resur- 
 rection "proved him to be the Son of God with power," § and 
 was necessarily dwelt upon by the personal witnesses, as the 
 unanswerable evidence for Christ. Beside this, the resurrection 
 of Jesus "brought life and immortality to light," and in addition 
 to being an argument for Christianity, is one of the media of its 
 
 *St. Paul's r'pistles to the Corinthians: A. P. Stanley: 4th edition, p. 40. 
 
 fLivermore: Commentary on Romans, p. 65. 
 
 X Martineau : Studies of Christianity, p. 105. ^ Romans i. 4. 
 
!'ir 
 
 :!h 
 
 ,A[ 
 
 14 
 
 Saint Paui/s Doctrixk of tiii: Atoxkmknt. 
 
 revelations ; and he wlio counted it his dutv to declare the whole 
 counsel of God could not ignore the great truths immediately 
 connected with the resurrection of the Lord. There is another 
 reason why he nuist have dwelt upon it, viz., that he had a special 
 theory of the relation of the death of Jesus to the world. It 
 would have heen imi)ossible for him to obtain belief in iiis 
 doctrine of tiie death, if he had not been able to assert the resur- 
 rection of Jesus ; it was almost impossible to gainsay his doctrine, 
 it' t\w resurrection were proved to be a fact. 
 
 No, it may l)e said, there is another reason, and it is incon- 
 sistent with tlioseyou have been giving: the resurrection, and not 
 the <leath of Christ, is the ground of justification ; and it is on 
 that account the Apostle so often refers to it, and that when "his 
 general description (of faitjj in Christ) is replaced by a more 
 specific account of this justifying state of mind, it is faitli in the 
 Resurrection on which the attention is fastened. * * * He w'as 
 'delivered for our offences and raised again for our justifica- 
 tion.'"* The English translation of the passage thus quoted by 
 the olyector may seem to serve his ])urpose : the Greek original 
 contradicts his theory. As in tlie translation, so in the original, 
 the same prej)osition {di<\) is used twice; and this prej)osition, in 
 tiiis construction, has the signification given to it in the first part 
 of the English sentence. The same meaning must be preserved 
 in tiie second part : " Who was delivered on account of our 
 oifences and was raised on account of our justification ;" that is, 
 our justification was, not the end, but the cause of His resurrec- 
 tion. Because the atonement of His death was sufficient and 
 accepted of God, God raised Him from the dead. Our sins 
 crucified Him; our accomplished justification raised Him again.f 
 
 But if this exposition were doubtful, the commonly accepted 
 reading is not more favourable to the objector's cause, if we read 
 the j)assage in the light of other Scriptures. If Paul says "He 
 was raised for our justification," he also says, " We are now jus- 
 tified by His blood."! We cannot be, in the same sense, justified 
 
 foui 
 
 recor 
 
 did 
 
 oftei 
 
 shew 
 
 I 
 
 dcfin 
 
 delivi 
 
 tiiat 
 
 " Oui 
 
 "JesI 
 
 "De[ 
 
 Paul 
 
 ; I 
 
 * Martineaii : Studies of Christianity, p. 106. 
 t (iodet: Commentary on Romans, IV., 25. 
 
 t Romans v. 9. 
 
ii 
 
 Satxt PaiiAs Dcktrink of thi: Atonement. 
 
 15 
 
 iniil, 
 
 l)V His blood and )iiii<tirK'd l)v His rcstirroction ; and tlioliarmonv 
 of the two assortions is found in a tinrd statcincnt of Si. Paul, 
 that the resurrection j)rov('d Him to be the Son of God, and, by 
 implication, proved the sufliciency of His death as the ground of 
 justification. In otiier words, justification is obtained ff)r us by 
 tiie death of (Jlirist — " We are justified by His i)loo(l ;" justifi- 
 cation is realized by us throu^ii faith, which has tlie resurrcctiiui 
 for its warrant, but the atoninj^ death for its object — " He was 
 raised for our justification." 
 
 There is, then, no fair ijround for the assertion that St. Paul 
 lays " tenfold more emphasis on ihe resurrection" than on tiic 
 death of Christ. We have ha<I his own declaration that he 
 preached the Cross of Ciirist; we siiall find confirmatory 
 evidence at every step as we go on ; and the general tenor and 
 frecpiency and emphasis of his teaching respecting the death of 
 Ciirist, must be left to show that, however much he had to say 
 of the resurrection, the Cross was his central theme. A single 
 illustration may conclude this point, and establish our proposi- 
 tion, that the Apostle regarded the Lord as sustaining in His 
 death a uni(pie relation to tiie world. Wherever the Apostle 
 founded a church he established "tli- fiord's Supper." The first 
 record of its institution that we jios.xtss was niadc by him.* He 
 did not regard it as a simple symbol of brotiicrly love, but "as 
 often as yc eat this bread and drink this cup," he says, "ye do 
 shew the Lord's death till He come." f 
 
 
 II. This relation of Christ to the world is more particularly 
 defined bv St. Paul to be a relation to the sins of the world. " I 
 delivered luito you first of all that which I also received, how 
 that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures." | 
 "Our Lord Jesus Christ who gave Himself for our sins."§ 
 "Jesus our Lord * * who was delivered for our offences." || 
 "Delivered" {•paradidoml) is a common expression witii St. 
 Paul to describe both the Divine appointment and the self- 
 
 * 1 Corinthians xi. 23. 
 tVerse 26. 
 
 X 1 Cor. XV. 3. 
 §Gal. i. 3,4. 
 
 II Rom. iv. 24, 25. 
 
 
16 
 
 Saint Paui/s Doctrink of thk Atoxemkst. 
 
 ^l! 
 
 I >! 
 
 surrender of Christ to death,* su«ifgested to him perhaps by 
 Jsaiah's d(!S(Tiption of the Servant of Jeiiovali, wIjosc "soul 
 was deliven.'d to death." f 
 
 1. "lie was delivered for our offences." " We have here 
 '<U(i' with tiie a<'eusativc, which in sacred and profane autliors in 
 the Greek hin^uajjfc, is the most common mari< of the impulsive 
 cause." I In some sense, tlierefore, winch it must he left to sub- 
 sequent ex|)ositions to explain, our sins were the cause of the 
 death of Christ. 
 
 2. 1 1 is relation in death to the sins of the world is described 
 under two further particulars. He han-ii the sins of men. This 
 parti(Mdar expression belongs to Peter rather than to Paid ; but in 
 language of great intensity and emphasis Paul asserts the fact — 
 " God hath made Him to be sin for us ;"§ " Fie was " made a 
 curse for us."|| 
 
 In the former of these passages, the contrast between the 
 sinlessness of Christ and that which God made Him to become, 
 and the antithesis between our righteousness and His sin, require 
 us to regard "sin" as equivalent to "sinful," and exclude the 
 frequent explanation of it as "sin-offering." He was sinless; 
 iTod made Him sinful: we become righteous before God, because 
 He became sinful for us. The abstract is used for the concrete 
 for the sake of vividness and force. Yet it is not necessary that 
 we regard the Apostle as saying that Christ was actually made 
 sinful, and was punished as a sinner : it is sufficient if we 
 understand that He endured the suffering which sin caused; 
 which sin deserved ; which He bore for the sake of the sinful, 
 and which, endured by Him, God accepted as if the sinner had 
 borne it, and as equivalent, for the ends for which it was borne, 
 to the punishment of the sinner himself. 
 
 Perhaps the true meaning of this important passage cannot 
 be brouirht out better than in the words of Grotius : "As the 
 
 t( , 
 
 tl 
 
 le 
 
 Th 
 
 * Rom. viii. 32. Gal. ii. 20. Eph. v. 2, 25. f Isaiah liii. 12. 
 J Grotius: Defence of the Catholic F'aith, translated in the Biblio. Sacra, 
 Vol. 36, page 107. 
 r-JCor. V. 21. II Gal. iii. 13. 
 
Saint I*.\ri/s Doctiiini-: ok tiii: Atoxhmknt. 
 
 17 
 
 , l)V 
 
 soul 
 
 here 
 rs in 
 Isive 
 sub- 
 f the 
 
 •ribed 
 This 
 but iu 
 fa<'t— 
 itido JV 
 
 ou the 
 ccome, 
 require 
 ide the 
 siulcss ; 
 because 
 20ucrete 
 ary that 
 ly uiade 
 t if we 
 caused ; 
 le sinful, 
 liner had 
 us borne, 
 
 re cannot 
 
 5 
 
 "As the 
 
 iblio. Sucra, 
 
 Hebrews emj)l()y .s7/( for jtinn.sJunott, so tlicy also call Iliin who 
 suffered the punislujioiit, .si)i. * * * Tlierefore, followiiiii' this 
 form of speech, Isaiah said of Christ: 'He made His sold sin,' 
 i.e., He ex|)osed His soul to tiie jtunishmeiit of sin. In the 
 same way, Paul said, ' ile hath made him to be sin for us.' * * 
 Socinus, to escape tlie autliority of the J'auiinc ))assaiie, su|>j)oses 
 that bv ti»e word mii siiould Im' understood a man regarded bv 
 men as a sinner, but without warrant ; for, first, there is no ex- 
 ample of such a use of either the (Ireeic or tiie Hebn.'W wonl ; 
 again, Paul attributes to (iod ;;e act of making Clirist sin ; and, 
 again, this interpretation cannot be adapted to the words of Isaiah 
 wliich contain a similar phrase. For wiiat Paul says (Jod did, 
 Isaiaii ascribes to Clirist, that doubtless He made His soul sin, 
 or He nia<le Ilinisclf sin. Besides, Paul contrasts sin an<l righ- 
 teousness: * We have been made the righteousness of God,' /. c, 
 we have been justitled, or liberated from divine punishment. 
 But that this might be done, Christ was made sin, /. c, sullered 
 the divine punishment. * * * Can it be anything else than that 
 God has inflicted punishment upon the undeserving?"* It is 
 necessary to say that throughout his treatise, Cirotius does not use 
 "punishment" in a strict sense, for he did not hold to the penal 
 suffering of Christ, but to the sufferings of Christ substituted lor 
 the ])enalty of sin. 
 
 The other ])assagc, "being made a curse for us," is virtually 
 equivalent to the last. The form dillers; the matter is the same. 
 This is a more direct assertion of what the former intends, that 
 Christ bore the consc(juences of sin, the curse, that which, wlien 
 inflicted on the sinner, is the ex[»rcssion of the wrath of God ; 
 and that He did so upon the cross. We nuist not explain away 
 these solemn words, but take them in their obvious meaning. 
 There is no figure in this passage. It is a real deliverance that 
 is effected by the real bearing of a real curse. Nor need we 
 shrink from this representation of the work of Christ, if oidy 
 we are careful not to import into the Apostle's language ideas 
 which he does not express. He does not say or imply that Christ 
 
 *Grotiiis: Defence of the Catholic Faith: Bib. Sac, Vol. 36, p. 121. 
 
 t i| 
 
 •l! 
 
 fi. ' 
 
18 
 
 Saint Paul's Dcxtrine of tiik Atonemknt. 
 
 ;M'' 
 
 ill!: 
 
 HI I' 
 
 was tlic object of the anger of G(k1 when He bore the sins of men : 
 on the other hand, lie sjiys that in tliat awful hour of Atonement, 
 when He fully came under the weight of that curse which He 
 had assumed, and when He cried, "My God, My God, why hast 
 Thou forsaken me?" even then he was a "sweet smelling offer- 
 ing and sacrifice to God."* The oft-quoted words of Luther, in 
 his comment on this verse, in which he speaks of Christ as a 
 sinner in every kind and to every degree, and therefore as bearing 
 the wrath of God, are shocking indeed. But there is reason to 
 think he did not speak literally, but only carried out in multi- 
 plied expressions the Ajwstle's form of s|)eech : " He made Him 
 to be sin," "He became a curse." For Luther says: "These 
 sentences may, indeed, be well expounded after this manner: 
 Christ is made a curse, that is to say, a sacrifice for the curse ; 
 and sin, that is, a sacrifice for sin : yet in my judgment it is bet- 
 ter to keep the proper signification of the words, because there is 
 a greater force and vehemency therein. For when a sinner cometh 
 to the knowledge of himself indeed, he feeleth not only that he 
 is miserable, but misery itself; not only that he is a sinner, and 
 is accursed, but even sin and malediction itself. For it is a ter- 
 rible thing to bear sin, the wrath of God, malediction and death. 
 Wherefore, that man which hath a true feeling of these things, 
 (as Christ did truly and effectually feel them for all mankind,) 
 is made even sin, death and a curse." f 
 
 3. A third particular in St. Paul's conception of the relation 
 of Christ, in his death, to the sins of the world, is that He delivers 
 men from sin, from the guilt of sin, and from God's wrath and 
 penalties. 
 
 Sometimes both the humiliation of Christ and the advantage 
 arising from it to men are presented in a very general way, as 
 when he says : " Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 that though he was rich yet for your sakes he became poor, that 
 ye through his poverty might be rich."| But usually he par- 
 ticularizes the blessings, and connects them immediately with the 
 
 *Eph. V. 2. tl^"*''*^*'' Commentary on Galatians Hi. 13. 
 
 J 2 Cor. viii. 9. 
 
 
 il! !l 
 
Saint Paul's DocrniNK of tiik Atonkmknt. 
 
 19 
 
 len: 
 icnt, 
 
 He 
 
 Imst 
 )tVer- 
 »r, in 
 
 as i\ 
 aring 
 ion to 
 Hulti- 
 
 Him 
 These 
 inner : 
 curse ; 
 is bet- 
 here is 
 cometh 
 that he 
 ler, and 
 Is a ter- 
 1 death. 
 ! things, 
 ankind,) 
 
 relation 
 e delivers 
 rath and 
 
 dvantage 
 I way, as 
 Lis Christ, 
 poor, that 
 y he par- 
 y with the 
 
 i. 13. 
 
 death of Christ: "lie gave liimself for our sins, that lie iniglit 
 deliver us from this present evil world."* He "gave himself for 
 us, that lie might redeem us from all ini(]uity."t This is salva- 
 tion in the present time. On the other iiantl, he saves us from 
 the future |)eualty of sin. He "delivered us from tiie wrath to 
 come."! Ho " ''^^t'' redeemed us from the curse of the law, l)eing 
 made — because he was made — a curse for us."§ " IV'ing now 
 justified by His blo(xl we shall l)e saved from wrath through 
 Him." II And, not to multiply quotations, we "obtain salvation 
 by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that, whether we 
 wake or sleep, we should live together with Him."l The Cireek, 
 in this last passage, expresses more directly than the translation, 
 the connection between His dying for us and our obtaining salva- 
 tion. For the participial phrase, {tou apothanontos huper lu'mdn,) 
 as Crawford remarks, "has the force of the well known Latin 
 phrase, 'quipjx) qui,' "** and may l)e translated "in as much as," 
 i. e., " because he died for us." These passages make it plain 
 that Paul connects the forgiveness of sins and eternal life with 
 the death of Christ as their ground and cause. 
 
 4. In describing His relation to the world and its sins, Paul 
 further speaks of the Lord as a substitute, taking the place of 
 sinners, suffering and dying in their stead. 
 
 The Greek prepositions used by the Apostle are worthy of 
 consideration ; for, if no confident argument can be based on 
 them alone, the context often invests them with important 
 meaning. The three prepositions occurring in this connection 
 {pei'i, huper, anti), and all translated "for," have different mean- 
 ings and denote different relations. "A7iti" means " instead of," 
 and must be so understood. It is used by the Lord when he 
 says of himself that He came " to give His life a ransom for 
 many;" ft where both the preposition and the figure involve the 
 idea of substitution. It is also used by St. Paul when he says 
 
 *GaI. i. 4. fTitus ii. 14. J 1 Thes. i. 10. 
 
 ?Gal. iii. 13. || Rom. v. 9. T[ 1 Thes. v. 9, 10. 
 
 ** Crawford : Scripture Doctrine of the Atonement, third ed., p. 55. 
 tt Matt. XX. 28. 
 
 M 
 
20 
 
 SaFNT PaTI/s I)(M think of Till- Atoxkmf'at. 
 
 tiic lidi'd " ^avo Tfimscir a ransom for all;"* wlicrc the noun 
 and prcjtosition arc ns('<l as a conipound word i(infi-/itfr(ni), and 
 " tlio idi'U of an {'.\('liaii;i:<'> which lies in tiio substantive itself, 
 }^ains sjx'cial force from tlie prcjufsition." f 
 
 Of tl>e otiier two i>repositions one, (y>o7), means "concern- 
 in;r," "on account of," '* in hehalf of," Imt never " instead of." 
 It is used hy Paul when he speaks of Christ's relation to sin, 
 where the idea of suhstitution would he inadmissible; hut never 
 when he speaks of 1 1 is relation to sinners, where the idea would 
 he proper. Here \\v invariably uses ^^hiijur,^^ which means both 
 " in behalf (»f " and " instead of." That Paul is aware of thin 
 second sense, and sometimes intends it, is clear fntm his statement 
 toPiiilemon: "I would have retained Onesimus with mo, that 
 in thy stead {liupcr mn) he nuj^ht have ministered unto me."| 
 Jiut in everv instance the nature of the case or the context nuist 
 determine the sense of the prepo.-^ition. When Paul says " Wc 
 arc aml)assadors for Christ" — " We pray you in Christ's stead, 
 {hvpcr Chridoii)," ^ the nature of the case settles the meaninjj: : it 
 must be "in the place of." So in the passage, " Scarcely for a 
 righteous man will one die, yet peradventure for a good man, 
 some would cv(mi dare to die," || the nature of the case re(juires 
 us to understand " in the j)laee of." For, a man does not die for 
 another as a gratuitous manifestation of his love, but in his 
 place, to save him from death or some calamity terrible as death. 
 And when Paul goes on to say, "God commendeth His love 
 toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us," 
 he instances a jjarallel case, which must be a case of substitution. 
 
 In other instances the context settles the meaning. When 
 Paul says "one died for all," ^ some uncertainty may attach to 
 the clause taken alone; but when he adds the inference, "then 
 all died," he fixes upon the preposition the sense of substitution. 
 And this account of his meaning is borne out by the fact that 
 this word is found in the New Testament, upon the li])s of 
 speakers of every station and character, in connection with the 
 
 *1 Tim. ii, G. 
 i 2 Cor. V. 20. 
 
 t liange's Commentary, in Loco. 
 II Kom. V. 7. 
 
 X Philemon, 13. 
 IT 2 Cor. V. 14. 
 
 at id 
 
 h^ 
 
 dev(i 
 
 (leatl 
 
 J)lac 
 
 nior 
 
 infeJ 
 
 he i\ 
 
 fron 
 
 a p;i| 
 
 died 
 
Saint Pati/s Dim timm: ok rm; A ionknikm' 
 
 2\ 
 
 sul)stitiiti(»n of life for lifi-. Wlicii the lionl says, "(Jnatt'i* lov»» 
 liatli no man tlian this, that a man lay down hi<^ life for [/nijHr) 
 his friends,"* tlicrc ran Iw no doiiKt of his nuaninir: ll<' «'\toIs, 
 as the noMc.-t act of scIf-sacrilicinL,^ l(»vr, the ;iivin;x '"f one's life 
 to save the life of one's friend. W hen I'eter, in tiie ardour of 
 his devotion says, " I will lay down my life for thee {/nij)rr 
 mu)"f ho certainly means that he is ready to die in hi< Master's 
 stead. When ( aiaphas declares " It is e.\|iedient that one man 
 shonid die for tlu! |)eo|)le," ;}; we eoid<l have no donht of his 
 meaning; even if it were not ailded, " that the whole nation jxrish 
 not." And when dohn allirms that the llii;h Priest sj>oke hy an 
 inspiration himself tlid not reeoM-ni/i', he hoth explains the m«an- 
 
 inj:; ot iUv priest s proplietie words, an<i records Ins own d«>ctrnio 
 of the vicarionsness of Jesus' death : " lie prophesied that .lesns 
 shoidd die for that nation and not for that nation only.">; Ihns 
 we see that this pre|tosition, while? not necessarily involvin*;' the 
 idea of snlistitntion, yet, from the nature; of the snhject and in 
 the eonneetions in which it stan<ls, e\j)resses it with siillicient 
 pr 
 
 ceision. 
 
 ]int it is not neecssarv to rest the wei'dit of the artrinnent for 
 Hiibstitntion njuHi the meanin<ijof a preposition. Apart alto}j;ether 
 from its significanee, it is impossihle to ^ive any other nieaninj^ 
 to many of the passaires in which it is found. This has Ix-en 
 made plain in the fore^oinir, and it is .loi worth \shilc to repeat 
 at len|i;th. M'hen St. Paid illustrates the ji-reatness of (iod's love 
 by comparin<!: His sending' of J I is Son to death for sinners, to the 
 devotion of tiie num who saeriliees his life to avert a ^ood man's 
 death, substitution is the unavoidable iiderenee : it is life in the; 
 place of life, in the one ease as in the other. JIa<l Paul said no 
 more than that Christ was made a curse for us, we could have 
 inferred no more than that he suilered in our interest; but wlu'ii 
 
 he al 
 
 so 
 
 sayi 
 
 that 
 
 nde 
 
 we were under a eurse, and nave Deen savee 
 
 1 h 
 
 1) 
 
 d 
 
 from it by Christ's being made a eurse, it is not an inference, but 
 a paraphrase, to say that He stood in our place and suflered and 
 died in our stead. And so, also, when Paul says that Christ was 
 
 ■John XV. 13. f John xiii. 37. JJohnxi. 50. ^ John xi, 51-52. 
 
iir 
 
 22 
 
 Saint Paul's Doctrine of the Atonement. 
 
 "made sin for us," — sin, in the sense already explained ; for he 
 puts the Lord in vicarious relation to us, by adding that by His 
 endurance of what sin brought upon Him, we are made the 
 righteousness of God, are justified, are saved from the penalty of 
 sin. He who by suffering saves another from the suffering other- 
 wise inevitable, must suffer in that other's place. 
 
 5. At the same time, St. Paul represents the Lord as coming 
 into this relation to man and his sin through the prompting of 
 His own love, and as bearing in His humiliation, His sorrows. 
 His death, a really voluntary part. Without necessity and with- 
 out constraint, " He gave Himself for our sins." * It was a 
 manifestation of His own grace that " though He was rich, yet 
 for your sakes He became poor." f " The Son of God loved me, 
 and gave Himself for me."| "Christ hath loved us, and hath 
 given Himself for us."§ He "loved the church, and gave 
 Himself for it." II 
 
 Such is Paul's account of the relation of Christ to the ivorkl, 
 in His sufferings and death. 
 
 III. On the other hand, he represents Him as sustaining, in 
 the Atonement of His death, a relation to God. 
 
 Three particulars may be named : 
 
 1. He dies by Go(Vs appointment. "It is appointed unto 
 men once to die;" but in the view of St. Paul, everything con- 
 nected with the death of Christ, — the end, the time, the means, 
 the circumstances, — is by divine decree. He "gave Himself for 
 our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil world, 
 according to the will of God and our Father." ^ " God hath 
 appointed" the end, "to obtain salvation," and the means, "by 
 our Lord Jesus Ciirist, who died for us."** God made Him the 
 sinner's substitute, and laid upon Him the burden of sin and its 
 atoning woe: for "He hath made Him to be sin for us."tt Grod 
 api)ointed the whole course and character of the Redeeming 
 history : for "when the fulness of the time was come, God sent 
 
 i I 
 
 Hnll. i. 4. 
 
 II E|)li. V. 25. 
 
 1 2 Cor. viii. 9. 
 H Gal. i. 4. 
 
 JGal. ii. 20, 
 
 ** 1 Thess. V. 9, 10. 
 
 I Eph. V. 2. 
 tt 2 Cor. V. 21. 
 
 Tf 
 
 of 
 
 intc 
 
 anti 
 
 an( 
 
 dis(j 
 
 lesa 
 
I-, 
 
 Saint Paui/s Doctrine of thp: Atonkmext. 
 
 
 l>r he 
 His 
 ; the 
 ty of 
 ther- 
 
 ming 
 ngof 
 
 TOWS, 
 
 with- 
 was a 
 !h, yet 
 ed me, 
 d hath 
 I gave 
 
 ; world, 
 
 ning) 
 
 in 
 
 ed unto 
 ing con- 
 c means, 
 mself for 
 il world, 
 Jod hath 
 sans, " by 
 
 Him the 
 in and its 
 'ft God 
 Redeeming 
 
 God sent 
 
 1. V. 2. 
 Cor. V. 21. 
 
 forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem 
 them that were under the law." * 
 
 2. He dies as tfie result and c.vpression of the love of God to 
 man. "God commendeth His hn-e toward us in that while we 
 were yet sinners, Christ died for u.s."t 
 
 3. He dies to illustrate and honour the Justice of God, and so to 
 make possible the exercise of mercy toward sinful men : " 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 : to declare at this time 
 his righteousness, that he might be just, and the justifier of him 
 which believeth in Jesus." J; The full consideration of this great 
 passage is deferred to a subsequent stage of the discussion. 
 
 Meanwhile, the foregoing may, I think, be called a complete 
 summing and an accurate classification of the Pauline passages 
 relating to the Atonement. It is, perhaps, liable to the charge 
 of being commonplace, and of being based on old and familiar 
 interpretations of the Sacred Text. It may, on that account, be 
 more confidently claimed for it that it represents the mind of 
 the Apostle, than if it rested on novelties of exegesis, lleccnt 
 attempts in our own language, elaborate and ingenious as some 
 of them have been, to put new meanings into the Apostle's words, 
 in the interest of modern theories of the Atonement, confirm a 
 remark of that great philologist and exegete, Heinrich Meyer, 
 with reference to the theolojjical literature of Germany: "Long 
 experience and observation in this field of scientific inquiry have 
 taught me that — after there have been expended upon the New 
 Testament, the labours of the learning, the acuteness, the mastery 
 of Scrij)ture, and the pious insight of eighteen centuries — new 
 interpretations, undiscerned hitherto by the minds most convers- 
 ant with such studies, are destined, as a rule, speedily to perish 
 and be deservedly forgotten. I am distrustful of such exegetical 
 discoveries, and those of the present day are not of a kind to 
 lessen my distrust." § 
 
 *Gal. iv. 4, 5. fRom. v. 8. See also Titus ii. 11-14 ; iii. 4-7. 
 
 I Romans iii. 25, 26. 
 
 § Meyer: Cora, on Corinthians, Clark's Trans., vol. 1, p. ix. note. 
 
 'I 
 
24 
 
 Saint Paii/.s Doctiunk of tiik Atonement, 
 
 '! 
 
 TV. In |)nss:i<j:;os incliidod in the foroiyjoiiij^ summary, St. 
 Paul (IcscrilK's tlu; atouiufj; work of Clirist by several (jcncral 
 tcrma ; each of which <::athers up some of the particulars already 
 spe(!i[ied, while <:;iviii,L!: j)romiueu(.'e perhaps to one; and all of 
 which taken together present a very full view of his doctrine 
 of the Atonement. 
 
 1. One of tliese <;enera] terms is Sacrifice, the comparison 
 heinj^ at one tiuK! with sacrifice as appointed by the Mosaic 
 ritual, and, at another, with sacrifice as a religious institution of 
 the world. 
 
 We have the former when, having exhorted the cliurch at 
 Corinth to purify herself by casting out the old leaven, he adds: 
 " For oil)' Passover also hath been sacrificed, even Christ."* This 
 is a proof of the propriety of the exhortation, and a motive for 
 obeying it. It is not an accidental com}»arison suggested by the 
 figure of leaven already used, but one founded in a real and 
 divinely intended similitude: it is type and anti-type. Paul says, 
 there is a true analogy between your position and duty, and those 
 of tha Hebrew family celebrating the Passover and putting away 
 all leaven from the dwelling; for there is not only a general like- 
 ness, but in one particular, and that the chief, your position is 
 the same : " Oiu' passover also has been sacrificed, even Christ." 
 This is not only an illustrative reference, comparing things that 
 differ: it is a descriptive illustration, presenting the feature in 
 which two thnigs are alike. This view of the Apostle's words 
 is justified by other passages of the New Testament ; by the 
 coincidence of the J^ord's passion with the time of the Paschal 
 celebration ;f by His own substitution of the memorial of His 
 death and the great deliverance it wrought, for the annual com- 
 memoration of the first Passover and the ancient redemption;;}; 
 by St. John's assertion that the Scriptures which described the 
 offering of the Paschal Lamb were fulfilled in the circumstances 
 of the death of Christ. § 
 
 I 
 
 ,r]\ 
 
 ■■•■ 1 Cor. V. 7. Keviseil vorsion. 
 j; Lulie xxii. 15-20. 
 
 tMtitt. xxvi. 17, 
 ^ John xix. 36 
 
, St. 
 iicral 
 •eudy 
 ill of 
 I'trine 
 
 iirisou 
 losaic 
 ion of 
 
 rcli at 
 I adds : 
 This 
 Ivc for 
 by the 
 :>al and 
 ul savs, 
 ul those 
 ig away 
 ral likc- 
 sition is 
 Christ." 
 ngs that 
 'aturc in 
 )'s words 
 ; bv the 
 I Paschal 
 il of His 
 lual com- 
 niption ;t 
 ribed the 
 unistances 
 
 i. 17. 
 36 
 
 Saint Pail's Doctrine of the Atonement. 
 
 25 
 
 What, then, is tliat feature in which the Pasclial lianib and 
 our liord are alike? One word of the text states it: hotli were 
 offered in sacrifice. This verb {ikno) may be used in the sense 
 of "to kill" without reference to the purpose, and is so used 
 in the New Testament:* its proper nieanin<^ is "to kill in 
 sacrifice;" in classic Greek it is a word of the altar only; 
 and it is used in this sense, in the only place beside this, where 
 Paul einj)loys it,t and in that part of the narrative of St. 
 liuke which relates to St. Paul and would be derived from 
 him. I Was the Passover, then, a sacrifice? It is true it was 
 not offered in the first instance under the usual conditions of 
 sacrifice, but the necessities of the case account for that. In 
 its ori<^inal celebration, however, it was a true sacrifice, and 
 produced the a|)propriate effect, securin<^ the " passint^; over" 
 of those who presented it, when the judj^ment of Jehovah went 
 through the land. In all subsequent observations the same char- 
 acter was recognized : for it was aj)pointed as a j)art of the 
 Passover ritual forever, that when the children should ask, 
 "What mean ye by this service?" the fathers should answer, 
 " It is the sacrifice of the Lord's Passover." § Other j)assages 
 are as explicit as this. || 
 
 On the other hand, St. Paul illustrates the nature of the 
 Lord's death by comparing it with the offerings made throughout 
 the world, in Gentile and in Hebrew religion, under the general 
 institution of sacrifice : " Christ hath loved us, and hath given 
 . Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet- 
 smelling savour." T[ Here are used two ter ma, pi'osphor a and 
 thuma, of undoubtedly sacrificial import, the former being a 
 name for offerings of all kinds; the latter, for sacrifices in which 
 atoning blood is shed. The same idea is involved in the descrip- 
 tion of Christ as a propitiation or propitiatory sacrifice {Jiilas- 
 
 I 11 
 
 :^' 
 
 * Luke XV. 23, 27. 
 'i Ex. xii. 2C, 27. 
 i Eph. V. 2. 
 
 fl Cor. X. 20. J Acts xiv. 13, 18. 
 
 II Ex. xxiii. 18; xxxiv. 25. Deut. xvi. 2, 4,5,6. 
 ** Rom. iii. 25. 
 
It* 
 
 26 
 
 Saint Paui/s Doctrine of the Atonj:ment. 
 
 fi 
 
 i!!3:! 
 
 fin- 
 
 <mi; 
 
 The natiiro and intention of Sacrifice in jroneral in tlie ancient 
 world, there is no need to explain. We have hut to put our- 
 selves in the place of readers in Ephesnsand Rome, and ask how 
 they must have understood such accounts of the death of the 
 Ijord. For we are not to suppose that Paul was utterinj^ words 
 with hidden meanings, for the curiosity and criticism of future 
 ages to discover, but tliat these letters were more immediately 
 intelligible to them who first read or heard them than they 
 are to us, because they had before their eyes the social, moral, 
 and religious conditions to which they referred, and which lighted 
 up their meaning. Jews would interpret such teachings in the 
 light of their own Scriptures and their traditional ideas : Gentiles, 
 who had been the devotees of religions which, differ as they may 
 in other respects, had the sacrificial character in conuiion, would 
 understand the language of the A])08tle in the substantial sense 
 in which they had been accustomed to employ it. It is conceded 
 to us that " the words used in these passages, if found in ordi- 
 nary Greek literature, might, without question, imply that very 
 doctrine of propitiation which" — as the author I am quoting 
 thinks — "it se(Mns to be the very object of the revelation of God 
 to destroy ;" * and the use of them is defended on the ground 
 that the Apostles could not invent a vocabulary, but must em- 
 ploy words familiar to those to whom they wrote ; that thus they 
 were " obliged to use language that was already saturated with 
 falsehood; and which could not fail to convey those associations 
 which were precisely the errors which a Divine revelation was 
 intended to remove." f But by what was the necessity imposed? 
 By the subject of which they treated? or the language in which 
 they wrote? If there was no parallel between the death of 
 Christ and the sacrifices of the ancient world, if the ciiief ideas 
 involved in both were not the same, surely it was not necessary 
 to employ the language of the one to describe the other. If the 
 Atonement of Christ was only an appeal of the love of God to 
 
 *Kirkus: Orthodoxy, Scripture, and Reason, p. 163. See also Bushnell 
 Vicarious Sacrifice, p. 522; Forgiveness and Law, p. 81. 
 t Kirkus : Orthodoxy, &c., p. 163. 
 
Saint Paul's Doctrine of the Atonement. 
 
 27 
 
 iclent 
 
 our- 
 : how 
 jf the 
 words 
 future 
 tliately 
 n tliey 
 
 moral, 
 iightetl 
 8 ill the 
 lentiles, 
 iiev nvay 
 1, would 
 ial sense 
 conceded 
 I in ordi- 
 that very 
 1 quoting 
 >n of God 
 le ground 
 must em- 
 
 thus they 
 rated with 
 ^s50(!iations 
 ■lation was 
 y imposed? 
 re in which 
 e death of 
 
 chief ideas 
 ot necessary 
 
 ler. If the 
 c of God to 
 
 also Bushnell : 
 
 the heart of man, it was possible to say so without the use of 
 these misleading words. Love was not an idea foreign to ancient 
 thought; manifestations of it hv acts of kindness were not un- 
 common in the social life of Greece and Kome : and there was a 
 language in daily use to express such ideas and <les('ril)0 such 
 conduct, which did not belong to the altar, nor remind those who 
 used it of avenging deities and propitiatory rites. Our UKMlern 
 o|>ponents of vicarious sacrifice do not find it tliflicult to define 
 their various theories without the employment of the daiigerous 
 words ; and the difference between them an<l tiie sacred writers 
 is hardly to be explained by the affluence of English and tiie 
 poverty of Greek. Yf the sacred writers themselves had given 
 any caution against ideas which their words would inevitably 
 suggest, they would have prevented a long history of error, 
 and saved the church from manv a controversv ; and it was the 
 least thev could have done. But we find 8t. Paul, with all his 
 zeal for the trutii, with all his indignation at any departure from 
 the j)ure gos|)el of Christ, with all his care of statement and 
 labour of argument, employing language which, he must have 
 known, would mislead his readers, and — if he could have fore- 
 seen — would mislead the church for eighteen hundred years ; 
 and doing so, without the utterance of one warning word. 
 
 The comparison of this language of the New Testament with 
 the antliropological language in which God is spoken of in the 
 Old, does not support the argument of the objector. That lan- 
 guage was used by poet, priest, and })rophet, not only because 
 the limitations of human thought and speech made it necessary, 
 but because, when it is discharged of its materialism — which, be 
 it remembered, the Jews did not infer from it — it directly ex- 
 presses a sublime truth, the only view of God which can satisfy 
 the intellect or heart of man. Not only can we form no concep- 
 tion of personality which is not suggested by our own nature ; 
 but personality in God and personality in man must, so far as 
 they lie i irallel, be the same. Personality in God may infinitely 
 transcend personality in man, but it must include it. It must 
 be that as truly as it must be more. No better proof of this can 
 
, , ,, tlnn the fuct that all attem,.t to l^ 
 
 " *' -rr— -i'!^"- «■*■■ "f" .s" - ■>- 
 
 fn n more Scriptural view, it is, n ^^ ^^^^ ^^^^^ ^f 
 
 Trenacus and inigeu " divines have not oe^ii 
 
 ar.»uu ->f^^jr t: :Meu class a^ pa"i;^«^^- : 
 
 analogies '-Y'" f the proper or the metaphor..^!, th rat 
 
 :ret:Sr?o ::aic^-vh;eh - -— ;coie*^ 
 
 endeavoruig to show ^^^^.^^^^ ^^„„e8 that 
 
 effect for man ot the woi 
 
 .E«y on ^^Xl^^^on, Harper, ed,, PP. 307-317. 
 ^Coleridge: Aids lo xw 
 
of the 
 indon- 
 or t\ie 
 )r some 
 )0scs as 
 IS coni- 
 
 that de- 
 be idea. 
 Paul 
 
 tV 
 
 len 
 
 k1 
 
 however 
 a ransom, 
 in this 
 
 tlie work 
 \vit\i great 
 tails. 
 
 K'hers, for- 
 id carrying 
 em, framed 
 id a ransom 
 
 held for a 
 11 gave cur- 
 th particular 
 a the time of 
 has not been 
 been led into 
 
 incapacity to 
 
 phrase, from 
 aul's figure of 
 al, the rational 
 ;s " or " analo- 
 ^t'of Coleridge, 
 c^ribe solely the 
 it it is a meta- 
 
 Saint Paul's D(ktrine of the Atonement. 
 
 29 
 
 phorical analogy, and alj-io that tlu; word "redeinjUion" is used 
 in its weaker sense of deliverance siniply. If St. Paul liad used the 
 figure of redemption as a passing illustration an«l witiiout added 
 particulars, it might not have l)een easy to answer this and simi- 
 lar reasoning. But his use of the figure is so frecjuent and so 
 particular, that there can be no doubt that he describes both tiie 
 deliverance accomplished for man and the method by which it 
 was effected. For, he not only speaks in general terms of " the 
 redemption which is Christ Jesus,"* and indicates from what He 
 lias redeemed men, " from all ini(piity,"f " from the curse of the 
 law,";}; but he asserts the reality of the redemption by declar- 
 ing that a real ransom was given, and by telling what that ransom 
 was: '' Ye are bought with a price ;"^ "We have redemi)ti()n 
 through His blood ;"|| "He hath purchased His church with 
 His own blood." ^ This representation leaves no doubt that St. 
 Paul regarded the Atonement of Christ, effected by His death, 
 as an objective fact and the condition of man's forgiveness, and 
 not as a subjective process accomplished in the heart of man. 
 
 3'. A third general term, in which St. Paul <lescribes the 
 work of Christ, and one peculiar to him in this connection, is 
 ReconciHation. 
 
 The most important passage in which this account is given 
 of the redeeming work, is the closing part of the fifth chapter of 
 2 Corinthians. This and other passages** containing the same 
 form of expression, are often appealed to as teaching that the 
 Atonement is a subjective work, — the bringing of man into har- 
 mony with God by the soul-renewing power of Christ's self- 
 sacrificing love. It is not God that is reconciled — they say, — it 
 is man ; there is no propitiation, changing God's feeling and 
 attitude towards men ; there is a subduing and transforming 
 power flowing from the Cross, and changing man from enmity 
 to love, and this is the Atonement : " We were reconciled to 
 God;" "God hath reconciled us to Himself;" "God was in 
 
 *Rom. iii. 24. fTitusii. 14. 
 
 ^ 1 Cor. vi. 20 ; vii. 23. || Eph. i. 7 ; Col. i. 14. 
 
 ** Rom. V. 10, 11. Eph. ii. 16. Col. i. 20, 21. 
 
 JGal. iii. 13. 
 ^ Acts XX. 28. 
 
 ,1 ' in. 
 
 
 |a, 
 
 
 k 
 
 Ii 
 
 •M 
 
 
 307-317. 
 
r>*' 
 
 .ill i 
 
 i'\<i' 
 
 30 SM..PA.-.P0,.m.-K™KA.0..MK.T 
 
 ,, . Himself" Pl«"sil'l» »» ♦'"" 
 
 a.H, re..o„..n>,„ "-7;;!;^:;" ; j;:"W s„,«*i.l inton- 
 
 ,a,i„„oftl.cA,.ostes«<mK ^^^ ^^ ^^^.^^^^ ,,„rk. 
 
 Keeonnliation nnplu* '«" ^^;" ;, „„„ „f the parties to ,t 
 
 VVbero one si.lc of "-. """"'"^^X^' , tlu.t l..s Wn «rons;« 
 ,re .mde ,.ron,inent, .t n,,.y Ok , ^^,^^,^^ ,,^ f , , 
 
 a,„l his aisposition to »"'B'^-'';^;,, ,,,,,',,. „,e ...l.or, tlu- otlen.l- 
 ,„,reK.ion attributes the - ""^'^ ' „,„,,,, ,„ i„ S..ripture 
 
 -Me, for cx-'ple, I;-- ;;;,^"^;,7."„^„.noile," multhere er- 
 « to make atonement, .s t an^ a « ^^. _^^^^ , ^^^^^^, , .y hen 
 
 enc* is plainly to the V^^^ U to the altar, mul remem- 
 the Ura tells hin, who '-"^J^'^l,^,,,^, .vith his brother, .0 
 hers that he is not m ''"« ^ f"'; ;,„,,„ing m«st 1« that he .s 
 „„ ana " first te rceone.lea, t the • b .. ;,. t,,„„ 
 
 I st.U his brother's for^Xl«« ) ,, ,„.," an.j, 
 rememterest that f% .''™'^^, '"",,„ ^^ule his own anj^ry eel- 
 
 ■^S^now to the pa.a,es in which ^^ £;'::^ 
 
 aescription of the ''I^^'-'^io -whatever may be the form 
 will be fonna that the «™"'^''';""'" q^. " If when we were 
 :; expression-mnst be f -'^it^^death of His Son :" J 
 enemies, we were '^"""''^'^ '.^ „» to our faith, mul even our 
 he is speaking of a «""« ''f f ^^ Christ's death dia not, . 
 U„„wleage of Christ. ^' -y^,^,,e„rt against G«l : yet 
 eouia not, remove the e"'"''^ jf;"^,,;,, then, ean only mean 
 U actually effeetea reconc Im o„ 1 ,^^^ ^^^^ 
 
 that it put away Gf « .-^7'"-^"^' Further : " reeoncibat.on 
 His law from the ''^s Uny of .man ^^ ^,, ,^,t , 
 
 ,„a "salvation" are d-""S^'«^^' ^^ f„„er, and surely th.s 
 being inferre<l from the realUy ;f^ [^ ,, f ,.,vation is war- 
 requires the same n,terpretat.on . or ^ ^^ ^^ 
 
Saint Paul's Docthink of tiik Atonkmknt. 
 
 31 
 
 this 
 rpre- 
 
 vork. 
 to it, 
 
 iriii of 
 (tVcnd- 
 ipturc. 
 iidorcd 
 2 refer- 
 When 
 rcmein- 
 .tlier, to 
 u\t i»e \ri 
 ■ if thoii 
 ;" and, 
 irrv feel- 
 , i\nd be 
 
 term i" 
 3," and it 
 
 the form 
 1 we were 
 is Son :" X 
 \ even our 
 did not, it 
 
 God: yet 
 only mean 
 sentence of 
 ,nciliation 
 
 the hvtter 
 
 surely this 
 ition is war- 
 
 V. 23, 24. 
 
 ranted, not hy our conscionsiicss of In-iii^ friendly towards (lod, 
 hut by our kii(>\vlodgo tliat Ilo is friendly towards us. And, \et 
 furtlier, tliis verse is clearly an emphatic r(|K'tition, in varied 
 phraseolon;y and in«tre formal ar;i;ument, of the thoujxht contained 
 in the verse preeedinj; : "J'xinjji: now justified by His blood, we 
 shall be saved I'rom wrath thr()U<rh Him." The two are parallel, 
 and one must interpret the other. The justification of the ninth 
 verse and the reconciliation of the tenth, thon<;h not piXK'isely, 
 are yet substantially the same : both objective; one, the j»'ift, the 
 other, the attitude, of <^iod ; the latter, like the former, implyinj^ 
 the removal of CJod's displeasure from us, not the change of our 
 feelinti; towards (Jod. 
 
 Coming now to tiie great passage which these references are 
 intended to illustrate,* we find that it includes and distinguishes 
 both parts of the reciprocal work of i-eeoneiliation. "(lod was 
 in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself:'' it was a recon- 
 ciliation affecting all equally. " He hath committed unto us the 
 word of reconciliation :" it is now proclaimed that men may avail 
 themselves of it. " God hath reconciled us to Himself by Jesus 
 Christ:" it was done once for all, and we took no part in it. 
 " Be ye reconciled to God :" this remains to be doiie^ and we must 
 be actors now. The reconciliation of God, previous to reconcilia- 
 tion in man, is further emphasized by a statement of its nature — 
 " not imputing their trespasses unto them ;" and of its ground 
 — " he hath made Him to be sin for us who knew no sin." The 
 teaching of the whole passage is clear and positive, that recon- 
 (.'iliation is primarily a change in God's relation to men, effected 
 by the Atonement of Christ, and that "the individual reconcilia- 
 tion to God is no other than the personal assumption of the 
 benefit of the general reconciliation." f 
 
 A recent Unitarian writer gives a candid interpretation of 
 this teaching of Paul. " It was only a part of what Paul taught 
 * * * that Jesus reconciled man to God. It was the expe- 
 rience of the Christian world that God also had been reconciled 
 
 *2Cor. V. 18-21. 
 
 fPope: Compendium of Christian Tfieology, If., 287. 
 
 t^ I 
 
ilr 
 
 'i I 
 
 IIIH'- 
 
 ,]\'\ 
 
 ill! 
 
 '■ill in 
 
 I8ii \ \ 
 
 illi 
 
 .1 
 
 11 
 
 32 
 
 Saint PauI'«*' v.n<r of Him, 
 
 .U«t of tl.o man ." - ' » ^^ .,,. ,„„,, oon.tort, b, > ^^,,,_ 
 
 „„, fal uny mon,. tt " ^^^^^^^^ ,.^^ ,„,ge,. tl.,.n 
 
 «orW awn-eci .t; «»'»'' '^ „.,,,,," t 
 
 trine. h»t t 't n ,o„,l,.su»« a«l. uea ^^, ,,„j 
 
 foun-W on 'n^c 1 .^^^^.^^,^ -'""'™"*t lla to eonstrnction, 
 "recossniM, *->>»•> ^ ,,... -.In.ost witbout regain , 
 
 U,.s, Epistles cr«mi.lea«l.,.>l ^ , «l.cn r«>.l, '-*> r;'^ 
 
 „3if tl.ey«mst,U.e<Uchar _^^^.^^_ ,^ f nr^" bs, "«" 
 
 broken from tbc.r pl-'<-«/; ^,,,, inaevendent P™^\^ ;^^ ,, 
 
 P™P "i: "^ t"-V^S -"l 'TTnr^ MV.s n'de of 
 closely otnted ''"''" °.t„es so mucb .«J«r«l by ^^^^ 
 
 treatment as the long ^ 
 
 the Apostle's «"""§ are.1 to state, be ^^^^^ 
 
 particular V^^^^fJ^Zn bitberto omitte;!, tbat we n y ^^^ ^^ 
 k one of them ba bee .^^ ^^_^^^^,„„ .„ the g 
 
 arg„..e„ts una th ^_^_^^^.^^__ ,„„„, «s, p 
 
 *Dr. B«f«s *^"'! „ .^„uary 1882, V- 17. 
 
 
Saint Pail's l)(KTinNK ok thi: Atom-.mknt. 
 
 • ••> 
 
 Him, 
 
 1)1' the 
 OS not 
 . unth- 
 
 im, io»; 
 Ih'Voih* 
 
 ami \>»>* 
 
 our reVi- 
 
 • 
 
 s a\rcctU' 
 f \»is tloc- 
 
 vvou\(l not 
 ashUNvnt- 
 lUfttruction, 
 t v.ieoenical, 
 
 ^ sentence or 
 roverbs, not 
 Y. There is 
 this mode oi" 
 tatlon of tbc 
 
 :„eral tenor of 
 
 ,„ement whie^ 
 
 consideration 
 
 we may now 
 the greatest of 
 
 1882, p. 16. 
 
 V. Aiuoii^ all passii^'cs nC the S-riptiin's wliicli treat eitlicr ot' 
 Atonement or .ln>tifi<'atioii, tlie fnt'ii.s r/dssintu is J{oni. iii. 'J 4-'2<), 
 a i>a>saj;o wliieli <lerives its iinixii'taiMH' not only from tlie iuhM'>s 
 of its own statement, but from its relation to the tlisens-iion in 
 wliieh it stands. 
 
 Paul lia<l lon^ «lesir(Ml to visit Rome* that he mi^ht >ee tiio 
 ehureh foumled by his (»\vn disciples, that he n»i;;lit haveclireet 
 fruits of his ministry in Home also, and that he mi^ht build up 
 a j>o\verful Christian organization in the Capitid of the Kmpire, 
 whose influence on the fortunes of Christianity in the ^^'e^t ho 
 could not but foresee. The lonjij-<leferre<l hopi; may be near its 
 fulfilment. When he shall have gone to Jerusalem with the collec- 
 tion madc! in Macedonia and (ireece, his ministry in tlu; Kast 
 will for the present be ended ; and then he proj)oses to travel to 
 the western limits of civili/ati»»n, carryinu: the (iospel into Spain, 
 and takin<; Home by the way. f Jint the futiu'e is uncertain, and 
 he goes " bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the 
 things which shall befall him there."| Whetlua* his hope of a 
 personal ministry in Rome is realized or not, he feels it imjtort- 
 ant that his teaching should be fully known tiiere, and have the 
 seal of his own autlu»rity. Perhaps also la; desires, before it is 
 too late, to put the cardinal doctrines of his (Jospel in such forma) 
 order and permanent record as may guard the interests of the 
 churches and the vital truths of Christianity, after he has fin- 
 ished his course.;:} No special circumstances in the Roman 
 church decide the matter or the form of his letter. There are 
 no heresies tiiere wli'ch he will refute. He writes in no polemic 
 spirit, except as tlie unceasing conflict between Jewish Christian- 
 ity and his own, gave a polemic cast to his ministry in general. 
 He writes with deliberate intention to give full and formal 
 statement of "tlie Gospel, as to which his disciples had already 
 instructed them, in the entire connection of its constituent fun- 
 damental principles." || 
 
 *Kom. i. 10-13. 
 § Kom. XV. 15, l(i. 
 
 X Acts XX. '22. 
 
 t Rom. XV. 23-25. 
 
 II Meyer: Coniinentary on Koinans, Vol. 1, p. 31. 
 
1 ! 
 
 lii 
 
 lii 
 
 
 - . 1 .livW"" "f "'« '^""" • 
 
 1 Till' 1 1""" "' ' . • .. -.i \» "tlii^ lli}!in""i 
 
 <-' >';.";';: It w«i," -'-^f ;,;,'! uu..t.-:..i<... ...• 
 
 typical cii^* ♦»» „^,u.^s-' t «"*^ NN»CVC, i'> 1 . j^„ 
 
 "»'" "-, '■";• .';f \: :: " <>-•.■»« "- 't'^t: «::: ' « ti.ey 
 
 wliosu ....q'l."^ „v„<,iiv.»o.is w.tl. ""- . \ ,,„„cval tenor 
 
 ,„„ke» .•igl.te-.'^"'-; >^;;;;;.>^,. ,, .„^ ,,„«.ever, .« the genu 
 
 •l-l,e one ""^^■""""''._' ,„„v to t.i>« '.'. . „ rCvi-.c craec to 
 
 „f the ,.rg.....e..t -;: .^^^ eial intevi-o^Hion of P^ • « ^ , .^ 
 
 T!,e nc«...ty "f «-'<•= ^1 ^.^^ -...t to l.e l" -^rt . 
 
 the WO.-W. Amonb v.sobeye.!, anil tl.r""- , ^^^ to 
 
 •-' ^Ttm urX"» o-t»" "■-''' , :^::, oXn.ea -a 
 
 obsenrea, »..t.l ""- ,. o„a into a 1'^; ;^"'' ,.,^ aegraaation 
 
 .f their very religions lias ^^^^^^^ .^ e,^ -^. 
 
 pose and in fuller detail, Bee i ^ Rom. i- 1^ -o- 
 
 pp. 2'2o-249. 
 
f i 
 
 I II 
 
 (' ' 'I 
 
 Saint Paii/.s Dcmtiiink of tiik Atonkmknt. 
 
 ;j.j 
 
 i; !l 
 
 \h cx- 
 
 ^ The 
 
 I nv.iu »rt 
 ioi\ (t. ^• 
 
 e of i)cr- 
 t\ie con- 
 
 itviitiou «»*' 
 the great 
 rts i'oiinte<l 
 . the NV()V<^« 
 of tU<^ "^^" 
 ;,! uve they 
 iVcreA "^ — "6 
 .»» of si"^" ^ 
 rcncval tenor 
 
 vine grace to 
 oYC(\: and it 
 t, anc^ ruin of 
 e'and the nat- 
 (lisobeiUence, 
 
 IV fallen as to 
 
 ,ovsliipp<^^^ and 
 
 ius aegraaation 
 
 aegraaation ot 
 
 ^Kom. iv. 6, 7. 
 vith the same pur- 
 I. A.; Lecture \i-. 
 
 social and private life, in the wide-spread prevalence of viecs 
 whose very niention sullies tli«' Apostle's pa;;e. * Yet the (Jen- 
 tiles retain siillieient of the lijrht of eonseien«v to l»e investt-d with 
 the eharaett'r ot' moral responsihility, aiwi to Ix-ar the sense of 
 ^uilt: for they "know the Jiidj^iuent of (Jod, that tiiey which 
 cointnit such tilings are worthv of death," and vet " not onlv do 
 the same, but have pleasure in them that do them."t 
 
 And what of the Jew? He has some advantayri-over tl 
 
 le 
 
 (Jentile, for "unto him were committed the ora<'les of (lod."]; 
 ile is aware of the advanta;;e, and proud of it : "he rests upon 
 the law, and makes his boast of (lod, and is conlidetit that he is 
 a li^ht to them that are in darkness."?} l>ut (lod d(»es not 
 approve men for their knowledge, or condemn them for their 
 ignorance: II lie "will render to every man according to his 
 deeds."^ Jf, while teaching others, Ik; does not teach himself; 
 if, while boasting of the law, he breaks the law, the Jew disbe- 
 lieves God, and circumcision itself beconu's the sign of guilt.** 
 What, tiien, are the liicts in regard to him? Is he better than 
 others who have not the law? So far from this, the picture 
 given of the corruption of the Gentile world is a mirror in which 
 he may see himself: "he that judges the other condennis him- 
 self, for he does the same things." ff Let his own .Scriptures 
 describe the state of both : " There is none righteous, * »= * 
 they have all gone out of the way, * * * there is no tear 
 of God before tiieir eyes." ;{:;{; The Jew cannot evade the voice of 
 the accuser, for what his Scriptures say, they say to him : " What- 
 sover the law saith, it saith to them who are umler the law."§§ 
 Thus, "the wiiole world is guilty before (Jod, and by the deeds 
 of the law shall no flesh be justified in His sight." |||| 
 
 With what feeling, then, n)ust God regard the world ? How 
 will He, how must He treat it? The Apostle gives the terrible 
 answer: "the wrath of (iod is revealed from heaven against all 
 ungodliness and unrighteousness of mcn,"^Ti of the Cientile of 
 
 *Roin. i. -JG-iil. tKoni. 1. ;?2. 
 
 II Rom. ii. iL'-lf). !i Rom. ii. G. 
 
 t+Rom. iii. 10-1 S. ^ Rom. iii. 19. 
 
 :J: Rom. iii. "J. 
 ** Rom. ii. 21-23. 
 lijl Rom. iii. l!>, 20. 
 
 ^ Rom. ii. 17-211 
 ft Rom. ii. 1. 
 ** Rom. i. IS. 
 
36 
 
 Saint Pati/s Dcktrjnk of thk Atonement. 
 
 if! 
 
 ilJ! 
 
 foiirso, hut of the Jow even more; for he, by tlie abuse of supe- 
 rior privile<;es, " treatiiwcs up iiiito liimself wrath against the day 
 of wratli and revehition of the rij^hteous judgment of God."* 
 Such are the guilt, the eondeniuation, and the doom of the entire 
 world. 
 
 And now, to this world is revealed a "righteousness of 
 (lod," "apart from the law," "through faith in Jesus Christ." f 
 What is this righteousness? How is it effected? Does it con- 
 serve the honour of God, while it reveals His love? We have 
 reac^hed the climax of the Apostle's argument, and we may ex- 
 j)ect a formal and careful statement of the glorious truth. He 
 makes it in the fullest expression of his doctrine of the Atone- 
 ment to be found in all his writings: "All have sinned, and 
 come short of the glory of God ; being justified freely by Plis 
 grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus; whom Go^ 
 hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, 
 to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are 
 past, througli the forbearance of God ; to declare, I say, at this 
 time His righteoutness ; that He might be just, and thejustifier 
 of him which believeth in Jesus." | 
 
 Here we have, first, a brief statement that justification, or the 
 righteousness hitherto spoken of, is a free gift of the grace of 
 God ; and then a much longer statement of the medium through 
 which it is conferred, " the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." 
 
 Now, let it be remembered, that the salvation for which the 
 argument of the Apostle has ])reparcd the way, is an objective 
 gift, not a subjective work. It may issue in a great renewal of 
 man's nature, — the Apostle afterwards shows that it does, — but 
 he has not reached that subject yet ; he is ni w concterned with 
 an outward deliverance, salvation as a fact of history, not salva- 
 tion as an experience of the heart. It is salvation from " the 
 wrath of God" which "is revealed from heaven," from the "in- 
 dignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish [that shall come] 
 upon every soul of man that doeth evil ;" and this salvation has 
 been gained by Jesus (^hrist. An objective Atonement, tiiere- 
 
 * Rom. ii. 5, G, 8, 9. fKoni. ii5. 21, 22. J Kom. iii. 23-26. 
 
 tn 
 St 
 tu 
 aij 
 inl 
 
 ej 
 
 Gl 
 
'W' 
 
 Saint Paul's Docthink of tiik Atoxemknt. 
 
 37 
 
 supe- 
 le dav 
 ckI."* 
 entire 
 
 less of 
 
 rist."t 
 it con- 
 ^e have 
 nay ex- 
 h. He 
 
 Atone- 
 icd, and 
 
 by His 
 lom Go "'" 
 is blood, 
 i that arc 
 ', at this 
 e justifier 
 
 on, or the 
 e grace of 
 n through 
 ist Jesus." 
 which the 
 n objective 
 renewal ot 
 does,— but 
 «rned with 
 J not salva- 
 from "the 
 om the"in- 
 sliall come] 
 alvation has 
 ment, there- 
 
 in. 
 
 23-26. 
 
 fore, inndo once for all, is the logical issue of the Apostle's 
 argument. 
 
 That this salvation is by a judgment of (Jod, changing the 
 legal relations oi men, and not by the 8|)irit of God elianging 
 their character; tliat it is a purely objective wori<, and therefore 
 inconsistent with that view of the Atonement wiiich represents it 
 as having for ils only end the renewal of the life of men, is further 
 made clear by tlie important connection between the twenty-tiiird 
 and twenty-fourth verses, for : "All have sinned and come short of 
 tlie glory of God." " To come short of," means "to be destitute 
 of." The same word [hustcrco) is found in such passages as "One 
 thing thou lackest," * "He began to be in want,"t "Lest any man 
 fail of tiie grace of God."| "Tlu; glory {(lo.va) of God" is the 
 praise, the favour of God, as in the passages, " How can ye believe 
 which receive honour (r/o.r«») one of another?" § "They loved 
 the praise [do.van) of men more tlian the praise {(loxan) of Goo'."|| 
 Then, also, the change of tense is noticeable; " all have sinned" 
 (a ]>ast fact), and "all are destitute (a present want) of the favour 
 of God." Now, this present need is met and filled by God's 
 grace : " Being justified freely by His grace, through the redemp- 
 tion that is in Christ Jesus." The conclusion is inevitable that 
 St. Paul is here contemj)lating, not the change of man's disj)osi- 
 tion toward God, but the restoration of man to the favour of God, 
 and that, not by the renewal of his character, but, notwithstand- 
 ing his character, on the ground of the Atonement of Christ. 
 
 The nature and relations of that Atonement he proceeds to 
 ex])lain. It was provided by the love and wisdom of God : 
 " Whom God hath set forth," either " designed beforehand," as 
 many critics prefer, or, with our version and modern commenta- 
 tors in general, " set forth publickly." In either case, the tleath 
 of Christ was not merelv the natural result of His collision with 
 the sinful and hostile forces of the world ; it was designed by 
 God as "a propitiation" for the sins of man. 
 
 No eifort of criticism can remove the Sacrificial idea of this 
 word, " propitiation " {hilaHterion). We may regard it as an 
 
 *Mark x. 21. f Luke xv. 14. % Ileb.xii. 15. g John v. 44. || .John xii. 43. 
 
III 
 
 ;! i 
 
 i I 
 
 I! ill '. 
 
 m 
 
 3« S.,.xP.m,.Bo<.-K«.n.KA™.-s.. 
 
 1 -il the VuVate ami the 
 ,,r,cotivc used «.bsta..tivcly, an<l r«« , w. -^^^ .^ ^^ ^„ 
 
 AS,on..l Version, " a I'-l';;' •,,,:;; our ehoic being 
 elliptical expression ami -m^^ . ,„,„,- seat," the other 
 between two; one (e,nilmna) "'^^"Jf ,^„ , „,, finally, we may 
 (thuua) making i. 'V""'''" thrlljeetive form, ami reachng, 
 avoi.1 ni«,Mi.>estions by reta nu g the a^ ^^^^j.__^_ ^^,,,^„ „ „- 
 
 „ith Morrison, " ''M-rop' - °0-„ ^^^ ^^^ ij,„ „f saer.fiee 
 
 fiea by the elanse " n, Ins bh>od c ^^^ _^^^^^_^ ^,^^ ^^„j,,,. 
 
 and the idea of propit.at.on. 1 or, e ^^ ^,^^ ,^^„ 
 
 tig " merey seat," the ^-P^^'T,;^:!, inspired the Tsrae 1- 
 ^:t, sprinkled with the blood of A"' ,ri„uied with 
 
 Ue :S <«nfiaenc. in th. ^J^ O^^^ ',,L,,,, and the 
 His own bloo.1, is the ground and pl = ^^^^^^ ^^^ ^„ ,„^„j. 
 
 „.edi«n, of a sinner's m^'^^^ „f ,„,,l,ing the alter- 
 ,.eas„as against this v,ew * »'«' \- ^,,^,, u„i,arian scholar. Dr. 
 „,We substantive, that the »« ' ^^ « ^^ ^ 
 
 Noyes, translates, "Whom ««l ' ;;^^,, . ;„ His blood," does 
 Jifiee." The pos. .on f^^J^^^ ^,,,;„,er He was set for h 
 not affect the dc^.trn.al '«»*"«;'';,,, His blood, or is to l« 
 - «>^ r \°It:t' h1" . tfoLvs that ms blood, or 
 received bv ti^itn m a^ 
 
 death, is the great F^f -'"^^Xr " ,,,« purpose of God in the 
 Paul then proceeds to ^»«-;^f \ ^,,,U'that sacrifice avad 
 .acrific. of Christ, and the ^ <^ ^';„,,,tation, "a pract.ea 
 for the forgiveness of «">«. " .s ^^^^ ^,^^ „f 
 
 (■"+ nf the r ghteousness ot Vjou i ", ,. •„ jcsus 
 proof, t ot tin. > o f„„tiving those who beue\e 
 
 former times, and m now fo'S^^'-S „ ;„ t,,is place must, of 
 Christ. " The rigLteousness of Go ^^^^^^_ ,. He 
 
 course, be an attr>buteotGo<hi^^, It„>ustbeH.s 
 might be just," settles that. But w'.a ^^ ^,„,^<„ty, 
 
 Idminisfitive justice, -^^^^'J^ ^^ f,ea„u.g of the Greek 
 «... holiness, as --^-^ ^^^^ „ent, the opp<«itiou tn t^ 
 word, the usage of he ^'^ . „^," and " the r.ghteous- 
 
 fifth verse tetween """"teot .^^ ^,^^ ^,^^^,„^ 
 
 r.e ri«vl " the employment oi i"« i 
 
 UCSSofCKXl, .Meyer: CoiBmentary.mJoco. 
 
 * See Meyer, in ioco. 
 
Saint Paul's Doctrine of tiik Atoxkment. 
 
 ao 
 
 I tlie 
 is an 
 )c'ing 
 otiier 
 may 
 
 uling, 
 modi- 
 
 }iuler- 
 
 mercy 
 
 Tsrael- 
 21! with 
 and the 
 
 many 
 le aUer- 
 )lar, Dr. 
 )itiatory 
 
 •d," does 
 set forth 
 ' is to be 
 blood, or 
 
 od in the 
 fice avails 
 
 1 practical 
 the sins of 
 e in Jesus 
 
 2 must, of 
 , " that He 
 luist be His 
 or veracity, 
 f the Greek 
 ition in the 
 e righteous- 
 le p-eceding 
 
 n loco. 
 
 discussion to denote tlic riglit relation of man to law, rc([uire 
 that now, when it denotes an attril)ute or cliaracter of (Jod, its 
 meaning shall be " the right relation of Go<l to law," i.e., his 
 rectoral or administrative justice. It is impossible that St. Paul 
 has suddenlv introduced an essentiallv dirtereut meaning: in the 
 very crisis of liis argument. The propitiation of Christ, says 
 Paul, manifests, proves, vin«licates the justice of God, and makes 
 it possible " that He might be just and the justifier of him that 
 believeth." The commentators often add, " /. c, that He might 
 be seen to be just." But why dilute the Apostle's meaning? Is 
 it not the evivlont impl" ation that God could not he just, if He 
 justified men without the proj>itiation of Christ? The teaching, 
 rhen, of St. Paul in this great j)as.sage is that justiticatiou is not 
 the exercise of prerogative, tiiat justice has imperative ri<:;hts, 
 and that those rights are guanled by the atoning sacrifice of 
 Christ. The Atonement is therclbre a satisfat tion of the justice 
 of (iod. 
 
 3. Having seen the doctrinal imj)ort (►f this passage as fixed 
 by its own terms and ''Cjulred by the argument which culmi- 
 nates in it, let us see if the course of ♦he discussion which suc- 
 ceeds it confirms our exposition. 
 
 There immediately follows a defence of faith as the condition 
 of partaking of the benefits of this redemption, illustrated j)ar- 
 ticularlv bv the case of Abraham;* and then Paul proceeds to 
 sum up the results of this nlan of salvation bv Christ. He first 
 mentions peace, and a certain hope of salvation for all 'vho 
 believe ;t and then, as a second consequence, he infers a possi- 
 bility of salvation as universal as the effects of Adam's fall : "As 
 by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to (iondemua- 
 tion ; even so, by the righteousness of one, the free gift came 
 upon all men unto justification of life."| The meaning of this 
 cannot be mistaken ; or, at least, our choice must be between two 
 meanings, — the universal possibility and the universal reality of 
 salvation. In either case the Atonement is a universal blessing. 
 
 (:■■, 
 
 *Kom. Hi. 27 — iv. 25. 
 
 fKoni. V. 1-11. 
 
 J Rom. V. 18. 
 
40 
 
 Saint Patt/s DofTitixK of thk Atgnkment. 
 
 V^'(\ 
 
 Ml 
 
 i 
 
 I: U 
 
 i 
 
 On anv moral tlicorv of the At(MicMiieiit, none are benefited 
 by the work of Christ but those to whom it is made known. It 
 conferred noadvantajjje upon the many <i;enerations that had lived 
 under the cm'se before Christ came; it brought no blessing to 
 the multitudes who since then have lived and died in ignorance 
 of Him ; and, during the nineteen centuries of Christian history, 
 periiaps not one twentieth of maidvind have in any way been 
 benefited by that matchless work of love. But, on Paul's theory, 
 the entire race from Adam to the end has been blessed in Christ. 
 God's forbearance toward the sins that were past was justified in 
 Him ; God's forgiveness of sins in the present time is a righteous 
 act through Him ; and, to the ends of the earth and to the close 
 of time, a light of hope shines upon the spiritual condition and 
 prosj)ects of mankind : " the free gift came upon all men unto 
 justification of life." No theory of the work of Christ but one 
 which recognizes an objective Atonement, removing obstacles to 
 salvation, and thus bringing a positive advantage to men inde- 
 pendently of faith and of knowledge, can sustain the logic of the 
 Apostle and save his argument from a most impotent conclusion. 
 
 From this deduction Paul advances to another, and in the 
 sixth and seventh chapters shows that, not only are the moral 
 character and the godly living of believers not endangered by 
 this method of salvation, but they are made more sure and per- 
 fect ; and this, because Christ by his work of Atonement both 
 breaks the bondage of sin and inspires new and mighty motives 
 to obedience. There was the more need of his doing this, because 
 it was already slanderously reported that he encouraged immor- 
 ality by his doctrine, and said " Let us do evil that good may 
 come." * Now, what was the theory of Atonement that suggested 
 such an accusation, and made it necessary in a brief treatise of 
 eleven chapters, handling a high argument and embracing many 
 connected themes, to ask the question, " What shall we say then ? 
 Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound ?"t and to de- 
 vote so long a passage to the answer? The character of the 
 charge is a certificate of the character of the doctrine. If Paul 
 
 *Roni. iii. 8. f Rom. vi 1. 
 
 
 trii 
 
 of 
 
 mat 
 
 thi 
 
 gi\\ 
 
 \my 
 
 the! 
 
 wai 
 
 a \\ 
 
 doc 
 
 satj 
 
 and 
 
■fi IB 
 
 Saint PArr/s Doctrine of the Atonement. 
 
 41 
 
 M 
 
 fitcd 
 
 It 
 lived 
 iig to 
 riince 
 5tory, 
 been 
 leory, 
 nirist. 
 led in 
 liteous 
 2 close 
 )n and 
 11 unto 
 mt one 
 leles to 
 I inde- 
 p of the 
 lUision. 
 in the 
 ; moral 
 :red by 
 nd per- 
 nt both 
 motives 
 because 
 immor- 
 t)od may 
 uggested 
 'eatise of 
 ng many 
 ay then ? 
 id to de- 
 ir of the 
 
 If Paul 
 
 had taught any of tliose views of Atonement which exclude its 
 vicarious character, such a charge had been im|)ossihie. Had he 
 thought and taugiit that the Atonement was the appointment of 
 love, but not the requirement of justice; that it was a movement 
 of the Divine love and holiness upon the heart of man, and that 
 alone; that its (nie design was to renew the souls of men and 
 form them to holy character, by the portrait of human excellence 
 in the character of Jesus, and by the proof and power of Divine 
 compassion ; then, no such representation of its effects as its 
 enemies made had ever been possible, and neither friend nor foe 
 had imagined the Apostle as saying: "Let us do evil that good 
 may come." But, if Paul taught that Christ was a sacriHce for 
 man to the justice of God, a substitute suffering in the room of 
 men and expiating all human sin, then the inference, however 
 false in itself, would have some plausibility. His enemies, in 
 their effort to destroy his doctrine, have made it certain what that 
 doctrine was. 
 
 4. The passage which we have now been considering is the 
 only one in the Scriptures in which the need of Atonement is 
 grounded in the Justice of God ; and more than any other it has 
 shaped the church's doctrine of Atonement for eight hundred 
 years. This aspect of the subject, as a peculiarity of Paul's doc- 
 trine, is particularly deserving of notice. 
 
 It must be admitted that Paul does not say that the design 
 of Christ's atoning work was to .satisfij the Justice of God, but to 
 manifest it. But he does say — his whole argument culminates in 
 the assertion — that this manifestation was necessary to make for- 
 giveness right and possible, and that without it God could not 
 have been "just and the justificr" of men. The Justice of God, 
 therefore, made unconditional pardon impossible; the condition 
 was supplied by the propitiation of Christ : and it follows that in 
 a very real sense, if not in the sense of Calvinism — in which the 
 doctrine is generally understood when it is attacked — Christ did 
 satisfv the Justice of God. 
 
 The term "Satisfaction" is not found in the Xew Testament, 
 and appears but once in the Old.* The history of Christian doc- 
 
 * Numbers xxxv. 31, 32. 
 
ii!:il 
 
 42 SM.rP,u-.,'sD<-r.MS...-r„.Axo.KMKKT. 
 
 s, 1, in the «.„se with «l.iei. we are 
 trine <l.>c* not meet ^.tW - ,^,^,,^ (^ „, ,„on>inent u. 
 
 famiru.r until tl.c tnne "f ■ ^ ;,^ ,„^,.,„ ^ ,,eep an imprcs.on 
 
 '•»'"x,,e «.,.a i. ce..tai«K. Ua,.Je to a|,n^ It -.|-;-;-:'- 
 „, the payment oniei.t ^^^^^^^^X^^. Strictly inter- 
 ,„„ac upon those u, «'>"';» ;,,,,,,,Uy of the Atonement, 
 ,,rete.l, it is incons,stent "'"'^^ " „ „,„, it belongs properly 
 I H requires universal -'-' ^'^J, ^ .,„„ed Universalis^. It 
 to the Calvinistic system o ^J^ of Satisfaction fincls a 
 
 ■„ in sueh a eotmeet.on hat he ^^ ^^.^ ^.^^^^ ^^^ j„,, 
 
 ,,,a«, in the scheme of ^-j"^ /, "j ,„,en>,,tion of man, the 
 'of God to make up, by the reattm an J^^ ^^^,^^^ ^^.^^^ 
 
 iaealnumberofintelhgen l."V^-^; ^_,j ^^^^ ,,,„ farther 
 completed by the creatKm "^ t^^ea^^^^ .^ „oq„estion," ho says 
 lessened by the angel.c f""; *° ; hapi-iness, both now and 
 "that intelligent "«ture whteh fin sj 1 1 ^^ ^.^ 
 
 forever, in the contem,.lat,on o ( od, ^^^^^^ ^,_^^^ ^^„,,j , 
 
 .,rtai« reasonable and <'-'™^ ;;; .^I^'; 'reatcr.^^ A« modified 
 a„ unfitness in its beu.g ^""'J' ^:' ji.^iic Faith con«=rning the 
 ,,V Grotius in his " l)e ence of the Cath ^__^_.^„y_ 
 
 Satisfaction of C''"f ' . ^ ^ , TustiL of God loses the ob- 
 ,„e doctrine of Sat.s«-^ to ^^ ' j„,.icc and answers 
 
 jectionable features: Chn^t truy ^^ ^._^. b„t he does 
 
 ,,e end of Government '" /^^J' " ; ,,^„,,,ess through suffer- 
 ,,i, ,,y the u,anifetat,on " G-'^J^!;,,,,, ,o the punishment o 
 i„S,s which, for th.s ^''■.f '^ fi,^,f His Satisfaction makes 
 si;:ncrs, but "»* .f-V"!'* "1 lu ondition of his re,,cntance 
 forgiveness possible to every .nan on ^^^^^ ._^ „f 
 
 and faith : it docs f "V^f^^^";^ ^t condition. Still less does 
 a.., „.an without tHe f-'«'- » ^^^^ ^^^„,„., , ,. ... 
 
 *An8elm:CurDeu8Homo,Bk.I.chap 
 Sac, Oct. 1854 and Jan. 1800. 
 
Saint Paul's Docthim: of thk Atonkmknt 
 
 All 
 
 } arc 
 lit in 
 ission 
 i (loc- 
 vcrsv, 
 eiieral 
 
 itlea 
 can be 
 
 inter- 
 lenient, 
 roperly 
 ,m. It 
 
 finds a 
 
 design 
 nan, the 
 
 was not 
 
 further 
 
 he says, 
 now and 
 him in a 
 would be 
 
 modified 
 irning the 
 generally, 
 ;s the ob- 
 d answers 
 lit he does 
 iigh suffer- 
 lishment of 
 tion makes 
 
 repentance 
 
 the case of 
 ill less does 
 
 jd in tlie Bib. 
 
 the use of tlie word "Satisfaction" 1)V anv school of tijcolotjrians 
 imply — what the common nsc; of it by ukmi as expressive of 
 their own demands impHes — the existence of a revenj^cfnl feel- 
 ing which prompts retaliation. The very willin;i;ncss of (Jod to 
 accept the mediating ortices of anotiier holds hack the doctrine 
 from such an extreme. Yet, it is by such a misrcj)rescntation of 
 the doctrine of Satisfaction that it is nuule the butt of the ob- 
 jector's scorn. 
 
 The great importance of the doctrine of Satisfaction, — Paul- 
 ine, Anselmic, and Grotian, — lies in the fact that it iinds the 
 necessity of Atonement in the very nature of (Jod. Tiie treatise 
 of Grotius is sometimes charged with serious defect in referring 
 this necessity to the exigencies of government, an<l not to the 
 nature of God. But God's government derives its charaiitcr from 
 His character : it is because He is what He is, 1 1 Kit His moral 
 rule re(piires an Atonement for sin. W hether our statement refers 
 the need of Atonement to God's nature or God's administration, 
 it is in harmony with the Pauline doctrine that tiie Justice of 
 God requires the Atonement. 
 
 Justice is that attribute of God which first suggests itself 
 to the mind of man as a necessary constituent of His nature. 
 It is that which, without a revelation, most dee| ! impresses 
 him, and under whose shadow he lives and trembles. It is of 
 that Nature assures him ; for she tells him of inxorable law; 
 she warrants no hope of mercy. It is to that conscience testifies: 
 it points to a law, a Judge, a retribution ; it forbids th(.' hope 
 of mercy. It is to the same conclusion, rcfiectioii comes. Justice 
 is seen to be necessarv to tiie order of the universe; mercv is 
 not. Thougii we believe God to be merciful in his nature, 
 we see tiiat in anv u;iven case He mav exercise mercv or not, 
 as He sees fit and ju<lges right. But, God being just, we 
 cannot think He may, in any particular case, be just or not, 
 as He mav choose. He may say " 1 will iiave merctv on 
 whom I will have mercy :" He caimot say " 1 will be just to 
 whom I will be just." He may be merciful to the sinful, if He 
 can also be just; but He must be just even while "the justifier 
 
 i !' 
 
44 
 
 Saint Pail's DofTiUNK of tiik Atonkment. 
 
 * ii 
 
 ill In 
 
 •!i:(fl! 
 
 of him that holieveth." It must therefore bo the case, that when 
 God forgives the sins of men, lie does so in a way (,'onsist<'nt 
 M'ith His justice. Therefore it does not surprise us, but meets 
 our deepest sense of rig:lit, wiien it is revealed tluit the Son of 
 God, in saving men from the jxinalty due tlieir sins, do(\s so in 
 sucli a manner as to satisfy, uphold, and honour the .lustiee of 
 God. "The Atonement" is thus "a Satisfaction for the ethical 
 nature of both God and man."* 
 
 Theories of the origin and nature of Conscience need not be 
 discussed, for they hardly affect our argument. The most recent 
 theory, which seeks to find a place for it in the general doctrine 
 of evolution, certainly does not. Let it be granted in full, and 
 after all it does not account for the faculty which j)ronounces the 
 moral imperative — except as it accounts for the existence of man 
 — but for the character of those moral distinctions which are 
 made by men, and which may change with civilizations, with 
 philoso})hies, with religions, while the faculty which is properly 
 called Conscience remains the same. The existence of Con.<cience 
 as a real and distinguishing faculty of man continues undisturbed; 
 and the faculty and its operations may as surely be made the 
 matter of observation and the basis of argument, as the contents 
 of consciousness in general, or the phenomena of the external 
 world. 
 
 On the commission of sin, arises immediately the sense of 
 guilt: the transgressor judges and condemns himself. This self- 
 condemnation is purely spontaneous. The will has no control 
 over it : it does not arise by effort ; it (;annot be driven away by 
 resolve. In other words, it is a part of man's very constitution ; 
 that is, it is implanted by God ; that is, it is the voice of God, 
 and the reflection of His own nature, — it testifies to God and to 
 His moral rule. Now, this sentiment must be propitiated before 
 it can be pacified. It demands atonement for sin, before it can 
 permit the sinner to rest. A report was lately given of the case 
 of a man who had stolen a large sum of money ; had been tried 
 
 * Shedd : Discourses and Essays. One of the Essays, to wliich this para- 
 graph is indebted, has for its title the words quoted above. 
 
 all 
 in 
 vol I 
 Hei 
 in 
 
 Till 
 
 be 
 
 n 
 
Saint Paui/s Dcktkink of the Atonement. 
 
 ».") 
 
 stent 
 iieets 
 on of 
 so in 
 ice ot* 
 thical 
 
 not be 
 recent 
 jctrinc 
 11, ami 
 CCS the 
 of man 
 ich are 
 ^s, with 
 roperly 
 iiftcienee 
 sturbed ; 
 lade the 
 contents 
 external 
 
 sense of 
 rhis self- 
 
 control 
 
 1 away by 
 istitution ; 
 ;e of G(k1, 
 ckI and to 
 ited before 
 fore it can 
 of the case 
 
 been tried 
 
 ich this para- 
 
 and ac<juitt('(l ; had afterwards restored the stolen property on 
 reeeivinjj^ a ple(lo;o tliat he would never he exposed ; and yet, 
 inontlis afterwards, surrenchned himself to justice, iK-eause he 
 <'(»;d(l have no peace until he accepted the cousequen(vs of his siu 
 and made atonement.* \o\v, in tiiis instance, whi<'h, thonjjjh ex- 
 treme, illustrates the feelin<:;s wliich «;xist in every case of wrouij;- 
 doin<>; where the conscience is not seared, what was that authority 
 which the criminal soujj^ht to appease and satisfy hy the act of 
 atonement? It will not do to sav that it was his own mind ; for if 
 a man could be sure that his crime, be^iiuiint^ in himself, was shut 
 up and ended there, he would not trouble himself with exterior 
 considerations. Nor co dd it be the persons he had defrauded : 
 he had made restiiuilon to them, but was not satisfied. Nor 
 could it be the law of his country : that law had acquitted him, 
 knew no claim aj^ainst him, never could trouble him again ; and 
 vet he deliberatelv soutfht its penalties. The onlv answer that 
 meets the case is that it was the eternal law of ri»:;ht, speaking 
 through his conscience and asserting its claims. But a law u!i- 
 embodicd and im[)crsonal could assert no such clain.s, and insfjire 
 no such dread ; and it could be no other than the law personal 
 and supreme. Thus the conscience testifies to the personality of 
 God, and bears witness to the need of Atonement. 
 
 This has been the testimony and demand of the conscience in 
 all nations and grades and ages of men. It cries out with pain 
 in the poetry of every land and every time. It spoke in the 
 voices of the prophets, and in the [)euitential Psalms, and in the 
 Hebrew ritual. It has spoken in every system of religion and 
 in all the Sacred Books of man : 
 
 "Out from tl e heart of nature rolled 
 This bunleu of the Libles old."t 
 
 The ancient and continuous cry of the soul, — " How should man 
 be just with God?"| — it is satisfied first, and only, and fully, in 
 
 *New York Christian Advocate, February 19th, 1882. 
 t Emerson: The Problem. The true reading is — 
 
 "Out from the heart of nature rolled 
 The burdens of the IJible old." 
 X Job ix. 2. 
 
4e s.,.TP,.u,;sn.K-r...sK...-n"-.A— -■ 
 
 , r 1 . flip f'lct of !»»?< 
 
 „f tl.e Crns., .."<!, «"''_ ""^ 
 (io.l«ju^t. Tto.^tl'*-' ••'""-'""*■ 
 
 „r,„„„c,ty,0.e."ee.l<>n.>....'"^'V-' 
 
 -rUe dussifioation am' •"">'>--' ,,;^'„ „,,, ,„e,. given, 
 „,„ ,v«>t subject of A>"-;"»;^ '"• i,, ,|„t by .l.e api-i';:" 
 e,u.Ule us .0 forn,,. ;>.e u^ — ' ; ^,„ i,„,„,.o of I.. 
 
 „..„t ol- .1.0 love o (Jo.1, :u jr ..^.o^passiou for n.eu, the 
 „«.u .cal for GoJ'. glory ^J^ ^,,^ ,],.^,. „f tl.c Cross us 
 
 Lora Jesus C''"f f'-'^'V/, Tl c \vorUl, ,,resentiug to the r.gh- 
 a Substitute au.l S»«:'h'« f"' '''^ 4,„ ,,' f„r tl.e l-unislnncnt oi 
 
 teous Uuler of »>- '":'^'^^";" v , g before meu the just.ee 
 
 dinners, an.l „.anii^.stn,g »-^^^^^ ^^„„ the cuds of a 
 ,..a holiucBS "ff»^^;-X! ;:;,!:• to an u>en, o„ coud,tu,« of 
 
 s^r:;r;rL;:ii-'-.a..iou of their sius. 
 
 0.,.cno.toSta>aurs— e_ofU,eA^^^^^^^^^ 
 „rauged under two go.-al ^acl ; ^^^^^^^^^^^ .^^ oi.jcctlous 
 ,ubstano«, and those «1. cl ''^ ' ^^.,„, „.„,g„i,,e and th-c 
 
 „f the fi.'st Uin.l are made bo«. by ^^^^ j.^_._,,^,. ,„„tc„dn,g 
 
 ,,,,., repudiate the au.bo" ) "^ « ^^^ „,„, ., ,„,ter o 
 
 „,at the doctrn.c '.« ■'"'.'^f:^ li'tle „,„mcut whether he teaches 
 course considering it a matte, ot 
 
 it or not. „ , . , i.-„„l have already, to some extent, 
 
 1. Objections of "'»«-' ^l/^r,, ,„ffieio,.t to a.ld that 
 ,,een ..oticcl h.cdentalU. ,„ i,,erfcct or erro..eous state- 
 
 nearly all of then, a.-e '» "f P-^^^^,^,,,,' ,,,,icl. have been cWv 
 „.ent of the doctri..e All -;^;' ,^,^,,„y. not only to fill o..t 
 ered in the Apostle's tea In g a ^J.^^ ._^ ^ ,„„, „,«pt- 
 
 his own concepfon, but fo prcse. 
 
 • Cowpcr: YurdleyOak. 
 
Saint l*.\ri/s I)(« timm: ok i.ii: Atonkmknt. 
 
 17 
 
 easy 
 
 nciit 
 
 that 
 
 I lis on 
 Lniven, 
 
 ro^*s art 
 
 e rigl»- 
 rncnt of 
 ! justice 
 kIs of a 
 iition of 
 
 t may be 
 ite to its 
 objections 
 iind those 
 intending 
 c latter of 
 he teaches 
 
 me extent, 
 ) add that 
 icons state- 
 een discov- 
 er to fill out 
 orm accept- 
 
 able to the reason and the moral sense. Those objections which 
 are nr^(!d witii the greatest emphasis, and tell with the; greatest 
 for(!c, are based for the most part upon |)artial statements of the 
 truth. Tiic i<;norin;; of some important particular invests th<' 
 objection with any plausibility it may possess. Kor instance, the 
 sid)stitution of the imiocent for the ;^uilty is represented as an 
 innnoral |)rocedin'e. It niay, indeed, l)e so; but wiicther it be so 
 will depend U|)on tiie circumstances of the case. In this case it 
 has not seemed so to the j;jreat<>st number of intelli<:;ent Chris- 
 tians, to those in whom the moral sense has been most hit^hly 
 educated, who have been most (piick to feel the shame of injus- 
 tice and to blaze with indiirnation atrain- 1 it. What then makes 
 the difference between those to whom the doctrine is the most 
 affecting statement of both the justice and the love of (iod, and 
 those who make the objection ? It is that *' the Christian Ixnly 
 has taken the doctrine as a whole, with all the light which the 
 different elements of it throw upon each other, while the objec- 
 tion has only fixed on one element in the doctrine, abstra(!ted 
 from the others."* It has fastened attention upon the substitu- 
 tion of the imiocent for the guilty; it has ignored the voluntari- 
 ness of the Victim and Mis relation to the (Jodhead. 
 
 A F^uropean city was being decimated by a |>lague so new to 
 the medical world that no means suggested by experience served 
 to stay its ravages, and so perilous to approatih that no proper 
 studv of it could be made. It was agreed among phvsicians that 
 until some expert should incur the danger and watch a case 
 through all its phases, the position was hopeless. Who would 
 do it? A young physician said, " I will make the observations 
 to-morrow." During the day he provided means to secure the 
 results of his study, said farewell to his friends, and cabnly j)re- 
 pared for death. In the morning he shut iiimself up with a new 
 victim of the jJague, watched by him till the end, dissected the 
 body, made a perfect record of his observations, and then went 
 through the agony and died. 
 
 *Mozley: University Sermons, ji. 1(52. 
 

 48 
 
 .' Till-' X'roNKMKN'l'- 
 
 ,„,,..r. must a>. ; 1.C 1""^^ i,,^„„, „,„, ,l,e .-.«...» <-! " " % 
 
 ZJ^l of hi, .«..".ry ,r ^J ^^^^ '-r.-cir uppuv^™^ 
 geons, being, '■«77^' '^ „t,,t of bis sacrifice, nor un,«ur .W 
 conbl not actraet trom tbe me ^^^ .^ 
 
 , Bnence, nor a<W one e en.e,^ "^^ ,^ „f eo„rse .t doe. 
 
 The analogy i« go.K\ a« ft" «^ '' ^ . ^.^^„ ^ foils of »m- 
 „ot go far enougb, a» no '"»'»"':;;;; •-, „ ,,eh relation to tbose 
 Steness partly touse be s .stom ^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^.^ , 
 Iho appointea him - Chn ^"^^ ,,„,,, „,„ to -be ; y 
 
 witbtbem; tbey «'er>hml "otl "S '^j^^ manifest love. B t 
 they did not violate J'-'f •^*;^ j ;7„„,„„„ity of nature and of „- 
 God and Cbrist «« 7' ^^^iness of .be Sufferer, s,le„<» he 
 terest, and the F^^'^'" "™ „t „„ee the righteousness ol 1.^ 
 ,,,„Je of injnstiee and <^:^^J^^^^, „, tbe ^^"^^"'^1;, 
 
 t,'"d:£S^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 
 no,eetion,..,---t:fnf:r::v^'q^ 
 
 ... e P-.i.l to tbe Christianity ^j „, 
 
 addition ot 1 aul w ,,„„a can 
 
 development of the doet.ne '" .^^ „,.acr. 
 
 til ep sties «hen arranged ";" ^=,^i„,,,, it might be sbo«;n 
 ''" lUns«ertotbefonnerof ri^--- '.^ ,.^„„„„io„s with 
 
 (1.) That Paul's ''o^^^ ' ;f ^ statement of it.' 
 
 X See Matt. XXVI. 28 ;MarR 
 
Saint Paif/s Doctkim; of thi: Atonkmkm'. 
 
 40 
 
 tion : 
 
 who, 
 •uring 
 
 y, i"»^^ 
 nee, (»r 
 
 en and 
 
 death. 
 
 he gov- 
 
 nd ftur- 
 ihitmcnt 
 
 npair its 
 
 5e it does 
 of eoni- 
 1 to those 
 i not one 
 die ; yet 
 Dve. But 
 and of in- 
 silcncc the 
 OSS of iii^^' 
 uage of St. 
 ic love" of 
 
 le character 
 V to impose 
 on, and an 
 id that the 
 be traced in 
 
 ht be shown : 
 nonious with 
 
 it.* 
 
 ler places. 
 
 (2.) Tliat siicIj a fuller statcnicnt is what the nature of the 
 case rc(|uire(l, and what the Lord's own woi ds ilirect us to look 
 for. " I have vet inanv thiiii^s to sav unto vou, hut ve <annot 
 bear them now. Ilowbeit when lie, the Spirit of truth, is eonie, 
 He will ^nide you into all truth. * * lie shall ^dorify me; 
 for He shall re<'eive of mine, and shall shew it unto vou."* 
 
 (3.) That it is in harmony with the general plan of Revela- 
 tion, which is progressive. 
 
 This plan, not oidy in general, but in the particular relation 
 of the teachin<ij8 of the Epistles to the contents of the (iospcis, 
 justifies itself. The true doctrines of Christianity are not specu- 
 lations: they are the interpretation and application of historic 
 facts. The facts nuist iiave been accomplished before they could 
 be understood, their relation appreciated, and their doctrine 
 formed. Christ must die and rise a^ain, and ascend and be 
 glorified, before His own disciples could inulerstand their interest 
 in His humiliation, and the relation of His passion to them and 
 to the world. Without the Epistles, we should stand, in relation 
 to tlie Gospels, in much the same position in which the disciples 
 stood in relation to the life they saw and the words they heard. 
 And the Epistles are to us, in the understanding of the great 
 facts of the ministry of the Lord, what the revealing agency of 
 the Spirit was to them, f 
 
 But, to pass on to the other contention : it is Fnaintained that 
 Paul's doctrine was not at first what it afterwards came to be ; 
 that, at most, his earlier views of the death of Christ in relation 
 to man were nothing more than a general belief that in some 
 way — he did not say what, he did not know what — men were 
 benefited by the death of Christ; that, being led by the consti- 
 tution of his mind to seek a reason for every belief, a philosophy 
 for every fact, he gradually developed a theory of the Atonement 
 which, when finally formed in his mind, he stated in his later 
 Epistles. Even granting such a progress of doctrine ir* his own 
 
 *John xvl. 12-14 
 t For a very satisfactory discussion of these points, see Bernard : Progress 
 of Doctrine, especially Lects. I., III., VI. and VII. 
 
I^l; 
 
 ^i!. 
 
 Ami 
 
 m 
 
 m 
 
 ■li 
 
 il'! !'! 4^ , 
 I ill' 111' ^ 
 
 ^^ .If fUU »ro«n'css was 
 
 ...UWncoof tl.cSi..r..ofGo,l. ' ,_^,„^„ f„„.,u,es: tor 
 
 ration n,:t to s«pcrse.lc the vUion o^ ^^ ^ „,edu,m ol 
 
 h n one man uouUl be as S*'] »" \^..,a,„t ;„ the select.on 
 Dvine llevelation, and the «^»- ^^, „„,, ,„ .vUlely tra.ned, 
 
 .\ nPPiiracv of the results. v ti^prp any fouiuVation tor 
 
 ''' k" e grant such a .J|:;X lUt'st. Paul a-- 
 the belief that in the conrse of t s ^e^, 1 _^^^ ^^^ ^^^^^ ^, ^ 
 iTa very different --^"^^t ,lt baeUward, and tha Uus 
 his nro.'ress has been reall) a mo ^j,„,^„ that his 
 
 taU^oetrine eontradiets h,s to • J' »J ^,^,^, i. e„n- 
 te rine in the amplest e^P"^'""" °\i., first, and is the only 
 ^ed in the ^^^ T^;ll been' made: as from a 
 development that eouUl log.ca ) ^ ^^^j^,„ i^e. 
 
 g en Icod, if it germinates at 11 mus^^^_^ ^„^ ^^^.^.^ 
 ^ A general case is supposed '« '« P ^ j „,,on Phil. "• 
 
 the declaration that he bad know „ ;, ,pj«aled to 
 
 "- -rr^^il^^trio— ess of an a— ^- »„ 
 
 - - -r T^nrweauteL and error, and of conse.ous 
 ^:rn%t— dge."t 
 
 ;s."^le;;EpUt.e..o.heCorintMan.,i..oe. 
 
 i 
 
 
Saint Paui/s Doctrink of the Atonkmkxt. 
 
 51 
 
 ,s was 
 )y the 
 inspi- 
 s: tor 
 am of 
 ilection 
 rained, 
 appears, 
 normal 
 [> secure 
 
 ition for 
 1 arrives 
 •ted, that 
 . that his 
 
 that his 
 is, is con- 
 
 the only 
 ^s from a 
 
 tree, 
 nissions of 
 
 , Phil. iii. 
 
 manifestly 
 ne, but in 
 11, however, 
 .e flesh, but 
 appealed to 
 vnce from a 
 ! had known 
 cd Him " in 
 5sible to him 
 •ession," says 
 
 of conscious 
 
 \ 
 
 
 The meaning of this passage may not, indeed, be obvious to 
 the superficial reader; but there is an explanation of it, which is 
 not onlv more natural and more in harmonv with the line of the 
 Aj)ostle's argument than that which makes him a discoverer in 
 theology, but which also sustains our position, that in regard to 
 the particular doctrine of Atonement by Christ, he held it at first 
 as he did at the last. lie is speaking of the universal aspect of 
 the work of Christ, and declares that it has obliterated all ritual, 
 national, and historical distinctions. It is now a matter of per- 
 fect indifference whether a man be Jew or Uentile, has been 
 circumcised or has not, keeps the ritual of Moses or does not 
 keep it : " If any man be in Christ, lie is a new creature."* And 
 to give emphasis to his assertion that he as a preacher of the 
 Gospel does not regard these human distinctions, he says it is the 
 very same principle which he applies in his view of Christ. He 
 had " known Him after the flesh :" he had dwelt upon the national 
 and historical diyracter of the Messiah; he had been "an He- 
 brew of the Hei>rews." But from the hour when Jesus ap|)eared 
 to him and he received the truth as it is in Him, all was 
 changed : he no longer looked for the Messiah of the Jews, but 
 he believed in Jesus as the Saviour of all men and the <jlorified 
 Lord of the world. Plis discoverv of the truth was not <rradual, 
 his conversion was the date of his change of view. 
 
 But, let us briefly look at the evidence of the facts in regard 
 to his supposed development of this particular doctrine of the 
 Atonement. For the maintenance of this proposition it is not 
 enougli to show that different toj)ics f» .ni tlie subject-matter of 
 the earlier and the later Ep-stles ; or that the same topics are 
 treated more elaborately in the one than in the other; but that 
 the same topics are presented in lights so different that the views 
 of the later Epistles could not have been held by the same mind, 
 at the same time with those of the former. 
 
 Remember that at the time of writing his first Epistle St. 
 Paul had reached the age of fifty, a time of life at which almost 
 every man who has given much thought to important subjects 
 
 *2Cor. V. 17. 
 
p 
 
 r'«* 
 
 111 
 
 ''|t p ^ 
 
 
 i 111 
 
 52 BA-sxPA-^Docru ,,, ,« had 
 
 , . 1 .,t least the general cl.araeter ot h.s ^.^^stian tnys- 
 
 .eries; >'"''''-' ^"*'';":rri the anteee<lent probab.U.y 
 were ,.r(KUice<l,-ana how M.fe ^..parent. 
 
 cl a aevelopment of ''f ""« ';;Xlewi St. Paul's eh.cf 
 B„t let .. go to the — nt ^_^^ ^^^^,^, „.^ 
 
 Td^^i-^ -"""^ '" "^ *"""1 "t 1 tte -i"dee<l all the letters 
 Now it happens that hmearhest letter ^^^^^ ^^ ,,„a 
 
 , iehe. eU '^ ^j^J 'f . -Us or n.onths or even 
 
 ,,,„„aed, that h^l'»'l"""X;a«.ili«^ «■■''" *"^ "^"^-"f uZ. 
 years, and that were perfectly tan ^_^^^ ^^ ,„d,v.duals 
 
 Singly «e find that "> l-'« ^'^^^^^^^eaclnng, he appeals 
 : o htd enioyed the V-'-^'^^^'^^X^o.^ U preserved, anc^ex- 
 ,0 his former ministry, »' ;'2' ,„a to hold it fast: ' Hold 
 
 horts them to remember l"*- <'°7' , ,,ast heard of me. 
 S the form of sonnd worc^w -ch rt^o« ^^^ ^^^^^ , 
 
 When, after an aljsenee of h - » ^^ ,e.st e>ght«n 
 
 ,,,„„h at Corinth «.th "'";' "^j. ,,„ eueral charaeter of his 
 
 .lelivcred nnto you hrst ot ^ ,, „ ,„ the Scnptur^H. t |"« 
 r,t Christ died for oar sms 'f "''"', ., appealed to as dlus- 
 K sue to the Galatians «h.d, '^^^!^^ ,„ u. later stages, 
 tratin" the development o. St. 1 aul ^^^^ ^^^,^ the 
 
 lains eonclnsivo -*- *", t'tablisl. and confirm them 
 purpose of this Kp.stle ? It -to ^^^ ^^^^^ ^^ ,, ,, t, ey 
 
 I I doetrine whieh !>« ^^d U f h .^ ^_^^ ^^ ^„„, ,,,i .„.port- 
 are being led astray, i he ao ^^^ ^^ ^^ 
 
 * 2 Tim. ». t'^. ' 
 
 
 
Saint Paul's Doctrine of thk Atonement. 
 
 53 
 
 i had 
 mys- 
 itings 
 ity of 
 
 i chief 
 astoral 
 He de- 
 
 gratu- 
 itain all 
 ters. 
 le letters 
 
 he had 
 J or even 
 iig. Ae- 
 dividuals 
 le appeals 
 1, and ex- 
 ,t: "Hold 
 
 of me."* 
 rites to the 
 it eighteen 
 \cter of his 
 among yo" 
 re fnlly, " I 
 ed unto you, 
 p * * for 1 
 iceived, how 
 
 ires."t 'i^^^^ 
 id to as illus- 
 s later stages, 
 r, what is the 
 confirm them 
 ni which they 
 vital import- 
 
 '. XV. 1-3. 
 
 ance, and the evil of forsaking it is so great, that he writes with 
 a warmth of feeling, an enthusiasm for the truth, a fire of indig- 
 nation agaiuFt the seducers, which find a parallel in no other 
 ])roduction of his pen : " I marvel that ye are so soon removed 
 from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another 
 gos|)el : which is not another; but there be some that trouble 
 you, and would pervert the Gospel of Christ. But though we, 
 or an angel from heaven, j)reach !Miy other gospel unto you than 
 that which we have preached unto you, let iiim be accursed;"* 
 "O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched yoii that ye should 
 not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been 
 evidently set forth, crucified among you?"t He contemplates 
 with bitter pain the ruin of his fair work by the substitution of 
 a spurious gospel for the pure truth he had taught : "After that 
 ye have known Gud, or rather are known of God, how turn ye 
 again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again 
 to be in bondajje? * * * I am afraid of vou lest I have bestowed 
 upon you labour in vain."| And the matter of the controversy 
 is this very subject of the Atonement, and, as connected with it, 
 Justification by Faith : " Ye are now being taught salvation by 
 works. I taught you salvation by the redemptive work of another. 
 No man is justified by the law in the sight of God. Christ hath 
 redeemed us from the curse of the law being made a curse for 
 us;" and all his statement of the vicarious work of Christ which 
 the Epistle contains, and which is asserted to be the theorizings 
 of a later Paul, as against the practical teaching of the earlier, is 
 claimed bv him to be the very vital doctrine he had tauffht 
 among the churches of Galatia. And, be it remembered, this 
 preaching in Galatia was in the earlier months of his s<!cond mis- 
 sionary tour, and before the v/riting of hia li^st letter. 
 
 Further: the very brevity of his statements in his early let- 
 ters to churches of his own founding, on a matter of such trans- 
 cendent importance as Christ's mediatorial work, — as for exami)le 
 when in fii-st Thessalonians he says, in passing, " Jesus, which 
 delivered us from the wrath to come ; " § and again, " God hath 
 
 *Gal. i. 6-8. fGal. iii. 1. J Gul. iv. 9-11. ^^ 1 Thess. i. 10. 
 
 I ill ' 1 1 
 
"' iw 
 
 m 
 
 T (1 Jesus Christ wno 
 „,„„.in.ea us to <>'*»" "''r-rkl;«le.Vc of the fuller a«ctrine; 
 
 r .1 IW us " * — '"'I'l'^'* *'"=" ^ ° J.ort wouia Lave per- 
 
 S ir^c, sto,eu,cuts so ^''-^-;f „ 't rensonably ..f 
 
 L.\ and .listuvboa « '-• «^;^' ;,„ ,,„a no others, they 
 
 biriS=;:^Ss:C^":^^^^ 
 
 S^SSr::o?r>eu.eu.h.the— u.u.r. 
 
 ^--::r he f i-ss:-^^- ^^t; 
 
 :; the Lonl Himself : " I -r 'f l^; ^,„, For I neither re^ 
 
 Jhieh was preached of me > noU t ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^,^,^^,„„ „f 
 ceived it of man, neither xvas 1 tau„ 
 
 Jesus Christ." t g^ pj,„V9 
 
 such then, if our eM-^'l^r ^-rof the rea.ns for 
 doetrineof the Atonement; an Uueh^^^ ^^ ^^^^,^„^_ a 
 thinking it consonant wth «'^ " ^ ,; ht. Does any one 
 tith the eternal 1-":;!^-:^ r:;^,odoxy, »d is not in^ar- 
 ,av it belongs to a severe type oi ^^^ , Be it 
 
 "nly with the P--">|;Sr do not care in eompar.on 
 ,0 That is a luest.on for which ^^ j^ „,,, ,t ,» 
 
 trC. i!ro:gh all 0.r^-^::S^ ficinate the 
 the future. All other theories, o « ^ ^^j„,, that 
 
 J:cnlative, charm the --2, :!„„ the Pauline doc.rme 
 Rebels against the charge "' -'^^^f^,,!,, „f .he stream ; while the 
 „„V..s against all men, are but uU. e ^^^.^^ ^^,,. „„. 
 
 :^„t current of Christian tl'""S'' ;^^^,,.,t fountain it has eome. 
 ..A vet remembers and reveals from i ^^ .^ ,^y ,„ 
 
 ^^"kCg gained a clear ^^^^ his Epistles, we 
 the mind of the Apostle and was exp ^^^^ . ^^_^^ 
 
 * 1 Thess. V. 9, 10, 
 
Saint Paui/s Doctrine of the Atonement. 
 
 i)i) 
 
 who 
 
 rine ; 
 12 per- 
 urge<l 
 , they 
 ic oral 
 tain in 
 
 suffer- 
 
 hat his 
 \vn dis- 
 aiight it 
 Gospel 
 ither re- 
 lation of 
 
 ^t. Paul's 
 jasons for 
 ence, and 
 !s any one 
 ot in har- 
 it? Beit 
 comparison 
 
 3 old : it is 
 11 mind and 
 
 promise of 
 ascinate the 
 
 nature that 
 line doctrine 
 Ti J while the 
 •ing ever on- 
 , it has come, 
 h as it lay in 
 
 Epistles, we 
 
 1,12. 
 
 may put our knowledge to several imi)ortant uses. We may go 
 through the history of the doctrine in the church, and test the 
 a(rcuracy of the successive phases through which it lias i)assed. 
 We mav also survev the field as it lies before us to-dav, and <lis- 
 cover where, in the various forms the doctrine now assumes, tiie 
 truth is most largely found. 
 
 But our subject is not only of speculative importance. As 
 churches are distinguisiied by their view- of the Atonement, so, 
 and for that reason, are they distinguished by the nature and 
 range of their activities, and by the character and degree of tiieir 
 influence on the world. 
 
 It is of j)rofoundly personal interest too. The type of ex])e- 
 rience and character must be affected l)V a man's view of this 
 truth, and of the relation in which, in consequence of his view, 
 he believes that he stands to Christ. 
 
 In connection with this subject, more tiian all others, the 
 speculative should be held subordinate to, and made to promote, 
 the personal and practical. The si)irit in which our inquiries 
 should be, and I trust have been, condu;.'ted, and the result to 
 which they should lead, are well expressed in the words o^ the 
 great Bishop Butler : "Some have endeavoured to explain the 
 eflficacv of what Christ has done aii<l suffered for us, bevoud what 
 the Scripture has authorized : others, j)robably because they 
 could not explain it, have been for taking it away, and confining 
 His office as Redeemer of the world to His instruction, example, 
 and government of tlie church. * * * It is our wisdom thank- 
 fully to accept the benefit, by [>erforming the conditions upon 
 which it is offered, on our part, without disputing how it was 
 procured on His." * The same Bishop Butler it was who, when 
 drawing near the final hour and the judgment throne, found no 
 peace in thinking of the careful habits of his life, or of the 
 splendid services he had given to the cause of truth ; but when 
 a Curate by his bed side, repeating Scripture words of hope and 
 comfort, read " The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us 
 from all sin," his face lighting up witli a new and heavenly 
 
 * Butler's Analogy, Part II., Chap. V. 
 
 i.,'i I 
 
 N'i 
 
m 
 
 5G 
 
 Saint Paul's Doctrine of the Atonement. 
 
 radiance, said, " I have read those words a thousand times, but 
 1 never felt their meaning as now." 
 
 " Jesus, Tliy Blood and RighteousnesA 
 My beauty are, my glorious dress; 
 'Midst flaming worlds, in these arrayed, 
 With' joy shall I lift up my head. 
 
 Lord, I believe Thy precious Blood, 
 Which, at the Mercy-seat of God, 
 For ever doth for sinners plead, 
 For me, even for my soul, was shed. 
 
 Lord, I believe were sinners more 
 Than sands upon the ocean shore, 
 Thou hast for all a ransom paid, 
 For all a full Atonement made. 
 
 When from the dust of death I rise, 
 To claim my mansion in the skies, 
 E'en then — this shall be all my plea, 
 Jesus hath lived, hath died for me." 
 
}, but 
 
 THE INCARNATION 
 
 AND 
 
 ITS LESSONS: 
 
 nKix(j 
 
 The FoiTiiTii Annial Sermon jjefoiie the Tiieoi/mjical 
 Union of Mount Aijjson Wj-^sleyax College. 
 
 DFXIVEKED JUNE, 18Sl>. 
 
 I 1 
 
 BY 
 
 REV. A. D. MORTON, A. M. 
 

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SERMON. 
 
 For in Him dwellctli all the fulness of the (Jodlu'iid bodilv. — Col. ii. !). 
 
 rpHE 'i\^(i ']]) wliic'fi we live professes to dolio^lit in a roHji^ion 
 -^ of 51 huinafiitarian atui practical character, as distiiiguishod 
 from one that is spiritual and doi^niutic or thcoloirical. There 
 are causes which have doubtless developed this sentiment and 
 which are not difficult to determine, nor need we look upon the 
 sentiment itself as necessarily or wholly evil. It marks a transi- 
 tion period, and will doubtless issue in the attainment on the part 
 of the church of a hi<«;her j)lane of tho':o;ht and life. But mean- 
 while, it behoves those — whose it is to contend earnestly for the 
 faith once delivered to the saints — to remember and act u[)on the 
 principle, that dogma underlies all Christian life, that the latter 
 is inseparable from the fr)rmer. The clear and distinct presentii- 
 tion of doctrinal truth is therefore essential, and no popular whine 
 should seduce the Christian Teacher from the discharge of his 
 duty in this regard. 
 
 Around each and every doctrine enunciated in God's Word, 
 and held by evangelical Christendom, the storm of opposition 
 has gathered and raged with relentless fury, and if they stand 
 to-day and are potent over men's hearts, it is because they have 
 a Divine origin and attestation. Certain doctrines we are wont 
 to rejrard as fundamental, as constituting the very life of the 
 Christian System, and therefore essential to its success and ulti- 
 mate triumph. We cannot err in regartling the doctrine of 
 Christ's Divinity in this light. H it be a revealed truth it must 
 be of the highest importance, to which many other truths, rela- 
 tively imj)ortant, are necessarily subordinate. The virulence 
 with which this dogma has been assailed is a clear indication that, 
 in the popular judgment, it constitutes not only a fourjdation 
 stone, but a chief corner stone in the system of the Christian 
 
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 Faitli. \('V<rtlM'l«'ss, in the juIvocmcv of tliis canlinal doctrine, 
 Nvc iirc not niicliMritMl)l(' ; we do not foi-ovt that some of tin* 
 nol>l<'st tfiiclu'i'.s ot" Cliristian ctliicH did not hold this doctrine in 
 its inte<;rity, did not .somehow chithe their tciichin^s npon this 
 sid>je<'t in hni^nui^e a<'<'e|)tal)h' to ns. IJiit wlien we find one of 
 the most distin^nishe<l of these, disconrsin<ji: upon the "C'haraet<'r 
 of Christ," maUin*^ nse of tliese words, " lie talks of his glories 
 as one to whom thev were familiar, and of his intimacy and 
 oneness with (iod, as simply as a child s|)eal\s of his connection 
 with his parents. lie speaks of saving and judging the world, of 
 drawing all men to himself, and of giving everlasting life, as we 
 speak of the ordinary powers which we exert," we cannot un- 
 derstand how, in his view, the character and claims of Christ can 
 be oth(!r than tndy and essentially Divine. W this morning I 
 presume upon a survey of this grantl doctrine as correlated to 
 other truths, I hut claim to \ ,1k in paths explored and oj)ened 
 up by others. Tlu! subject nuist needs have an interest for all 
 who claim to be serious and thoughtful, irrespective of the views 
 they personally pr(>fesH to hold. Between the |)assionate adora- 
 tion that distinguishes some in regai'd of the person of Christ 
 and the defiant hatred that distinguishes others, there are varied 
 shades and levels of thought and feeling, but there ia no room 
 for, no toleration of, indiff'ereiKje. Our text, we take to be, by 
 the intention of the writer, a positive and unequivocal assertion 
 of the j)roj)er divinity of Christ, and to the sui)port of this asser- 
 tion, the reasoning of the Epistle, at once logical and conclusive, 
 is larijelv directed. 
 
 Let it not be supposed however that this doctrine rests upon 
 isolated passages for its supj)ort. The Scriptures, as a whole, 
 testify of Christ, and in particular of Him in His divine charac- 
 ter and claims. This testimony is gradually unfohled. The 
 germ of all that inheres in the person and work of Christ is con- 
 tained in the promise so early given to man, "The seed of the 
 woman shall bruise the ser[)ent's head." But while the Old 
 Testainent Scriptures are by no means reticent upon this subject, 
 it remains for the later writings of a more privileged dispensa- 
 
 Je.' 
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 :his subject, 
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 tion to revr-al in full oriicd ficanKss and spi(ii(l(»!' tiiis inarvclions 
 truth. Altlioii<r|i onrohj<'ct this niorniii*;; may he to <'(int('m|>ialt' 
 C'lirist as divine, and altlioiiH;li the argument and assertion of 
 Scrijiturc may lie chiefly in this direetion, it <loes not follow that 
 we are to forj^ot or overlook the essential linmanity of the Son of 
 God. It is the con'mnetion of these distinct natures in one per- 
 son that makes ( 'lirist the «'ynosnre of all vyvs, that constitntis 
 Him not only the typical man, hut the man hy whom, in virtue 
 
 o 
 
 f h 
 
 is relations to mankind irenerallv, the race is rescuei 
 
 il ^r 
 
 1 fi 
 
 'om 
 
 the ruins of the Fall. Tlu,' delineations ol' the (iosjm-I furnish 
 such a portraiture of the Man Christ .Je.'^us as to leave an ahid- 
 inj5 impression of His humanity. Whatever lay behind that 
 nature, mi«;ht be a (piestion involving:; a dilVerence of opinion, but 
 as to the humanity itself there can be wo doubt. 
 
 We may consider Christ's dignity and reijitive position as a 
 
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 niiin ; we may make tl 
 
 him the chiefest of <*reated bein< 
 
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 d of 
 
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 we mav maUe 
 
 \\v mav Drifi/ him ; he mav 
 be th<! Son of (iotl, but whatever else he is, he is a man. It is 
 the iiKOi that lirst appears before me, that I learn to know, and 
 that 1 ultimatelv fin<l to be more than man. The voice of the 
 ages is not, What is Christ? but. Who is Christ, the man Christ 
 What think ve of IlimV Whose son is He?" We 
 
 I esus 
 
 are very apt to feel that tiie doj^ma of Christ's divinity must be 
 highly important, because it is one so fiercely contested, so strong- 
 ly insisted upon, on the one hand, so stremiously denied on the 
 other, and fail to realize the not less important fact of His 
 humanity. It is not of God in His essence and abstract rela- 
 tions that we sj)eak to-day. Jt is not of God, thus viewed, that 
 we speak in those earnest addresses and appeals by which we 
 seek to nmve men's conscfiences and reclaim them from the paths 
 of sin by inspiring in their hearts hopes of forgiveness, and in- 
 sisting tipon the possibilities of our redeemed nature. It is of 
 God made man ; of God who in our nature suffered and died; 
 God our liel[)er, our brother, our Saviour. It is of Him in whom 
 dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. God incarnate 
 is the grandest fact in human history. But herein lies the ques- 
 
(12 
 
 Tm: Inc'aunation: 
 
 I 
 
 
 ^u^ 
 
 tioii, — Is this riiiui, (i<m1 ? To consider this <|iicstion with any 
 (lofj^rc'c of fiilncss is iinpossihlo. We may, hoNvevcr, jjjhuico at it. 
 To the ohjoction of mystery or itM|)ossil)ility, we |)ay little heed. 
 Mvsterv we looiv for. " In»i)ossil)ilitv" is a word not to ha men- 
 tioned where; (iod, in Ilis aims and pnrposes, is coneerned. 
 
 Nor are we iisinjif tlie word "divine" in anv modified sense. 
 Withont (jualilleation, we apply it to the man Christ Jesns. The 
 pnr|)ose of Christ's eominjj^ into the world, as proelaimed by 
 Himself, would seem to he sng<:;estive of His divine character. 
 Admittintj^ for one moment the fact of tiie incarnation as held i)y 
 evanjjjelical Christendom, the (piestion at once arises, What is the 
 object? And it is almost axiomatic;, that the object, in its {gran- 
 deur and importance, nmst be commensurate with the measures 
 taken to realize it. 
 
 That purpose was not merely the salvation of so many souls, 
 but the establishment of a kinj^dom that was to be "world-wide 
 and imperishable." 
 
 No earthly monarciiy then or now, existent, furnished in the 
 principles of its constitution, a model for the kinj^dom that 
 Christ set up. A visible kingdom in a certain sense it was, but 
 in its distinctive characteristics, it was to be a moral kingdom, 
 whose ruler should exercise supreme domination over the hearts 
 and consciences of His subjects. In the Sermon on the Mount, 
 we have furnished those laws which will, through all coming 
 time, guide and govern those who become members of this spir- 
 itual kingdom. By reference to these, it will at once be perceived 
 that no mere outward observance will be sufficient or even ])os- 
 sible. They imply, in the hearts of those who receive them, a 
 new life, bringing them into conscious sympathy with the ends 
 those laws were designed to promote. 
 
 The agency and methods employed in the fulfilment of this 
 purpose are, to say the least, extraordinary, in that they differ 
 80 materially from what in our preconceived notions they would 
 necessarily be. The commission to }>ropagate Christ's teachings 
 and extend the limits of His kingdom, is entrusted to a small 
 and uninfluential body of men, men who by their original social 
 
A Skumon. 
 
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 mi tliat 
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 n|rtloin, 
 le hearts 
 
 Mount, 
 
 coming 
 his spir- 
 )erccive(l 
 jven pos- 
 ! them, a 
 
 the entls 
 
 lit of this 
 icy differ 
 ley Nvoukl 
 teachings 
 o a small 
 inal social 
 
 relation."*, their inherent cowan li<v, as evidenced in connec- 
 tion with the scenes of (icthseinane and Calvarv, ns well as bv 
 other considerations, seem to iaci\ the fu'st <|naIifications for so 
 important a work. These men however constituted the hninair 
 instrumentality which was o|)|»osed to the pride and prt;jn<lice 
 and jtower of tlie w<»ri(l. 
 
 In re<»;ard to metliods, they were restricted. TIjosc wliich, in 
 the |)opuhir indi^m(;nt are justifial)le and essential in conne<'tion 
 with political achievements, the conciucst of nations, the propa- 
 gation of iiuman systems of religion, were prohibited. They were 
 to go forth without provision or e(piij»ment of any sort, — their 
 sole dependence the inspiring jM'onnse, *' liO, I am with you 
 alway ;" and as they went, they wcr<: to preach, — simply preach, 
 allowing their simple utterances, accompanied by the energy of 
 the promised Spirit to do the work — to lay siege to the hunuui 
 heart and conscience, to revolutioni/e the sentiment of the world, 
 and usher in the dawn of that day when "Jesus shall rule all 
 human thought, shall make Himself the centre <»f all human 
 affections, shall become the Lawgiver of humanity, and the object 
 of man's adoration." 
 
 Is it to be wondered at that some writers have designated 
 this plan in its essence and the agencies and methods by which 
 it was to reach forth to its ac(romplishmcnt, both original and 
 audacious? Surely its author, whatever our ultimate iin|)ression 
 of him may be, must arrest our gaze and awaken within us the 
 earnest enquiry, "Who is He?" We cannot doubt that Christ 
 came into the world fullv furnished with credentials, certifvini; 
 both Plis divine character and mission, so that those who in the 
 days of His flesh rejected Him, were without excuse, but the 
 lapse of nineteen centuries has undoubtedly lifted us uj) to 
 higher vantage ground in respect of affording us opportimities 
 to judge of Christ and the merit of His claims. His predictions 
 and promises have been subjected to that test which time and 
 huma'" experience alone can furnish. And to these we make our 
 appeal. Is it objected ? " The end is not yet. Generations must 
 away. The age of the future may ch 
 
 pass 
 
 may cnange 
 
 ^pect 
 
CA 
 
 The Incaiixation 
 
 
 1'^ 5"; 
 
 lilt 
 
 of affairs to-day aii<l involve the hopes now cherished in utter 
 disa|)j)()intment." If there are those wlio find eoiiii'ort in this 
 refiif^o of unbelief, we envy them not. Tiie period whieh lias 
 elapsed since the institution of Christianitv is surelv sutfieient to 
 aiford a basis on whieh to rest our estimate of its merits and 
 warrant a confidence as to its future. Having appealed then to 
 these sources, what answer is returned? It is, I believe, said to 
 the visitor of Sf. Paul's Cathedral, concerning its architect, " If 
 you would se(? his monument, look around." With greater pro- 
 prietv niav we sav to one who asks what is the testimonv of the 
 ages respecting Christ, "Whose Son is He?" "Look around." 
 The church to-day, loyal in its attachment to Christ, instinct with 
 the life of its Founder, reaching forth with unrepressed ardor 
 and with unquestioned certainty to the subjugation of the world 
 to Hin«, furnishes you the living, irresistible answer. We cannot 
 overstate the significance of the fact that the (luirch instituted 
 of Christ still lives — nor have the centuries < f her existence 
 induced the elements of decay. The careful and honest student 
 of history will testify that never in the past did she gather to 
 herself such elements of strength and ultimate glory as in this 
 the nineteenth eenturv of her existence. With niinj^led feelintjs 
 of amazement and assurance we contrast the Jerusalem Church 
 in the upi)er chamber, representing the body of believers in that 
 early day with the gigantic proportions whieh the church has 
 since assumed, including within her eml)race the representatives 
 of all lands and languages, of all conditions in social and intel- 
 lectual life. Who can estimate her power over human thought 
 and action in the present day, those subtle yet wholesome influ- 
 ences that radiate from her as a centre, disintegrating the corrupt 
 masses of evil in society, and infusing the leaven of truth and 
 purity and justice and love! 
 
 What is it that characterizes the civilization of this nineteenth 
 century, giving it its peculiar glory as compared with the centu- 
 ries of the past, making it the age of freedom in thought and 
 action, the age of philanthropic endeavour, the age that more 
 than any other recognizes the true brotherhood of man ? Do we 
 
 
A Skumon. 
 
 65 
 
 itter 
 
 tliis 
 
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 nt to 
 
 and 
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 t with 
 
 ardor 
 
 \vorUl 
 cannot 
 ^titutc'd 
 vistonce 
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 ither to 
 
 in this 
 feelings 
 Church 
 5 in that 
 irch has 
 jntatives 
 nd intel- 
 
 thought 
 ine influ- 
 c corrupt 
 ;ruth and 
 
 lincteenth 
 lie centu- 
 )ught and 
 that more 
 9 Do we 
 
 mistake if we ascribe these features of our age to the growing 
 power of Christianity as expressed in the lives and influence of 
 those who, aggregated, constitute the Church of Christ upon 
 earth? 1 am not unfamiliar with some of those specious f()rms 
 of obj'.jtion that may be urged against all 1 have said in this 
 connection. There are, doubtless, those who will not admit the 
 fairness or force of any argument ; but if what I have said be 
 true, then what follows? In what light must we look upon the 
 Author of Christianity, the Founder of the Christian church? I 
 make my appeal to the common sense of our humanity, and am 
 satisfied as to the answer that will fornndate itself in ten thousand 
 thousand hearts and find a voice, which in thunder tones will go 
 ringing o'er the hills and valleys of our redeemed eartii, the re- 
 verberating echo of that voice that spake beneath the shades of 
 Calvary, " Truly this Man is the Son of God." The testimony 
 of the first Napoleon, though not that of a j)rofessed theologian, 
 is for some reasons the more to be valued on that account, and is 
 es|)ecially suggestive here. Proj)osing one day the en(juiry, 
 "Can you tell me who Jesuti Christ was?" and failing to elicit 
 any answer, he continued, " Well, then, I will tell you. Alex- 
 ander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and I myself have foinided great 
 empires; but upon what did these creations of our genius dej)end? 
 Upon force. Jesus alone founded His empire upon love, and to 
 this very day millions would die for Him. ... I think J 
 understand something of human nature , and I tell you, all these 
 were men, and I am a man : none else is like Him; Jesus Christ 
 was more than man. I have inspired multitudes with such an 
 enthi'.riiastic devotion that thev would have died for me ; but to 
 do this it was necessary that I should be visibly present with the 
 electric influence of ray looks, of my words, of my voice. When 
 I saw men and spoke to them, I lighted up the flame of self- 
 devotion in their hearts. . . . Christ alone has succeeded in 
 so raising the mind of man towards the Unseen, tiiat it becomes 
 insensible to the barriers of time and space. Across a chasm of 
 eighteen hundred years, Jesus Christ makes a demand which is 
 beyond all others difficult to satisfy ; He asks for the human 
 heart; He will have it entirely to Himself; He demands it 
 
66 
 
 The Incarnation : 
 
 unconditionally ; and forthwith Ilis demand is granted. Won- 
 derful ! In defiance of time and space, the soul of man with all 
 its powers and faculties, becomes an annexation to the empire of 
 Christ. All who sincerely believe in Him, exjKjrience that re- 
 markable supernatural love towards Him. This phenomenon 
 is unaccountable; it is altogether beyond the scope of man's 
 creative ])owers. Time, the great destroyer, is powerless to ex- 
 tinguish this sacred flame: time can neither exhaust its strength 
 nor |)ut a limit to its range. This is it which strikes me most; 
 I have often thought of it. This is it which proves to me quite 
 convincingly the Divinity of Jesus Christ." And this is the 
 verdict of the intelligence and M'isdom of mankind in every age. 
 
 But I forbear to pursue further a line of argument familiar 
 to my brethren — one that, followed stej) by step, caimot fail to 
 bring conviction to the candid mind. Well I know whom I am 
 addressing, and It is not because your faith is weak or that I 
 deem the Rationalism of the day has any undue influence over you, 
 that I thus speak ; but it seemed proper under present (;ircum- 
 stances, to, at least, call attention to the great fact which the 
 popular mind can appreciate, as an evidence of the Divinity of 
 Him wiioni we adore as our Saviour. 
 
 There are those before me who, while they can appreciate 
 
 that line of argument which appeals more particularly to the 
 
 intellectual and moral j)arts of our nature, are resting not upon 
 
 this as the inspirer of their joy and the foundation of that hope 
 
 which is as an "anchor to the soul." To your inner consciousness 
 
 Christ has spoken, not by the matchless wisdom of His teachings 
 
 or the unsurpassed grandeur of His works, but by that still 
 
 small voice that proclaims [)ardon for your sins and peace with 
 
 God, and with an apprehension divinely inspired of what is 
 
 involved in the " mystery of Godliness," your soul cries out in its 
 
 longing for a richer and yet richer experience of the life of God. 
 
 " AiiHwor Thy mercy's wliole design, 
 My (t()(1 iiu-aniiitod for iiie ; 
 My spirit m:ike Thy rudiunt shrine, 
 My li^ht and i'tdl salvation be ; 
 And tlirouyii tlie shades of death unknown 
 Conduct me to Thv duzzlina: Tlirone." 
 
 nl 
 ill 
 
A Sermon. 
 
 G7 
 
 r>n- 
 
 all 
 3 of 
 
 re- 
 non 
 tin's 
 
 ex- 
 iigth 
 lost ; 
 :|iute 
 ? the 
 ' age. 
 niliar 
 ■ail to 
 
 I am 
 :luit I 
 !r you, 
 rc'iuu- 
 i\\ the 
 nitv of 
 
 ireciate 
 to the 
 )t upon 
 at hope 
 lonsnoss 
 aohings 
 lat still 
 [\c'e with 
 
 what is 
 mt in its 
 
 of God. 
 
 \Vc accept, thcMi, the fact of the Incarnation, l^iut what is 
 involved in it? What of blessing, or comfort, or help for our 
 sin-crushed, sorrowing: humanity? Would I could tell vou. I 
 think the first great need that the Incarnation supplies is man's 
 need of God. How real, how intense this need is, the records of 
 human history abundantly testify. The a<jes of dim and uncer- 
 tain light reveal here and there souls gropiug amid the darkness 
 and the gloom, seeking G(td, studying Nature's half opened book, 
 to learn of Ilim who matle all things and impressed some "linea- 
 ments of Himself on all the works of His hands. The vagaries 
 of uninformed minds, the absurdities which have marked the 
 superstitions born of the religious element in man, all go to show 
 that man was formed for God, that Jle alone can become his 
 satisfying portion. 
 
 But who is the Lord and unto what will ve liken Him? 
 How difficult it has been to conceive of God — not so nmch of 
 His existence, but His character. His disposition toward us. 
 And without just conceptions here, how shall we cherish suitable 
 feelinsrs towards Him who is the Author of our beiny; and in whose 
 hands for good or evil we feel ourselves to be. We see an at- 
 tempt to respond to these yearnings in the hierarchical system of 
 the Church of Home — and if we seek an explanation of the 
 dominancy of that church over the hearts and consciences of its 
 adherents we find it in the eagerness with which the soul, irre- 
 spective of intellectual developments and attainments, grasps 
 after some personation of the Deity. This i)ers()nation we have 
 in Christ, not proximately, but really. 
 
 "God did in Christ Himself reveal, 
 To chiise our dari^ness l)y His liglit, 
 Our sin and ignorance dispel, 
 Direct our wandering feet aright, 
 And hring our souls, with pardon blest, 
 To realms of everlasting rest." 
 
 Here then is our privilege, brethren, — not to preach doctrines, 
 not to preach morals merely, but to preacii Christ, Christ cruci- 
 fied; but Christ a divine Saviour, a living and exalted Saviour. 
 
68 
 
 The Incarnation : 
 
 Oh ! when this relationship of Christ is understood, is it any 
 won(ier that men have risen uj) in their pity, in their love, men 
 with Paul's spirit in them, yearning to carry the glad tidings to 
 their fellows; willing to suffer exile and shame and death, that 
 to those sunk in the darkness and despair of sin they might pro- 
 claim this Saviour in His love and power to save. Our mission 
 may not challenge such heroism as this, but it is grand, and often 
 in moments of earthly sorrow and des})ondency, the consciousness 
 of having led some soul to know and embrace this Saviour, 
 thrills the heart with heaven's own joy, and constrains to a re- 
 newed consecration to the duties and toils involved in the min- 
 istry of the Cross. 
 
 The second lesson taught me by the Incarnation, follows nat- 
 urally and necessarily from the first. Is the man wiio died for 
 me a Divine Being? Is he possessed of Divine resources? Then 
 indeed I !;ave nothing left to desire. I look at myself: I see 
 myself in my sinfulness, my hel[)lessness, my moral destitution, 
 my spiritual hopelessness. The picture cannot be overdrawn ; 
 but, turning to the portraiture of my Saviour as presented in the 
 inspired volume, I find " in Him all fulness dwells, and that for 
 wretched man." As an individual in need of salvation, I rejoice; 
 as a minister, commissioned to ])reach Christ, I rejoice, because I 
 can go toman wherever I find him, and proclaim the most joyful 
 intelligence that can affect the human heart. Is sin an offence 
 against a divine law, an offence that must be atoned for? I lean 
 on a Sacrifice commensurate with man's utmost needs. Once 
 assure me that in Him who died for me, dwelt all the fulness of 
 the Godhead bodily, and I see an infinite merit attaching to the 
 sacrifice of C^alvary. It becomes to me no longer a question of 
 this man's sins or that man's sins, or the sins of any given num- 
 ber of men, but of sin as existing in the world, sin barring man's 
 approach to God, sin dooming the guilty ones to that everlasting 
 death which is the appointed penalty of sin. Sin in this sense is 
 atoned for. The benefits of this atonement are not only such as 
 to relieve my mind on the score of personal guilt and exposure, 
 but are, most evidently, the common heritage of the race. 
 
 qi 
 tlj 
 esl 
 
 Fi 
 atl 
 
A Sermon. 
 
 69 
 
 (3.) Do I find tliat a mere atonement for sin past cannot suf- 
 fice, that more than forgiveness is needed ? Again, tlic assuring 
 power of the Incarnation, appreliended in its significance, is 
 realized. I have as my reliance not only the benefits of Christ's 
 death, but I enjoy His perpetual offices as a Saviour. There is 
 blessed meaning in those promises which sj)eak of a spirit of 
 truth o})erating in my heart to the renewal of my nature, impart- 
 ing unto me at once purity and the power to live conformably 
 to that will which constitues the law of my being. 
 
 It does not dismay me when I am told of the sinful propen- 
 sities of my nature, of my weakiH>s, and the possibility of my 
 lapsing into sin. I have a living Saviour, in whom dwelleth all 
 the fulness of the Godhead bodily. He can keep me : He will 
 keep me : " Wherefore He is able to save unto the uttermost all 
 them that come unto God by Him." I trouble not my mind 
 with mysteries which are unfathomal)le in their depths, so far- 
 reaching in their connections as to utterly battle my powers of 
 vision. I see it to be a simple matter of reliance upon Christ, 
 of continual trust in Him as a personal Saviour, and my mind 
 finds rest. 
 
 (4.) Again : man seems to possess an inborn consciousness 
 of the need of an Intercessor, — a Daysman, who can mediate in 
 our behalf with God. I see my co-religionists, many of them, 
 in serious error here, as I conceive. Impelled by their sense of 
 need in this regard, their appeals are made to the Mother of our 
 Saviour, to various saints, who are deemed worthy to act in this 
 capacity : I say not only how wrong, how derogatory to the 
 Divine glory, but how needless! Give me to understand the 
 blended nature of Christ, and He possesses in perfection the 
 qualifications that this office might seem to require. I go to God 
 through Him, — through Him alone. I cannot doubt His inter- 
 est in me; nor can I doubt the prevalency of His intercession. 
 
 (5.) Yet again : I look out upon life's dark and stormy ex- 
 perience. There are other than s[)iritual asj)ects to our nature. 
 Forgive me if I have seemed to dwell too much on these. I look 
 at life — human life — a brief thing at best, but often crowded 
 
70 
 
 The Incarnation 
 
 full of sorrows tliat roll like ocean waves over us. I am awaken- 
 ing painful memories now. To my eongregation, I may be a 
 stranger ; I may not recognize your faces ; I may not know your 
 names; you may think your j)ersonal experience is something of 
 which I am profoundly ignorant; but stoj), tell me this: In 
 what resj)e(!t is our brotherhood — tin; brotherhood of man, where- 
 ever you find him, made most apparent ? Is it not in this, that 
 sorrow is our common heritage. I see, wherever I go, the out- 
 ward semblance and tokens of those experiences through which, 
 dark and distressing though they be, we one and all seem doomed 
 to pass, while here. The cemetery, the rural (jhurchyard, God's 
 acre, call it if you will, — where will you go that you find it not. 
 I enter these sacred enclosures; I read from the monuments that 
 record names, dates, and many a fact beside ; I go back with 
 mourning ones to the homes made desolate by death ; I see a 
 mother bending tenderlv, tcarfullv over the couch on whicli her 
 babe is breathing its life away; I see a wife watching, while the 
 gathering shadows of death are closing upon the husband, stricken 
 in his prime; I see the anguish depicted in her countenance as 
 her eyes are lifted appealingly to heaven. You know all about 
 it, — the weary >vatching, the dying hope, the chill despair, the 
 dcsolateness of that home from which a loved one has been taken, 
 the memory that lingers like a pain for which there is no earthly 
 anodyne. Oh God ! is there anything that can meet such sorrow 
 as this? There is. Jesus becomes my refuge ; my Saviour tastetl, 
 aye, He drank, in its fulness and bitterness, the cup of earthly 
 sorrow. I have not only human sympathy in Him, I have a 
 Divine, and therefore, all-sufficient helper. 
 
 " Througli all the tangled maze 
 Of losses, sorrows, and o'erclouded days 
 We know His will is done ; 
 And still He leads us on, 
 
 And He at last. 
 After the weary strife 
 After the restless fever we call life. 
 After the dreariness, the aching pain, 
 The wayward struggles which have proved in vain, 
 After our toils are past, 
 Will give us rest at last." 
 
 clj 
 
 of 
 
 tlj 
 
 bl 
 
 gI 
 
iwaken- 
 lay be u 
 ow your 
 thing of 
 his: In 
 1, whcre- 
 this, that 
 
 the oiit- 
 h which, 
 1 (loomed 
 [•a, God's 
 nd it not. 
 iients tiiat 
 l)aek with 
 ; I see a 
 whioii her 
 
 while the 
 d, stricken 
 tenance as 
 
 all about 
 espair, the 
 )een taken, 
 
 no earthly 
 ueh sorrow 
 iour tasted, 
 
 of earthly 
 
 . I have a 
 
 A Seumon. 
 
 71 
 
 vain, 
 
 Finallv. The thoutjlit of the Incarnation is to me the svmhol 
 
 and pledge that what constitutes the fondest anticipations of my 
 
 heart shall be realized. I follow the footsteps ()f my Savionr 
 
 from Bethlehem to Culvarv. I trace with lovin;; eagerness those 
 
 footste[)s as they emerge from the garden on the morn of the 
 
 resurrection, till tiiat day wiien having led His disciples as far 
 
 as Bethany, the crucified, the risen Son of God and Son of Man, 
 
 the Conqueror of sin, the Conqueror of death, ascended in our 
 
 nature. Oh, think of it! Ascended into Heaven! Tliere He 
 
 perpetuates that mysterious union, and there 
 
 " We sir.ill soe Ilirn in our iiiiture, 
 Sciitod on His lofty Throne, 
 Lord, adored by every creutnre, 
 Owned as (lod, and (lod alone." 
 
 The imj)ortance of this perpetuation of Christ's luimanity 
 consists to some extent in this (I speak for myself), that it seems 
 to invest Heaven with what may be termed material aspects. I 
 cannot very well conceive of sj)iritual essences. A Heaven peo- 
 pled with such essences has no attractive power on my mind. 
 But give me a Heaven where dwells my Saviour in bodily shaj)e 
 and form, where my humanity is represented in His person, and 
 you give me a pledge, that tlie loved ones {)assed into the spirit 
 world, whatever may be their meanwhile condition, will ulti- 
 mately with bodily form appear to my gaze. And the joy of 
 Heaven consists not only in the recognition of my Saviour, but 
 tiie recognition of those whose de})arture has made earth a lone- 
 some place and whom I wait to greet in that land of which the 
 poet so beautifully sings: 
 
 " Sorrow and death may not enter there, 
 Time doth not hreathe on its fadeless bloom, 
 For beyond the clouds and beyond the touib, 
 It is there, it is there, it is there." 
 
 We are entering, brethren, upon the second century of our 
 
 church's history in these Provinces. May our ministry, like that 
 
 of our Fathers, be made powerful for the salvation of souls, by 
 
 the earnest preaching of Christ, and the apprehension of this 
 
 blessed truth, that " In Him dwelleth all the fulness of the 
 
 Godhead bodily."