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 APR 2 1928 
 
 The Psychological Aspect 
 
 of the Doctrines of 
 
 Sin and Salvation 
 
 By Inman L. Willcox 
 
 A dissertation submitted to the faculty 
 of Clark University, Worcester, Mass., 
 in partial fulfillment of the requirements 
 for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, 
 and accepted on the recommendation 
 of President G. Stanley Hall, Ph. D., 
 LL. D, 
 
 OXFORD. N. Y. 
 
 THE TIMES PUBLISHING COMPANY 
 CMMX 
 
The Psychological Aspect 
 
 of the Doctrines of 
 
 Sin and Salvation 
 
 By Inman L. Willcox 
 
 A dissertation submitted to the faculty 
 of Clark University , Worcester, Mass. , 
 in partial fulfillment of the requirements 
 for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, 
 and accepted on the recommendation 
 of President G. Stanley Hall, Ph. D., 
 LL. D. 
 
 OXFORD, N. Y. 
 
 THE TIMES PUBLISHING COMPANY 
 CMMX 
 
: 
 
 EXCHANGE 
 
The Psychological Aspect of the Doctrines of 
 Sin and Salvation 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 Dogmas Adapted to their Age 
 
 KNOWLEDGE is fundamental to faith. Doctrine is essen^ 
 tial to conduct. It is a misfortune that doctrinal -preacn,- 
 ing has declined. There is need of 'a revival G- doctrinal 
 preaching; not so much the preaching of dottrifiCG, as pYeacliirig 
 based upon doctrine. This is practical preaching. An import- 
 ant reason for this loss of interest in the Christian doctrines is 
 the fact that the present age has made such marvelous progress 
 in every branch of scientific knowledge and that as a consequence 
 the older ideas and forms of the Christian doctrines no longer fit 
 the actual conditions of life and truth in which men are living 
 and thinking today. A restatement is necessary. Doctrine 
 must be adapted to the age. 
 
 The value of a doctrine does not so much depend upon its 
 truth, as upon men's faith in it. This finds abundant illustra- 
 tion in Christian Science and Faith Cures and in the use of 
 charms and fetiches. Belief in these things creates new psychic 
 states and produces a new course of conduct. On the other 
 hand actual truths of science have produced no such results be- 
 cause men did not believe them. This is just as true of the 
 Christian doctrines. 
 
 Essential Prelimary Points 
 
 It is the purpose of this thesis to consider only the doctrines 
 of sin and salvation. It will, however, be helpful in getting a 
 correct approach to these doctrines, to have a right conception 
 of several important general subjects. For this purpose I make 
 the following concise statements: 
 
 i. The Idea of God 
 
 A right conception of God is essential to a correct statement 
 of the Christian doctrines. The older theologians emphasized 
 the transcendence of God. God was above and separate from 
 the world. This notion influenced their ideas of man and the 
 
 A ft 
 
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECT OF THE 
 
 world. Now we believe just as much in the immanence of God. 
 God is in the world. He is spirit and life, truth and love. In 
 him we live and move and have our being. This idea of God 
 gives a new point of view to many of the doctrines. 
 
 2. The Bible as a Revelation from God 
 
 It is equally important to have a correct idea of the Scrip- 
 ii i res as acirkvelation from God. In the past men believed that 
 God dictated' the "Bible in its present form through the agency of 
 'h- j Holy Spirii:, thus! making it free from all error and every 
 part of equal value. 
 
 We can no longer hold this view of the Bible. It leaves the 
 human element entirely out of account. God can impart truth 
 to man only through man and according to the stage of his de- 
 velopment. The Bible presents a true picture of man's mental 
 and moral development at the time he received it. It is the pro- 
 gressive revelation of God and his truth in the unfolding life of 
 a race. 
 
 The modern view of the Bible was finely put by Henry 
 Drummond in his address at the World's Parliament of Religions 
 in these words: "The question of Revelation is undergoing a sim- 
 ilar expansion. The whole order of Nature, the course of hu- 
 man history are seen to be only part of the manifold revelation 
 of God. As to the specific revelation, the Old and New Testa- 
 ment Scriptures, evolution has already given the world what 
 amounts to a new Bible. * * * The New Bible is a book 
 whose parts, though not of unequal value, are seen to be of 
 different kinds of value; where the causal is distinguished from 
 the essential; the local from the universal; the subordinate from 
 the primal end. The Bible is not a book which has been made; 
 it has grown. Hence, it is no longer a mere word-book, nor a 
 compendium of doctrines, but a nursery of growing truths. It 
 is not an even plane of proof-texts without proportion or em- 
 phasis, or light and shade, but a revelation varied as nature with 
 the divine in its hidden parts, in its spirit, its tendencies, its ob- 
 scurities and its omissions. Like nature, it has successive strata 
 and valley and hill-tops and atmosphere and rivers, which are 
 flowing still, and here and there a place which is desert and 
 fossils, too, whose crude forms are the stepping stones to higher 
 
DOCTRINES OF SlX AND SALVATION 
 
 things. It is a record of inspired deeds, as well as of inspired 
 words, an ascending series of inspired facts in a matrix of human 
 history." (i) 
 
 The following statement from Dr. G. Stanley Hall presents 
 an enlightening view of the Bible: "It is, however, our great 
 good fortune to live in an age when our Bible is being slowly 
 re-revealed as the best utterance and reflex of the nature and 
 needs of the soul of man, as his great text-book in psychology, 
 dealing with him as a whole, body, mind, heart and will, and all 
 in the largest and deepest relation to nature and to his fellow 
 man, which has been so misunderstood simply because it has 
 been so deeply divine." (2) 
 
 j. The Origin and Nature of Man 
 
 Sin and salvation are inseparably connected with the nature 
 of man. Scientific evidence now shows clearly that the old the- 
 ological conception of man is not the true one. Too much was 
 taken from the early chapters of Genesis and this was due to an 
 erroneous conception of the Bible itself. A true notion of sin 
 and salvation can not be reached by starting from the "Creation 
 Theory", that the first man was perfect and capable of the high- 
 est moral judgments. The Bible as a whole does not sustain 
 this theory. All historical evidence shows that man has slowly 
 developed from a very primitive type up to his present state. 
 This view will help us to reach a true idea of the real nature of 
 sin and salvation. 
 
 4. A Definition of Life 
 
 Another essential is a true definition of life. The biolog- 
 ical definition of life fulfills all the conditions the best of any. 
 This is Herbert Spencer's definition: "Life is the continuous 
 adjustment of internal relations to external relations. (3)" 
 
 W. H. Brooks says: "Life is response to the order of nature." 
 Dr. C. F. Hodge makes this significant statement in his Nature 
 Study and Life: "If life is response to the order of nature, the 
 higher and more complete the response, the higher and richer 
 
 (1) World's Parliament of Religions. P. 1324. 
 
 (2) Adolescence. Vol. II. P. 321. 
 
 (3) Prin. of Biology. Vol. 1. P. 74. 
 
6 THE PSYCHOLOGICAL. ASPECT OF T.HE --- v ' 
 
 must be the life. Since response presupposes knowledge, na- 
 ture study must take its place in public education as one of the 
 chief means by which the race may push forward towards the 
 more perfect response to the order of nature, which shall be its 
 more perfect life." (i) Man's environment is an essential part of 
 his life. Man lives his physical life in relations with the physical 
 world, his social and moral life in relations with other men, and 
 his religious life in relations with God. 
 
 A THE DOCTRINE OF SIN 
 
 The doctrine ot sin forms the background of the other great 
 Christian doctrines. Our conception of sin will determine our 
 idea of salvation. Progress in knowledge has made it necessary 
 and possible to modify the older conceptions of sin. On the sub- 
 ject of evolution and sin Henry Drummond has written with fine 
 insight: "Not least in interest also is a possible contribution 
 from science on some of the more practical problems of 
 Soteriology and the doctrine of sin. On the last point the sug- 
 gestion of evolution that sin may be the relic of the animal of 
 man, the undestroyed residuum of the animal and the savage 
 ranks at least as an hypothesis, and with proper safeguards may 
 one day yield some glimmering light to Theology on its oldest 
 and darkest problem. If this partial suggestion can be followed 
 out to any purpose, the result will be of much greater than spec- 
 ulative interest. For if science can help us in any way to know 
 how sin came into the world, it may help us better to know how 
 to get it out. Even to diagnose it more thoroughly will be a 
 gain. Sin is not a theme to be expounded only through a med- 
 ium of proof texts; it is to be studied from life, to be watched 
 biologically, and followed out through all its psychological 
 states. A more accurate analysis, a better understanding of its 
 genesis and nature, may modify some at least of the attempts 
 now being made to get rid of it, whether in the national or in- 
 dividual life, which are as futile as they are unscientific. But 
 the time is not ripe to speak with other than the greatest caution 
 and humility of these still tremendous problems." (2) 
 
 (1) Prin. of Biology. Vol. 1. P. 15. 
 
 (2) World's Parliament of Religions. P. 1325. 
 
DOCTRINES O'F SIN AND SALVATION 
 
 I. Sin Defined 
 
 Sin involves so many relations and must be viewed from so 
 many different angles that a complete definition of it can not be' 
 given in a single statement. It is like looking at a great cath- 
 edral or a living organism or a complex society. Only a small 
 part can be seen at once. Still it will be helpful to have a gen- 
 eral idea of its essential nature before the mind while consider- 
 ing its nature and character more in detail. 
 
 Sin is the trangression of any natural or spiritual law, or 
 disobedience of any divine command. This transgression or 
 disobedience may be conscious or unconscious, voluntary or in- 
 voluntary. In every case, consequences or penalties follow the 
 transgression or disobedience. When these are conscious and 
 voluntary, guilt is a part of the penalty. The transgression or 
 disobedience may be in thought, feeling, will, conduct, or in all 
 of these at once. 
 
 In the broadest sense every natural and spiritual law is a 
 divine law and represents a divine command. In this sense, the 
 transgression of any law in the natural or spiritual world is sin. 
 So there must be many different kinds and degrees of sin. Sin 
 is a misfit between man and his environment. It is a violation 
 of the laws and conditions of his life. If a man obeyed all the laws 
 and fulfilled all the conditions of the natural and spiritual world 
 in which he lives, he would establish a perfect correspondence 
 between himself and his environment. He would live without 
 sin. Jesus lived such a life. Righteousness is life. Sin is 
 death. 
 
 Many theologians have given definitions and descriptions of 
 sin. In the nature of the case these are partial and incomplete. 
 Ritschl says: "Sin is the negative presupposition of reconcilia- 
 tion, since we have to comprehend the fact of sin from the stand- 
 point of a reconciled community. The gospel of the forgiveness 
 of our sin is actually the ground of our knowledge of our sinful- 
 ness." (i) Julius Mtiller defines it thus: "Sin is a fact which 
 we can not deny." "The moral law is supreme and governs the 
 human will. Sin is a violation of the moral law." "The sub- 
 jective element of the free-will is necessarily in the very essence 
 
 (i) The Christian Doctrine of Justification and Reconciliation. P. 337. 
 
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECT OF THE 
 
 of sin." "God is the author of the moral law. Sin as trans- 
 gression of the moral law is also disobedience against God." (i) 
 Julius Kaftan: "Sin is always the transgression of the will of the 
 Godhead. The idea of sin is always shaped, therefore, accord- 
 ing to the knowledge of the divine will which a person has or be- 
 lieves he has. " (2) Gustav Biederman: "But reviling the Spirit 
 is sin. At bottom all sins are spiritual, a rebellion against the 
 Spirit in his holiness. Neither nature nor man unconscious of it 
 are sinful." (3) 
 
 In general, sin is defined as a direct, conscious act of diso- 
 bedience of God's will or command. Many metaphorical defi- 
 nitions have been given, such as: "Sin is selfishness." '/Sin is 
 ignorance." "Sin is imperfection or incompleteness." "Sin is 
 a negation." But sin is something more than any one of these 
 statements asserts. 
 
 II. The Origin of Sin 
 
 The biblical authors with ; few exceptions have not under- 
 taken to explain the origin of sin. In Genesis we have the story 
 of Adam's first sin. St. Paul refers to this account in his ex- 
 planation. His statements on the subject are made, however, 
 in connection with another argument. Jesus, himself, has very 
 little to say on the origin of sin. He does say that evil thoughts, 
 words and deeds proceed from within, that evil fruit comes from 
 an evil tree, that man is defiled by that which proceeds out of 
 the mouth, and that all manner of evil comes out of the heart. 
 They all assume sin as a fact which no one will deny. The 
 statements of Jesus do associate sin with the very nature of man. 
 He accepts it as a fact that it is natural for man to sin. 
 
 For the most part theologians have taken their explanation 
 of the origin of sin from the story in Genesis and the writings of 
 St. Paul. There are two radically different views on the sub- 
 ject. 
 
 Augustine and his followers held that sin came into the 
 world through a disobedience of a direct command of God by 
 Adam. It was an act of free choice. By it man's whole nature 
 was made corrupt and sinful. 
 
 - () Christian Doctrine of Sin. Vol. I. P. 28. 32, 40, 88. 
 
 (2) Truth of the Christian Religion. Vol. II. P. 339. 
 
 (3) Religions Philosophic P. 69. 
 
DOCTRINES OF SIN AND SALVATION 
 
 Pelagius and his followers held that the nature of man has 
 in it the very element which makes sin necessary. Not only 
 Adam but all men have this nature. Some have held that God 
 created both the evil and the good. 
 
 It is clear that the theory of the origin of sin has rested upon 
 the author's conception of the origin and nature of man. Believ- 
 ing that the first man was fully developed, it was natural to 
 think that sin originated in a definite act of disobedience. 
 Believing the Bible to be the literal word of God, theologians 
 have accepted this theory of the origin of sin as historical fact. 
 Our present knowledge of the nature of the Bible and of man's 
 origin and development makes this traditional theory of the 
 origin of sin untenable. We can not say that sin as a con- 
 scious, moral act began with the first man. It is much more in 
 harmony with all the facts of man's origin and development to 
 think that sin has come into existence along with the evolution 
 of the moral consciousness of man. Man has always been trans- 
 gressing the laws of his own being and of the world in which he 
 lives. Man could not consciously sin against God until he be- 
 came conscious of the existence of God, and then it would be 
 according to his idea of God. But the idea of God has had a 
 very long and slow process of growth. 
 
 ///. The Nature of Sin 
 
 It is fitting to consider first the biblical conceptions of the 
 nature of sin. E. R. Bernard's article in Hasting's Bible Dict- 
 ionary gives a very complete analysis of the biblical idea of sin. 
 I give here the leading facts as presented in his article. 
 
 The early chapters of the Old Testament describe sin as dis- 
 obedience to divine command and as a conscious exercise of 
 human free-will in opposition to that law. It does not teach a 
 corruption of human nature on account of Adam's sin. It has 
 nothing to say of the Fall. It does teach the universality of sin. 
 There is a development in the idea of sin, and a great increase 
 and spread of sin. After the flood, sin becomes a breach of cov- 
 enant relations. Unbelief comes to be the root of sin. It is not 
 limited to Israel. Sin becomes trangression of enacted law. 
 There is an increase of sin with the growth of moral sentiment 
 
io THE PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECT OF THE 
 
 and also in terms to express it. There are four leading terms 
 used to express different ideas of sin. 
 
 The general term JlKtOp (chataah) sin means to miss the 
 mark or one's aim. This may be against man or God. T*y (ayon) 
 iniquity, means perversion or distortion. It denotes the quality 
 of the act and has a sense of guilt. J?^'g(pesha) trangression, 
 means a breaking away from the law or covenant and so implies 
 a law or lawgiver. It implies a voluntary act. J/0(resha) 
 wickedness, denotes that sin has become a state or habit. Other 
 terms express different shades of meaning. 
 
 Under the law sin meant much more neglect of the ceremon- 
 ial regulations than moral transgressions. There was no dis- 
 tinction between sin and crime. There was a growth of law and 
 so of sin. In the historical books sin is departure from God, 
 and so idolatry is the worst form of sin. The first command- 
 ment is very significant. This is the chief idea of the sin of 
 Israel all through Judges and Kings. In the later Prophets we 
 find the highest development of the moral character of Jehovah, 
 and consequently the moral quality of sin. Individualism was 
 developed by Jeremiah and Ezekiel. In the Psalms the individ- 
 ual and emotional element comes out strongly. Sin is personal 
 impurity. In Proverbs sin is folly and righteousness is wisdom. 
 In Job there is the greatest advance. Sins are purely ethical. 
 Sin is universal and inherent in human nature. 
 
 The New Testament does not add much to the Old Testa- 
 ment doctrine of sin. The New Testament writers seem to 
 adopt the Old Testament conception. The New Testament 
 terminology corresponds very nearly to the Old. There are five 
 principal terms used. 
 
 c AuaoTia(hamartia) denotes sin as a habit or state, a power 
 or act. 
 
 napd(3aai<;(parabasis) denotes trangression or trespass. It 
 implies the existence of law. 
 
 'Avo|Aio(anomia) stands for iniquity or violation of law. 
 
 'ASixux(adikia) signifies sin against one's neighbor, or injus- 
 tice. 
 
 'Acedia (asebeia) denotes disregard and defiance of God's 
 law and person. 
 
DOCTRINES OF SIN AND SALVATION 
 
 Jesus assumes the existence of sin as a common experience. 
 He denounces three types of sin: hypocracy, or working to be seen 
 of men; offense or stumbling, keeping men away from him; and 
 sin against the Holy Spirit, calling his work that of evil 
 spirits. 
 
 Sin is greatly extended by the spiritual interpretation of the- 
 law and by the new requirements of the kingdom of God. The 
 Fourth Gospel adds a new sin, unbelief in Jesus as the Christ, 
 the Son of God. The Gospels teach that the revelation of a per- 
 fect standard of the life in Christ shows sin in its true nature. 
 St. Paul gives the most extended doctrine of sin of any of the New 
 Testament writers. He makes it hereditary. For Paul the will 
 and, back of this, the flesh is the seat of sin. Sin is a power 
 which has gained place in man. 
 
 According to the definition of sin which I have given there 
 must be many different kinds and degrees of sin. If sin is the 
 violation of any natural or spiritual law, then it covers the 
 whole range of man's life. It begins with the transgression of 
 physical laws and extends to moral and spiritual laws. Trans- 
 gression may be conscious or unconscious, voluntary or involun- 
 tary. In general the same consequences follow. There are 
 moral qualities and effects in the conscious and intentional vio- 
 lations of law which are not in the unconscious and involuntary. 
 The point here is that all transgressions are real. All have their 
 consequences. These are the same for the animal and primitive 
 man as for the civilized man. This means that the root of sin 
 runs back into the earliest and lowest forms of life. Transgressions 
 may not properly be termed sins till they come into the con- 
 scious and voluntary acts of man. In the animal and primitive 
 man we do not call such transgressions sins. Therefore sin did 
 not begin in the race with a voluntary act of disobedience by the 
 first man. Man and his ancestors have always been transgress- 
 ing the laws of nature and society. In the course of his intel- 
 lectual and moral development man became conscious that his 
 acts were wrong. Two elements have entered into this con- 
 sciousness, subjective intelligence and objective commands. 
 Commandments and laws have value only in proportion to the 
 moral and intellectual development of man. 
 
\2 THE PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECT OF THE 
 
 IV. The Necessity of Sin 
 
 According to this conception of sin, it is impossible for man 
 to live in this world without sin. It is a necessary element in 
 the evolution of man. Man has not wisdom enough to obey all 
 the laws of his own being or of the world. To say that the first 
 man sinned, fell and corrupted the race is not the true explana- 
 tion of existing facts. When Oehler says: "Man can pass from 
 a state of innocence into the possession of moral character only 
 by an act of self-determination. It follows according to the Old 
 Testament that sin is not a necessary factor in the development 
 of a man, but a product of free choice," (i) he by no means takes 
 account of all the facts in the case. Man did not begin in a 
 state of innocency, and he can not pass from innocence to moral 
 character by one act. 
 
 Jesus does not condemn men.for being sinners. He makes 
 it his supreme work to deliver men from sin. He accepted sin 
 as a necessary element in human nature to be dealt with. He 
 condemned those who said that they had no sin. 
 
 The Hegelian School is right in holding that sin is a neces- 
 sary condition of the development of the human spirit. This is 
 to see the world as it is. 
 
 Van Oostersee says: "Sin does not consist in this, that we 
 are not yet that which we must become; but rather in this, that 
 we are just the opposite of what we ought to be." (2) Man is not 
 the opposite of what he ought to be at the present time. He is 
 in the process of becoming what he ought to be. Jesus did not con- 
 demn men for being what they were, but for refusing to improve. 
 
 Martensen expresses this important fact: "The possibility 
 of temptation lies in the fact that there exists a world outside 
 God, which can be mistaken for God a resplendent glory 
 which can be preferred to God, and that this two-sidedness 
 repeats itself in man's own nature." (3) Is he justified in in- 
 ferring that man has consciously chosen the world in the place 
 of God? Man has accepted the world in a natural way. He did 
 not know God. 
 
 (1) Old Testament Theology. 
 
 (2) Christian Dogmatics. Vol. II. P. 339. 
 
 (3) Christian Dogmatics. P. 155. 
 
DOCTRINES OF SIN AND SALVATION 13 
 
 Dr. Fairbairn says: ''Sin signifies that man has missed the 
 end for which he was made; that he is not in character and 
 state, in idea and reality, in act and function, what he was 
 created to be, and that he himself is the cause of his failure." (i) 
 This may all be true and yet natural and necessary in the pro- 
 cess of man's evolution from the lower to the higher stages of his 
 being. Dr. Fairbairn seems to recognize this for he says: "This 
 thing we call sin has come to be in the first act of the drama; we 
 must see the last before we can judge what it means. . . . Only 
 through the possibility of sin could God have sons, and it may 
 be that only through the actuality of sin could the sons know 
 God." (2) 
 
 A historical view of the race shows that the theological ex- 
 planation of sin can not be the true one. The idea of sin has 
 had an evolution. The biblical record shows this. Students of 
 Anthropology have observed it. Primitive races have little 
 sense of sin. 
 
 This view is confirmed by several of our best authorities on 
 religion. W. Robertson Smith says: "The sense of sin in the 
 ethical sense hardly existed in ancient times. It is of much later 
 development." (3) Julius Kaftan says: "The moral conscious- 
 ness originates and is developed in human society by mutual re- 
 actions." (4) Harold Hoffding makes this statement: "The 
 growth of the idea of God has been according to the growth of 
 man's mind. Religion is based upon ethical ideas and not vice 
 versa. In its lowest form religion has no ethical significance. 
 Ethical feeling develops in the struggle for life of the individual, 
 family, clan and nation. (5) He quotes Lichtenberg to confirm 
 his idea: "So wie die volker sich bessern, bessern sich auch ihre 
 Gotter." Also from Erwin Rohde: "Mit ihren Gemeinden 
 wachsen die Gotter." (6) This is just as true of the ethical 
 sense of sin. Biederman in his Religions Philosophic traces the 
 
 (1) The Place of Christ in Modern Theology. P. 453. 
 
 (2) Ibid. P 457- 
 
 (3) Religion of the Semites. 
 
 (4) The Truth of the Christian Religion. Vol. II. P. 540. 
 
 (5) Philosophy of Religion. P. 323. 
 
 (6) Ibid. P. 322. 
 
14 THE PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECT OF THE 
 
 evolution of the idea of God from the earliest beginning among 
 primitive people to the highest spiritual conception of Christian- 
 ity, and shows that the idea of God and religious development 
 is according to the growth of man's mental and spiritual capac- 
 ity. 
 
 In saying that sin is necessary, we do not say that it is good. 
 A statement of Ritschl makes this clear: "We must guard against 
 describing sin as an operation of God and a harmonious element 
 in his world order, for in all instances sin is the opposite of good, 
 and that which runs counter to the recognizable moral end of 
 the world. ... It is an apparently inevitable product of the 
 human will under the given conditions of its development, but 
 conscious as we are of our freedom and independance, is never- 
 theless reckoned by us as guilt." (i ) 
 
 Henry T. Buckle in his history of civilization has given a 
 strong confirmation of the fact that sin is a necessary element in 
 human society. He has shown that it is absolutely certain that a 
 certain amount of crime and sin of every sort will be committed. 
 This is a universal law. The reason is that all actions are the 
 results of certain antecedents. These are of two classes, the mind 
 of man and external phenomena. Quetelet shows the same truth: 
 "L'experience demoutre en effet, avec tout 1'evidence possible, 
 cette opinion, que pourra sembler paradoxale an premier abord, 
 que c'est la societe que prepare le crime, et que le coupable n'est 
 que 1' instrument qui 1' execute." (2) If these are right then 
 sin and evil are necessary elements in human society. 
 
 V. Original Sin and Depravity 
 
 We are now able to get a truer idea of what has been called 
 "Original Sin" or "Depravity." According to theology this is the 
 sin which each man has in his nature to begin life with. It came 
 into the race through Adam's disobedience and has been passed 
 on by inheritance. In the sense in which it has been taught by 
 theology there is no such thing. 
 
 We can not accept Augustine's idea, "that the sin of self- 
 vindication and disobedience which Adam committed with free 
 
 (1) Justification and Reconciliation. P. 380. 
 
 (2) Outelet Sur 1'Homme. Vol. II. P. 325. 
 
DOCTRINFS OF SlN AND SALVATION 15 
 
 self-determination completely corrupted his whole nature." (i) 
 Nor this assertion of Van Oosterzee: "The moral corruption of 
 hnman nature has its historic ground in the disobedience of our first 
 parents, who voluntarily transgressed God's command, and, in 
 consequence, have lost their original purity." (2) Auselm's 
 celebrated statement is not true: "In Adam a person made na- 
 ture sinful, in his posterity nature made persons sinful." (3) 
 
 In the first place human nature is not corrupt. The ground 
 ot man's sin is not in Adam's disobedience, but in the nature of 
 things. Every child is just as free from moral corruption as the 
 first man. Each person corrupts his own nature by repeated acts 
 of sin. There is that in human nature which pre-disposes every 
 person to commit sin. Choice is not an isolated, independent 
 act. It has something behind it and before it. The whole nature 
 of man is behind choice. Man's nature and the world in which 
 he lives makes sin necessary. It is not "original sin." The 
 history of the race and the facts of life confirm this view. 
 
 Ritschl's view is sound: " 'Original Sin' is not a sufficient ex- 
 planation of sin. It does not account for all the facts and phe- 
 nomena." "Education is possible oniy on the pre-supposition 
 that existing bad habits or evil inclinations have come to exist as 
 the products of repeated acts of will. From the standpoint of 
 original sin education is unthinkable." "The assumption of 
 distinct degrees of evil in individuals is incompatible with the 
 dogma of original sin." (4) 
 
 Soren Kierkegaard speaks sanely on this subject: "Original 
 sin is the present sinfulness, and Adam the individual in whom 
 it was not, yet it came through him." (5) "The notion of the 
 first sin according to tradition is the difference between Adam's 
 sin and the first sin of every man. Adam's sin conditions sin- 
 fulness as consequence. Every other first sin pre-suppases sin- 
 fulness as condition. If this were true, Adam would sin really 
 outside of the race and the race did not begin with him, but had 
 
 (1) Schaff-Herzog Encyl. of Relig. Knowledge Vol. 4. P. 2186. 
 
 (2) Christian Dogmatics. Vol. II. P 402. 
 
 (3) Ibid P. 409. 
 
 (4) Justification and Reconciliation. P. 337. 
 
 (5) Zur Psychologie der Sunde. P. 22. 
 
1 6 THE PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECT OF THE 
 
 its source outside of him, which contradicts every notion." (i) 
 That sin came into the world is entirely right, but that does 
 not touch Adam in a special way. We may say that through the 
 first sin sinfulness came into Adam. Now no one would happen 
 to say of any one later man, that through his first sin, sinfulness 
 comes into the world, and yet this comes into the world in the 
 same manner. For sinfulness is in the world only so far as it 
 comes in through sin. We can say with the same right of any 
 individual, that through his first sin, sinfulness is brought in." (2) 
 
 VI. The Fall of Man 
 
 There is need of a re-statement of the doctrine of the "Fall 
 of Man." The traditional theory of the "Fall of Man" is based 
 upon the mistaken theory that the first man was created with a 
 fully developed intellectual and moral capacity. All the evidence 
 points to an evolutionary development of man. This makes the 
 tradional view untenable. The innocence of the first rnan and of 
 every primitive man was his unconsciousness of sin. 
 
 What has actually happened is this : man has always been trans- 
 gressing laws. There came a time in his moral development when 
 he became conscious of his transgression. This consciousness of 
 his transgression was his "fall." But this sense of a fall can only 
 come with moral progress and the higher the moral development 
 the greater the fall. The real error in the traditional theory was 
 in treating the first man as morally perfect. Kierkegaard brings 
 out this truth: "Adam could not have understood the command, 
 for he did not know the difference between good and evil till 
 after the eating. " ' 'We need only to perceive that Adam has 
 spoken with himself. For the imperfection in the narrative 
 comes out, that another speaks to, Adam concerning something 
 that he does not understand. (3)" 
 
 The view we have presented is confirmed by H. J. Holtzmann. 
 He says that the Second Adam did not obtain his righteousness 
 by a voluntary act, neither did the first man get his sinful nature 
 by a voluntary act of disobedience, but he was already predis- 
 
 (1) Ibid P 25 
 
 (2) Ibid P. 29. 
 
 (3) Zur Psycholgie die Sunde P. 42. 
 
DOCTRINES OF SIN AND SALVATION 1 7 
 
 posed to sin. He says: "Paul not only says 'Die schlange 
 tauschte die Eva,' " but also in connection with the story of the 
 fall of man he says: "Die Siinde tauschte mich." Here lies the 
 original Pauline turn of the matter. Paul is making himself the 
 subject of that which is related in Genesis 3 of the original parents, 
 uses the myth as model, symbol and illustration for the becom- 
 ing conscious of sin in every individual, 'fur das Bewusstwerden 
 der Siinde.' " (i) He makes this significant statement: "Die 
 Sunde heisst namlich 'todt,' so lange sie noch dem sittlichen 
 Urtheil nicht unterstellt ist, in der Region . des Unbewusten 
 bleibt, als rein animalisches Begehren." (2) 
 
 Harold Hoffding makes this important statement: "We can 
 not appeal to the legend of the fall. How is a fall possible if all 
 the elements and individuals in existence were originally rooted 
 in an harmonious principle? The possibility of a fall is the ex- 
 pression of a discord. If Lam capable. of sin tomorrow, then I 
 am a sinner today. I have in my nature that which I may do or 
 act out. This is original sin." (3) 
 
 VII. Sin as an Objective Power or Principle 
 
 Many theologians have believed and taught that sin as a 
 principle or a powe'r of evil has an objective and independent 
 existence. They hold that this- sinful principle has entered into 
 man and corrupted his whole nature. 
 
 Oehler says: "The story of Genesis apparently presupposes 
 an ungodly principle which has already entered the world." (4) 
 
 Van Oosterzee describes it as follows: "The sinful principle 
 manifests itself in a transgression of law, which everywhere ex- 
 hibits the same character, but under ever changing forms. Un- 
 der all these varying forms, however, sin appears as a fatal 
 power, which penetrates and dominates the entire internal and 
 external life of the individual man and of mankind." (5) 
 
 Martensen explains it thus: "The principle question still re- 
 mains, namely, what is that in the creation which can tempt man 
 
 (r) NewtestameotlL'he Theologie. II Band P. 42. 
 
 (2) Ibid P. 42. 
 
 (3) The Phil, of Religion. P. 267. 
 
 (4) Theol. of the O. T. P. 158. 
 
 (5) Christian bogmatics Vol. II. P. 423 
 
1 8 THE PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECT OF THE 
 
 to fall away from God? We answer, it is the cosmical principle 
 itself considered in its relation of opposition to God, the princi- 
 ple of the autonomy of the world, of the self-subsistence of the 
 world." (i) 
 
 Dr. Fairbairn gives this explanation: ''And so theology 
 finds in nature, as embodied in man, forces that work for evil 
 in man, as history shows him, tendencies that create crime and 
 wrong; and these are to it agencies or energies that contend 
 against God, sinful and factors of sin. Theology were the blind- 
 est of all sciences if it did not see that evil was something more 
 and mightier than the habits and acts of persons, besetting the 
 will even before it was awake with potent beguilements." (2) 
 
 I can not believe in such an objective power or principle of 
 evil. The "Tempter" of man is not an external evil power or 
 person. I find no real evidence of such a being as a "personal 
 devil." Evil has been personified and the personification has 
 been accepted as a literal fact. Men are tempted to do evil by 
 the best persons and things as well as the worst. Money tempts 
 men to do all sorts of evil. A man may look upon the purest 
 woman with lust. He steals the most beautiful gems. There is 
 no necessary opposition between the cosmical principle and God. 
 God and his world are not in conflict. Man makes a wrong use 
 of the world. Psychology finds no need of such an independent 
 objective evil power in order to explain the meaning of sin. 
 
 VIII. The Propagation of Sin 
 
 The transmission of sin by inheritance has been a cardinal 
 doctrine of the Christian Church. David's statement: "Behold, 
 I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive 
 me, "(3) nas been accepted as a literal fact. Also the statement of 
 St. Paul: "Therefore, as through one man sin entered into the 
 world, and death through sin; and so death passed unto all men, 
 for that all sinned: for until the law sin was not in the world: 
 but sin is not imputed where there is no law." (4) "For as 
 through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, 
 
 (1) Christian Dogmatics P. 157. 
 
 (2) The Place of Christ in Modern Theol. P. 459. 
 
 (3) Ps. 51:5- 
 
 (4) Rom 5: 12-13. 
 
DOCTRINES OF SIN AND SALVATION 19 
 
 even so through the obedience of the one shall the many be made 
 righteous," (i) have been taken as a true historical and scientific 
 explanation of the origin and transmission of sin. We should 
 interpret these statements of Scripture by the actual facts of life 
 and experience rather than interpret actual facts by a theory 
 which these statements seem to establish. 
 
 Augustine held that the corruption and its consequence, 
 death, are propagated by generation. 
 
 Van Oosterzee makes this statement: "Between the fall of 
 the first man and the corruption of the whole human race there 
 thus exists a direct connection, which seeks its proper expression 
 in the so called doctrine of original sin." (2) 
 
 Martensen says: "All the descendants of Adam are by nature 
 that which the first Adam made himself by a free act of will," (3)* 
 Dr. Fairbairn is much more modern: "This question refers to 
 facts which not only theology but science recognizes and seeks 
 to explain. Our inheritance from the past is too ancient for 
 memory to measure; and though it has much good, it has also 
 its proportion of evil. Now, the evil, whether privative or pos- 
 itive, at once in the nature which incorporates our inheritance 
 from the past and in the conditions amid which it is realized, 
 represents what theology has termed original sin, what science 
 knows in part as heredity, and history as the law of continuity." 
 (4) 
 
 Dr. William N. Clarke explains the problem as follows: "If 
 we ask how sin has been perpetuated in the human race the 
 answer is that the race connection itself has been the means of 
 propagating sin. By natural propagation human nature is 
 transmitted as it is. * * Depravity is the moral badness that 
 has been imparted to that common stream of life out of which 
 successive individuals are produced. * * Heredity conveys 
 depravity down the stream of life, but not guilt for sins already 
 committed." (5) 
 
 (1) Rom. 5:19. 
 
 (2) Christian Dogmatics. Vol. II. P. 403. 
 
 (3) Christian Dogmatics P. 174. 
 
 (4) The Place of Christ in Modern Theol. P. 458. 
 
 (5) An Outline of Christian Theol. P. 242, 243. 
 
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECT OF THE . 
 
 -. ! Ill Mil ..! 
 
 It is clear from these quotations that these representative 
 authors all hold that sin as an essence or power has entered and 
 become a constituent element in our race stock and as such is 
 transmitted by natural inheritance. This makes every child not 
 Only a potential but an actual sinner, a sinner before he has 
 sinned. The best modern science teaches that acquired charac- 
 teristics are not inherited. Moral qualities are not inherited. 
 In practical life we accept this as a fact. Education is not in- 
 herited. Saints do not reproduce saints, nor do criminals re- 
 produce criminals by natural generation. The fact that a father 
 lies, steals and commits adultery is no evidence 'that his son will 
 do the same, and vice versa. Pelagius is % nearer the facts of 
 actual life when he says: "That the propagation of sin by gen- 
 eration is unthinkable; that good and evil are not born with us, 
 but done by us; that man has the same nature now as Adam had 
 when he was created; that sin is an act of the free will. The 
 power which sin exercises over man is simply the power of 
 habit." (i) 
 
 Another .theory of the propagation of sin, 1 which has been 
 widely held, is that it is by contact with an evil world. If the 
 world is evil, then such a theory is natural. This conception of 
 the transmission of evil by contact has been widely held. Her- 
 bert Spencer shows this in his principles of Sociology. 
 
 Westermark finds the idea in many and wi-dely separated 
 peoples. He says: "Sin is looked upon in the light of a con- 
 tagious matter which may be transmitted from parent to chil- 
 dren or be communicated by contact." (2) "According to Vedic 
 belief, sin is a contamination which may be inherited or con- 
 tracted in various wa.ys and of which the sinner tries to rid him- 
 self by transferring it to some enemy, or by invoking the gods of 
 fire or water." (3) The Peruvians and the Greeks both held 
 this idea of the transference of sin and evil. "Thus we see that 
 the early conception of sin made it something material, a thing, 
 ,a real object, which was separate from the person and had an 
 objective existence. It is looked upon as a substance charged 
 
 (1) Sehaff-Herzog Encyp. of Relig Knowl. 1*^01. Vol. IV. P. 2186 
 
 (2) The Origin and Development of Moral Ideas Vol. I. P. 52. 
 
 (3) Ibid. ?54- 
 
DOCTRINES OF SIN AND SALVATION 2 i 
 
 with injurious energy." (i) "The sick Chinese says of his dis- 
 ease, 'It is my sin' instead of 'it is the punishment of my sin.' ' 
 (2) "All kinds of evil are in this way materialized." (3) "The 
 Shamanistic people of Siberia," says Georgi, "hold evil to be a 
 self-existing substance, which they call by an infinitude of par- 
 ticular names." (4) 
 
 W. Robertson Smith finds the same ideas among the Sem- 
 ites. He says: "Holiness, like taboo, was conceived as infectious 
 by contact. This is true among the Hebrews." (5) 
 
 This idea of the transmission of evil by contact with an evil 
 world was a cardinal teaching of the Pharisees. It was on this 
 point that Jesus came into such sharp clashes with them. It has 
 been widely held in the Christian church. But all scientific 
 study and the experiences of life disprove this theory of the pro- 
 pagation of sin. 
 
 How is sin propagated if neither by inheritance nor contact? 
 How is it that the whole race is sinful? I believe that Jesus, 
 the wisest of all moral teachers, has given the true explanation. 
 He teaches distinctly that every man is defiled or made sinful by 
 his own actual sinning. He says to the multitude in contra- 
 diction to the Pharisees' teaching that men are defiled by contact 
 with an unclean world: "Hear and understand, not that which 
 entereth into the mouth defileth the man; but that which pro- 
 ceedeth out of the mouth that defileth the man." (6) And by 
 the request of his disciples he explains his meaning further: 
 "But the things which proceed out of the mouth come forth out 
 of the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart 
 come forth evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, 
 thefts, false witness, railings: These are the things which defile 
 the man; but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not the man." 
 
 (7) 
 
 Each man corrupts his own nature. The corruption of the 
 
 race is produced by the actual sinning of each individual of the 
 
 (1) Ibid P. 55- 
 
 (2) Ibid P. 55. 
 
 (3) (4) Ibid P. 56. 
 
 (5) The Religion of the Semites. 
 
 (6) Matt. 15:11. 
 
 (7) Matt. 15:18-20. 
 
22 THE PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECT OF THE 
 
 race. The first man transmitted and each man transmits only 
 what he has received. Every one from the first to the last has 
 received a nature capable of sin. Jesus assumes this fact in all 
 of his teaching. He does not explain it. Man transmits his na- 
 ture not his sin by inheritance. The first man was no exception 
 in the race. 
 
 Modern study has shown that environment plays fully as 
 great a role in the transmission of character as inheritance. 
 Theology has taken very little account of this factor in the doc- 
 trine of sin. Practically all now hold the view that guilt is not 
 inherited. They should as readily see that sin is not transmitted 
 by natural generation. Not heredity but environment "conveys 
 depravity down the stream of life." Man thinks and feels in 
 response to his stimulating environment. It is true as Jesus 
 taught, that men are defiled by the thoughts and feelings which 
 proceed from the mind and heart. But these come forth largely 
 in response to the stimulations of environment. Men are tempted 
 by suggestion. The individual has a certain amount of control, 
 according to his already developed character, by choice over his 
 thoughts and feelings, whether they shall be good or bad. This 
 is his response to his stimulations or suggestions. Here lies the 
 element of freedom and responsibility. 
 
 Imitation is a powerful factor in the propagation of ideas- 
 Imitation and environment acting together constitute a more 
 potent agency than heredity. Personal environment acting 
 through imitation is the most powerful means that we know for 
 the spread of ideas and personal traits. The constitutional na- 
 ture of man is transmitted by heredity; his acquired character- 
 istics are extended by means of environment. Corrupt environ- 
 ment will produce corrupt men and women. Environment stim- 
 ulates the same kind of thinking and feeling. The child thinks, 
 feels, wills and acts in the spirit and life of his surroundings. 
 This is now a matter of common observation. Tribal and racial 
 traits and customs are thus perpetuated. The criminal and 
 pauper classes are not born so, but made by their surroundings. 
 There is a new birth of environment. The reformatory principle 
 is based upon the idea of right environment. 
 
DOCTRINES OF SIN AND SALVATION 23 
 
 IX. The Penalty of Sin 
 
 The relation of sin to its penalty is that of cause and effect. 
 St. Paul has given the universal principle: "For whatsoever a 
 man soweth that shall he also reap." (i) In the nature of things 
 penalty must be determined by transgression. Physical pen- 
 alties follow physical transgressions; spiritual penalties follow 
 spiritual transgressions. The consequences of sin are not con- 
 fined to the individual who commits the sin. This is due to 
 the inter-relations of social environment. William N. Clarke 
 names the following elements of penalty: "The sense of guilt, 
 the disapproval of God, moral deterioration and many physical 
 and social consequences are elements in penalty. Still another 
 element is tendency to permanency." (2) The Scripture and 
 theology teach that the final penalty of sin is death. "The 
 wages of sin is death." (3) Jesus teaches that persistence in sin 
 excludes men from the kingdom of heaven and from the blessings 
 of eternal life. From the biological point of view, death is the 
 penalty of sin. Man can sin against himself, against other men, 
 and against God. All sin is against God. If life is the corres- 
 pondence between man and his environment, then every viola- 
 tion of the correspondence means death. This death may be 
 partial or complete, according to the extent and nature of the 
 violation. It is physical death in relation to the natural world, 
 mental death in relation to truth, social death in relation to other 
 men and spiritual or eternal death in relation to God and the 
 spiritual world. 
 
 B THE DOCTRINE OF SALVATION 
 
 In the nature of things the doctrine of salvation must cor- 
 respond with the doctrine of sin. In theology this is the case. 
 If there is error in regard to sin there will be error in regard to 
 salvation. In treating this subject it will be important to state 
 the general theory as held by the church. We shall thus be bet- 
 ter able to note the errors of the past and to suggest needed cor- 
 rections. 
 
 (1) Gal. 6:7. 
 
 (2) An Outline of Christian Theol. P. 246-254. 
 
 (3) Rom 6:23. 
 
24 THE PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECT OF THE 
 
 /. The Biblical Conceptions of Salvation 
 
 It is fitting to present, first of all, the biblical conceptions of 
 salvation. The article in Hasting's Bible Dictionary gives a 
 good outline. I will state the leading ideas of that article. 
 
 The idea of salvation has a growth corresponding with the 
 moral development of the teachers. The fundamental idea is 
 that of deliverance. At first in the Old Testament it is deliver- 
 ance of Israel from their enemies in battle, the deliverance of 
 Israel from Egypt. Then it is deliverance from trouble and this 
 is mostly temporal and material. Then comes the idea of messi- 
 anic deliverance. This is victory over enemies and earthly 
 prosperity. The Messianic Kingdom is largely an earthly king- 
 dom with earthly blessings. Later the idea becomes more in- 
 dividual and consists in righting his wrongs and correcting his 
 sins and evil ways. It is doing God's will and loving his neigh- 
 bor. Then the future element comes in, but mostly for this 
 earth. Finally it is deliverance from sin itself, both personal 
 and national. The highest moral conception is that of forgiveness 
 of sin which establishes right relations with Jehovah. 
 
 In the teaching of Jesus salvation is applied first of all to 
 physical healing. Then it is entrance into the kingdom of 
 heaven. Here the idea has a development corresponding to that 
 of the kingdom. To be saved is to become a true spiritual and 
 ethical son of God. It is to love God and man. As an individ- 
 ual experience it is personal righteousness, caused by love. It is 
 deliverance from sinful conduct, habits, spirit, heart and mind. 
 It also has reference to society. It is spiritual fellowship. It is 
 deliverance from sin by entrance into the divine life. The meth- 
 od of salvation in the teaching of Jesus is giving up sin, accepting 
 Him, and returning to God. 
 
 In the teaching of the apostles, Jesus is the means of salva- 
 tion. The term is comprehensive and means deliverance from 
 sin and its penalties, even death. It involves the new age and 
 the future life. The means of attaining it are repentance and 
 faith and the new life. The grounds of it are the death and the 
 resurrection of Jesus Christ. 
 
 For St. Paul salvation is deliverance from the law, from 
 legalism into life; from sin as a present power; from future 
 
DOCTRINES OF SIN AND SALVATION 25 
 
 judgment and punishment; from death, and this involves also the 
 resurrection. It is accomplished by faith in Jesus. He imparts 
 a new spiritual vitality. The death of Christ plays an important 
 role. We are reconciled to God by the death of Christ. There 
 is a social side to this divine life. This vital unity is the king- 
 dom of God as Christ taught it. It has a cosmic significance 
 and nature participates in the new order. 
 
 In the teaching of John, salvation is a present spiritual exper- 
 ience. It is life eternal, but this life begins here. It comes through 
 faith in Christ, in union with Christ. Paul emphasizes the 
 death and the cross of Christ and John emphasizes the incarna- 
 tion and life. 
 
 //. Theological Views of Salvation 
 
 To get a clear idea of salvation, which the church has held, 
 it is necessary to present the views of several representatives of 
 different periods. 
 
 Schaff-Herzog gives the following statement of Anselm's 
 theory of the atonement: "He taught that sin is debt; that under 
 the government of God it is absolutely necessary that this debt 
 should be paid, that is', that the penalty incurred by the guilt of 
 sin should be suffered; that this necessity has its ground in the 
 infinite perfections of the divine nature; that this penalty must 
 be inflicted upon the sinner in person, unless a substitute can be 
 found having all legal qualifications for his office. This was 
 alone realized in Jesus Christ, a divine person embracing a human 
 nature." (i) 
 
 The orthodox view has been clearly stated by Van Ooster- 
 zee: "Reconciliation with God is the first need of humanity. 
 The reconciliation of the sinner with God is inconceivable with- 
 out an atonement for sin in the sight of God. True reconciliation 
 can only be the fruit of expiation. Thus much may now at least 
 be considered as established with absolute certainty; according 
 to the eternal council of God, Jesus Christ must suffer and die, 
 not merely by means of, but for, the sins of the world. In pre- 
 senting this sacrifice, the Lord has perfectly fulfilled the law and 
 throughout his whole life, but especially upon the cross, borne 
 
 (i) Relig. Encyp. 3d Ed. P. 165. 
 
26 THE PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECT OF THE 
 
 in his own body the wrath of God against the sins of the whole 
 human race. By such a sacrifice the requirement of the highest 
 majesty has been perfectly satisfied. In consequence thereof God 
 in Christ has shown mercy to the world in its totality, and every 
 one who believes in him is in point of fact discharged from the 
 guilt and punishment of sin. The atonement thus affected ex- 
 tends not only to the present, but also to the past and future, yea, 
 embraces heaven and earth, and is so perfect that nothing needs 
 to be added thereto by any one." (i) 
 
 These statements give a fair idea of the older orthodox views 
 of the atonement. The doctrine as thus stated misrepresents the 
 character of God and his relation to the world. It is based upon 
 a mistaken idea of the origin of man and of the nature of sin. 
 It is not in harmony with the facts of the natural and spiritual 
 history of man. It fails to grasp the spirit and teaching of Jesus. 
 
 Dr. Fairbairn is more in harmony with scientific progress. 
 He says of the atonement: "It burns into the soul of the sinner 
 the sense of the evil and the shame forces him to look at it with 
 God's eyes, to judge it with His conscience, to hate it with His 
 hate. And when this is the case the sinner is saved. The atone- 
 ment may, therefore, be described as the method by which God 
 has so judged sin in the very home of the sinful as to achieve 
 the salvation of the sinner." (2) 
 
 Dr. W. N. Clarke speaks thus of salvation: "To be saved is 
 to be delivered from sin, that is, from sinning and the spirit that 
 will sin, and brought to righteousness, that is, to the spirit that 
 is right and will do right. If men, however sinful, can be 
 brought into inner acquaintance, fellowship, and moral unity 
 with Christ, all this will be accomplished. Union with Christ is 
 salvation." (3) He explains the nature of Christ's work in rec- 
 onciliation : 
 
 i. "The action of God in the work of Christ was self- 
 expression with reference to sin, as hating sin, as Saviour and as 
 sin-bearer." 
 
 (1) Christian Dogmatics. Vol. II. Ps 593-606. 
 
 (2) The Place of Christ in Modern Theol P. .483. 
 
 (3) An Outline of Christian Theol. P 355. 
 
DOCTRINES OF SIN AND SALVATION 27 
 
 2. "The two-fold object in making this self-expression of 
 God in Christ was to win men and to satisfy God. There is no 
 question here of satisfying law or punitive justice. But there 
 is a question of satisfying God himself. For this God is doing 
 all that can be done to save men." 
 
 3. "In Jesus Christ this self-expression of God respecting 
 sin was made in humanity." (i) 
 
 These views of Dr. Fairbairn and of Dr. Clarke are a great 
 advance on the older theories. They present a truer conception 
 of God and of Christ's part in the work of salvation. 
 
 Dr. R. J. Campbell of London considers the problem of sin 
 and evil as the necessary background. He says: "Evil is a 
 negative, not a positive term. It denotes the absence rather than 
 the presence of something. Evil is not a principle at war with 
 good. Good is being and evil is not being. Where one is the 
 other is not." (2) "Sin is the opposite of love. Sin is selfish- 
 ness. Sin makes for death; love makes for life. Sin is self- ward; 
 love is all-ward. Sin is a quest for life, but a quest which is 
 pursued in the wrong way." (3) 
 
 This characterization of sin and evil is neither adequate nor 
 true. His statements are contradictory. Evil is nothing and 
 yet a quest for life. The truth is that sin is a state in which 
 men are living and acting. The selfish or sinful man is just as 
 active and positive as the good man. The one is a state of obed- 
 ience to law and right; the other is a state of transgression of law 
 and right. Abstract goodness does not exist any more than abstract 
 evil. But men exist in a state of sin just as much as in a state of 
 love and gooHeess. The one is just as active as the other. 
 
 He is right in regard to the atonement, saying that he pre- 
 fers to take human nature for granted and to enquire whether it 
 needs anything like a doctrine of the atonement, rather than as- 
 sume the doctrine and then try to explain it. He says: "Was 
 there a divine program?" "We should see Gethsemane from a 
 truly human point of view to get its meaning." (4) 
 
 (1) Ibid. Ps. 347. 343, 34^. 
 
 (2) The New Theology. IN 43, 44 
 
 (3) Ibid. Ps. 51, 52. 
 
 (4) New Theology Ps 120 122. 
 
28 THE PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECT OF THE 
 
 "Sin is the divisive, separating thing in our relations. How 
 can we get rid of it? The only way is by the ministry of love. 
 The spirit of self-sacrifice is winning the world away from sel- 
 fishness and into love. This is the atonement at work. There 
 is not and never has been any other atonement." "Jesus per- 
 fectly manifested the atonement. He is the atonement.", (i) 
 
 In general Dr. Campbell has taken a step in the right direc- 
 tion. He sees the necessity of treating the subject from the hu- 
 man side, and from the psychological point of view. His treat- 
 ment is too general and too vague. 
 
 I have presented the views of the above authors on the sub- 
 ject of salvation, because they represent the ideas held by the 
 church in. different periods. These range from the most 
 conservative to the most liberal. They show the line of 
 development. Today the doctrine is made up of different views. 
 The result is theological confusion. 
 
 In treating the problem of salvation we need first of all a 
 right point of view. We need a larger conception of the subject 
 than theology has given. It has made its doctrine of salvation 
 correspond to its idea of man and of sin. It has followed the de- 
 ductive method. The result has been not only a wrong premise 
 but an insufficient one. The doctrine of salvation is incomplete. 
 
 The problem of salvation must include more than saving lost 
 sinners from punishment in the narrow sense. It has a broad 
 scope. It should begin on the human side. This includes the 
 whole man as an individual and as a member of society. We 
 must study man's life and observe the processes which are at 
 work in the evolution of man and society. In short we should 
 follow the scientific method. We should be guided by actual 
 facts and processes rather than by deductive and speculative 
 theories. Thus we shall get nearer to the true meaning and 
 nature of salvation. 
 
 ///. Definition of Salvation 
 
 Salvation is not only a negative, but a positive process. It 
 is not merely belief in certain doctrinal statements, forgiveness 
 
 (i) Ibid. Ps. 162, 167 
 
DOCTRINES OF SIN AND SALVATION 
 
 on the part of God, deliverance from sin and its penalty. These 
 are a part of the process. Salvation is the whole complex pro- 
 cess which produces the complete and perfect man in relation to 
 his whole environment. This includes the physical and spiritual 
 being of both man and his environment. 
 
 In the problem of salvation, the most important thing to be 
 considered is not man's depravity, but his virtue; not what he 
 has lost, but what he possesses; not his fall, but his rise; not his 
 incapacity, but his capacity; not his condemnation and punish- 
 ment, but his approval and reward; not his death, but his life. 
 Traditional theology has looked at man as a being chiefly noted 
 for his sin and depravity, his lost virtue and inability. These 
 things are not man's chief characteristics. Man himself is a de- 
 nial of it. The history of the race is a denial of it. The evolu- 
 tion of man proves that he has an immense fund of life and ca- 
 pacity, that he has been rising instead of falling, that he has in- 
 finite capacity for improvement. This is God's estimate of man 
 as revealed in the Scriptures. In all his appeals to men Jesus 
 assumes that they have great capacity. He rebukes men be- 
 cause they do not respond. One of his chief aims was to get 
 men to realize their own value and ability. The doctrine of sal- 
 vation can not be laid upon the foundation of man's depravity 
 and inability, but upon his capacity for development. This 
 ability resides in life. 
 
 Salvation is the complete development of the whole life of 
 man. Its process is that of elimination and addition. All that 
 is imperfect, useless, harmful and sinful must be eliminated. 
 All that is perfect and good must be added. It is conscious, in- 
 telligent obedience to the whole law of God in the natural and 
 spiritual world. When perfect, it is complete correspondence 
 between man and his environment. It is perfect life. Its direct- 
 ing agent is the will aided by the intellect. Its motive power is 
 love. The prophet Isaiah defines its process thus: "Cease to do 
 evil; learn to do well." (i) Jesus would bring every man into 
 perfect obedience to God. 
 
 There are two leading psychic elements in the process of 
 salvation, the moral and intellectual. The moral belongs to 
 
 (1) Isa., 16-17. 
 
30 THE PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECT OF THE 
 
 duty and choice, the intellectual to knowledge. Theology has 
 failed to appreciate the full value of the intellectual. 
 
 Progress in civilization is largely due to the increase of 
 knowledge. Knowledge shows what is right and good. A child 
 may have as free a choice to do good as a man, but he lacks 
 knowledge. Abraham had as good a will to do right as Wash- 
 ington, but he lacked knowledge. Ignorance is not sin, but a 
 great cause of sin. Henry T. Buckle develops this truth with a 
 great mass of evidence in his History of European Civilization. 
 He quotes this statement from Sir James Mackintosh: "Morality 
 admits no discoveries. More than 3000 years have elapsed since 
 the composition of the Pentateuch; and let any man, if he is 
 able, tell me in what important respect the rule of life has var- 
 ied since that distant period. * * * The case of the physical 
 sciences is directly opposite. From the countless variety of facts 
 with which they are conversant, it if impossible to prescribe any 
 bounds to their future improvement. " (i) He quotes from 
 Condorcet: "La morale de toute les nations a ele la meme." 
 Also from Kaut's Logik: "In der moralphilosophie sind wir 
 nicht weiter gekommen, als die Alten." He asserts that good- 
 ness is not handed down, while the gains of knowledge are car- 
 ried forward. Great religious persecutions have been carried 
 on by the best men, morally considered. Moral feelirg has been 
 higher in times of war. 
 
 IV. Jesus Christ, the Central Figure 
 
 Theology has rightly made Jesus Christ the central figure in 
 its doctrine of salvation. But its explanation of Christ in his re- 
 lation to the problem is not so satisfactory. He is the greatest 
 factor in the problem. Only we ought to discover the actual 
 part which he has in it. Theology has ignored the human and 
 emphasized the transcendent side. Dr. George B. Cutten makes 
 this statement: "Theology has, in the past, endeavored to prove 
 what mental states the religious person must have; psychology 
 now assumes the task of observing what these states actually arc. 
 The modern psychological and pedagogical method is from the 
 known to the unknown, i. e., in this case from rqan to God; the. 
 
 (i) P. 103. 
 
DOCTRINES OF SIN AND SALVATION 31 
 
 ancient theological method was from the unknown to the 
 known." (i) 
 
 How should we treat Jesus in relation to this problem? I 
 think that a natural method will be to consider three propositions, 
 namely: 
 
 1. What kind of a person was Jesus Christ? 
 
 2. What was the condition of the world into which he 
 came? 
 
 3. What was the reaction of Jesus and the world to each 
 other? 
 
 A plain, simple answer to these questions will give the 
 truest idea of the part which Jesus has in the work of salvation. 
 
 It will be better than any method of deduction or specula- 
 tion. I will present the essential facts of each as concisely as 
 possible. 
 
 1. What kind of .a person was Jesus Christ? 
 
 He had a normal and healthy body. He lived a natural and 
 normal human life. We have no evidence that he experienced 
 any sickness or disease. Yet he was not exempt from any of the 
 laws and conditions of the physical world. 
 
 His was a perfectly normal human soul, a perfectly sane 
 mind. His intellect, emotions and will were normal in their 
 operations. There was nothing peculiar or strange about him. 
 He had no extra-human faculties or powers. He obeyed all of 
 the laws of his own being and of the physical and spiritual 
 world in which he lived. His superiority consisted in his more 
 perfect obedience to all the laws of life, physical, social and 
 moral He was a perfectly natural man. He was subject to all 
 the laws of body and mind, as hunger, thirst -and fatigue. He 
 was free from sin because he obeyed all law. His perfect hu- 
 manity was his divinity. 
 
 2. What was the condition of the world into which Jesus 
 came? 
 
 I make no attempt to give a complete description of the world 
 in the time of Jesus. A few of the important social facts are suf- 
 ficient for my purpose. 
 
 (i) The Psychological Phenomena of Christianity P. 5, 6. 
 
32 THE PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECT OF THE 
 
 Vast numbers of people were afflicted with every sort of sick- 
 ness and disease of body and mind. The moral and social life 
 were as imperfect as the physical. Extreme ignorance and su- 
 perstition abounded on every hand. Only a few were developed 
 by education. There was misfit everywhere between man and 
 the world and between man and God. Indeed the world was 
 out of joint. The people were living in disobedience to every 
 law of nature, of society, and of the kingdom of God. They 
 were living in sin in the broadest conception of the term. Sick- 
 ness, sorrow, misery, corruption, vice, crime, greed, hatred, 
 malice and wickedness were everywhere in evidence. There was 
 little true joy and happiness. Life was all wrong politically, so- 
 cially, industrially, morally and religiously. 
 
 3. What was the reaction of Jesus and the world to each other? 
 
 What would such a person as Jesus do in such a world? 
 Here was a perfect and righteous man in an imperfect and sin- 
 ful world; a man perfect in body and mind in the midst of a dis- 
 eased and sin-sick humanity. How must such a person think, 
 feel and act? Certainly such a person was moved with pity and 
 compassion. He could not help bearing their sorrows and bur- 
 dens. All that the Scripture says of him is literally true. Such 
 a person must do just what Jesus did do. He must help the peo- 
 ple out of their sins and sorrows. Of course such a person 
 "came to seek and to save that which was lost." He must lay 
 down his life for the world and become the servant of all. 
 
 What did he do first? He will act according to the nature 
 of things. He will meet the needs as they come to him. This 
 is what Jesus did do. He healed men of their diseases. He re- 
 stored the body and the mind to health. These were the first 
 appeals to him. 
 
 Jesus knew the infinite value of man. He made every effort 
 to conserve and develop all of his capacities. He did not con- 
 demn the people for their deficiencies. He began to inspire and 
 instruct. He endeavored to put men into right relations with 
 the world, with each other and with God. He sought to correct 
 the wrongs and evils existing in men and in society. He insisted 
 upon obedience to God and his laws. He began to establish 
 the kingdom of God in human society. 
 
DOCTRINES OF SIN AND SALVATION 33 
 
 In the natural reaction of Jesus to the world in which he 
 lived we have the basis for a true conception of the problem of 
 salvation. It shows the actual work which he did, reveals his 
 own conception of salvation. It is the natural, psychic process 
 which is actually going on in the world. There is no theory to be 
 followed or proved. It will be necessary to develop the different 
 kinds of his work and to show more definitely how Jesus worked 
 along the different lines of his saving work. We shall also see 
 the place which Jesus, himself, occupied in the whole problem. 
 
 In adopting this method it may seem to some that I am ig- 
 noring the divinity of Jesus. On the contrary this method will 
 in the truest sense assert his divinity. His life and work reveal 
 it better than any theory can assert it. This is where Jesus ex- 
 pected men to look for it. He was surprised that men did not 
 believe in him after hearing his words and seeing his deeds. 
 This was his answer to John, asking if He were the Christ. He 
 said to the Jews: "The works that I do in my Father's name, 
 these bear witness of me." (i) And again: "Say ye of him, 
 whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world thou blas- 
 phemest; because I said I am the son of God? If I do not the works 
 of my Father, believe me not; but if I do them, though ye be- 
 lieve not me, believe the works that ye may know and under- 
 stand that the Father is in me and I in the Father." (2) The 
 following statement of Dr. G. Stanley Hall is very suggestive on 
 this point: "The psychological basis of faith, of immortality, of 
 sin, of inspiration, of prophecy, of conversion, many broader 
 conceptions of the affectional nature that show not only the 
 baser forms but the higher relations of the Platonic Eros with 
 the Pauline charity and Jesus' profound postulate of love and 
 many others already give promise that in place of the too docetic- 
 ally apprehended Christ we shall before very long have a psy- 
 chology of Jesus which will restore his sublime figure from the 
 degredation to which patristic metaphysics has so long banished 
 him and of religion that will make it again central in the soul." 
 
 (2) 
 
 (1) I John 10:25. 
 
 (2) John 10:36-38. 
 
 (2) Adolescence, Vol, II, P. 327. 
 
34 THE PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECT OF THE 
 
 V. Salvation by Healing 
 
 1. Why did Jesus heal the body? 
 
 He did it as part of his saving work. This was man's first 
 great need. He was conscious of his need here and pressed for- 
 ward for help. Jesus saw deeper needs, but began where he 
 could. The body is a part of man's being in this world. Hor- 
 ace Bushell in his Vicarious Sacrifice has pointed out the fact 
 that the soul can not be saved without saving the body, that the 
 one can not be in health and the other in disease, that sin affects 
 the body as well as the soul. The missionary begins just where 
 Jesus did and for the same reasons. This opens the way for 
 higher spiritual work. 
 
 2. Methods of healing. 
 
 The art of healing has three general divisions, viz., faith 
 healing, mental healing, and therapeutic healing. It is not my 
 purpose to give any detailed discussion of these branches of the 
 healing art, but merely to show that they form an essential part 
 of the whole work of salvation. 
 
 The first form is perhaps the oldest of all. Among prim- 
 itive and savage peoples healing was closely associated with re- 
 ligion. The same person was both priest and medicine-man. 
 This includes faith in all sorts of objects and charms, in persons 
 who have special gifts of healing, in supernatural powers, and in 
 God. 
 
 Mental healing was practiced long before its principles and 
 laws were understood. Its intelligent practice is modern. 
 
 Therapeutic healing is the accepted scientific treatment of 
 disease which employs physical means and remedies. These 
 forms of healing overlap each other in practice. Healing is a 
 very complex process. 
 
 Jesus seems to have employed entirely ' 'faith cure" and 
 "mental suggestion." Most of his cases of healing can be ex- 
 plained by these two methods. In some instances there seems 
 to have been no action on the part of the patient. Therapeutic 
 healing was very crude in his time. Jesus probably had no 
 special knowledge of the art. The point here is that he con- 
 sidered healing a part of his saving work. 
 
DOCTRINES OF SIN AND SALVATION 35 
 
 3. Should the methods which Jesus employed limit or de- 
 termine present or future methods of healing? 
 
 There are many who think that only the means and meth- 
 ods used by Jesus should be employed today. This idea fails 
 to appreciate the spirit of Jesus. Jesus came not to bind men 
 but to give them liberty. He left the way open for every possi- 
 ble form of progress. This appears in his instructions to his 
 disciples: "Howbeit when he, the spirit of truth, is come, he 
 shall guide you into all the truth." (i) And again: "Verily, 
 verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me the works that I do 
 shall he do also and greater works than these shall he do." (2) 
 When Jesus sent out his disciples he did not load them with re- 
 strictions. He did not rebuke their lack of faith. If they had 
 healed or saved a man, who can think that Jesus would have 
 quibbled over the method? Jesus gave the initial impulse, set 
 the example, revealed the motive of his saving work, but left 
 the methods of work to be determined by the future progress of 
 knowledge. 
 
 The nature of the maladies must determine the means and 
 methods employed for their cure. This age is bound to employ 
 the best means it can discover. The best means must be admin- 
 istered by the most competent men. Faith cure, mental healing, 
 medicine, surgery and hygiene should be employed where each 
 is best adapted. In each case the motive should be the worship 
 of God and the service of man. All healing is divine healing. 
 
 We must add to these forms of healing, hygenic instruction 
 and practice. Prevention is better than cure. This was Christ's 
 ultimate aim. Another feature of the healing ministry has to do 
 with physical and social environment. Environment must be 
 freed from germs and carriers of disease. The work done in 
 Cuba, Panama and the slums of cities is a part of the work of 
 salvation. 
 
 VI. Salvation by Development 
 
 Salvation includes the whole process of growth and develop- 
 ment. The undeveloped person is just as truly lost as the err- 
 
 (r) John 16:13, 
 (2) John 14:12. 
 
36 THE PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECT OF THE 
 
 ing one. Any unfinished work is a lost work. This includes 
 the whole life of man and involves nutrition, education and en- 
 vironment. We have only to consider in the most general way 
 the extent in which people are undeveloped in their capacities of 
 knowledge, art, music, skill, and moral character to see the 
 force of this. The whole conduct and attitude of Jesus toward 
 men shows how supremely he was interested in their complete 
 development. He did not look upon men as so many wrecks to 
 to be saved. In his sight man was more like a germ or seed to 
 be developed by growth than like a broken trunk. He was al- 
 ways appealing to men to rise, to grow, to advance. 
 2. The Process of Development 
 
 The whole process is complex. It includes a new birth, nu- 
 trition, education and exercise. 
 
 There is such a thing as the new birth. We have not yet 
 had a satisfactory explanation of it. It has been explained as 
 the initial act of a new spiritual life, the union of the divine 
 spirit with the soul of man, creating a new personality. Birth 
 has been confused with conception. The birth of a child is his 
 entrance into a new environment. Reaction begins between the 
 organism of the child and the world. This process goes on en- 
 larging all through life. The new environment acts as a stim- 
 ulus to develop the capacities of the child. By means of infinite 
 stimuli, the physical organism, the senses, the intellect, the 
 emotions and the will are developed. Each individual is thus 
 born into the home, the school, the state, industrial and social 
 life. He is born into the kingdom of truth, love and beauty. 
 Jesus said to Nicodemus: "Except a man be born anew he can 
 not see the kingdom of God. Except a man be born of the 
 water and the Spirit, he can not enter into the kingdom of God. 
 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born 
 of the spirit is spirit." (i) The new birth brings contact with 
 new environment, flesh with flesh and spirit with spirit. "He 
 that believeth on the Son hath life." (2) 
 
 Nutrition is essential to proper development. Jesus in- 
 sisted on the proper nourishment of both body and soul. He 
 
 (1) John 3:3, 5, 6 
 
 (2) John 3:36. 
 
DOCTRINES OF SIN AND SALVATION 37 
 
 says: "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that 
 proceedeth out of the mouth of God. (i) "I am the bread 
 which came down out of heaven, if any man eat of this bread, he 
 shall live forever." (2) ''The words that I have spoken unto 
 you are spirit and are life." (3) 
 
 Education is an important part of salvation. Jesus empha- 
 sized his ministry of teaching. At the age of twelve years we 
 find him "sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them 
 and asking them questions." (4) We read in Matthew: "And 
 Jesus went about in all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and 
 preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of 
 diseases." (5) "For he taught them as one having authority.'' 
 (6) Jesus made teaching an important factor in his final" com- 
 mission to his disciples: "Go ye, therefore, and make disciples 
 of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and 
 of the Son and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all 
 things whatsoever I commanded you." (7) 
 
 In this great work of salvation by education, physical train- 
 ing occupies an important place. This is well expressed by Dr. 
 G. Stanley Hall: "These theorizations even in their extreme 
 forms have been not only highly suggestive but have brought 
 great and new enthusiasms and ideals into the educational world 
 that admirably fit adolescence. The motive of bringing out 
 latent, decaying, or even new powers, skills, knacks and feats is 
 full of inspiration. * * * Now the ideals of religion are in- 
 voked that the soul may have a better and regenerated somatic 
 organism with which to serve Jesus and the church. Exercise is 
 made a form of praise to God and of service to man. * * * 
 The physical salvation thus wrought will be, when adequately 
 written, one of the most splendid chapters in the modern history 
 of Christianity." (8) 
 
 (I) 
 
 (2) 
 
 (3) 
 (4) 
 (5) 
 (6) 
 (7) 
 (8) 
 
 Matt. 4:4. 
 John 6:51. 
 John 6:53. 
 Luke 2:46 
 Matt. 4:23. 
 Matt. 7:29. 
 Matt. 28 :ig-2o. 
 Adolescence Vol. 
 
 i, P. i8q. 
 
38 THE PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECT OF THE 
 
 "Muscles are in a most intricate and peculiar sense the or- 
 gans of the will. They have built all the roads, cities and ma- 
 chines in the world, written all the books, spoken all the words, 
 and in fact done everything that man has accomplished with 
 matter. If they are undeveloped or grow relaxed and flabby, 
 the dreadful chasm between good intentions and their execution 
 is liable to appear and widen. Character might be in a sense 
 defined as a plexus of motor habits." (i) 
 
 Jesus, himself, was a good teacher. He taught many sub- 
 jects. For him life was a great school. He used the Socratic 
 method. He was a good questioner and made men think. He 
 stimulated the intellect, the emotions and the will. 
 
 j. The Work of the Church 
 
 The church has been slow in giving education its true place 
 in the work of salvation. The reason has been its too narrow 
 idea of salvation. The best method of saving men is by 
 training the children. The church is beginning to appreciate 
 this fact. Practically all of our missions now make educational 
 work fundamental. 
 
 We have here a problem similar to that of healing. Many 
 would limit spiritual salvation to the methods used by Jesus. 
 This idea misconceives his spirit It is a bondage to form which 
 Jesus always repudiated. He was a pioneer and set in motion 
 ideas and principles which would have indefinite expansion. He 
 would rejoice in all of our schools, colleges and universities as a 
 part of the great means of saving men. These could be more 
 efficient in their saving work if we recognized their true function. 
 We can say of Jesus as he said of Abraham: "Your father Abra- 
 ham rejoiced to see my day ; and he saw it and was glad." (2) 
 He expressed the necessity of progress in saving work: "Think 
 not that I came to destroy the law or the prophets: 1 came not 
 to destroy, but to fulfill." (3) 
 
 How is education related to sin? The ignorant and the 
 undeveloped are most apt to sin. Arrested development is the 
 
 (1) Ibid. Vol. I, P 131. 
 
 (2) John 8:56 
 
 (3) Matt. 5:17- 
 
DOCTRINES OF SIN AND SALVATION 39 
 
 worst form of sin. Jesus unsparingly condemned this: "And 
 this is the judgment, that light is come into the world and men 
 loved the darkness rather than the light." (i) 
 
 VI. Salvation by Correction 
 
 1. General Meaning and Scope 
 
 This part of the problem of salvation is directly related to 
 men as sinners. Man is transgressing laws in his thinking, feel- 
 ing, willing and doing. Salvation means the correction of all his 
 ways. He must cease to do evil and learn to do well. The 
 source of transgression is in thought and feeling and will. The 
 remedy must deal with the source. Sin does not mean that man 
 has no capacity or ability. It means that his powers are used in 
 wrong ways. The differenee between a good man and an evil 
 man is not that one has ability and the other has none. For the 
 same man does both good and evil and employs the same faculties. 
 
 2. Two Essential Elements 
 
 This radical change in man has been defined as conversion. 
 It has held an important place in the doctrines of the church. 
 Dr. G. Stanley Hall speaks of it as follows: "In its most funda- 
 mental sense, conversion is a natural, normal, universal and nec- 
 essary process" at the stage when life pivots over from an auto- 
 centric to an heterocentric basis." "All are thus born twice, 
 once as individuals and once as representatives of the species." 
 "The external types, norms and symbols of conversion show it 
 to be the very core of a true philosophy of human history. Many 
 analogies of this change are drawn from the metamorphasis of 
 insects and here biology supplies the best heuristic." (2) In it 
 two essential factors are involved: 
 
 1. The will to obey the laws of life and the commands of 
 God. 
 
 2. Knowledge of what these laws and commands are. 
 There must first of all be a willingness to give up the wrong 
 
 way and accept the right way. This is the moral part. At first 
 this choice may be very general and vague and in a sense cover 
 
 (r) John 3:19, 
 
 (2) Adolescence. Vol II, P. 301, 304, 331. 
 
40 THE PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECT OF THE 
 
 the whole life. The choice becomes clear and definite as the 
 knowledge of what is right and wrong becomes definite. Re- 
 pentance is not a single act but a continuous process, and pro- 
 ceeds from the general to the specific. In this connection Dr. 
 Hall makes the following important statement: "In practice the 
 above ideal is never isolated from others. Perhaps the most 
 closely associated with it is that of increased volitional control. 
 Man is largely a creature of habit and many of his activities are 
 more or less automatic reflexes from the stimuli of his environ- 
 ment. Every new power of controlling these by the will frees 
 man from slavery and widens the field of freedom. To acquire 
 the power of doing all with consciousness and volition mental- 
 izes the body, gives control over to higher brain levels and de- 
 velops them by rescuing activities from the dominance of lower 
 centers. Thus mens agitat molem. " (i) 
 
 Knowledge is the second essential element. We must know 
 the laws of life in order to obey them. Progress depends upon 
 the increase of knowledge. This involves the whole work of ed- 
 ucation. 
 
 j>. Psychic Processes 
 
 How does this change take place? What factors are in- 
 volved? How is the willingness to obey secured? There must 
 be consciousness of transgression or conviction of sin. The in- 
 dividual must see himself as he really is in character and conduct 
 as compared with the ideal standard. Teaching, preaching, ob- 
 servation and command all help to convict of sin. The best 
 means is a perfect and holy life. A sinful man in the presence 
 of the living and concrete laws of trutn and life will feel as Peter 
 did in the presence of Jesus when he said: "Depart from me for 
 I am a sinful man, O Lord." (2) Jesus is the most powerful 
 factor in conversion. 
 
 Dr. Hall has stated the problem from the psychological 
 point of view: "The Christian solution, if we interpret it in 
 terms of modern psychology rather than in those of dogma, may 
 be thus stated: Having tried to look the facts of our departure 
 
 (;) Adolescence, Vol. I. P. 190. 
 (i) Luke 5:8. 
 
DOCTRINES OF SIN AND SALVATION 41 
 
 from nature and our ideal squarely in the face and realize how 
 far we are from what we ought to be, or might have been with 
 other antecedents, we shall all, even the best of us, find sooner 
 or later that our imperfections of nature and nurture are too 
 many and great to be overcome by any effort we can possibly 
 make. Habits and instincts are too much for our will. The 
 good we can do is impartial or lacks spontaneity; it is an artifact 
 we have to force upon ourselves. Therefore, the only course is 
 to stop special and multifarious striving and fall back on more 
 generic and unconscious impulsion; with a changed heart and a 
 new affection, having fallen in love with righteousness, surrender 
 to this new love; make it supreme and complete; let it have free 
 course, striving only to remove obstacles; feed its flame by 
 proper exercise ; fan it by every inspiring example, especially by the 
 great Exemplar; for love is as old as life itself and stronger, and 
 is therefore alone capable of reconstructing it from the bottom." 
 
 (0 
 
 Desire is an important psychic factor in the process. We 
 desi e that which we enjoy and appreciate. We desire the true, 
 the beautiful and the good. Jesus called it hunger and thirst. 
 It is developed by experience. "O taste and see that the Lord 
 is good." (2) Desire has great influence over faith. What we 
 desire we believe in. 
 
 Faith plays a great role in the process of salvation. It is 
 that exercise of the soul by which we accept, adopt and appro- 
 priate that which we approve and desire to make our own. Im- 
 agination is an important element in it. By faith the distant 
 comes near, the future becomes present, the invisible becomes 
 visible, the abstract becomes concrete, the ideal becomes real. 
 "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, a conviction 
 of things not seen." (3) 
 
 Forgiveness is associated with guilt. It is the feeling of 
 disapproval by ourselves, by other men, and most os all by God. 
 How can this be removed? Only by repentance and confession. 
 When a man acknowledges and condemns his own wrong acts or 
 
 ( ) Adolescence. Vol. II, P 314-415. 
 
 (2) PS. 34:8. 
 
 (3) Heb ii :i. 
 
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECT OF THE 
 
 thoughts, he expresses his inner honesty. His purpose and 
 choice are right. This removes his own and the disapproval of 
 others. Forgiveness is the state of approval based on righteous- 
 ness in the heart, which exists both in man and God. It puts 
 the individual into right relations with God and men. 
 
 4. The Person and Werk of Christ 
 
 In theology Christ has held the chief place in the doctrine of 
 salvation. The doctrine of the atonement has been cardinal. It 
 has been made to misrepresent the character of God and the work 
 of Christ. Theologians have tried to explain what takes place 
 in the mind of God. The wiser method would be to begin with 
 the human side. These should have remembered Zophar's ques- 
 tions to Job: ''Canst thou by searching find out God? Canst 
 thou find out the Almighty unto perfection?" (i) Or Isaiah's 
 statement: ''Seek ye Jehovah while he may be found; call ye upon 
 him while he is near: let the wicked forsake his way and the un- 
 righteous man his thoughts and let him return unto Jehovah, 
 and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God for he will 
 abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, 
 neither are your ways my ways saith Jehovah. For as the 
 heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than 
 your ways , and my thoughts than your thoughts." (2) To ob- 
 tain a true idea of the person and work of Jesus in relation to 
 the salvation of men we must study the actual facts, seeking to 
 ascertain just what the personality, the life, death and resurrec- 
 tion of Christ has accomplished and how. For me the best evi- 
 dence of his divinity is his life and words and deeds. 
 
 I find no suggestion in the teaching of Jesus that he must 
 die to satisfy the wrath of God or his justice, or to secure the 
 forgiveness of God by paying a price. He did say that he must 
 die at the hands of sinful men. The doctrine of the atonement 
 would make forgiveness impossible in the true sense. It is based 
 on a misconception of the Old Testament idea of sacrifice. W. 
 Robertson Smith has clearly brought out this fact as the follow- 
 ing statement will show: "The original idea of Atonement was 
 
 (1) Job 11:7. 
 
 (2) Isa. 55: 6-7. 
 
DOCTRINES OF SIN AND SALVATION 43 
 
 that of a living union of the worshipper and his god. It was 
 giving and receiving life and was based upon the idea of kinship. 
 The idea of paying a price came much later. In the ancient 
 world the gods were a part of human society. There was one 
 blood and life. Piacular sacrifices are thought of as those de- 
 vised with a view to purchase divine forgiveness for sin. This 
 is not the true idea. These sacrifices existed long before there 
 was any true sense of sin. The laying on of hands was origin- 
 ally to indicate the unity of life. Christian Theology has over- 
 estimated the ethical element in the Old Testament sacrifices and 
 specially in making them a type of the sacrifice on the cross and 
 interpreting the cross as a satisfaction of divine justice. The idea 
 of divine justice was small with the ancients as compared with 
 that of kinship. In the most primitive form of the sacrificial 
 idea, the blood of the sacrifice was not used to wash away an im- 
 purity but to convey to the worshippers a particle of holy life." 
 
 (i) 
 
 Horace Bushnell was among the first theologians to grasp 
 the truer idea of the atoning work of Christ. He says: "Christ 
 engages to bring us out of our sins and so out of their penalties 
 at the expense of great suffering and even death. This is what 
 any good being does. This is the principle of love to take up 
 the burdens and miseries of others to insert itself into these. 
 Love does not ask about the conditions or deserts of another. 
 It condemns his sin, yet tries to save him from it. He makes 
 sacrifice to do this. He felt and sympathized with the sick. He 
 also healed them and forgave their sins. A mother loves and 
 suffers with her child. She truly bears the child's pain and suffer- 
 ing. A friend suffers in sympathy. This is the true meaning of 
 Gethsemane. We all know the meaning of vicarious sacrifice. 
 It is so simple and natural, yet it has been made so mysterious 
 and speculative." (2) 
 
 (/.) The Personality of Jesus 
 
 First of all we should get th^ truest possible conception of 
 Jesus as he was in his human life. I make no attempt to give a 
 
 (1) The Religion of the Semites. Ch IV. 
 
 (2) The Vicarious Sacrifice, Ch I, Ps 41, 42, .48. 
 
44 
 
 THE PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECT OF THE 
 
 complete picture, but merely an outline of essentials. All agree 
 that he was the one perfect man. We can never fully express his 
 personality. He was unique. He was indeed the first born of a 
 new creation. He obeyed the laws of life more perfectly than 
 other men. He knew and obeyed the mind and will of God. 
 He was at home with God, his Father. He lived a perfect moral 
 life. He conceived the ideal human society, the kingdom of 
 God. He recognized the ethical basis of society, that love is the 
 fulfilment of the law. He taught the fatherhood of God, the 
 brotherhood of man, and service through sacrifice. This is 
 Beyschlag's description of Jesus. He is the 'spiritual and heav- 
 enly man,' the man in whom, as distinguished from all the chil- 
 dren of Adam, the pneuma, the divine principle of life, is the 
 absolutely determining factor. He alone is man as God in his 
 heaven from eternity conceived and willed him to be; in a word, 
 the original, ideal man." (i) 
 
 (2.) His Relation to Men 
 
 Jesus devoted his whole life to the welfare of others. He 
 endeavored to get others to follow him. He showed them the 
 true nature and the sure consequences of sin, the ideal life and 
 how to attain it for themselves. He pictured the ideal society, 
 selected twelve men, trained and inspired them with his spirit 
 and ideal of life, taught them that true greatness consists in sac- 
 rifice and service, not in possessions, that love is the fulfilment 
 of the law. Through them he would recreate human society. 
 On this point Beyschlag has this to say of Jesus: "The term 
 'Second Adam' means the personality of Jesus. But it means, 
 too, that a new beginning of history has been made with this 
 man, a beginning comparable only to the first beginning when 
 God created man, but in a higher and indeed in an opposite 
 way. As Adam in himself sums up the whole natural earth-born 
 life of humanity and is the archtype of all men on their lower 
 sensuous side, the author of sin and death for all, so Christ is 
 for all the archtype and source of their higher spiritual develop- 
 ment, the origin of righteousness and life for all." (2) 
 
 (1) New Testament Theology, Vol II, P 65. 
 
 (2) New Testament Theology, Vol. II, P 64. 
 
DOCTRINES OF SIN AND SALVATION 45 
 
 (j.) The Significance of His Death 
 
 The death of Christ has been the central point in the doc- 
 trine of the atonement. The higher moral feelings reject the 
 doctrine in its older form, because it misrepresents the character 
 of God and the true nature of Christ's work in saving men. His 
 death has a great moral and psychic value. This we must dis- 
 cover. 
 
 The death of Jesus was the natural and inevitable result of 
 his life and teaching, coming in conflict with minds so entirely 
 different. He forsaw its necessity. He must either change his 
 course or meet the consequences. The same thing would have 
 happened to any other man under the same conditions. The 
 great significance of his death was not merely in the fact of 
 death, but in the character of the man who died, and of the 
 people who put him to death. He was a perfect man who 
 obeyed every law and command of God, who devoted his whole 
 life to the salvation and service of others, who proved himself to 
 be the son of God. His enemies were ruled by malice and 
 hatred. The power of his death was in the moral relations of 
 these two types of men. It was according to psychic forces and 
 laws. 
 
 (4.) The Effect of His Death on Men 
 
 What was this effect? It made men think and feel as no 
 other event in history ever has. It revealed the inner personality 
 and the truth of his teaching. This event revealed men to them- 
 selves and to each other. Why had they put to death a perfect 
 and good man? Not because he deserved it, but because they 
 willed it. Why had they willed it? Because they were moved 
 by an evil will and desire. They were convicted of sin. 
 
 It also produced in them a clearer moral vision. They be- 
 gan to see that his way would bring health and happiness, while 
 their way could bring only suffering and death. They saw the 
 need of a change in mind and conduct. Many have made this 
 change. They have accepted the life and teaching of Jesus as 
 their ideal of life. The process is still going on in men. When 
 an individual comes into vital contact with Jesus spiritual forces 
 begin to operate in him. He becomes a new man in Christ 
 
46 THE PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECT OF THE 
 
 Jesus. He becomes a conscious imitator of Jesus. Imitation is 
 one of the most profound means in the propagation of ideas and 
 character. Walter Bagehot has shown in his Physics and Poli- 
 tics how civilization has spread through imitation. In this way 
 religions and revolutions have spread. Christianity is no excep- 
 tion. The process is psychic. 
 VII. Salvation by Reconciliation 
 
 The problem of salvation concerns man both as an individ- 
 ual and as a member of society. Man can not save himself by 
 withdrawing from society, as many have thought. A hand can 
 not be saved by cutting it off. Jesus teaches just the opposite. 
 He would save the body by removing the offending member. 
 He says: "If thy right eye causeth thee to stumble, pluck it out 
 and cast it from thee * * * and if thy right hand causeth 
 thee to stumble, cut it off and cast it from thee: for it is profit- 
 able for thee that one of the members should perish and not thy 
 whole body go into hell." (i) The true idea is that right rela- 
 tions must exist between individuals as members of society. So- 
 ciety is an organism. Here we have the real problem of recon- 
 ciliation. 
 
 Jesus treated this part of the problem under the title "The 
 Kingdom of God." It holds an important place in his teaching. 
 At the very beginning of his ministry we hear him say: "Repent 
 ye for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." (2) The kingdom of 
 heaven is the organization of human society according to the 
 laws of God and the spirit of Christ. The subjective principle 
 of it is love; the objective expression of this is righteousness. 
 
 Dr. A. M. Fairbairn characterizes it thus: "The idea of the 
 kingdom, then, is primary. He comes to found or create it. 
 His instrument is preaching or teaching. He defines it by var- 
 ious terms. It is the kingdom of heaven in contradistinction to 
 the kingdoms of the world. It is the realm of healing, harmony 
 love and beneficence. It is a kingdom of the truth. It is pres- 
 ent; men may enter it, are even within it; the terms of entrance 
 are obedience to the word, or the childlike spirit. It comes 
 
 (r) Matt 5: 29-30. 
 (2) Matt. 4:17. 
 
DOCTRINES OF SIN AND SALVATION 47 
 
 without observation, spreads quietly like leaven, grows like seed. 
 It is ethical in character; to seek it is to seek the righteousness 
 of God; to pray for its coming is to ask that the will of God may 
 be done on earth as in heaven." (i) 
 
 Dr. William N. Clarke makes this statement: "To Jesus, 
 however, the kingdom was no national organization, no political 
 institution: it was the spiritual reign of God in the actual life of 
 men. Negatively it involved the deliverance of men from sin; 
 positively, the doing by men of the will of God." (2) 
 
 Professor Adolph Harnack describes it as follows: "If any 
 one wants to know what the kingdom of God and the coming of 
 it means in Jesus.' messages he must read and study his parables. 
 The kingdom of God comes by coming to the individual, by 
 entering into his soul and laying hold of it. True, the kingdom 
 of God is the rule of God, but it is the rule of the holy God in 
 the hearts of individuals; it is God himself in his power." (3) 
 
 "But he goes further. It is by his healing, above all by his 
 forgiving sin, that the kingdom of God comes. This is the first 
 complete transition to the conception of the kingdom of God as 
 the power that works inwardly. As he calls the sick and the 
 poor to him, so he calls sinners also, and it is this call which is 
 all-important. Here for the first time everything that is exter- 
 nal and merely future is abandoned; it is the individual, not the 
 nation or the state which is redeemed; it is new men who are to 
 arise, and the kingdom of God is to be at once their strength 
 and the goal at which they aim." (4) 
 
 "It is a supernatural element alone that ever enables us to 
 gt.t at the meaning of life; for natural existence ends in death. 
 But here the kingdom of God, the eternal, entered into time. 
 This is Jesus' message of the kingdom. His whole doctrine can 
 be conceived as a message of the kingdom." (5) 
 
 All of these statements make the kingdom of heaven include 
 the physical, moral and spiritual health and blessedness of men 
 
 (1) The Place of Christ in Modern Theol. P. 516. 
 
 (2) An Outline of Christian Theol. P. 276 
 
 (3) What is Christianity? P. 60. 
 
 (4) Ibid. P. 65. 66 
 
 (5) Ibid, P 67. 68 
 
48 THE PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECT OF THE 
 
 in their human relations. They make salvation, or freedom 
 from sin, its essential condition. Growth and development are 
 also conditions. Sin also involves man's relation to his environ- 
 ment. Men must live in right relations with nature, with men 
 and with God. The commandments and the golden rule demand 
 this. The consequences of transgressions are all the sickness, 
 poverty, vice, crime, injustice, misery, and unhappiness in the 
 world. Reconciliation is the establishment of right relations be- 
 tween men and nature, men and men, and men and God. This 
 includes the whole social organism, the family, the state, and all 
 industrial and economic activities. 
 
 There is a type of sin which is the primary cause of all so- 
 cial evils. It is due to a lack of discrimination between the cos- 
 mic and spiritual orders. Man belongs to both, yet chiefly to 
 the spiritual order. The lower order treats men as things, as 
 property, and measures them by their possessions. It is this 
 failure to recognize the spiritual value of men that is the cause 
 of so much of the transgression of human rights. In essence 
 the kingdom of God belongs to the spiritual order. This is why 
 Jesus issued his great call: "Repent ye, for the kingdom of 
 heaven is at hand." Jesus was the first great teacher to make 
 this distinction clear and emphatic. He reverses the old order 
 and puts man first. Many of his sayings bring out this fact: 
 "Ye can not serve God and mammon/' "Is not the life more 
 than food and the body than raiment?" "Seek ye first his king- 
 dom and his righteousness and all these things shall be added 
 unto you." "For what shall a man be profited if he gain the 
 whole world and forfeit his life." (i) 
 
 Professor Harnack puts the matter in a strong way: "The 
 value of a truly great man, as I saw it put lately, consists in his 
 increasing the value of all mankind. It is here, truly, that the 
 highest significance of great men lies; to have enhanced, that is, 
 to have progressively given effect to human value, to the value 
 of that race of men which has risen up out of the dull ground of 
 nature. But Jesus Christ was the first to bring the value of every 
 human soul to light, and what he did no one can any more undo." (2) 
 
 (1) Matt 6: 24, 25, 33; 26:26 
 
 (2) What is. Christianity? P 73 
 
DOCTRINES OF SIN AND SALVATION 49 
 
 "The highest estimate of man's value is based on a trans- 
 valuation of all values. In asking: 'What shall it profit a man 
 if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?' he put 
 a man's value as high as it can be put." (i) 
 
 The distinction between man as as object and as a person is 
 fundamental. The failure to recognize it turns the world upside 
 down. It makes selfishness supreme, love and righteousness and 
 obedience to the commands impossible. For how can a man 
 love his neighbor as himself if his neighbor is merely a thing, a 
 piece of property? The salvation of society or true reconcilia- 
 tion must begin by treating men as personal beings of infinite 
 value. Only thus can the golden rule be put in practice. 
 
 The process of reconciliation is two-fold. It is both sub- 
 jective and objective. It includes both individual development 
 and the correction and improvement of environment. The two 
 must proceed together, for there is a mutual reaction between 
 them. Society, itself, is the most important part of the individ- 
 ual's environment. It affects the individual more than he affects 
 society. A few great leaders and originators start new move- 
 ments in society. Montesquieu makes this keen observation: 
 "In the infancy of nations man forms the state; in their maturity 
 the state forms the man." This is a law of society. Jesus was 
 a great originator and leader. Ideals and principles once es- 
 tablished are propagated by the influence of society upon each 
 individual. The individual is bound to become what his race 
 or tribe is. The Hindu can not get out of his caste. Personal 
 environment is the greatest factor in the whole process of salva- 
 tion. Individuals of each succeeding generation are born into a 
 better environment for health, education, politics, industrial and 
 economic conditions, moral and religious influences. This is the 
 method of evangelization. The missionary at first builds up a 
 small Christian society. This society will change each individ- 
 ual who comes into it. Jesus illustrates it in the parable of the 
 leaven: "The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a 
 woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till it was all 
 leavened." (2) 
 
 (1) Ibid P 72. 
 
 (2) Matt. 13:33. 
 
50 THE PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECT OF THE 
 
 In the past both theology and the church have emphasized 
 the individual and ignored the social factor. The church teaches 
 that the individual is changed by personal contact with Christ. 
 This is true, but it is largely Christ in society. 
 
 Right here is the fundamental error of socialism. The so- 
 cialist puts chief emphasis upon a right environment. His error 
 is in making physical more important than personal environment. 
 He demands better economic and industrial conditions. He is 
 right in his demand, but wrong in thinking that this will solve 
 the social problem. This will not change the character of men. 
 It will not remove selfishness and moral transgression, nor create 
 love and obedience. The wealthy classes are not delivered from 
 selfishness, vice, crime and sorrow by their better material con- 
 ditions. Many forms of evil are enhanced by the possession of 
 wealth. Society, itself, is the environment which really changes 
 men in their character. A savage tribe placed in a highly civil- 
 ized material environment, with industrial equipment, schools, 
 churches, hospitals, libraries, art museums, printing presses, 
 would not be changed into civilized men. A savage tribe placed 
 in a civilized community would be gradually transformed by per- 
 sonal contact with civilized men. 
 
 Jesus saw and emphasized the importance of personal and 
 social environment. This is the meaning of much of his teach- 
 ing concerning the kingdom of heaven. Until the socialist sees 
 this truth more clearly, he will not be able to solve the social 
 problem. "For a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of 
 the things which he possesseth." (i) 
 
 Two erroneous assumptions are often made, the one in the 
 interest of religion and the other in the interest of socialism. 
 Many good people believe that the world could be converted in a 
 short time if a sufficient number of missionaries would go into the 
 field. Many socialists assert that the social problems would find 
 immediate solution if the state would only adopt the program of 
 socialism. Both assumptions are based on false premises. They 
 are psychologically impossible. 
 
 The religious assumption overestimates the power of the 
 individual and of free-will and underestimates the importance of 
 
 (i) Luke 12:15. 
 
DOCTRINES OF SIN AND SALVATION 
 
 social environment. No individual is independent of his ante- 
 cedents and social environment. Every man is a product of his 
 race and age. The world can not be converted in one genera- 
 tion. Social environment changes the individual. Christian 
 social environment is essential to Christian progress. The proof 
 of this is the missionary work of the world in all ages. The 
 church must proceed according to psychological laws. "The 
 earth beareth fruit of herself: first, the blade, then the ear, then 
 the full corn in the ear." (i) 
 
 The sociological assumption overestimates the power of 
 material environment and undervalues the individual and per- 
 sonal environment. Material environment can not quickly 
 change the nature and character of men. This change must 
 come mainly through the influence of society upon its individ- 
 uals. A new material environment requires a new society to op- 
 erate it. It is the old question of new wine and new bottles. 
 New bottles do not make new wine and vice versa. Yet the two 
 belong together and serve each other best. Personal environ- 
 ment most be created first. Right society must precede right 
 social conditions. In the process of growth these will help each 
 other. 
 
 The question of the relation of the individual to his environ- 
 ment has an important bearing upon the work of religious reviv- 
 als. The individual is not the same person in a revival meeting 
 that he in ordinary associations. The two environments are 
 radically different in psychic phenomena. The real problem is 
 how to conserve the psychic change which has taken place in the 
 spiritual atmosphere when he gets back into his ordinary associa- 
 tions. His psychic states of the meeting become abandoned in 
 his ordinary associations. This is why so many converts fall 
 back and fail to make the new life permanent. The new wine 
 needs the new bottles. The church must provide a spiritual en- 
 vironment for the new life of her converts. 
 
 I realize the greatness of the problems considered in this 
 thesis. In this treatment I have made no attempt to exhaust the 
 svbjects or say the final word about them. The important thing 
 
 (i) Mark 4:28. 
 
52 THE PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECT OF THE 
 
 however is the contribution of truth contained in it, however 
 small. I submit this thesis for the sake of the truth which it 
 contains and the direction which it points for further study on 
 these subjects. 
 
DOCTRINES OF SIN AND SALVATION 53 
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 
 The following list of books, most of them complete, has been read in the preparation 
 of this thesis. Many other works and articles have been consulted. 
 
 EDUCATION 
 
 Haslett, Rev. S. B., Ph. D., The Pedagogical Bible School, 1903; Home, Prof. 
 H. H., Ph. D., The Philosophy of Education, 1904; Rosenkranz, J. K. F., Philosophy 
 of Education, 1903, tr. by A. C. Brackett; Spencer, Herbert, Education Intellectual, 
 Moral and Physical, 1900. 
 
 ETHICS 
 
 Spencer, Herbert, The Data of Ethics, 1879; Sutherland, Alexander, The Origin 
 and Growth of the Moral Instinct, 1898; Westermark, E., Ph. D., The Origin and 
 Development of Moral Ideas, 2 Vols., 1906. 
 
 PHILOSOPHY 
 
 Benn, A. W., The Greek Philosophers, 2 vols., 1882; Kiilpe, O., Introduction to 
 Philosophv.tr. by Pillsbury and Tichener, 1901; Paulsen, F , Introduction to Phillosophy, 
 tr. by F. Thilly, 1895; Spencer, Herbert, First Principles, 4th Edition, 1880; Ueberweg, 
 Dr Friederich, The History of Philosophy, 2 vols., tr. by G S. Morris, 1886; Weber, 
 Prof Alfred, History rf Philosophy, tr by F. Thilly, 1896 
 
 PSYCHOLOGY 
 
 Calkins, Prof Mary W , An Introduction to Psychology, 1901; Cutlen, Rev. G. 
 B , Ph. D., The Psychological Phase of Chiistianity; Hall, Pres G Stanley, L L. D , 
 Adolescence, 2 vols., 1904; James, Prof William, Ph D., Principles of Psychology, 
 2 vols , 1890; - , Talks to Teachers on Psychology, 1899; Janet P M F , Major 
 Symptoms of Hysteria, 1907; Kierkegaard, VonSoren, Zur Psychologic der Sunde, 1890; 
 Stout, G. F., Analytic Psychology, 2 vols,, 1896; Wundt, Prof Wilhem, Grundzuge 
 der Physiologischen Psychologic, 3 vols , 5th Edition, 1902 
 
 RELIGION 
 
 Biederman, Guslav, Religious Philosophic, 1887; Crane, Rev Frank, D D , The 
 Religion of Tomorrow, 1899; Drummond, Prof Henry, L. L. D., The Natural Law in 
 the Spiritual World, 1888; Everett, Prof C C , D. D , The Psychological Elements of 
 Religious Faith, 1902; Frazer, James, Adonis, Attis, and Osiris, Studies in Oriental 
 Religions; Hamack, Prof Adolph, What is Christianity? tr byT. B Saunders, 1903; 
 Hastings Bible Dictionary, Articles on Atonement, Jesus Christ, Sin, Salvation; HofTding, 
 Harold, The Philosophy of Religion, tr by B E Myer, 1)6; Hall, Newman, D D , 
 Atonement, the Fundamental Fact of Christianity; lames, Prof William, The Varieties 
 of Religious Experience, 1902; Kaftan, Julius, D D , The Truth of the Christian Religion, 
 tr. by G Ferries, 1899; Muller, Julius, The Christian Doctrine of Sin, 2 vols , tr by 
 
54 THE PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECT OF THE DOCTRINES OF SIN AND SALVATION 
 
 W. Urwick, 1885; Pratt, Prof J. R , Ph D , The Psychology of Religious Belief. 1907; 
 Sabatier, L A , Outlines of a Philosophy of Religion, Based on Psychology and History, 
 tr by J A. Seed; Smith, Prof. W. Robertson, L. L D , The Old Testament in the 
 
 Jewish Church, 1883; , The Prophets of Israel, 1882; , The Religion of 
 
 the Semites, 1889; The World's Parliament of Religions, 2 vols , 1893. 
 
 SOCIOLOGY 
 
 Bagehot, Walter, Physics and Politics, 1880; Buckle, Henry T., History of Civiliza- 
 tion in England, 1903; Carver, Thomas N., Studies in Sociology; Darwin, Charles 
 
 The Origin of Species, , The Descent of Man, 1874; Giddings, Prof. F H , Ph. D , 
 
 The Principles of Sociology, 1904; Hawkins, Prof. F H , Ph. D , Adolphe Quetelet as 
 Statistician, 1908; Spencer, Herbert, Principles of Sociology, 3 vols., 190 <; - , 
 Studies of Sociology, 1882; Tarde, Gabriel, Laws of Imitation, 1903; tr. by E. C. 
 Parsons; Ward, L. F., Principles of Sociology. 1896; - , Pure Sociology, 1903. 
 
 THEOLOGY 
 
 Beyschlag, Dr. Willibald, New Testament Theology, 2 vols ; Bushnell, Rev. 
 Horace, D. D., The Vicarious Sacrifice; Campbell, Rev. R., J., D. D., The New The- 
 ology; Clarke, Rev. W. N., D D , An Outline of Christian Theology, 1898; Fairbairn, 
 Rev. A. M., D. D , The Place of Christ in Modern Theology, 1893; Holtzman, Dr. H. 
 J. Newtestamentliche Theologie, 2 vols ., 1897; Martensen, Dr. H , Christian Dogmatics, 
 tr. by Rev. Wm. Urwick, 1886; Oehler, Dr. G F. Theology of the Old Testament, 
 1885, tr. by George E Day; Ritchl, Prof. Albrecht, Christian Doctrine of Justification, 
 and Reconciliation, tr. by Mackintosh and Macauley; Weiss, Dr Bernhard, Biblical 
 Theology of the New Testament, 2 vols , 1885; Van Oosterzee, J. J , D. D , Christian 
 Dogmatics, 2 vols , tr by John W. Watson, 1872 
 

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