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-The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Seventy's Course in Theology (Fourth
-Year), by B. H. Roberts
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
-other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
-whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of
-the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
-www.gutenberg.org.  If you are not located in the United States, you'll have
-to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook.
-
-Title: The Seventy's Course in Theology (Fourth Year)
-       The Atonement
-
-Author: B. H. Roberts
-
-Release Date: October 13, 2019 [EBook #60491]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: ASCII
-
-*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SEVENTY'S COURSE--THEOLOGY (4TH YEAR) ***
-
-
-
-
-Produced by the Mormon Texts Project
-(https://mormontextsproject.org/), with thanks to Rachel
-Helps and BYU Transcribe
-
-
-
-
-
-
-The Seventy's Course in Theology
-
-Fourth Year
-
-The Atonement
-
-BY B. H. ROBERTS
-
-Of the First Council of the Seventy
-
-"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the
-Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in him should not
-perish, but have eternal life."--Jesus.
-
-Salt Lake City
-
-1911
-
-
-
-Introduction
-
-POINTS OF DIFFERENCE.
-
-The Seventy's Year Book No. IV, differs from the other numbers in two
-particulars:
-
-First, in that there are no special lessons suggested as in the three
-previous numbers; nor are there any suggestions as to the manner of
-treating a subject. In the three preceding numbers of the Year Book
-suggestions on "discourse building" were made; for gathering the
-materials, arranging a plan, beginning the discourse, conducting it,
-and completing it, (see Year Book No. III Lesson XXXI), together with
-such side suggestions on "clearness" and "strength"--the two great
-essentials in the expression of thought--as were considered necessary.
-It is now concluded that the manner of thought expression, so far as
-our Year Books for the present are concerned, might be allowed to rest
-there; leaving it to the student to refer to those suggestions--to
-which the class teachers at need should direct his attention--and to
-the consultation of such special works as treat exclusively upon the
-manner of expression to be found in the current _text books_ on
-composition and rhetoric, used in our high schools, and academies. I
-would also suggest in this line Pittenger's little work on "Extempore
-Speech, How to acquire and practice it;" and also the admirable work of
-Professor Nelson of the Brigham Young University, Provo, on "Preaching
-and Public Speaking," a new and revised edition of which has been
-recently issued by the Deseret News Publishing Company.
-
-Second. Instead of giving an Analysis of each lesson followed by
-unconnected _Notes_ bearing upon the subjects compiled from a wide
-range of authorities--a method largely followed in the Year Book No.
-III--the author has written a connected treatise upon the Atonement,
-and for that reason has substituted the word _"Discussion"_ for
-the word _"Notes"_ as being more appropriate to the method of
-treatment. Other than this the general plan of the work is the same as
-that followed in the previous Year Books.
-
-A PRELIMINARY READING SUGGESTED.
-
-It is suggested to all the classes that the first step in dealing
-with the present Year Book, should be to require every member to read
-the entire treatise through. This should be done rapidly, not with
-the thought that such reading will yield a complete and thorough
-understanding of, or mastery of the subject, but just to get acquainted
-somewhat with the spirit of the treatise, the scope of the inquiry, the
-largeness of it, the majesty and glory of the subject. All which will
-enable the student to be somewhat conscious, as he seeks to master the
-separate lessons, of the conclusions to which he is being led. Without
-such preliminary reading, except where students already have clear
-views of the Atonement, each lesson will be something of a groping
-forward without always appreciating to what culmination the movement of
-the respective lessons is tending.
-
-The preliminary reading need not occupy more than one week. No more
-time than that should be allowed for it. It is supposed that this Year
-Book will be completed by the first of January, 1912.
-
-THE THEME OF YEAR BOOK IV.
-
-The doctrine of the Atonement through the expiatory suffering and
-death of Christ, can only be rightly understood when considered in its
-relationship to the Intelligences--i. e., men--that are affected by
-it. Hence this treatise opens with a consideration of Intelligences as
-related to the Atonement. Necessarily this will involve the restatement
-of some of the matter of the Seventy's Year Book No. II, dealing with
-the "Outline History of the Dispensations of the Gospel, Part I--,
-"Prelude to the Dispensations" where such subjects as "Intelligences
-and Spirits," "The Relationship of the Intelligences;" "The Purposes of
-God in Relation to Man;" "The Free Agency of Intelligences," and the
-like are discussed. But as the present use of the principles there set
-forth will be different from the former use of them, the repetition
-necessary to a clear understanding of the great theme to be developed
-may not be amiss, but, on the contrary, positively helpful to a
-fuller appreciation of the principles them selves, as well as a right
-appreciation of the bearing they have upon the subject of the Atonement.
-
-The writer has approached his theme from a new standpoint. Instead of
-beginning with the work of the Christ when he appeared on earth as the
-son of Mary, he has begun with those eternal Intelligences that were
-to be affected by this earth-life, by the "fall" and the "Atonement,"
-and by "Hope of eternal life which God that cannot lie promised before
-the world began." (Paul to Titus.) This is followed by consideration of
-the council in heaven, wherein the order of earth-life for the spirits
-of men is considered, what shall accrue to them from it; necessarily
-the fall and plan of man's redemption; the war in heaven, the advent
-of man on earth; the fall; revelation of the plan for man's salvation;
-the Atonement in ancient times, through all the ages in fact, and so
-finally to the consideration of the various elements that enter into
-the great theme, making up the philosophy of the Atonement.
-
-As to the importance of the subject, need anything be said? It is the
-very heart of the Gospel from whose pulsations the streams of both
-spiritual and eternal physical life proceed. It is the fact which gives
-vitality to all things else in the Gospel. If the Atonement be not a
-reality then our preaching is vain; our baptisms and confirmations
-meaningless; the eucharist a mere mummery of words; our hope of eternal
-life without foundation; we are still in our sins, and we Christian
-men, of all men, are the most miserable. A theme that affects all
-this cannot fail of being important. And yet, how our writers upon
-theology have neglected this subject! Save for the treatise of the late
-President John Taylor on the "Mediation and Atonement of Our Lord and
-Savior Jesus Christ," we have no work devoted wholly to the subject.
-President Taylor's treatise was published twenty-nine years ago (1882);
-there was but a very limited edition published at the time, and that
-is not yet sold out! Aside from this treatise--and even that is quite
-limited in its scope, chiefly a compilation of scripture texts upon the
-fact of the Atonement--our speakers and writers have treated the theme
-merely incidentally. It is time, then, that our Seventies--the special
-witnesses for the Lord Jesus Christ, including as a central fact of
-their testimony the Atonement, should give special and extended study
-to this theme of themes.
-
-DIFFICULTY OF THE SUBJECT.
-
-Is the subject difficult? Certainly. But "To Become a Seventy, Means
-Mental Activity, Intellectual Development, and the Attainment of
-Spiritual Power." Such men will not be daunted because the subject is
-difficult, but rather will rejoice at it, even as a strong man rejoices
-to run a race, or fight a battle, or undertake hard tasks wherein lies
-adventure and danger and great glory. Such men will remember that as
-all great things are attended with risk, so the hard is the good; and
-"truth's a gem that loves the deep." Go and search for it.
-
-THE APPENDIX.
-
-In an appendix there will be found a statement of "Other Views of the
-Atonement" than those set forth in the body of the treatise. These are
-the views of the Roman Catholic church, the great Protestant divisions
-of modern Christendom, and of so-called liberal Christendom, the
-latter comprised of those who accept--speaking broadly--the theory of
-evolution and higher criticism.
-
-No lessons have been formulated in this division of the work, but the
-class teachers can readily make lesson formula from the divisions and
-subdivisions of the matter there presented if they so elect; if not
-then it may be left for the student's private perusal; or out of the
-matter may be formulated special lectures, and much advantage gained by
-putting the views there expounded in comparison and contrast with the
-doctrines of the regular text of the Year Book.
-
-BOOKS OF REFERENCE.
-
-It is difficult to name books of reference for this subject; such as
-are available are named repeatedly in the table references given with
-each lesson, and in the body of the work. Attention should be called to
-the necessity of each Seventy possessing what in previous Year Books
-has been called the "Seventy's Indispensable Library." This library is
-made up of the standard books of the Church on Doctrine, viz.:
-
-_The Bible,_
-
-_The Book of Mormon,_
-
-_The Doctrine and Covenants,_
-
-_The Pearl of Great Price,_ containing _the Book of Moses, the
-Book of Abraham,_ and some of the _Writings of Joseph Smith._
-
-The above books are certainly indispensable to every Seventy, and
-should be owned by every member of our quorums. The First Council,
-in their recommendations, added to the above list, _"Richards and
-Little's Compendium of the Doctrines of the Gospel,"_ and called
-the set the "Seventy's Indispensable Library." Arrangements were
-made by the First Council to hav these books in suitable sizes and
-uniform bindings, and obtainable in sets at special prices, and they
-are still to be had in this form. It is also suggested that to these
-books be added a good standard dictionary, say either the _Students'
-Standard Dictionary_, Funk and Wagnall's; price, $2.50, cloth;
-or _Webster's College Dictionary_; price, $3.00. These books
-are recommended in cases where the unabridged dictionaries of these
-publishers are considered too expensive; when the unabridged editions
-can be afforded, they are all the more desirable.
-
-The four books of Scripture referred to above are very frequently
-quoted in the text of this treatise, and are the main authorities used.
-Besides these it is recommended that the student obtains
-
-_"Mediation and Atonement of Our Lord Jesus Christ,"_ by John
-Taylor;
-
-_"The Articles of Faith,"_ Talmage.
-
-_Orson Pratt's Works, Remarkable Visions and the Kingdom of God._
-(These works are cited for the benefit of those who have them. We
-regret to say that the Works of this great apostle have been allowed to
-go out of print.)
-
-_"The Gospel,"_ Roberts.
-
-The _Improvement Era_ of January, 1909, Vol. XII, containing the
-"King Follett Sermon," with explanatory notes by this writer; also the
-_Improvement Era_ for April, 1907, for Article on Immortality.
-Same author.
-
-The Seventies should also remember that the _Improvement Era_
-is the organ of the Priesthood quorums, and that from time to time
-supplemental articles will appear bearing upon our current work, and
-for this reason Seventies should subscribe, if it is possible, for this
-magazine in order to keep in touch with our work.
-
-THE SEVENTY'S YEAR BOOK.
-
-The importance of Seventies having a complete set of the Seventy's Year
-Books cannot be over-emphasized. There is constant reference made in
-the present Number to previous Numbers; and the student who is not in
-possession of those books is by so much deprived of the opportunity
-to complete his inquiry on the division of the subject he may have in
-hand. As there are now four of the Year Books issued, they could be
-bound together; or in more convenient form, two numbers can be bound
-together at a cost of seventy-five cents, postage prepaid, and those
-desirous of preserving the set would do well to order them in that form.
-
-SCRIPTURE READING EXERCISE.
-
-This exercise is continued in the present Year Book as being too
-valuable to be omitted from our lessons; and by this time it is our
-presumption that had it been omitted, instead of continued as a
-suggestion at the head of each lesson, our class teachers and the
-members of the classes themselves, would have continued the practice
-that has now been an interesting feature of the Seventy's lessons
-through three successful years. The purpose for which this feature of
-our class exercise was introduced, and the manner of conducting it, the
-new teachers and students will find explanations of in the Introduction
-of Year Book No. I, to which attention is hereby directed.
-
-To the Seventies we now commend the great theme of this present Year
-Book, with the prayer that they may be impressed with its beauty, its
-effectiveness, and its glory.
-
-
-
-The Seventy's Course in Theology.
-
-FOURTH YEAR.
-
-The Atonement.
-
-
-
-PART I.
-
-Eternal Intelligences and Progress.
-
-
-
-LESSON I.
-
-(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
-
-INTELLIGENCE, INTELLIGENCES.
-
-ANALYSIS.
-
-I. Intelligence Defined.
-
-II. Qualities and Powers of Intelligences.
-
-1. Consciousness.
-
-2. Generalization.
-
-3. Perception of a priori principles.
-
-4. Reason.
-
-5. Imagination.
-
-6. Volition.
-
-REFERENCES.
-
-Seventy's Year Book, Second Year, Part I. Lessons i and iv; The Truth
-of Thought, Ch. iv.[A] Psychology, Prof. William James of Harvard, Chs.
-xi, xii,[B] dealing with "The Stream of Consciousness" and "The Self."
-Joseph Smith's "King Follett Sermon," Improvement Era, Vol. XII, Jan.,
-1909.[C] "Immortality," article in Improvement Era, April, 1907; Doc. &
-& Cov., Sec. 93.
-
-_SPECIAL TEXT: "Intelligence is eternal, and exists upon a
-self-existing principle. It is a spirit[D] from age to age and there
-is no creation about it." (Joseph Smith, "King Follett Sermon," April,
-1844.)_
-
-[Footnote A: This little work (206 pages) is by William Pollard, some
-years Professor of Rational Philosophy in St. Louis University. It is a
-short treatise on the "Initial Philosophy," the ground work necessary
-for the consistent pursuit of knowledge, (1896).]
-
-[Footnote B: I cite the abridged (teachers') edition of the
-Professor's, "Principles of Psychology."]
-
-[Footnote C: This sermon as published in the "Era" is accompanied by
-explanatory notes, hence the "Era" is cited. It is also published in
-"Journal of Discourses," Vol. VI.]
-
-[Footnote D: "A spirit from age to age"--not "Spirit from age to
-age:" but a "spirit"; that is an entity, a person, an individual. The
-Prophet's statement here could well be taken as an interpretation of
-Doc. & Cov. Sec. 93:29. See Lesson II.]
-
-DISCUSSION.
-
-_1. Intelligence Defined:_ The sense in which the term
-"Intelligence" is to be used in this discussion is that of a mind, or
-an intelligent being, Milton make's such use of the term as the latter
-when he represents Adam as saying to the angel Raphael, who has given
-him a lesson on human limitations:
-
-  "How fully hast thou satisfied me, pure
-  Intelligence of heaven, angel serene!"[A]
-
-[Footnote A: "Paradise Lost," viii:181.]
-
-And so Alfred Tennyson:
-
-  "The great _Intelligences_ fair
-  That range above our mortal state."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: "In Memoriam," lxxxv.]
-
-God is also sometimes referred to as the "Supreme Intelligence." It is
-in this sense, then, that I use the term Intelligence; a being that is
-intelligent, capable of apprehending facts or ideas; possessed of power
-to think.
-
-_2. Intelligence: Consciousness:_ In other words the term
-Intelligence is descriptive of the thing to which it is applied.
-Therefore Intelligence (mind) or Intelligences (minds), thus conceived
-are conscious. Conscious of _self_ and of _not self_; of the _me_
-and the _not me_. "Intelligence is that which sees itself, or is at
-once both subject and object." It knows itself as thinking, that is,
-as a subject; thinking of its self, it knows itself as an object of
-thought--of its own thought. And it knows itself as distinct from a
-vast universe of things which are not self; itself the while remaining
-constant as a distinct individuality amid the great universe of things
-_not self_. Fiske calls Consciousness "the soul's fundamental fact;"
-and "the most fundamental of facts."[A] It may be defined as the
-power by which Intelligence knows its own acts and states. It is an
-awareness of the mind. By reason of it an Intelligence, when dwelling
-in a body--as we best know it (man)--knows itself as seeing, hearing,
-smelling, tasting, touching; also as searching, and finding; as
-inquiring and answering; as active or at rest; as loving or hating; as
-contented or restless; as advancing or receding; as gaining or loosing,
-and so following in all the activities in which Intelligences, as men,
-engage.
-
-[Footnote A: "Studies in Religion," p. 245.]
-
-_3. Generalization:_ By another power or faculty of Intelligence
-(mind) it can perceive, as connected with the things that sense
-perceives, something that cannot be taken in by sense perception;
-that is to say, Intelligence can generalize. Sense can get at the
-individual, concrete thing only: "this triangle," "this orange"
-"that triangle," "those oranges," etc. By the consideration of the
-individual, concrete object, however, the mind can form an idea, a
-concept, a general notion--"triangle," "orange"--which does not specify
-this or that individual object, but "fits to any individual triangle
-or orange past, present, or future, and even the possible oranges that
-never shall be grown."[A] In other words Intelligence can rise from
-consideration of the particular to the general.
-
-[Footnote A: "The Truth of Thought," p. 41.]
-
-_4. Perception of a priori[A] Principles:_ Again there are a
-priori principles, which the mind can perceive to be incontrovertible
-and of universal application, by mere reflection upon the signification
-of the principles and without going into the applications.[B] Such
-for example as that one and one make two. That two and one make
-three. Also, to continue the illustration above, borrowed from the
-late Professor Wm. James, for some time Professor of Psychology in
-Harvard University.--"White differs less from gray than it does from
-black; that when the cause begins to act the effect also commences.
-Such propositions hold of all possible 'ones,' of all conceivable
-'whites' and 'grays' and 'causes.' The objects here are mental
-objects. Their relations are perceptually obvious at a glance, and no
-sense-verification is necessary. Moreover, once true, always true, of
-those same mental objects. Truth here has an 'eternal' character. If
-you can find a concrete thing anywhere that is 'one' or 'white' or
-'gray' or an 'effect' then your principles will everlastingly apply to
-it. It is but a case of ascertaining the kind, and then applying the
-law of its kind to the particular object. You are sure to get truth if
-you can name the kind rightly, for your mental relations hold good of
-everything of that kind without exception."[C]
-
-[Footnote A: A priori, from something prior or going before, hence from
-antecedent to consequent; from cause to effect. See illustrations in
-the text quoted from James.]
-
-[Footnote B: "Truth of Thought," p. 41.]
-
-[Footnote C: "Pragmatism"--James--(1908), pp. 209, 210.]
-
-_5. Imagination:_ By a mind-power known as imagination, or
-imaginative memory, Intelligences, as known to us through men, can hold
-before consciousness, in picture, what has been perceived by an outward
-sense, and this even when the outward sense has been shut off from
-the outward world of matter. I once saw an orange tree with a number
-of ripe oranges scattered through its branches, but on other branches
-were orange blossoms. What the outward senses then perceived, when I
-was standing before the tree, has been shut off, but at will I can call
-before the vision of my mind and hold in consciousness the picture
-of that tree with its mixture of ripe fruit and fruit blossoms. This
-power of imagination, is also constructive. Intelligences (men) can put
-before themselves in mental picture, combinations which are fashioned
-from the varied stores of memory.[A] As I have elsewhere said: I am this
-moment sitting at my desk, and am enclosed by the four walls of my
-room--limited as to my personal presence to this spot. But by the mere
-act of my will, I find I have the power to project myself in thought to
-any part of the world. Instantly I can be in the crowded streets of the
-world's metropolis. I walk through its well remembered thoroughfares, I
-hear the rush and roar of its busy multitudes, the rumble of vehicles,
-the huckster's cries, the cab-men's calls, sharp exclamations and quick
-retorts in the jostling throngs, the beggar's piping cry, the sailor's
-song, fragments of conversation, broken strains of music, the blare of
-trumpets, the neighing of horses, ear-piercing whistles, ringing of
-bells, shouts, responses, rushing trains and all that mingled din and
-soul-stirring roar that rises in clamor above the great town's traffic.
-
-[Footnote A: "Sensations, once experienced, modify the nervous
-organism, so that copies of them arise again in the mind after the
-original outward stimulus is gone. No mental copy, however, can arise
-in the mind, of any kind of sensation which has never been directly
-excited from without.
-
-"The blind may dream of sights, the deaf of sounds, for years after
-they have lost their vision or hearing; but the man born deaf can never
-be made to imagine what sound is like, nor can the man born blind
-ever have a mental vision. In Locke's words, already quoted, 'the
-mind can frame unto itself no one new simple idea.' The originals of
-them all must have been given from without. Fantasy, or Imagination,
-are the names given to the faculty of reproducing copies of originals
-once left. The imagination is called 'reproductive' when the copies
-are literal; 'productive' when elements from different originals are
-recombined so as to make new wholes" (Wm. James: "Psychology," p. 302).]
-
-At will, I leave all this and stand alone on mountain tops in Syria,
-India, or overlooking old Nile's valley, wrapped in the awful grandeur
-of solemn silence. Here I may bid fallen empires rise and pass in
-grand procession before my mental vision and live again their little
-lives; fight once more their battles; begin again each petty struggle
-for place, for power, for control of the world's affairs; revive their
-customs; live again their loves and hates, and preach once more their
-religions and their philosophies--all this the mind may do, and that
-as easily and as quickly as in thought it may leave this room, cross
-the street to a neighbor's home, and there take note of the familiar
-objects within his habitation.[A]
-
-[Footnote A: "Mormon Doctrine of Deity," p. 132.]
-
-_6. Ratiocination:_[A] "The mind (Intelligence) can combine
-various general principles or individual facts and principles; and in
-the combination and comparison of them, it can perceive other facts and
-principles.[B] In other words, Intelligence is capable of reasoning;
-of building up conclusions from the data of its knowledge. It has the
-power of deliberation and of judgment; by which it may determine that
-this state or condition is better than another state or condition. That
-this, tending to good, should be encouraged; and that, tending to evil,
-should be discouraged, or, if possible, destroyed.
-
-[Footnote A: The process of deducing conclusions from premises.]
-
-[Footnote B: "The Truth of Thought," p. 40.]
-
-_7. Power of Volition:_ Intelligence, as embodied in man, is also
-conscious of the power, within certain limitations, to will, and to
-perform what he wills to do: To rise up, to sit down; to raise his
-arm, to let it fall; to walk, to run, to stand; to go to Paris, to
-Berlin, or to Egypt; to write a book, to build a house, to found a
-hospital; to control largely his actions, physical and moral; he can
-be sober or drunken; chaste, or a libertine; benevolent or selfish;
-honest or a rogue. Having deliberated upon this and that and having
-formed a judgment that one thing is better than another, or that one
-condition is better than another, he has power to choose between
-them and can determine to give his aid to this and withhold it from
-that. So that volition, within certain limitations at least, seems
-also to be a quality of Intelligence.[A] It is of course possible to
-conceive of Intelligence and its necessarily attendant consciousness,
-existing without volition; but Intelligence so conceived is shorn of
-its glory, since under such conditions it can make no use whatsoever
-of its powers. Its very thinking would be chaotic; its consciousness
-distressing. If active at all its actions would be without purpose and
-as chaotic as its thinking would be, unless it could be thought of as
-both thinking and acting as directed by an intelligent, purposeful
-will external to itself: which would still leave the Intelligence a
-mere automaton, without dignity or moral quality, or even intellectual
-value.[B] I therefore conclude that while it is possible to conceive of
-Intelligence with its necessarily attendant consciousness as without
-volition, still, so far as we are acquainted with Intelligence, as
-manifested through men, volition--sometimes named soul-freedom or
-free-agency is a quality that within certain limitations, attends
-upon Intelligences and may be an inherent quality of Intelligence, a
-necessary attribute of its very essence, as much so as is consciousness
-itself.
-
-[Footnote A: Seventy's Second Year Book, Lesson I and IV.]
-
-[Footnote B:
-
-  "Freedom and reason make us men,
-  Take these away, what are we then?
-  Mere animals, and just as well
-  The beasts may think of heaven or hell."
-       --"Latter-day Saints' Hymn Book," p. 263.]
-
-_8. Recapitulation:_ We have found, then,
-
-1. That Intelligences are eternal--self-existing intelligent entities;
-
-2. That they are called Intelligences because intelligence is their
-chief characteristic;
-
-3. That being intelligent consciousness is in them a necessary quality;
-
-4. That they are both self-conscious, and conscious of an external
-universe not self;
-
-5. That Intelligences have the power to generalize--to rise from the
-contemplation of the particular to the general, from the individual to
-universal;
-
-6. That Intelligences can perceive the existence of certain a priori
-principles that are incontrovertible--necessary truths--which form a
-basis of knowledge;
-
-7. That Intelligences as known through men possess a power of
-imagination or imaginative memory by which they hold pictures of sense
-perceptions before the mind and may form from them new combinations of
-thought and consciousness;
-
-8. That Intelligences have power to reason (ratiocination), to
-deliberate, to form judgments;
-
-9. That Intelligences have volition, physical, mental and moral, within
-certain limitations--a power both to will and to do; in other words
-they are free, or free agents.
-
-It should be understood that these brief remarks respecting
-Intelligence and Intelligences are in no sense a treatise, even brief
-and cursory, on psychology; they are made merely to indicate some of
-the chief qualities that are inseparably connected with Intelligence
-and Intelligences so that when the words are used in this treatise,
-some definite idea may be had as to what is meant.
-
-
-
-LESSON II.
-
-(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
-
-ETERNITY OF INTELLIGENCES.
-
-ANALYSIS.
-
-I. Eternal Existence of the Word--the Christ.
-
-II. Eternal Existence of All Intelligences.
-
-III. Proofs of Eternity.
-
-1. Book of Abraham.
-
-2. Joseph Smith's Writings.
-
-IV. Of Words Used Interchangeably.
-
-REFERENCES.
-
-Doc. & Cov., Sec. 93; Seventy's Year Book II, Lesson i and iv; Book of
-Abraham, Ch. iii; Joseph Smith, "King Follett's Sermon," Improvement
-Era, Jan. 1909; Art. "Immortality," Ibid., April, 1907.
-
-_SPECIAL TEXT: "Man was also in the beginning with God. Intelligence,
-or the light of truth, was not created or made, neither indeed can be."
-(Doc. & Cov., Sec. 93:29.)_
-
-DISCUSSION.
-
-_1. Eternity of Intelligence:_ In the preface of St. John's Gospel
-it is written: "I. the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with
-God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All
-things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was
-made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. * * And the
-Word was made flesh and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, the
-glory as of the only begotten of the Father), full of grace and truth"
-(John 1:1-4, 14). This is in plain allusion to the Christ, and bears
-witness, as all are agreed,[A] to the co-eternity of the Word of Christ
-with God, the Father.
-
-[Footnote A: See "Commentary," Jamieson,--Fauset-Brown on St. John
-1:1-4. Also "International Revision Commentary," Schaff--on St.
-John 1:1-4. The latter contrasting Gen. 1:1 with St. John's "in the
-beginning," says that the sacred historian (Moses) starts from the
-beginning and comes downwards, thus keeping us in the course of time.
-John starts from the same point, but goes upwards, thus taking us into
-the eternity preceding time. In Gen. 1:1, we are told that God "in the
-beginning created,"--an act done in time. Here (John 1:1) we are told
-that "in the beginning the Word was," a very strongly antithetical
-to "come into being" (verses 3, 14, comp. 8:58), and implying an
-absolute existence preceding, the point referred to. As that which is
-absolute self-existent, not created--that which is--is eternal, so
-the predication of eternity is involved in the clause before us taken
-as a whole. He who thus "was in the beginning," who, as we afterwards
-read, "was with God," and "was God," here bears the name of the "Word,"
-Logos, which means both reason--[intelligence?] and word [expression?]
-For justification of the interpolated words in brackets, I refer to
-Dummelow's Commentary on the same passage: "Logos has two meanings in
-Greek: (1) Reason or intelligence as it exists inwardly in the mind;
-and (2) reason or intelligence as it is expressed outwardly in speech
-and both these meanings are to be understood when Christ is called the
-"Word of God." Commentary on John 1:1-4.]
-
-In the Doctrine and Covenants this doctrine of the co-eternity of the
-"Word" with God is reaffirmed, and also is expressed more explicitly.
-"John," the Christ is represented as saying, "saw and bore record of
-the fullness of my glory. * * * And he bore record saying, 'I saw his
-glory that he was in the beginning before the world was. Therefore in
-the beginning the Word was, for he was the Word, even the messenger of
-salvation, the light and the Redeemer of the World'" (Doc. & Cov. Sec.
-93:6-9).
-
-_2. Extension of the Doctrine of Co-eternity:_ But not only is the
-doctrine of the co-eternity of the Christ with God the Father affirmed
-in this revelation, but that co-eternity is extended to the spirits
-(Intelligences--of which more later) of men. "Verily I say unto you,"
-the Christ is represented as saying, "I was in the beginning with
-the Father, and am the first born. * * * Ye, [addressing the brethren
-present when the revelation was given]--Ye were also in the beginning
-with the Father; that which is spirit [that is, that part of you which
-is spirit--i. e., Intelligence--that was in the beginning with God],
-even the spirit of truth."
-
-_3. Extension of the Doctrine of Co-Eternity to all
-Intelligences:_ In a subsequent verse this doctrine of co-eternity
-is extended to the whole race of men; "man [the race] was also in
-the beginning with God." And that statement is immediately followed
-with this: "Intelligence, or the light of truth [that which perceives
-truth], was not created or made, neither indeed can be" (Doc. & Cov.
-Sec. 93:29). Let us recapitulate: The co-eternity of the Christ and
-God the Father "in the beginning before the world was," is affirmed.
-Then the like co-eternity of the spirits of the men present when the
-revelation was given is affirmed. After which the like co-eternity
-of "Man"--used in the generic sense, meaning the race, is affirmed;
-followed by the declaration that "Intelligence, or the light of truth,
-was not created or made, neither indeed can be," then of course, it
-follows that Intelligences are eternal, self-existing things.
-
-It may be urged, however, that the word "Intelligence" in the
-revelation quoted above is used in the singular, not in the plural
-form. And hence may refer to "Intelligence" in general, as being
-uncreated and unbeatable, and not to the eternity of individual
-Intelligences. But the passage immediately preceding the declaration
-"Man also was in the beginning with God," stands as an explanation
-of that declaration. The word Intelligence in the passage quoted is
-governed as to its meaning by "Man" in the sentence--"Man was also in
-the beginning with God:" and now, "Intelligence," [the intelligent
-entity in man, in the race--and surely the Intelligence in each man
-is a complete and separate entity] "was not created or made, neither
-indeed can be." In other words, these Intelligences are as eternal as
-God is, or as the Christ is, or the Holy Spirit. This becomes more
-apparent when we learn in a subsequent verse of the revelation that
-"man is spirit" (verse 33). That is, in the inner fact of him, in the
-power and glory of him, man is not so many pounds avoirdupois of bone,
-muscle, lime, phosphate, water and the like; but in the great fact of
-him he is spirit--spirit substance and Intelligence.[A] And so far as
-human or revealed knowledge can aid one in forming a conclusion, there
-is no "Intelligence" existing separate and apart from persons, from
-intelligent entities, from individuals. Either it exists as persons, or
-as preceding from them, as a power or force, but never separated from
-them, any more than a ray of light is separated from the luminous body
-whence it proceeds. So that if any affirm a "universal Intelligence,"
-or "Cosmic Mind," or "Over Soul," in the universe, it is an influence,
-a power proceeding either from an individual Intelligence or from
-harmonized individual Intelligences, a mind atmosphere proceeding from
-them--a projection of their mind power into the universe, as the sun
-and all suns, project light and warmth into the universe.[B]
-
-[Footnote A: "That is the more real part of a man in which his
-characteristics and his qualities are. All the facts and phenomena of
-life confirm the doctrine that the soul is the real man. What makes the
-quality of a man? What gives him character as good or bad, small or
-great, lovable or detestable? Do these qualities pertain to the body?
-Every one knows that they do not. But they are qualities of the mind.
-Then the real man is not the body, but the living soul" (Samuel M.
-Warren, "World's Parliament of Religions," Vol. I, p. 480).]
-
-[Footnote B: "Mormon Doctrine of Deity," p. 166-169, where the subject
-is discussed at some length under the title, "Of God, the Spirit of the
-Gods."]
-
-_4. Proof of the Co-eternity of all Intelligences:_ In further
-evidence of the eternal existence of individual Intelligences I quote
-from the Book of Abraham:
-
-    "If two things exist and there be one above the other, there shall
-    be greater things above them. * * * If there be two spirits,
-    and one shall be more intelligent than the other, yet these two
-    spirits, notwithstanding one is more intelligent than the other,
-    have no beginning; they existed before, they shall have no end,
-    they shall exist after, for they are gnolaum, or eternal" (Book of
-    Abraham, Chs. 3, 16, 18).
-
-To this may be added the teaching of the Prophet Joseph Smith who, in
-the closing days of his earthly ministry, dwelt much upon this subject
-and treated it with great emphasis. At the conference of the Church at
-Nauvoo in April, 1844, in a sermon, he said.
-
-    "The soul--the mind of man--the immortal spirit--where did it come
-    from? All learned men and doctors of divinity say that God created
-    it in the beginning, but it is not so; the very idea lessens man
-    in my estimation. I do not believe the doctrine. I know better.
-    Hear it, all ye ends of the world, for God has told me so, if you
-    don't believe me, it will not make the truth without effect We say
-    that God himself is a self-existent being. Who told you so? It is
-    correct enough, but how did it get into your head? Who told you
-    that man did not exists in like manner, upon the same principles?
-    Man does exist upon the same principles. * * * The mind or the
-    intelligence which man possess is co-equal, [co-eternal][A] with
-    God himself. I know my testimony is true. * * * I am dwelling on
-    the immorality of the spirit of man. Is it logical to say that the
-    intelligence of spirits is immortal, and yet that it (i. e., the
-    intelligence) had a beginning? The intelligence of spirits had no
-    beginning, neither will it have an end. That is good logic. That
-    which has a beginning may have an end. There never was a time when
-    there were no spirits, for they are co-equal [co-eternal] with our
-    Father in heaven. * * * Intelligence is eternal and exists upon a
-    self-existent principle. It is a spirit from age to age and there
-    is no creation about it. * * * The first principles of a man are
-    self-existent with God."[B]
-
-[Footnote A: The Prophet could not have intended to teach that the
-intelligence in man was "co-equal with God," except as to being
-co-equal in eternity with God, since the Book of Abraham teaches that
-God is more intelligent than all other intelligences (Ch. iii:19), and
-the Prophet himself taught the same truth. Hence the insertion of the
-word above in brackets. It must be remembered that the report of this
-discourse was not stenographic and this was doubtless a verbal error,
-due to imperfect reporting.]
-
-[Footnote B: King Follett Sermon, April, 1844, "Improvement Era," Vol.
-XII, Jan. 1909. Also "Journal of Discourses," Vol. VI.]
-
-_5. Words used Interchangeably:_ Here it is necessary to repeat
-with some additions, what was said in Year Book II, on the use of words
-interchangeably: It is often the case that misconceptions arise through
-a careless use of words, and through using words interchangeably,
-without regard to shades of differences that attach to them; and this
-in the scriptures as in other writings. Indeed, this fault is more
-frequent in the scriptures perhaps than in any other writings for
-the reason that, for the most part, they are composed by men who did
-not aim at scientific exactness in the use of words. They were not
-in most cases equal to such precision in the use of language, in the
-first place; and in the second, they depended more upon the general
-tenor of what they wrote for making truth apparent than upon technical
-precision in a choice of words; ideas, not niceness of expression,
-was the burden of their souls; thought, not its dress. Hence, in
-scripture, and I might say especially in modern scripture, a lack
-of careful or precise choice of words, a large dependence upon the
-general tenor of what is written to convey the truth, a wide range in
-using words interchangeably that are not always exact equivalents,
-are characteristics. Thus the expression, "Kingdom of God," "Kingdom
-of Heaven," "the Whole Family in Heaven," "the Church of Christ,"
-"the Church of God," are often used interchangeably for the Church of
-Christ when they are not always equivalents; so, too, are used the
-terms "Spirit of God," and "Holy Ghost;" "Spirit of Christ," and "the
-Holy Ghost;" "Spirit," and "Soul;" "intelligences," and "spirits," and
-"angels." I mention this in passing, because I believe many of the
-differences of opinion and much of the confusion of ideas that exist
-arise out of our not recognizing, or our not remembering these facts.
-Hereafter let the student be on his guard in relation to the use of the
-words "intelligences," "spirits," "soul," "mind," etc.; and he will
-find his way out of many a difficulty.
-
-Let the closing part of the quotation from the Prophet's discourse
-above be considered in the light of the suggestions made here
-respecting the use of words interchangeably. It is observed that he
-uses the words "Intelligence" and "spirit" interchangeably--one for
-the other; and yet we can discern that it is the "intelligence of
-spirits," not "spirits" entire (see next subdivision) that is the
-subject of his thought. It is the "Intelligence of Spirits" that
-he declares uncreated and uncreatable--eternal as God is. The same
-interchangeable use of the terms is to be observed in the Book of
-Abraham (Ch. iii:16-28) and in other scriptures.
-
-
-
-LESSON III.
-
-(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
-
-INTELLIGENCES AND SPIRITS.
-
-ANALYSIS.
-
-I. The Differences Between Uncreated Intelligences and Spirits.
-
-II. Men and Jesus of the Same Order of Intelligences.
-
-III. Jesus but the First Born of Many Brethren.
-
-REFERENCES.
-
-Improvement Era, Art. "Immortality," April, 1907.
-
-Seventy's Second Year Book, Lessons i and ii.
-
-Book of Abraham, Ch. iii; "King Follett Sermon," Improvement Era, Jan.,
-1909.
-
-Doc. & Cov., Sec. 93.
-
-"Joseph Smith's Doctrines Vindicated," Improvement Era, March and
-April, 1910.
-
-_SPECIAL TEXT: "Go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my
-Father, and to your Father; to my God and your God." (Jesus Christ: St.
-John xx:19.)_
-
-DISCUSSION.
-
-_1. Uncreated "Intelligences" and "Spirits":_ In the Book of
-Mormon we have the revelation which gives the most light upon the
-spiritexistence of Jesus, and, through his spirit-existence, light upon
-the spiritexistence of all men. The light is given in that complete
-revelation of the pre-existent, personal spirit of Jesus Christ, made
-to the brother of Jared, ages before the spirit of Jesus tabernacled in
-the flesh. The essential part of the passage follows:
-
-    "Behold, I am he who was prepared from the foundation of the world
-    to redeem my people. Behold, I am Jesus Christ And never have
-    I showed myself to man whom I have created, for never has man
-    believed in me as thou hast. Seest thou that ye are created after
-    mine own image? Yea, even all men were created in the beginning
-    after mine own image. Behold this body which ye now behold, is the
-    body of my spirit, and man have I created after the body of my
-    spirit; and even as I appear unto thee to be in the spirit, will I
-    appear unto my people in the flesh."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: Ether, Ch. iii:14-16.]
-
-What do we learn from all this? First, let it be re-called that
-according to the express word of God "intelligences" are not created,
-neither indeed can they be. Now, with the above revelation from the
-Book of Mormon concerning the spirit-body of Jesus, before us, we
-are face to face with a something that was begotten, and in that
-sense a "creation," a spirit, the "first born of many brethren;" the
-"beginning of the creations of God." The spirit is in human form--for
-we are told that as Christ's spirit-body looked to Jared's brother, so
-would the Christ look to men when he came among them in the flesh; the
-body of flesh conforming to the appearance of the spirit, the earthly
-to the heavenly. "This body which ye now behold is the body of my
-spirit"--the house, the tenement of that uncreated intelligence which
-had been begotten of the Father a spirit, as later that spirit-body
-with the intelligent, uncreated entity inhabiting it, will be begotten
-a man. "This body which you now behold is the body of my spirit,"
-or spirit-body. There can be no doubt but what here "spirit" as in
-the Book of Abraham, and in the passages quoted from the Prophet's
-King Follet's Sermon, is used interchangeably with "intelligence,"
-and refers to the uncreated entity; as if the passage stood: "This
-is the body inhabited by an intelligence." The intelligent entity
-inhabiting a spirit-body make up the spiritual personage. It is
-this spirit life we have so often thought about, and sang about. In
-this state of existence occurred the spirit's "primevil childhood;"
-here spirits were "nurtured" near the side of the heavenly Father,
-in his "high and glorious place;" thence spirits were sent to earth
-to unite spirit-elements with earth-elements--in some way essential
-to a fullness of glory and happiness. "Man is Spirit. The elements
-are eternal, and Spirit and Element inseparably connected receive a
-fullness of joy; and when separated man cannot receive a fullness of
-joy. The elements are the tabernacle of God; Yea, man is the tabernacle
-of God even temples."[A] Hence spirits are sent to earth, to take on
-its elements, and to learn the lessons earth-life has to teach. The
-half awakened recollections of the human mind may be chiefly engaged
-with scenes, incidents and impressions of that former spirit life; but
-that does not argue the non-existence of the uncreated intelligences
-who preceded the begotten spiritual personages as so plainly set forth
-in the revelations of God.
-
-[Footnote A: Doc. & Cov. Sec. 93:32-35.]
-
-The difference, then, between "spirits" and "intelligences," as here
-used, is this: Spirits are uncreated intelligences inhabiting spiritual
-bodies; while "intelligences," pure and simple, are intelligent
-entities, but unembodied in either spirit bodies or bodies of flesh
-and bone. They are uncreated, self-existent entities; but let it be
-observed, in passing, that nothing is here said in relation to the
-form of these intelligent entities, nor anything as to their mode of
-existence. Indeed, so far as I know, nothing has been revealed in
-relation to their form or mode of existence; nothing beyond the fact
-of existence, their eternity and the qualities necessary to them as
-Intelligences.
-
-_2. Jesus and Men of the same Order of Intelligences:_ The
-scriptures teach that Jesus Christ and men are of the same order of
-beings; that men are of the same race with Jesus, of the same nature
-and essence; that he is indeed our elder brother. "For it became
-him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing
-many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect
-through suffering. _For both he that sanctifieth and they who are
-sanctified are all of one:_ [i. e., essence or nature; or, regarding
-men's spirits, of one Father] for which cause he is not ashamed to
-call them brethren."[A] Hence, though the Christ is more perfect in
-righteousness, and more highly developed in intellectual and spiritual
-powers than men, yet these differences are of degree, not of kind; so
-that what is revealed concerning Jesus, the Christ, may be of infinite
-helpfulness in throwing light upon the nature of man and the several
-estates he has occupied and will occupy hereafter. The coeternity of
-Jesus Christ with God, the Father, and the extension of the principle
-of co-eternity of the Intelligences in men with Jesus Christ and God
-has been already pointed out.[B]
-
-[Footnote A: Heb. ii:10, 11.]
-
-[Footnote B: Lesson II, this treatise.]
-
-Again at the resurrection of the Christ, according to the testimony
-of St. John, the Master said to Mary of Magdala: "Go to my brethren
-[the apostles] and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your
-Father, and to my God, and your God" (St. John 20:17). Hence we have
-Jesus and the apostles with the same Father, the same God, and the
-fact of brotherhood proclaimed. If such relation exists between Jesus
-and the apostles, then it exists between Jesus and all men, since
-the apostles were men of like nature with other men. In his great
-discourse in Mars Hill, Paul not only declares that God "hath made of
-one blood all nations of men"--but he also quoted with approval the
-Greek poet Aratus, where the latter says: "For we are also his (God's)
-offspring;" and to this the apostle adds: "For as much, then, as we
-are the offspring of God [hence of the same race and nature], we ought
-not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone,
-graven by art after man's device."[A] Our own nature, one might add,
-in continuation of the apostle's reasoning, should teach those who
-recognize men as the offspring of God, better than to think of the
-Godhead as of gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art after man's
-device, since the nature of the offspring partakes of the nature of the
-parent; and our own nature teaches us that men are not as stocks and
-stones, though the latter be graven by art after the devices of men.
-
-[Footnote A: Acts xvii:26-30.]
-
-Paul might also have quoted the great Hebrew poet: "God standeth in the
-congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the Gods. * * * * I have
-said ye are Gods; and all of you are children of the Most High."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: Psalms lxxxii:1, 6, 7.]
-
-The matter is clear then, men and Gods are of the same race; Jesus is
-the Son of God, and so, too, are all men the offspring of God, and
-Jesus but the first born of many brethren. Eternal Intelligences are
-begotten of God, spirits; and hence are sons of God--a dignity that
-never leaves them. "Behold," said one of old, "now are we the sons of
-God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that when
-he shall appear we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: I John iii:2. I am not unmindful of the array of evidence
-that may be massed to prove that it is chiefly through adoption,
-through obedience to the Gospel of Christ, that man in the scripture is
-spoken of as being a son of God. But this does not weaken the evidence
-for the fact for which I am contending, viz., that man is by nature
-the son of God. He becomes alienated from his Father and the Father's
-kingdom through sin, through the transgression of the law of God; hence
-the need of adoption into the heavenly kingdom, and into son-ship with
-God. But though alienated from God through sin, man is nevertheless by
-nature the son of God.]
-
-_3. Jesus the First Born of Many Brethren:_ Sure it is that God,
-the Father, is the Father of the spirits of men. "We," says Paul,
-"have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them
-reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of
-spirits and live?" (Heb. 12:9).
-
-According to this, then there is a "Father of Spirits." It follows, of
-course, that "spirits," have a father--they are begotten. It should be
-remarked that the term, "spirits" in the above passage cannot refer to
-self-existent, unbegotten intelligences of the revelations, considered
-in the foregoing lessons; and certainly this relationship of father
-to spirits is not one brought about in connection with generation of
-human life in this world. Paul makes a very sharp distinction between
-"Fathers of our flesh" and the "Father of spirits" in the above. Father
-to spirits is manifestly a relationship established independent of
-man's earth-existence; and, of course, is an existence which preceded
-earth-life, and where the uncreated Intelligences are begotten spirits.
-Hence, the phrase "shall we not be subject to the Father of spirits and
-live?"
-
-Christ is referred to by the writer of the epistle to the Colossians,
-as the "first born of every creature" (i:15); and the Revelator speaks
-of him as "the beginning of the creation of God" (Rev. 3:14); and in
-the revelation already quoted so often (Doc. & Cov. Sec. xciii) Jesus
-represents himself as being in the "beginning with the Father;" and as
-"the first born."
-
-The reference to Jesus as the "first born of every creature" cannot
-refer to his birth into earth-life, for he was not the first-born into
-this world; therefore, his birth here referred to must have reference
-to the birth of his spirit before his earth life.
-
-The reference to Jesus as the "beginning of the creation of God,"
-cannot refer to his creation or generation in earth-life; for
-manifestly he was not the beginning of the creations of God in this
-world; therefore, he must have been the "beginning" of God's creation
-elsewhere, viz., in the spirit world, where he was begotten a spiritual
-personage; a son of God.
-
-The reference to Jesus as the "first born"--and hence the justification
-for our calling him "our Elder Brother" cannot refer to any
-relationship that he established in his earth-life, since as to the
-flesh he is not our "elder brother" any more than he is the "first
-born" in the flesh; there were many born in the flesh before he was,
-and older brothers to us, in the flesh, than he was. The relationship
-of "elder brother" cannot have reference to that estate where all
-were self-existent, uncreated and unbegotten, eternal Intelligences;
-for that estate admits of no such relation as "elder," or "younger;"
-for as to succession in time, the fact on which "younger" or "elder"
-depend, the Intelligences are equal, that is,--equal as to their
-eternity. Therefore, since the relationship of "elder brother" was
-not established by any circumstance in the earth-life of Jesus, and
-could not be established by any possible fact in that estate where all
-were self-existing Intelligences, it must have been established in the
-spirit life, where Jesus, with reference to the hosts of Intelligences
-designed to our earth, was the "first born spirit," and by that fact
-became our "Elder Brother," the "first born of every creature," "the
-beginning of the creations of God,".as pertaining to our order of
-existence.
-
-_4. Views of Sir Oliver Lodge on the Eternity of Mind:_ Some
-scientists also bear testimony to the truth of the principle here
-contended for. Sir Oliver Lodge, when arguing for the reality of that
-mysterious, vital "something" which builds up from earth elements an
-oak, an eagle or a man, closes with the question, "Is it something
-which is really nothing, and soon shall it be manifestly nothing?"
-"Not so," he answers, "nor is it so with intellect and consciousness
-and will, nor with memory and love and adoration, nor all the manifold
-activities which at present strangely interact with matter and appeal
-to our bodily senses and terrestrial knowledge; they are not nothing,
-nor shall they ever vanish into nothingness or cease to be. They did
-not arise with us; _they never did spring into being; they are as
-eternal as the Godhead itself,_ and in the eternal Being they shall
-endure for ever. * * * And surely in this respect there is a unity
-running through the universe, and a kinship between the human and the
-Divine; witness the eloquent ejaculation of Carlyle:[A]
-
-[Footnote A: Of Paul, too, and of David before him. See Hebrews ii:6,
-and Psalms viii:4.]
-
-'What then, is man! What, then, is man!
-
-'He endures but for an hour, and is crushed before the moth. Yet
-in the being and in the working of a faithful man is there already
-(as all faith from the beginning, gives assurance) a something that
-pertains not to this wild death-element of Time; that triumphs over
-Time, and is, and will be, when Time shall be no more."--"Science and
-Immortality," pp. 160, 161.
-
-
-
-LESSON IV.
-
-(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
-
-INTELLIGENCES AND PROGRESS.
-
-ANALYSIS.
-
-I. Intelligences Differ in Degree of--
-
-1. Intelligence.
-
-2. Nobility.
-
-3. Greatness.
-
-4. Moral quality.
-
-II. The "One" "Greater than All"--God.
-
-1. Where Intelligences differ in degree there must be One Most
-Intelligent of all.
-
-2. His greatness immeasurable.
-
-III. Capacity of Intelligences for Progress.
-
-1. Inherent Powers of,
-
-2. Led and helped in Progress by Higher Intelligences.
-
-IV. Union of Spirit and Earth-Elements Essential to Progress of
-Intelligences.
-
-REFERENCES
-
-Book of Abraham, Ch. iii; Book of Moses (in Pearl of Great Price), Ch.
-i:25-38.
-
-New Witnesses for God, Vol. III, pp. 198-207.
-
-King Follett Sermon, Improvement Era, January, 1909.
-
-"Immortality of Man," Improvement Era, April 1907. Doc. & Cov., Sec. 93
-and Sec. 88.
-
-Seventy's Year Book II, Lessons II and III.
-
-_SPECIAL TEXT: "They who keep their first estate shall be added upon;
-and they who keep not their first estate shall not have glory in the
-same kingdom with those who keep their first estate; and they who keep
-their second estate, shall have glory added upon their heads for ever
-and ever." (Book of Abraham, Ch. iii:24-26.)_
-
-DISCUSSION.
-
-_1. The Varying Degrees of Intelligence Among Intelligences:_ We
-are already made aware of the fact in the preceding lessons that though
-Intelligences are equal in eternity of existence, it does not follow
-that they are equal in degree of intelligence. (Lesson II. Subdivision
-4.) "If two things exist," said the Lord to Abraham, and there be
-one above the other, there shall be greater things above them. * * *
-These two facts do exist, that there are two spirits, one being more
-intelligent than the other; there shall be another more intelligent
-than they."[A]
-
-Not only do intelligences differ in regard to the degree of
-intelligence, but they differ also in moral quality and greatness and
-nobility.
-
-    "Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the Intelligences that
-    were organized before the world was; and among all these there
-    were many of the _noble_ and _great ones_; And God saw these souls
-    that they _were good_, and he stood in the midst of them, and he
-    said: These I will make my rulers; for he stood among those that
-    were spirits, and he saw that they were good; and he said unto me:
-    Abraham, thou art one of them; thou wast chosen before thou wast
-    born."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: Book of Abraham, Ch. iii.]
-
-The "among all these were many of the noble and great ones;" and "he
-saw that they were good," clearly manifests that reference is made to
-capacity, to largeness of mind-power, and to moral quality; and from
-among these "noble and great ones," shall the "rulers" come. Abraham
-was a type of the "noble and great ones," and was chosen before he was
-born, and assigned to the part he took in his earth life, and is known
-preeminently as the "friend of God," the "Father of the faithful."
-Similarly was Jeremiah foreknown and foreordained to be a Prophet
-(Jeremiah i:5); so, too, was St. John, the friend of Jesus, (I Nephi,
-xiv:18-27). So also the Christ was chosen and his mission appointed--he
-was "the Lamb slain from before the foundation of the World" (Rev.
-xiii:8). And in his great prayer, before his passion, he said: "And
-now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory
-which I had with thee before the world was."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: St. John xvii:5.]
-
-Varying degrees of intelligence, then, among the Intelligences, as also
-varying degrees of greatness and nobility of soul and of moral quality
-are established; and doubtless the variation in the pre-earth existence
-is as great as it is in earth life.
-
-_2. The "One" More Intelligent Than All--God:_ When it is conceded
-that among Intelligences there are varying degrees of intelligence,
-and greatness and nobility and moral quality, then it follows that
-there may be _One_ who is the most intelligent of all, greatest,
-noblest, best; most wise and most powerful. And how far this greatest
-and best may arise above the other Intelligences, who may say? There
-are no terms of comparison for the superlative. It rises above all
-comparisons, and how far above that to which it stands next--how far
-above the "better" the "best" rises--none may say. The same holds as
-to the "greatest" and the "noblest"--how far "greatest" rises above
-"great;" how far "noblest" rises above "noble," or "best" above
-"good," none may say. It may be that the "most intelligent," may
-mean not only more intelligent than any other one out of the mass
-of Intelligences, but more intelligent than all combined; and this
-indeed is the interpretation I place upon the following passage in
-the Book of Abraham: "These two facts do exist, that there are two
-spirits, one being more intelligent than the other, there shall be
-another more intelligent than they; _I am the Lord thy God, I am
-more intelligent than them All._" That is, than "All" combined, and
-for that reason is He God. "I dwell in the midst of them all," says
-the Lord to Abraham. "I now, therefore, have come down unto thee to
-deliver (i. e., _reveal_, see verses 1-15, Ch. iii) unto thee the works
-which my hands have made, wherein my wisdom excelleth them all, for
-I rule in the heavens above, and in the earth beneath, in all wisdom
-and prudence, over all the Intelligences thou hast seen" (Book of
-Abraham, Ch. iii:19-21). And to this agrees the following doctrine of
-the Prophet: "In knowledge there is power. God has more power than all
-other beings, because he has greater knowledge; hence he knows how to
-subject all other beings to himself. He has power over all" (Sermon
-at Nauvoo, April 8th, 1843, Hist, of the Church, Vol. V, p. 340.) And
-as I have said elsewhere: This Mighty Intelligence, who is "more
-intelligent than All" is also the All-Wise One; the All-Powerful One!
-What he tells other Intelligences to do must be precisely the wisest,
-fittest thing that they could anywhere or anyhow learn--the thing
-which it will in all ways behoove them with right loyal thankfulness,
-and nothing doubting, to do. There goes with this, too, the thought
-that this All-Wise One is the Un-Selfish One, the All-Loving One,
-the One who desires that which is highest, and best; not for Himself
-alone, but for all; and that, too, will be best for Him. His glory,
-His power, His joy will be enhanced by the uplifting of all, by
-enlarging them; by increasing their joy, power, and glory. And because
-this Most-Intelligent One is all this, and does all this, the other
-Intelligencies worship Him, submit their judgments and their will to
-His judgment and His will. He knows, and can do that which is best; and
-this submission of the mind to the most Intelligent, Wisest--wiser than
-All--is worship. This is the whole meaning of the doctrine and the life
-of the Christ expressed in--"Father, not my will but Thy will, be done."
-
-_3. The Capacity of Intelligences for Progress:_ If what has
-been set forth as to the qualities, or attributes of Intelligences
-be true--that they are conscious of self and of not self; that they
-have powers of perception, comparison, deliberation, reason, judgment,
-imagination and volition, (See Lesson I, this treatise) then they have
-in them the inherent elements of progress. All they need with this
-inherent equipment for progress is proper environment and action, and
-the guidance of the Highest Intelligence; at least it must be admitted,
-as to the last, that progress would be more sure, more rapid when so
-guided.
-
-_4. Purpose in the Earth-Life of Man:_ To provide the means and
-opportunity for progress the earth-life of man was planned. As God
-stood among the Intelligences, he said to those that were with him:
-
-    "We will go down, for there is space there, and we will take of
-    these materials, and we will make an earth whereon these may dwell;
-    and we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things
-    whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them; and they who keep
-    their first estate shall be added upon; and they who keep not their
-    first estate shall not have glory in the same kingdom with those
-    who keep their first estate; and they who keep their second estate
-    shall have glory added upon their heads for ever and ever."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: Book of Abraham, Ch. iii:24-26.]
-
-That is, interpreting the closing declaration, they shall have the
-blessings of eternal progress. Progress, then, is the purpose for which
-the earth life of man was planned--that Intelligences might be "added
-upon," and that eternally.
-
-"This is my work and my glory," says the Lord, "to bring to pass the
-immortality and eternal life of man;" (Book of Moses, Ch. i:39, Pearl
-of Great Price). That is of man _as_ man. Not the immortality of the
-personal Intelligence or spirit of man, for that is already assured;
-but the immortality of the spirit and body in their united condition,
-and which together constitute "man;" or the soul, for, in the
-revelations of God in this last dispensation, the spirit and the body
-are said to be the "soul:" "Through the redemption which is made for
-you is brought to pass the resurrection from the dead. And the spirit
-and the body is the soul of man. And the resurrection from the dead is
-the redemption of the soul" (Doc. & Cov. Sec. 88:14-16).
-
-Again, "Men are that they might have joy," said the Prophet Lehi.[A]
-"Men are that they might have joy!" Have we here the reappearance of
-the old Epicurean doctrine, "pleasure is the supreme good, and chief
-end of life?" No, verily! Nor any other form of old "hedonism"--the
-Greek ethics of gross self-interest. For mark, in the first place,
-the different words "joy" and "pleasure." They are not synonymous.
-The first does not necessarily arise from the second, "joy" may arise
-from quite other sources than "pleasure;" from pain, even, when the
-endurance of pain is to eventuate in the achievement of some good:
-such as the travail of a mother in bringing forth her offspring;
-the weariness and pain and danger of toil by a father, to secure
-comforts for loved ones. Nor is the "joy" here contemplated the "joy"
-of mere innocence--mere innocence, which say what you will of it,
-is but a negative sort of virtue. A virtue that is colorless, never
-quite sure of itself, always more or less uncertain, because untried.
-Such a virtue--if mere absence of vice may be called virtue--would
-be unproductive of that "joy" the attainment of which is set forth
-in the Book of Mormon as the purpose of man's existence; for in the
-context it is written, "They [Adam and Eve] would have remained in a
-state of 'innocence.' Having no joy, for they knew no misery; doing
-no good, for they knew no sin." From which it appears that the "joy"
-contemplated in our Book of Mormon passage is to arise from something
-more than mere innocence, which is, impliedly, unproductive of "joy."
-The "joy" contemplated in the Book of Mormon passage is to arise out
-of man's knowledge of evil, of sin; through knowing misery, sorrow,
-pain and suffering; through seeing good and evil locked in awful
-conflict; through a consciousness of having chosen in that conflict
-the better part, the good; and not only in having chosen it, but in
-having wedded it by eternal compact; made it his by right of conquest
-over evil. It is a "joy" that will arise from a consciousness of having
-"fought the good fight," of having "kept the faith." It will arises
-from a consciousness of moral, spiritual and physical strength. Of
-strength gained in conflict. The strength that comes from experience;
-from having sounded the depths of the soul; from experiencing all
-emotions of which mind is susceptible; from testing all the qualities
-and strength of the intellect. A "joy" that will come to man from
-a contemplation of the universe, and a consciousness that he is an
-heir to all that is--a joint heir with Jesus Christ and God; from
-knowing that he is an essential part of all that is. It is a joy that
-will be born of the consciousness of existence itself--that will
-revel in existence--in thoughts of and realizations of existence's
-limitless possibilities. A "joy" born of the consciousness of the
-power of eternal increase. A "joy" arising from association with the
-Intelligences of innumerable heavens--the Gods of all eternities. A
-"joy" born of a consciousness of being, of intelligence, of faith,
-knowledge, light, truth, mercy, justice, love, glory, dominion, wisdom,
-power; all feelings, affections, emotions, passions; all heights and
-all depths! "Men are that they might have joy;" and that "joy" is based
-upon and contemplates all that is here set down. (New Witnesses, Vol.
-III, pp. 199-120.)
-
-[Footnote A: II Nephi ii:25.]
-
-The foregoing considerations discover the purpose of God in the
-earth-life of man to be the progress and joy of men, kindred
-Intelligences with God; and with that progress and joy of kindred
-Intelligences, there must be an ever widening manifestation of the
-glory of God. "The glory of God is Intelligence, or, in other words,
-light and truth" (Doc. & Cov. Sec. 93:36); but not "Intelligence"
-only as it inheres in Himself; but also as it finds expression and
-development in others.
-
-_5. A Union of Spirit and Element Essential to a Fulness of Joy:_
-In this progress of Intelligences there must be movement, action, new
-environment, estates, experiences through which they pass.--Hence
-Intelligences are begotten spirits, and spirits are begotten men--the
-"deathless element"--Intelligence--must be united with earth-element,
-to learn what earth-life has to teach, and get itself expressed through
-earth-elements; which also--so far as such elements shall be essential
-to an added dignity and power to the spirit of man--will be made
-immortal, become an indissoluble part of the spiritual personage, the
-spirit and the body thus inseparably united constituting the "_soul_
-of man."[A] "Man is spirit."[B] "The elements"--earth elements--"are
-eternal; and spirit and element, inseparably connected receive a
-fullness of joy; and when separated man cannot receive a fullness of
-joy." Hence for man, earth-existence became a necessity to progress,
-and therefore it was provided.
-
-[Footnote A: "Now, verily I say unto you, that through the redemption
-which is made for you is brought to pass the resurrection from
-the dead. And the spirit and the body is the soul of man. And the
-resurrection from the dead is the redemption of the soul;" (Doc. & Cov.
-Sec. 88, verses 14, 15, 16).]
-
-[Footnote B: Doc. & Cov. Sec. 93:33, 34.]
-
-
-
-LESSON V.
-
-(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
-
-THE WAR IN HEAVEN.
-
-ANALYSIS.
-
-I. The War Vaguely Alluded to in Hebrew Scriptures.
-
-II. The War More Definitely Described.
-
-III. The Causes of the War.
-
-REFERENCES.
-
-Luke x:17, 18 and John viii:44.
-
-Rev. xii:7-12; Jude 6.
-
-Book of Abraham, Ch. iii:27-28; Book of Moses (Pearl of Great Price),
-Ch. iv:4.[A]
-
-[Footnote A: As side reading, I suggest "Milton's Paradise Lost," and
-Elder Orson F. Whitney's "Elias," Canto III.]
-
-_SPECIAL TEXT: "And there was war in heaven: Michael and, his angels
-fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, and
-prevailed not; neither was there place found any more in heaven. And
-the great dragon was cast out. He was cast out into the earth, and his
-angels were cast out with him." (Rev. xii.7-9.)_
-
-DISCUSSION.
-
-_1. Recapitulatory:_ The fact of the Eternity of Intelligences,
-their essential qualities, their capacity for progress, the necessity
-for union with earth-elements in order to attain a fulness of joy, the
-purpose of God with reference to man's earth-life--all these subjects
-having been treated in the preceding lessons; we are now prepared to
-consider the several steps taken with reference to bringing to pass the
-earth-life of the spirits of men.
-
-Running throughout the Hebrew scriptures, but more or less vague, there
-are traces of the pre-earth existence of intelligences, and of strife
-and struggle in that existence; rebellion and war; failure of certain
-ones to keep first estates, their being cast out and reserved in chains
-of darkness to some future day of judgment; some reference also to
-eternal life that was promised of God before the world was made. Though
-these lack somewhat in clearness, let me, if they may not be set forth
-in anything like order, at least mass them, that they may be before us
-in one view.
-
-_2. The Hebrew Scriptures on the War in Heaven:_ In the very
-beginning of the Hebrew scripture God, in the creation, is represented
-as addressing others engaged with him in the creation work: "And God
-said let us make man in _our_ image, after _our_ likeness."[A] Then
-after the Fall: "And the Lord God said: Behold the man has become as
-one of us to know good and evil."[B] Perfectly blending with this idea
-of a plurality of divine Intelligences engaging in the work of creation
-is the Lord's question to Job: "Gird up now thy loins like a man, for
-I will demand of thee, and answer thou me: Where wast thou when I laid
-the foundations of the earth? declare if thou hast understanding. Who
-hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched
-the line upon it? Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened?
-or who laid the corner stone thereof, _when the morning stars sang
-together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?"_[C]
-
-[Footnote A: Gen. i:26.]
-
-[Footnote B: Gen. iii:22.]
-
-[Footnote C: Job xxxviii:4-7.]
-
-It seems, then, that there were sons of God before the foundations of
-the earth were laid, or even the measuring line was stretched upon it.
-And may it not have been these Sons of God, whom God addressed in the
-creation work, saying to them: "Let us make man in our image"--"The man
-has become as one of us?"
-
-On the return of the Seventy whom Jesus sent out on a special mission
-into every city and place where he himself proposed to go, they said:
-"Lord, even the devils are subject to us in thy name." To which Jesus
-answered: "I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven" (Luke x:17,
-18). As if he would say, "Your victory over evil spirits in my name, is
-not the first I have won over Satan. I saw him as lightning fall from
-heaven."[A] One other reference to Lucifer in this same connection is
-made by the Christ; when addressing contentious Jews, he said: "Ye are
-of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He
-was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because
-there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his
-own; for he is a liar, and the father of it."[B]
-
-[Footnote A: There is much confusion among the commentators on this
-passage c. f. Jamieson--Fausset-Brown with the International Revision
-Commentary on the passage. Dummelow's Commentary, however, says: "Our
-Lord poetically compares Satan's discomfiture at the successful mission
-of the Seventy, to his original fall from heaven." He also regards John
-viii:44, as referring to the same event.]
-
-[Footnote B: St. John viii:44.]
-
-In the Book of Revelation, however, and also in Jude, this "war in
-heaven" is more minutely described. In the former it is said:
-
-    "And there was a war in heaven; Michael and his angels fought
-    against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, and
-    prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
-    And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the
-    Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world; he was cast out
-    into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. And I heard
-    a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength,
-    and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ; for the
-    accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our
-    God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb,
-    and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives
-    unto the death. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in
-    them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the
-    devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth
-    that he hath but a short time."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: Rev. xii:7-12.]
-
-And this from Jude: "And the angels which kept not their first estate,
-but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains
-under darkness unto the judgment of the great day" (Jude 6). Peter also
-alludes to this event when he says: "God spared not the angels that
-sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of
-darkness, to be reserved unto judgment" (II Peter ii:4).[A]
-
-[Footnote A: It is upon these declarations of Scripture that Milton has
-based his gorgeous epic, "Paradise Lost."]
-
-_2. Modern Scriptures on the War in Heaven:_ These are the
-scripture passages which I said in a vague way represent both the
-pre-earth existence of Intelligences, and a state of strife, struggle,
-rebellion, war; attended with the loss of "first estate," and place
-in heaven, being thrust out into outer darkness. But what the point
-of controversy, the cause of difference upon which the "war" was
-based--all this we are left in ignorance of in these scriptures;
-and even in those other scriptures yet to be quoted, the brevity is
-painful, and yet they shed great light upon conditions that one feels
-must have existed in heaven, from the passages of Hebrew scripture
-massed above. In the Doctrine and Covenants occurs the following
-passage:
-
-    "Behold, the Devil was before Adam [speaking of Adam in the Garden
-    of Eden, and of his temptation], for he rebelled against me, saying
-    give me thine honor, which is my power; also a third part of the
-    hosts of heaven turned he away from me because of their agency;
-    and they were thrust down and became the Devil and his angels. And
-    behold there is a place prepared for them from the beginning, which
-    place is hell."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: Doc. & Cov., Sec. 29:36-38.]
-
-Again, in the revelation called the "Vision," or "Vision of the Three
-Glories," the Prophet says:
-
-    "And this we saw also, and bear record, that an angel of God who
-    was in authority in the presence of God, who rebelled against the
-    Only Begotten Son, whom the Father loved, and who was in the bosom
-    of the Father--was thrust down from the presence of God and the
-    Son. And was called Perdition, for the heavens wept over him--he
-    was Lucifer, a son of the morning. And we beheld and lo, he is
-    fallen! is fallen! even a son of the morning. And while we were
-    yet in the Spirit, the Lord commanded us that we should write the
-    vision, for we beheld Satan, that old serpent--even the Devil--who
-    rebelled against God, and sought to take the kingdom of our God,
-    and his Christ."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: Doc. & Cov., Sec. 76:25-38.]
-
-The Book of Abraham, after representing God's purpose to create an
-earth in order that the Intelligences in the midst of whom he dwelt
-might have earth-existence, and be put in the way of eternal progress
-(Ch. iii:24, 26), then asks: "Whom shall I send? And one answered like
-unto the Son of Man: Here am I, send me. And another answered and said:
-Here am I, send me. And the Lord said: I will send the first. And the
-second was angry, and kept not his first estate; and, at that day, many
-followed after him" (Book of Abraham, Ch. iii:27-28).
-
-Again in the Book of Moses (Pearl of Great Price), after detailing an
-experience which Moses had with Satan, the Lord said to him:
-
-    "That Satan, whom thou hast commanded in the name of mine Only
-    Begotten, is the same which was from the beginning, and he came
-    before me, saying: Behold, here am I, send me, I will be thy son,
-    and I will redeem all mankind, that one soul shall not be lost, and
-    surely I will do it; wherefore give me thine honor. But, behold, my
-    beloved Son, which was my Beloved and Chosen from the beginning,
-    said unto me, Father, thy will be done, and the glory be thine
-    forever. Wherefore, because that Satan rebelled against me, and
-    sought to destroy the agency of man, which I, the Lord God, had
-    given him, and also that I should give unto him mine own power; by
-    the power of mine Only Begotten, I caused that he should be cast
-    down; and he became Satan, yea, even the Devil, the father of all
-    lies, to deceive and to blind men, and to lead them captive at his
-    will, even as many as would not hearken unto my voice."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: Book of Moses iv:1-4.]
-
-This last passage from the Book of Abraham discloses the important
-truth that this war in heaven was connected with a controversy
-concerning the redemption of man from conditions in which, apparently,
-the contemplated earth-life would involve him. The controversy
-concerned also the choice of One to perform this work of redemption.
-Two offered themselves, but the terms of one involved at least the
-sacrifice of two mighty principles; one, the agency of man; the other,
-the honor and glory of God. "Here am I, Father, send me," said the
-Christ. Then Lucifer--the Light Bearer, and "one in authority in the
-presence of God"--said: "Behold, here am I, send me, I will be thy
-Son, and I will redeem all mankind, that one soul shall not be lost,
-and surely I will do it; wherefore give me thine honor." But the first
-spake again, saying,[A] "Father, thy will be done, and the glory be
-thine forever." Whereupon the election fell upon the Christ, and
-Lucifer rebelled.
-
-[Footnote A: I am presenting the order of events here as they may be
-implied from the two accounts here presented, one from the Book of
-Abraham, the other from the Book of Moses. The former is a very brief
-statement, the latter, more elaborate.]
-
-
-
-LESSON VI.
-
-(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
-
-THE BATTLE FOR MAN'S MORAL FREEDOM IN MAN'S EARTH-LIFE.
-
-ANALYSIS.
-
-I. Free Agency of Intelligences.
-
-1. The moral freedom of Intelligences did not begin with earth-life.
-
-2. Freedom, an inherent quality of Intelligences.
-
-3. Freedom follows them through all estates, and in all spheres in
-which they are placed by God.
-
-II. Transfer of the Honor and Glory of God Demanded.
-
-1. The spirit of Lucifer.
-
-2. The spirit of Christ.
-
-REFERENCES.
-
-Pearl of Great Price, Book of Moses, Chs. i-iv.
-
-Doc. & Cov., Sec. 29:36-38.
-
-Seventy's Course in Theology, Year Book II, Lesson iv.
-
-Book of Mormon, Alma xxix:4; II Nephi ii:27.
-
-New Witnesses for God, Vol. III, pp. 207-214.
-
-_SPECIAL TEXT: "All truth is independent in that sphere in which God
-has placed it, to act for itself, as all Intelligence also. Otherwise
-there is no existence." (Doc. & Cov., Sec. 93.)_
-
-DISCUSSION.
-
-_1. Of the Nature of Moral Freedom:_ The controversy in the
-heavenly council between Christ and Lucifer, gives emphasis to the
-importance of man's agency--his freedom to will and to do as he shall
-elect. The choice of the Christ as the Redeemer of the world cannot
-be regarded as being connected with any event by which the agency or
-moral freedom of Intelligences was then created. It was the maintenance
-of that which already existed rather than the creation of any new
-thing which was involved. Indeed the moral freedom of Intelligences
-is something which is as eternal as they are. Freedom is an attribute
-of Intelligences and may not be taken from them without robbing them
-of all joy and glory and dignity of existence. "Intelligence, or the
-light of truth, was not created or made, neither indeed can be. All
-truth is independent in that sphere in which God has placed it, to act
-for itself, as all Intelligence also, otherwise there is no existence.
-Behold, here is the agency of man and here is the condemnation of man,
-because that which was from the beginning is plainly manifest unto
-them, and they receive not the light. And every man who receiveth not
-the light is under condemnation, for man is spirit."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: Doc. & Cov., Sec. 93:30-33.]
-
-Whenever God, therefore, speaks of the agency or moral freedom
-of man,[A] reference is had to the spirit or Intelligence which
-constitutes the real man, "for man is spirit," that is, mind,
-Intelligence is the real fact of him. All truth and all Intelligences
-are independent in that sphere in which God has placed them, to act
-for themselves, otherwise there is no existence (see above quotation).
-That is to say, there is no existence where this fact of the freedom of
-truth and of Intelligences does not obtain. Freedom of man, then, means
-freedom of the Intelligence which is the chief fact of man; freedom in
-all estates through which he shall be called to pass, in all spheres in
-which God shall place him to act, the quality of freedom never leaves
-him. In obedience or in rebellion against God, it is his freedom that
-keeps him in either condition, and ministers to his joy or his misery
-respectively.
-
-[Footnote A: It will be observed that these terms are used
-interchangeably.]
-
-"I know," says the Nephite Prophet Alma, "that he [God] granteth unto
-men according to their desire, whether it be unto death or unto life;
-yea, I know that he alloteth unto men, according to their wills;
-whether they be unto salvation or unto destruction" (xxix:4).
-
-The second Nephi says: "The Lord God gave unto man that he should act
-for himself. Men are free according to the flesh; and all things are
-given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose
-liberty and eternal life, through the great mediation of all men, or
-to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of
-the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto
-himself."[A] Upon these principles it is manifest that God designed
-that freedom should follow Intelligences into their earth-life.
-
-[Footnote A: II Nephi ii:27.]
-
-_2. Moral Freedom to Follow Man in all Estates:_ When the
-earthlife was proposed, Intelligences were about to exercise that
-freedom in a new sphere of existence; in a new environment, under new,
-and to them, doubtless, strange conditions. The plan Lucifer proposed
-involved the destruction of his freedom. "Satan rebelled against
-me, and sought to destroy the agency of man," says the Lord. "Here
-am I," said Lucifer, "send me. I will be thy son, and I will redeem
-all mankind that not one soul shall be lost."[A] Under this plan,
-Intelligences were to have an earth-life in which there would be no
-losses; a world where there was nothing adventurous and dangerous, a
-"game" in which there are no real stakes; all that was "hazarded" would
-be given back. All must be saved; and no price is to be paid in the
-work of salvation. The last word is to be sweet. All is to be "yes,"
-"yes" in the universe.[B] The fact of "no" was nowhere to stand at the
-core of things. There could be no seriousness attributed to life under
-such a plan, since there were to be no insuperable "noes" and "losses;"
-no genuine sacrifices anywhere; nothing permanently drastic and bitter
-to remain at the bottom of the cup. "I will redeem all mankind, that
-not one soul shall be lost," said Lucifer; "and surely I will do
-it." Man was to have nothing to do in the achievement, all was to be
-done for him. He was to be passive, merely. Not a thing to act, but
-something to be acted upon. Such only could be the outcome of a world
-where all mankind would be saved, "that not one soul should be lost."
-It would be an utterly meaningless world. Without heroism; listless
-indifference would claim it. Passage through such an estate would add
-nothing to Intelligences. And yet, beyond question, there were natures
-among the Intelligences of heaven that longed for such a scheme of
-things, so much they dreaded danger, adventure and the stress of life
-that comes from individual struggle and individual responsibility.
-"Give us ease, let us have things done for us without our concern and
-the pain of striving," is their cry. And a third part of the hosts of
-heaven Lucifer turned away from the Lord in that day, because they made
-this election, and they became the devil and his angels (Doc. & Cov.,
-Sec. xxix).
-
-[Footnote A: Book of Moses, Ch. iv:4.]
-
-[Footnote B: The expressions here used are a paraphrase of a passage
-in a lecture of the late Prof. Wm. James, on "Pragmatism" (page 295),
-on the thought, "May not the notion of a world already saved in toto
-anyhow, be too saccharine to stand."]
-
-_3. The Thoughts of a Modern Philosopher:_ Mr. Wm. James, in his
-"Pragmatism," has a very wonderful passage bearing upon the whole
-thought here dwelt upon; and it is so pregnant with suggestion relative
-to our theme, so supported by philosophical thought and analysis of
-human nature, both strong and weak, that one marvels at the idea and
-thought in it which so parallels our own doctrines advanced in the Book
-of Moses--the doctrines above considered and given to the Church, in
-large part, in the very first years of her existence.[A] The following
-is the passage from Mr. James:
-
-[Footnote A: For full account of the Book of Moses, see Seventy's
-Year Book. No. I, Lessons v and vi. It was published in full by F. D.
-Richards in the Pearl of Great Price, 1851, Liverpool, England.]
-
-    "Suppose that the world's Author put the case to you before
-    creation, saying: 'I am going to make a world not certain to be
-    saved, a world the perfection of which shall be conditional merely,
-    the condition being that each several agent does its own "level
-    best." I offer you the chance of taking part in such a world.
-    Its safety, you see, is unwarranted. It is a real adventure,
-    with real danger, yet it may win through. It is a social scheme
-    of co-operative work genuinely to be done. Will you join the
-    procession? Will you trust yourself and trust the other agents
-    enough to face the risk?
-
-    "Should you, in all seriousness, if participation in such a
-    world were proposed to you, feel bound to reject it as not safe
-    enough? Would you say that, rather than be part and parcel of so
-    fundamentally pluralistic and irrational a universe, you preferred
-    to relapse into the slumber of nonentity from which you had been
-    momentarily aroused by the tempter's voice?[A]
-
-[Footnote A: Of course this proposition of relapsing into "nonentity"
-is no part of the "Mormon" scheme of thought, since the actual
-proposition of our revelations was made to Intelligences alike
-uncreated and uncreatable, and alike indestructible; so that while
-in the exercise of their freedom these Intelligences might decline
-participation in the scheme of things proposed, they could not sink
-back into nonentities.]
-
-    "Of course, if you are normally constituted, you would do nothing
-    of the sort. There is a healthy-minded buoyancy in most of us which
-    such a universe would exactly fit. We would therefore accept the
-    offer--'Top! and schlag auf schlag!" It would be just like the
-    world we practically live in; and loyalty to our old nurse Nature
-    would forbid us to say no. The world proposed would seem 'rational'
-    to us in the most living way.
-
-    "Most of us, I say, would therefore welcome the proposition and add
-    our fiat to the fiat of the creator. Yet perhaps some would not;
-    for there are morbid minds in every human collection, and to them
-    the prospect of a universe with only a fighting chance of safety
-    would probably make no appeal. There are moments of discouragement
-    in us all, when we are sick of self and tired of vainly striving.
-    Our own life breaks down, and we fall into the attitude of the
-    prodigal son. We mistrust the chances of things. We want a universe
-    where we can just give up, fall on our father's neck, and be
-    absorbed into the absolute life as a drop of water melts into the
-    river or the sea.
-
-    "The peace and rest, the security desiderated at such moments
-    is security against the bewildering accidents of so much finite
-    experience. Nirvana means safety from this everlasting round of
-    adventures of which the world of sense consists. The Hindo and
-    the Buddhist, for this is essentially their attitude, are simply
-    afraid, afraid of more experience, afraid of life!
-
-    "And to men of this complexion, religious monism comes with its
-    consoling words: 'All is needed and essential--even you and your
-    sick soul and heart. All are one with God, and with God all is
-    well. The everlasting arms are beneath, whether in the world of
-    finite appearance you seem to fail or to succeed.' There can be
-    no doubt that when men are reduced to their last sick extremity,
-    absolutism is the only saving scheme. Pluralistic moralism simply
-    makes their teeth chatter, it refrigerates the very heart within
-    their breast. * * *
-
-    "I find myself willing to take the universe to be really dangerous
-    and adventurous, without therefore backing out and crying, no play.
-    I am willing to think that the prodigal son attitude, open to us
-    as it is in many vicissitudes, is not the right and final attitude
-    towards the whole of life. I am willing that there should be real
-    losses and real losers, and no total preservation of all that is. I
-    can believe in the ideal as an ultimate, not as an origin, and as
-    an extract, not the whole. When the cup is poured off, the dregs
-    are left behind forever, but the possibility of what is poured off
-    is sweet enough to accept.
-
-    "As a matter of fact, countless human imaginations live in this
-    moralistic and epic kind of a universe, and find its disseminated
-    and strung along successes sufficient for their rational needs.
-    There is a finely translated epigram in the Greek anthology which
-    admirably expresses this state of mind, this acceptance of loss as
-    unatoned for, even though the lost element might be one's self:
-
-  "A shipwrecked sailor, buried on this coast,
-      Bids you set sail.
-  Full many a gallant bark, when we were lost,
-      Weathered the gale."
-
-    "It is, then, perfectly possible to accept sincerely a drastic kind
-    of a universe from which the element of 'seriousness' is not to be
-    expelled. Whoso does so is, it seems to me, a genuine pragmatist.
-    He is willing to live on a scheme of uncertified possibilities
-    which he trusts; willing to pay with his own person, if need be,
-    for the realization of the ideals which he frames."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: "Pragmatism" (1908), Wm. James, pp. 290-297.]
-
-4. The Startling Parallel Between the Reflections of the Philosopher
-and the Doctrines of the Book of Moses: Such the voice of a modern,
-and, without disparagement of others, I think I may venture to say,
-our greatest American, philosopher. In this statement, as I said
-in introducing it, Professor James puts the case of the proposed
-earth-existence of man, as set forth in the early revelations to
-the Church, in a way that is startling. The proposition put to
-Intelligences before the earth was made, in each case; an earth-life
-full of adventure and danger, safety not guaranteed,[A] in each case;
-the counter plan proposed that would guarantee safety rejected; and
-yet the existence of some "morbid minds" among the spirits--found "in
-every human collection," to whom "the prospect of a universe with only
-a fighting chance" made no appeal, and accordingly their rejection
-of it, and their rebellion. But, thank God, the Christ in that great
-council prevailed, as also he prevailed in the war of the Rebellion
-in Heaven, which followed upon that Council's decision. The Christ's
-spirit stood for the freedom of man in that great controversy. He stood
-for a serious earth-life for Intelligences, in which though there would
-be some losses, many losses, in fact, yet also there would be much
-gain and glory. Gain, however, that could not be obtained but through
-great strivings; the exercise of all the great virtues, of trust and
-patience, endurance and courage, wisdom and temperance, together with
-faith and hope and charity. Thank God, I say, that Jesus the Christ,
-in the pre-existence, stood for all those things which make earth-life
-worth while and existence itself endurable--for the moral freedom of
-man.
-
-[Footnote A: "We will go down, for there is space there, and we will
-take of these materials, and we will make an earth whereon these
-[Intelligences] may dwell; and we will prove them herewith, to see if
-they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command
-them; and they who keep their first estate shall be added upon; and
-they who keep not their first estate shall not have glory in the same
-kingdom with those who keep their first estate; and they who keep their
-second estate shall have glory added upon their heads for ever and
-ever" (Book of Abraham, Ch. iii:24-26).]
-
-_5. The Spirit of Lucifer:_ In the closing paragraph of Lesson V
-it is stated that two mighty principles were involved in the plan of
-earth-life for Intelligences. One the agency of man; the other, the
-honor and glory of God. The first has been considered; the second must
-now receive attention:
-
-"I will redeem all mankind that one soul shall not be lost; and surely
-I will do it; _wherefore give me thine honor_." To this the Christ
-is said to have replied: "Father, thy will be done, and the glory be
-thine forever" (Book of Moses, Ch. iv:1, 2). These two propositions
-represent the spirit of the two characters here in contention. The
-one, self-seeking, vainglorious, selfish--willing that the agency
-of man shall be destroyed if only he may be exalted. Willing that
-Intelligences shall be bereft of freedom--if only he can be Lord.
-"And surely I will do it," self sufficiency. "Wherefore give me thine
-honor!" With which would go also the power of God and the glory! (See
-Book of Moses, Ch. iv:3.) Hence this scheme of Lucifer's contemplated
-not only the despoliation of man, but the dishonoring of God. Truly the
-ambition of Lucifer was boundless, as his selfishness was fathomless.
-Well might the poet make lord Wolsey say:
-
-  "I charge thee, fling away ambition;
-  By this sin fell the angels."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: King Henry VIII.]
-
-_6. The Christ Spirit:_ In contrast with Lucifer's characteristics
-revealed in this controversy, contemplate the plan and character of the
-Christ. Standing as it does in antithesis to the agency-destroying plan
-of Lucifer, it must be held to be agency-preserving, hence offers not
-salvation to all so "that one soul shall not be lost," but predicates
-salvation upon compliance with some conditions, on obedience, say,
-to God. Under this agency-preserving plan, then, the Christ said:
-"Father, thy will be done." Equivalent to saying, Father, let thy
-freedom-preserving plan obtain, and be carried into effect--"Thy will
-be done, and the glory be thine forever!" And it was in this spirit
-that the work of the atonement was wrought out in the earth-life of the
-Christ. "I came down from heaven," said he, "not to do my own will, but
-the will of him that sent me" (St. John vi:38). "I seek not mine own
-will, but the will of the Father which sent me" (St. John v:30). Thrice
-in that hour when the shadows and sorrows due to a world's sin were
-falling upon him, the Christ prayed, "O, my Father, if this cup may not
-pass away from me: except I drink it, thy will be done" (Matt. xxvi).
-And when the betrayer came, and with him the agents of the earthly
-government, and one drew the sword to resist them, the Christ chided
-him, and told him to put up his sword, and gave his impulsive follower
-to understand that his course in submitting to the world's forces was
-voluntary on his part. "Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my
-Father, and he shall presently give more than twelve legions of angels?
-But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?"
-(Matt. 26:53, 54.) And so "he humbled himself, and became obedient unto
-death, even the death of the cross" (Phil. ii:8). Such the spirit of
-the Christ--humble submissiveness--
-
-  "Thy will, O God, not mine be done,
-  Adorned his mortal life."
-
-
-
-LESSON VII.
-
-(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
-
-THE FALL OF MAN.
-
-ANALYSIS.
-
-I. The Fall and Its Relation to the Purposes of God.
-
-II. The Nobility of Adam Manifested in the Fall.
-
-III. The Effects of the Fall Physical and Moral.
-
-IV. The Relation of the Fall to Man's Life as Man.
-
-REFERENCES.
-
-Book of Moses (Pearl of Great Price), Ch. v:1-2; also Ch. vi:43-68.
-
-Book of Mormon, II Nephi ii; Alma, Chs. xii, xiii and xlii.
-
-Richards and Little's Compendium, Art. "Fall of Adam," pp. 3-5, and all
-their references.
-
-Seventy's Year Book II, Lesson viii.
-
-New Witnesses for God, Vol. III, Ch. xl, pp. 180-192, 214-218; 227-230.
-
-_SPECIAL TEXT: "Adam fell that man might be; men are that they might
-have joy." (II Nephi ii:25.)_
-
-DISCUSSION.
-
-_1. A Suggested Review:_ It is suggested to the student that he at
-this point review, either in class or by private reading, the following
-lessons in Seventy's Course in Theology, Second Year Book:
-
-Lesson V.--Preparation of the Earth for the Abode of Man.
-
-Lesson VII.--The Adamic Dispensation I.
-
-Lesson VIII.--The Adamic Dispensation II.
-
-Lesson IX.--The Adamic Dispensation III.
-
-I refer the student to those lessons in order that the necessity might
-be avoided of entering again into detail on those subjects; for here
-I shall only say respecting the "fall" so much as may be necessary to
-keep up the continuity of the theme.
-
-_2. The "Fall" of Man as Related to the Purposes of God:_ From
-what is set forth in Part I of this treatise, it is evident that the
-"fall of Adam" did not surprise the purposes of God with reference
-to man's earth life. Nor is it thinkable that it was an accident, or
-that it in any way thwarted the original purposes of God in respect
-of man. Indeed the subject as developed up to this point brings us to
-the fall of man as the next step in the sequence of the purposes of
-God in regard to man's earth life. There must be a transition from
-a spirit-existence to a man-existence for those Intelligences in
-heaven designed for habitation on our earth. There must be brought
-to pass a change from heavenly conditions to earth conditions if the
-Intelligences designed for habitation on our earth are to have the
-experiences that earth life can impart; a life where evil is manifest
-and active; where the moral harmony is broken; where men must walk
-by faith, and not by sight. This transition from spirit-existence to
-man-existence; from a state of moral harmony to one where moral harmony
-is broken and evil is active is called "the fall;" and was essential to
-the accomplishment of God's purposes. Of its details, and its processes
-it becomes one to speak cautiously, for but little is revealed, and
-beyond what is revealed upon the subject, we have no knowledge.
-
-_3. "Adam Fell that Men Might Be:_" I think it cannot be doubted
-when the whole story of man's fall is taken into account that in some
-way--however hidden it may be under allegory--his fall was closely
-associated with the propagation of the race. Before the fall we are
-told that Adam and Eve were in a state of innocence; but after the fall
-"The eyes of them both were opened and they knew that they were naked,
-and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons," and
-also hid from the presence of the Lord.[A]
-
-[Footnote A: Gen. iii:7-9.]
-
-In an incidental way Paul gives us to understand that Adam in the
-matter of this first transgression "was not deceived," but that
-the woman was.[A] It therefore follows that Adam must have sinned
-knowingly, and perhaps deliberately; making choice of obedience between
-two laws pressing upon him. With his spouse Eve, he had received a
-commandment from God to be fruitful, to perpetuate his race in the
-earth. He had also been told not to partake of a certain fruit of
-the Garden of Eden; but according to the story of Genesis, as also
-according to the assertion of Paul, Eve, who with Adam received
-the commandment to multiply in the earth, was deceived, and by the
-persuasion of Lucifer, induced to partake of the forbidden fruit. She,
-therefore, was in transgression, and subject to the penalty of that
-law, which from the scriptures, we learn included banishment from Eden,
-banishment from the presence of God, and also the death of the body.
-This meant, if Eve were permitted to stand alone in her transgression,
-that she must be alone also in suffering the penalty thereof. In that
-event she would have been separated from Adam, which necessarily would
-have prevented obedience to the commandment given to them conjointly,
-to multiply in the earth. In the presence of this situation, therefore,
-it is to be believed that Adam was not deceived, either by the cunning
-of Lucifer or the blandishments of the woman, deliberately, and with a
-full knowledge of his act and its consequences, and in order to carry
-out the purpose of God in the existence of man in the earth, he shared
-alike the woman's transgression and its effects, and this in order that
-the first great commandment he had received from God, viz--"Be fruitful
-and multiply and replenish the earth, and subdue it"--might not fail of
-fulfillment. Hence "Adam fell that men might be."
-
-[Footnote A: "Adam was not deceived, but the woman, being deceived, was
-in the transgression" III Tim. ii:14.]
-
-_4. The Nobility of Adam in the Fall:_ The effect of this doctrine
-upon the ideas of men concerning the great Patriarch of our race will
-be revolutionary. It seems to be the fashion of those who assume to
-teach the Christian religion to denounce Adam in unmeasured terms; as
-if the fall of man had surprised, if, indeed, it did altogether thwart,
-the original plan of God respecting the existence of man in the earth.
-The creeds of the churches generally fail to consider the "fall" as
-part of God's purpose regarding this world, and, in its way, just as
-essential to the accomplishment of that purpose as the "redemption"
-through Jesus Christ. Certainly there would have been no occasion for
-Atonement and redemption had there been no fall; and hence no occasion
-for the display of all that wealth of grace and mercy and justice and
-love--all that richness of experience involved in man's earth life,
-and the Atonement of Jesus Christ, had there been no fall. It cannot
-be but that it was part of God's purpose to give man these experiences
-and display the above named qualities in their true relation, for the
-benefit and blessing and enlargement and ultimate uplifting of man;
-and since there would have been no occasion for displaying them but
-for the fall, it logically follows that the fall, no less than the
-Atonement and redemption, must have been part of God's original plan
-respecting the earth probation of man. The fall, undoubtedly, was a
-fact as much present to the foreknowledge of God as was the atonement,
-and the act which encompassed it must be regarded as more praise-worthy
-than blame-worthy, since it was essential to the accomplishment of
-the divine purpose. Yet, as I say, those who assume to teach the
-Christian religion roundly denounce Adam for his transgression[A] and
-especially for the recital of the circumstances of his fall, "The woman
-thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat."
-In which they seem to find an attempt to shift responsibility for the
-fall upon woman instead of a plain statement of fact. The truth is,
-that nothing could be more courageous, sympathetic, or nobly honorable
-than the course of our world's great Patriarch in his relations to his
-wife Eve and the fall. The woman by deception of Lucifer is led into
-transgression, and stands under the penalty of a broken law. Banishment
-from the presence of God; banishment from Eden and the presence of her
-husband, if he partakes not with her in the transgression; dissolution
-of spirit and body--physical death--all await her, and her alone!
-Thereupon the man, not deceived, but knowingly (as we are assured by
-Paul), also transgressed. Why? In one aspect of the case in order
-that he might share the woman's banishment from the dear presence of
-God, and with her to die--than which no higher proof of love could
-be given--no nobler act of chivalry performed. But primarily he
-transgressed that "Man might be." He transgressed a less important law
-that he might comply with one more important, if one may so speak of
-any of God's laws.
-
-[Footnote A: See Seventy's Year Book No. II, Lesson VIII.]
-
-_5. The Purpose and Effect of the Fall:_ Adam transgressed, or
-fell, "that man might be," as the Book of Mormon states it.[D] That is
-to say, that man might "be" (i. e., exist), in earth life; and not only
-"be" but "be" as man; an eternal Intelligence begotten a spirit in the
-heavenly kingdom, and now on earth taking on through painful process
-and at much hazard eternal elements of matter as a covering, a body,
-that there might be a fullness of joy, and power, and without which
-union of spirit and element there could be no fullness of joy or power
-(Doc. & Cov. Sec. 93).
-
-Also Adam fell that man might "be" in the environment of earthlife;
-in the midst of broken harmonies, where good and evil are seen in
-conflict; in a life of adventure and danger; in a life where real
-losses may have to be sustained; and sorrows as well as joys are
-realities; where death as well as life is encountered; and where
-spiritual deaths may be as endless, as spiritual lives may be eternal.
-To bring to pass these conditions essential to man's earth-experiences,
-on which is to be builded his future progress, the "fall" must be;
-which is only another way of saying that the transition from heaven
-conditions to earth must be made. In no way else could this earth
-department of God's great university for Intelligences be established.
-May it not, however, from some points of view be regarded as a
-misnomer, this "fall?" Certainly it is but an incident in the process
-of rising to greater heights. It is but the crouch for the spring;
-the steps backward in order to gain momentum for the rush forward; a
-descending below all things only that there might be a rising above all
-things. Such the benefits to arise from the fall; at least to some,
-and doubtless to the benefit ultimately, of most of the Intelligences
-that participate in earth-life, though there will be real losses
-in the adventure.[B] The fall is to eventuate in the advantage of
-God's children, then, in the main. Adam did not sin because deceived
-by another. He did not sin maliciously, or with evil intent; or to
-gratify an inclination to rebellion against God, or to thwart the
-Divine purposes, or to manifest his own pride. Had his act of sin
-involved the taking of life rather than eating a forbidden fruit, it
-would be regarded as a "sacrifice" rather than as a "murder." This is
-to show the nature of Adam's transgression. It was a transgression of
-the law--"for sin is the transgression of the law"--that conditions
-deemed necessary to the progress of eternal Intelligences might obtain.
-But Adam did sin. He did break the law, which is sin, and violation
-of law involves the violator in its penalties, as surely as effect
-follows cause. Upon this principle depends the dignity and majesty of
-law. Take this fact away from moral government and your moral laws
-become mere nullities. Therefore, notwithstanding Adam fell that men
-might be, and that in his transgression there was at bottom a really
-exalted motive--a motive that contemplated nothing less than bringing
-to pass the highly necessary purposes of God with respect to man's
-existence in the earth--yet his transgression of law was real; he did
-brave the conditions that would be brought into existence by his sin;
-it was followed by certain moral effects in the nature of men and in
-the world. The harmony of things was broken; discord ruled; changed
-relations between God and men took place; moral and intellectual
-darkness, sin and death--death, the wages of sin--stalked through the
-world, and made necessary the Atonement for man, and his redemption.
-
-[Footnote A: Elsewhere of this Book of Mormon passage I have said: In
-the second book of Nephi, chapter ii, occurs the following direct,
-explicit statement: _Adam fell that men might be; and men are that they
-might have joy._
-
-This sentence is the summing up of a somewhat lengthy discussion
-on the Atonement, by the Prophet Lehi. It is a most excellent and
-important generalization, and is worthy to be classed with the
-great generalizations of the Jewish scriptures, such for instance
-as that in the closing chapter of Ecclesiastes, "Fear God and keep
-his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man;" Paul's famous
-generalization: "As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be
-made alive;" or the Apostle James' summing up of religion: "Pure
-religion and undefiled before God and the Father, is this: To visit
-the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to kep one's self
-unspotted from the world." Or the Messiah's great summing up of the
-whole law and gospel: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with all they
-heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first
-and great commandment, and the second is like unto it, Thou shalt
-love thy neighbor as thy self. On these two commandments hang all the
-law and all the prophets." I care not whether you regard the literary
-excellence of this Book of Mormon generalization or the importance of
-the great truths which it announces, I repeat it, it is worthy in every
-way to stand with the great generalizations quoted above.]
-
-[Footnote B: A question presses on the optimists, * * * Are the
-rebellious and the sinful not also on the up grade? Ultimately and in
-the last resort will not they, too, put themselves in time with the
-harmony of existence? Who is to say? Time is infinite, Eternity is
-before us as well as behind us, and the end is not yet. There is no
-"ultimately" in the matter, for there is no end; There is room for an
-eternity of rebellion and degradation and misery as well as of hope and
-love" ("Science and Immortality," Sir Oliver Lodge, p. 291)--and hence,
-doubtless, real losses to be sustained.]
-
-
-
-LESSON VIII.
-
-(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
-
-THE FALL OF MAN.--(Continued.)
-
-ANALYSIS.
-
-V. The Importance of Life--Be Fruitful and Replenish the Earth.
-
-VI. The Fall Beneficent.
-
-VII. The Book of Mormon View of the Fall.--Necessary to the Purposes of
-God.
-
-VIII. Summary of the Subjects of Lessons VII and VIII.
-
-REFERENCES.
-
-Same references as in Lesson VII.
-
-_SPECIAL TEXT: "And now behold, if Adam had not transgressed, he would
-not have fallen; but he would have remained in the garden of Eden. And
-all things which were created must have remained in the same state
-which they were [in], after they were created; and they must have
-remained for ever, and had no end. And they would have had no children;
-wherefore, they would have remained in a state of innocence, having no
-joy, for they knew no misery; doing no good, for they knew no sin. But
-behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of Him who knoweth all
-things."_
-
-NOTES.
-
-_1. Be Fruitful.--Importance of Life:_ The purpose of God in the
-earth-life of man already has been considered (Lesson IV, Subdivision
-4), and it was found to bring to pass the immortality and eternal
-life of man as man; and to bring to him an increase of joy, by
-enlargement of capacity to enjoy; by adding upon him new powers of
-self expression; by adding an earth-body to a heavenly born spirit;
-"for man is spirit:" but "spirit" in order to receive "a fullness of
-joy" must be inseparably connected with element (Doc. & Cov. Sec.
-xciii:32-35, also note 2, Year Book II, Lesson II); hence the earth
-life of Intelligences; hence the advent of Adam and his wife Eve upon
-our earth; hence the commandment "Be fruitful;" hence the importance of
-man obtaining his body (Lesson II, note 2); hence the resurrection from
-the dead, which brings to pass the eternal union of spirit and body
-(element), to be sanctified as a "soul;" for the "spirit and the body
-is the soul of man" (Doc. & Cov., Sec. xxxviii:15). These principles
-enlarge the view of the importance of the earth-life of man, and give
-the idea of sanctity to the commandment, "Be fruitful." Undoubtedly
-the most important thing in life is life itself, since there flows
-from life all other things--experiences, joys, sorrows, sympathies,
-achievements, righteousness, honor, power--it is the root, the base of
-all. To protect and preserve life, whence spring all things else, God
-has issued his decree. "Thou shalt not kill"--the Everlasting's cannon,
-fixed alike against self-slaughter and the killing of others; and on
-the crime of murder is placed the heaviest of all penalties--"whoso
-sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed" (Gen. ix:6); "No
-murderer hath eternal abiding in him" (I John iii:15).
-
-And on the other hand, for the promotion of life, what encouragement
-has God not given? First, this commandment, "Be fruitful and multiply
-and replenish (refill) the earth;" second, in making sex desire and
-love of offspring the strongest of passions, refining both, however, by
-the sentiment of love, and confining by his law the exercise of these
-life-functions to the limits of wedlock relations. "Lo, children are
-an heritage of the Lord; and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As
-arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.
-Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them; they shall not be
-ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate" (Psalms
-127:3-5). And when the Lord would give his highest blessing to Abraham,
-his friend, for his supreme act of obedience, he could but say: "In
-blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy
-seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea
-shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; and in thy
-seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast
-obeyed my voice" (Genesis, xxii:17-18). And to Jacob the Lord also
-said: "Behold, I will make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, and I will
-make of thee a multitude of people" (Gen. xlviii:4).
-
-_2. Nature's Testimony to the Value of Life:_ In nature, too,
-this law of life is written, until our philosophers who treat on life
-in its various forms, declare that the very "object of nature is
-function"--i. e., life, (Lester F. Ward, Outlines of Sociology, 1904,
-Ch. V). So superabundant is the fertility of all forms of life, animal
-and vegetable, that if it were not limited by destructive agencies
-the earth would soon be overwhelmed. "Every being," says Mr. Darwin,
-"which during its natural life time produces several eggs or seeds,
-must suffer destruction during some period of its life, and during some
-season or occasional year, otherwise, on the principle of geometrical
-increase, its numbers would quickly become so inordinately great that
-no country could support the product. * * * There is no exception
-to the rule that every organic being naturally increases at so high
-a rate, that, if not destroyed, the earth would soon be covered by
-the progeny of a single pair. Even slow-breeding man has doubled in
-twenty-five years, and at this rate, in less than a thousand years,
-there would literally not be standing room for his progeny. * * * In
-a state of nature almost every full-grown plant annually produces
-seed, and amongst animals there are very few which do not annually
-pair. Hence we may confidently assert, that all plants and animals are
-tending to increase at a geometrical ratio,--that all would rapidly
-stock every station in which they could any how exist--and that this
-geometrical tendency to increase must be checked by destruction at some
-period of life" ("The Origin of Species," p. 50, 51, 52).
-
-What is the significance of this rich endowment with the power of
-reproduction in all forms of life, animal and vegetable, until it
-assumes the appearance of actual redundancy? Is it not nature's
-testimony to the fact of the desirability of life? And hence she
-has equipped the various species with power to perpetuate life,
-notwithstanding the destructive forces with which life in its great
-variety of forms has to contend. Is life--especially human life--worth
-living? Undoubtedly, since nature has so abundantly provided the means
-for its perpetuation, and God has given the commandment, "Be fruitful
-and replenish the earth."
-
-_3. "The Fall" Regarded as Beneficent by Adam and Eve:_ Much that
-is remarked in the foregoing paragraphs of this lesson on the nature
-of the fall finds its warrant in the Book of Moses, (Pearl of Great
-Price) and in the Book of Mormon, in what is said of Adam and Eve,
-and what is said by them when the fact of the Atonement was expounded
-to them; for one of the effects the fall seems to have had upon Adam
-and his spouse--the effect of transition from heaven conditions to
-earth conditions--was to veil their knowledge, to some extent, as to
-pre-earth life conditions and purposes of God;[A] hence they lost their
-knowledge apparently of the earth-life scheme of things, and had to
-be instructed anew as to the plan of "eternal life, which God, that
-cannot lie, promised before the world began."[B] And after Adam had been
-re-instated in a knowledge of the things of God, and made to understand
-that notwithstanding he had fallen yet could he be redeemed, "and all
-mankind, even as many as will"--"In that day Adam blessed God and
-was filled, and began to prophesy concerning all the families of the
-earth: Blessed be the name of God, for because of my transgression my
-eyes are opened, and in this life I shall have joy, and again in the
-flesh I shall see God. And Eve, his wife, heard all these things and
-was glad, saying: Were it not for our transgression we never should
-have had seed, and never should have known good and evil, and the joy
-of our redemption, and the eternal life which God giveth unto all the
-obedient. And Adam and Eve blessed the name of God, and they made all
-things known unto their sons and their daughters."[C]
-
-[Footnote A: It will be observed that in speaking of Adam and Eve and
-their part in the affairs of our earth and the beginning of the human
-race upon it. I am passing by the evident allegory of Genesis as to
-the earth origin of Adam and Eve. Our doctrine regard these first
-parents of the human race as simply coming from another sphere upon a
-mission to this earth to perform the work assigned them in peopling
-the earth as prepared for them at their advent. The account in Genesis
-of man's earth origin, of his being made of the dust of the earth, and
-woman manufactured from man's rib gives in allegory the process of
-the generation of human life. But human life is but a continuation of
-pre-earth existing life which has no beginning and which will have no
-end, being of the eternal things. So that in the system of philosophic
-thought that is born of the revelations in which the New Dispensation
-of the gospel has its origin, man was not moulded from the earth as
-a brick nor woman manufactured from a rib; but, as well stated by
-Elder Parley P. Pratt, the earth having been prepared and made ready
-for the human race, "A royal planter now descends from yonder world
-of older date, and bearing in his hand the choice seeds of the older
-Paradise, he plants them in the virgin soil of our new born earth. They
-grow and flourish there, and, bearing seed, replant themselves, and
-thus clothed the naked earth with scenes of beauty, and-the air with
-fragrant incense. Ripening fruits and herbs at length abound. When lo!
-from yonder world is transferred every species of animal life. Male
-and female, they come, with blessings on their heads, and a voice is
-heard again, "Be fruitful and multiply." Earth, its mineral, vegetable
-and animal wealth, its Paradise prepared, down comes from yonder world
-on high a son of God, with his beloved spouse. And thus a colony from
-heaven * * * is transplanted on our soil. The blessings of their Father
-are upon them, and the first great law of heaven and earth is again
-repeated, "Be fruitful and multiply." Hence, the nations which have
-swarmed our earth." "Key to Theology," Ch. vi.]
-
-[Footnote B: Titus i:2. Also Book of Moses, Ch. v:1-12. For a fuller
-consideration of the facts of the text see Seventy's Year Book II,
-Lesson XI. Notes 5 and 6.]
-
-[Footnote C: Book of Moses (Pearl of Great Price) Ch. v. 10-12.]
-
-_4. Book of Mormon View of the Fall--Necessary to the Purposes of
-God:_ After a most remarkable process of reasoning upon the fact of
-opposite existences, good and evil, sin and righteousness, and reaching
-the conclusion that there "must needs be an opposition in all things,"
-the Nephite prophet applies his principles to the fall of Adam in the
-following passage:
-
-    "To bring about his [God's] eternal purposes in the end of man,
-    after he had created our first parents. * * * It must needs be that
-    there was an opposition; even the forbidden fruit in opposition
-    to the tree of life; the one being sweet and the other bitter;
-    wherefore, the Lord God gave unto man that he should act for
-    himself. Wherefore man could not act for himself, save it should be
-    that he was enticed by the one or the other. And I, Lehi, according
-    to the things which I have read, must needs suppose, that an angel
-    of God, according to that which is written, had fallen from heaven;
-    wherefore he became a devil, having sought that which was evil
-    before God, and because he had fallen from heaven, and had become
-    miserable for ever he said unto Eve, yea, even that old serpent,
-    who is the devil, who is the father of all lies, wherefore he
-    said, Partake of the forbidden fruit, and ye shall not die, but ye
-    shall be as God, knowing good and evil. And after Adam and Eve had
-    partaken of the forbidden fruit, they were driven out of the garden
-    of Eden, to till the earth. And they have brought forth children;
-    yea, even the family of all the earth. And the days of the children
-    of men were prolonged, according to the will of God, that they
-    might repent while in the flesh: wherefore, their state became a
-    state of probation, and their time was lengthened, according to
-    the commandments which the Lord God gave unto the children of men.
-    For he gave commandment that all men must repent; for he showed
-    unto all men that they were lost, because of the transgression of
-    their parents. And now, behold, if Adam had not transgressed, he
-    would not have fallen; but he would have remained in the garden of
-    Eden. And all things which were created, must have remained in the
-    same state in which they were, after they were created; and they
-    must have remained forever, and had no end. _And they would have
-    had no children; wherefore they would have remained in a state of
-    innocence,_ having no joy, for they knew no misery; doing no good,
-    for they knew no sin. But behold, all things have been done in the
-    wisdom of him who knoweth all things. Adam fell that men might be;
-    and men are that they might have joy."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: II Nephi ii:15-25. For a treatise on "Opposite
-Existences," see "New Witnesses for God," Vol. III, pp. 219-227.]
-
-_5. Summary of Views of the Fall:_ I shall depend on the two
-foregoing passages, to sustain, in large measure, the views of this
-lesson, viz., that the fall of Adam was not an accident; that it did
-not surprise the purposes of God with reference to man's earth-life,
-much less thwart them; that the fall was as much embraced in the
-sovereign purposes of God with reference to the earth-life of man as
-was the Atonement; that without the first the second could not be; that
-the transition from heaven conditions to earth conditions, the fall,
-in some way was connected with the propagation of the earth-life of
-man: "Were it not for our transgression we never should have had seed"
-is the declaration of Eve, allowed to stand in the Book of Moses as
-an undoubted truth. But for the transgression of Adam, as the Prophet
-Lehi tells us, in the above passage, "all things which were created,
-must have remained in the same state which they were [in] after they
-were created; and they must have remained forever and had no end. _And
-they_ [Adam and Eve] _would have had no children_: Wherefore they
-would have remained in a state of innocence, having no joy, for they
-knew no misery; doing no good, for they knew no sin." But Adam made
-the necessary transition from a state of mere innocence, he fell that
-man might be, and that the experiences of earth-life might follow, and
-eventuate in something better and greater than mere innocence, _viz._,
-in virtue; which is goodness, and strength, acquired by conquest of
-evil.[A]
-
-[Footnote A: See Seventy's Year Book No. II, Part II, Lesson IX, p. 50.
-On this distinction between mere innocence and virtue, Professor Joseph
-Le Conte of the University of California says: "It will, I think,
-be admitted by all that innocence and virtue are two very different
-things. Innocence is a pre-established, virtue a self-established,
-harmony of spiritual activities. The course of human development,
-whether individual or racial, is from innocence through more or less
-discord and conflict to virtue. And virtue completed, regarded as a
-condition, is holiness, as an activity, it is spiritual freedom. Not
-happiness nor innocence but virtue is the goal of humanity. Happiness
-will surely come in the train of virtue, but if we seek primarily
-happiness we miss both. Two things must be borne steadily in mind;
-virtue is the goal of humanity; virtue can not be given, it must be
-self-acquired. * * * Why could not man have been made a perfectly
-pure, innocent, happy being, unplagued by evil and incapable of sin? I
-answer: The thing is impossible even to Omnipotence, because it is a
-contradiction in terms. Such a being would also be incapable of virtue,
-would not be a moral being at all, would not in fact be man. We can not
-even conceive of a moral being without freedom to choose. We can not
-even conceive of virtue without successful conflict with solicitations
-to debasement. But these solicitations are so strong and so often
-overcome us, that we are prone to regard the solicitations themselves
-as essential evil, instead of our weak surrender to them." (Evolution
-and Its Relation to Religious Thought--1902--pp. 372-3.)]
-
-
-
-LESSON IX.
-
-(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
-
-THE DOCTRINE OF THE ATONEMENT IN ANCIENT TIMES--THE OLD TESTAMENT.
-
-ANALYSIS.
-
-I. The First Promise of an Atonement.
-
-II. Adam's Sacrifices and the Atonement.
-
-III. The Mosaic Sacrifices:
-
-1. The Sin Offering.
-
-2. The Day of Atonement.
-
-IV. The Christian Fathers on the Significance of Ancient Sacrifices.
-
-REFERENCES.
-
-Genesis iii; Book of Moses (P. of G. P.), Chs. v and vi.
-
-Hebrews Chs. ix and x. Dr. William Smith's Old Testament History, Chs.
-ii and Appendix to Book III, Sec. iv--"Sacrifices and Oblations."
-
-Smith's Bible Dictionary (Hackett Edition), Vol. IV, Art. "Sacrifices."
-Also Kitto's Biblical Literature, Art. "Sacrifices."
-
-"Mediation and Atonement" (Pres. John Taylor), Ch. xvi.
-
-_SPECIAL TEXT: "When Moses had spoken every precept to all the people
-according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with
-water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book and
-all the people, saying, This is the blood of the testament which God
-hath enjoined unto you. Moreover, he sprinkled with blood both the
-tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry. And almost all things
-are by the law purged with blood and without shedding of blood is no
-remission." (Heb. ix:19-22.)_
-
-DISCUSSION.
-
-_1. The Idea of an Atonement of Ancient Origin:_ From the earliest
-times the fact of an Atonement for man is foreshadowed. "The serpent
-beguiled me, and I did eat," said Eve, to the Lord. "And the Lord God
-said unto the serpent * * * I will put enmity between thee and the
-woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and
-thou shalt bruise his heel."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: Gen. iii:13, 15.]
-
-In this passage Christians with justice have always seen the
-proclamation of the good tidings of the final victory over sin. "It is
-in Christ that the seed of the woman crushes the serpent."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: Dummelow's Commentary on Gen. iii.]
-
-_2. Atonement Foreshadowed in Ancient Sacrifices:_ The Atonement
-is also foreshadowed in the sacrifices of burnt offerings of Adam, his
-son Abel and the early Bible patriarchs. So meagre is the Bible account
-of the origin of sacrifices that some have doubted if they bore any
-relation to the sacrifice to be offered by the Christ, or were at all
-of divine origin.[A] Our scripture, however, the Book, of Moses, sets
-the matter at rest for Latter-day Saints; for there it is written:
-
-[Footnote A: "In tracing the history of sacrifice, from its first
-beginning to its perfect development in the Mosaic ritual, we are at
-once met by the long-disputed question, as to the origin of sacrifice;
-whether it arose from a natural instinct of man, sanctioned and guided
-by God, or whether it was the subject of some distinct primeval
-revelation. * * * The great difficulty in the theory which refers it to
-a distinct command of God, is the total silence of Holy Scriptures--a
-silence the more remarkable, when contrasted with the distinct
-reference made in Gen. ii to the origin of the Sabbath. Sacrifice,
-when first mentioned, in the case of Cain and Abel, is referred to as
-a thing of course; it is said to have been 'brought' by men; there is
-no hint of any command given by God. This consideration, the strength
-of which no ingenuity has been able to impair, although it does not
-actually disprove the formal revelation of sacrifice; yet at least
-forbids the assertion of it, as of a positive and important doctrine."
-(Smith's "Bible Dictionary"--Hackett ed.--Art. "Sacrifice," Vol. IV, p.
-2770).
-
-Was sacrifice in its origin "a human invention or a divine institution;
-and whether any of the sacrifices before the law, or under the law,
-were sacrifices of expiation. Eminent and numerous are the authorities
-on both sides of these questions; but the balance of theological
-opinion preponderated greatly for the affirmative in each of them. On
-the lower point, however, (viz., were the sacrifices sacrifices of
-expiation) most of those who deny that there was an expiatory sacrifice
-before the law, admit its existence under the law; and on the first,
-those who hold that sacrifice was of divine origin, but became much
-corrupted, and was restored by the Mosaic law, do not in substance
-differ much from those who hold it to have been a human invention,
-formally recognized, and remodelled by the law of Moses." Kitto's
-"Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature," Art. "Sacrifices." The difficulty
-and doubt in respect of both questions presented by these authorities
-is overcome by the passage which follows in the text from the Book of
-Moses.]
-
-    "And Adam and Eve, his wife, called upon the name of the Lord, and
-    they heard the voice of the Lord from the way toward the Garden
-    of Eden, speaking unto them, and they saw him not; for they were
-    shut out from his presence. And he gave unto them commandments,
-    that they should worship the Lord their God, and should offer the
-    firstlings of their flocks, for an offering unto the Lord.[A] And
-    Adam was obedient unto the commandments of the Lord. And after many
-    days an angel of the Lord appeared unto Adam, saying: Why dost thou
-    offer sacrifices unto the Lord? And Adam said unto him, I know not,
-    save the Lord commanded me. And then the angel spake saying: This
-    thing is a similitude of the sacrifice of the Only Begotten of the
-    Father, which is full of grace and truth. Wherefore, thou shalt do
-    all that thou doest in the name of the Son, and thou shalt repent
-    and call upon God in the name of the Son forevermore. And in that
-    day the Holy Ghost fell upon Adam, which beareth record of the
-    Father and the Son, saying: I am the only begotten of the Father
-    from the beginning, henceforth and forever, that as thou hast
-    fallen thou mayest be redeemed, and all mankind, even as many as
-    will."
-
-[Footnote A: This doubtless gives the ground of explanation for the
-acceptance of Abel's offering for a sacrifice, the firstlings of his
-flock; and the rejection of Cain's offering, the fruits of the ground
-(Gen. iv:3-7). The one was brought in compliance with the appointment
-of God, the other was not of divine appointment, but was an unwarranted
-deviation from the commandment, hence, "the Lord had respect unto
-Abel and his offering," but not unto Cain's. In Kitto's article on
-"Sacrifices" there is another very great reason urged as to why Abel's
-sacrifice was acceptable and why Cain's was not. It is reasonable, and
-in harmony with the importance of the whole doctrine of the Atonement,
-and I have nowhere else found the idea so well expressed. "It amounts
-then to this--that Cain, by bringing an eucharistic (expressing thanks
-merely) offering, when his brother brought one which was expiatory,
-denied virtually that his sins deserved death, or that he needed the
-blood of Atonement. Some go further, and allege that in the text
-itself, God actually commanded Cain to offer a piacular [expiatory,
-atoning] sacrifice. The argument does not require this additional
-circumstance; but it is certainly strengthened by it. When Cain became
-angry that Abel's offering was regarded with divine complacency, and
-his own refused, God said to him, 'Why art thou wroth; and why is thy
-countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted?
-And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door.' Now the word
-'chattah,' translated 'sin' denotes in the law a 'sin-offering' and the
-word translated 'lieth' is usually applied to the recumbency of the
-beast. It is therefore proposed to translate the clause, 'sin-offering
-coucheth at the door; which by paraphrase would mean, 'an animal fit
-for a sin-offering is here, couching at the door, which thou mayest
-offer in sacrifice, and thereby render to me an offering as acceptable
-as that which Abel has presented." (Kitto's "Bible Literature," Art.
-"Sacrifice.")]
-
-This clearly establishes the divine origin of sacrifices among the
-antediluvian patriarchs; and, indeed, of all antiquity;[A] and also the
-fact, that they but foreshadowed the great sacrifice to be made in due
-time by the Son of God himself. Doctor Wm. Smith, the author of the
-"Old Testament History," says:
-
-[Footnote A: A strong moral argument in favor of the divine institution
-of sacrifice, somewhat feebly put by Hallet (Comment, on Heb. xi:4,
-cited by Magee, "On the Atonement"), has been reproduced with increased
-force by Faber ("Prim. Sacrifice," p. 183). It amounts to this:
-
-"Sacrifice, when uncommanded by God, is a mere act of gratuitous
-superstition. Whence, on the principle of St. Paul's reprobation of
-what he denominates will-worship, it is neither acceptable nor pleasing
-to God.
-
-"But sacrifice, during the patriarchal ages, was accepted by God, and
-was plainly honored with his approbation.
-
-"Therefore sacrifice, during the patriarchal age, could not have been
-an act of superstition uncommanded by God.
-
-"If, then, such was the character of primitive sacrifice; that is to
-say, if primitive sacrifice was uncommanded by God,--it must, in that
-case indubitably have been a divine, and not a human institution."
-(Kitto's "Cyclopedia Biblical Knowledge," Vol. II, Art. "Sacrifice.")]
-
-    "The curse upon the serpent and promise to the woman point clearly
-    to a Redeemer, who should be born of a woman, and by his own
-    suffering, should destroy the power of the devil; and here we have
-    the first prophecy of the Messiah. * * * There can be no reasonable
-    doubt that the sacrifice of living animals was now instituted as a
-    prophetic figure of the great sacrifice which should fulfill this
-    promise. Animals must have been slain to provide the skins that
-    clothed Adam and Eve; and wherefore slain, except in sacrifice?
-    This might not seem conclusive in itself; but the whole reason for
-    sacrifice began to exist now; its use is taken for granted in the
-    next chapter (Gen. iv); and it continues throughout the patriarchal
-    age without the record of any other beginning. Thus early, then,
-    man learned that, "without shedding of blood, there is no remission
-    of sin;" that his own forfeited life was redeemed, and to be
-    restored by the sacrifice of the coming "seed of the woman;" and
-    that he was placed by God under a new dispensation of mercy. Nay,
-    even his punishment was a mercy; for his suffering was a discipline
-    to train him in submission to God's will. The repentance of our
-    first parents is nowhere expressly stated; but it is implied here
-    and in the subsequent narrative."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: We must not omit to notice the traces of these truths,
-which are found among many nations. The Greek legend of Pandora traces
-the entrance of evil to a woman; the Buddhist and Chinese traditions
-refer the beginning of sin to eating forbidden fruit and desiring
-forbidden knowledge; and most systems of mythology make the serpent
-a type of the power of evil, and a divine personage his destroyer.
-Delitzch well says, "The story of the Fall, like that of the Creation,
-has wandered over the world. Heathen nations have transplanted and
-mixed it up with their geography, their history, their mythology,
-although it has never so completely changed form, and color, and
-spirit, that you can not recognize it. Here, however, in the Law,
-it preserves the character of a universal, human, world-wide fact;
-and the groans of Creation, the Redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
-and the heart of every man, conspire in their testimony to the most
-literal truth of the narrative." The recollection of the tree of life
-is preserved in the sacred tree of the Assyrians and Hindoos, and in
-the other Eastern systems of mythology ("Old Testament History"--Wm.
-Smith--p. 29.)]
-
-The fact of Adam's repentance, however, is clearly set forth in the
-Book of Moses, and his acceptance of the whole scheme of salvation
-through the atonement of Christ.[A]
-
-[Footnote A: See Book of Moses (P. of G. P.), Ch. v:4-16 and Ch.
-vi:48-68.]
-
-_3. The Atonement of Christ Foreshadowed in the Mosaic
-Sacrifices:_ It is very generally conceded that the sacrifices
-and oblations of the Mosaic ritual have a direct relationship to the
-great atoning sacrifice to be made by the Christ. From the ninth and
-tenth chapters of the Epistle to the Hebrews it is evident that "the
-law" was "a shadow of good things to come;" the law's sacrifices for
-sin and reconciliation with God but figured forth the greater and
-more efficient sacrifice to be made by the Son of God; nay, whatever
-of virtue there was in the sacrifices of the law were dependent upon
-the great sacrifice to follow. Of themselves, the sacrifices of the
-law had no virtue at all unconnected with the sacrifice to be made by
-the Christ;[A] they were but symbols figuring forth that sacrifice in
-which the virtue was, the sacrifice of the Christ himself. "For it
-is expedient," says the Nephite Prophet Alma--"It is expedient that
-an Atonement should be made; for according to the great plan of the
-eternal God, there must be an Atonement made, or else all mankind must
-unavoidably perish; yea, all are hardened; yea, all are fallen and
-are lost, and must perish except it be through the Atonement which it
-is expedient should be made. Therefore, it is expedient that there
-should be a great and last sacrifice; and then shall there be, or it is
-expedient there should be, a stop to the shedding of blood; then shall
-the law of Moses be fulfilled; yea, it shall be all fulfilled; every
-jot and tittle, and none shall have passed away. And behold, this is
-the whole meaning of the law; every whit pointing to that great and
-last sacrifice; and that great and last sacrifice will be the Son of
-God; yea, infinite and eternal."[B]
-
-[Footnote A: Hebrews x:1-10.]
-
-[Footnote B: Alma xxxiv:9, 13, 14.]
-
-The late President John Taylor upon this subject said:
-
-    "These sacrifices, which were offered up from the days of Adam
-    until the time of our Savior's advent, were typical of the great
-    expiatory sacrifice which He was to make by the sacrifice of
-    himself. They were so many types, shadows and forms of which he
-    was the great prototype--the substance, the reality prefigured and
-    foreshadowed by the other sacrifices which had been offered up from
-    the beginning.
-
-    "When the law was given to Moses, all the forms pertaining to
-    the sacrificial ceremonies were revealed in detail, and the
-    instructions in relation thereto were not simply of a general
-    nature, but they entered into minute particulars in relation to all
-    things connected with those who officiated, the form and pattern
-    of the sacred utensils and of the vestments of the Priesthood,
-    the creatures to be sacrificed, the order of the proceedings, and
-    indeed of all matters associated with the observance of these
-    rites. Almost the whole of the book of Leviticus, and considerable
-    of the book of Numbers, is occupied with these instructions and
-    kindred matters. This Mosaic law, with all its duties, observances,
-    ceremonies and sacrifices, continued in force until Christ's
-    death."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: "Mediation and Atonement" (1882), p. 124.]
-
-_4. The Sin Offering of the Mosaic Law:_ The Author of the Article
-on "Sacrifices," in Smith's "Bible Dictionary" (Hackett edition),
-Vol. IV--Rev. Alfred Barry, Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, in
-describing the "Sin Offering of the Mosaic law," says:
-
-"The nature and meaning of the various kinds of sacrifice is partly
-gathered from the form of their institution and ceremonial, partly
-from the teaching of the prophets, and partly from the New Testament,
-especially the Epistle to the Hebrews. All had relation, under
-different aspects, to a covenant between God and man.
-
-"The sin offering represented that covenant as broken by man, and as
-knit together again, by God's appointment, through the 'shedding of
-blood.' Its characteristic ceremony was the sprinkling of the blood
-before the veil of the sanctuary, the putting some of it on the horns
-of the altar, incense, and the pouring out of all the rest at the foot
-of the altar of burnt offering. The flesh was in no case touched by
-the offerer; either it was consumed by fire without the camp, or it
-was eaten by the priest alone in the holy place, and everything that
-touched it was holy. This latter point marked the distinction from
-the peace-offering, and showed that the sacrificer had been rendered
-unworthy of communion with God. The shedding of blood, the symbol of
-life, signified that the death of the offender was deserved for sin,
-but that the death of the victim was accepted for his death by the
-ordinance of God's mercy."
-
-_5. The Ceremonial of the Day of Atonement:_ "This [the truth of
-the preceding paragraph] is seen most clearly in the ceremonial of
-the 'Day of Atonement,' when, after the sacrifice of the one goat,[A]
-the high priest's hand was laid on the head of the scape-goat--which
-was the other part of the sin-offering--with confession of the sins
-of the people, that it might visibly bear them away, and so bring out
-explicitly, what in other sin-offerings was but implied. Accordingly we
-find that, in all cases, it was the custom for the offerer to lay his
-hand on the head of the sin-offering, to confess generally or specially
-his sins, and to say, 'Let this be my expiation.' Beyond all doubt, the
-sin-offering distinctly witnessed that sin existed in man, that the
-'wages of that sin was death,' and that God had provided an Atonement
-by the vicarious suffering of an appointed victim. The reference of the
-Baptist to a 'Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the world,' was
-one understood and hailed at once by a 'true Israelite.'"[B]
-
-[Footnote A: Two goats were used in this ceremonial, one of which
-was killed and made a "sin offering" and the other a scape-goat to
-figuratively bear off the sins of the people.
-
-"And he shall take the two goats, and present them before the Lord at
-the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And Aaron shall cast
-lots upon the two goats; one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for
-the scape-goat. And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the Lord's
-lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering. But the goat, on which the
-lot fell to be the scape-goat, shall be presented alive before the
-Lord, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scape-goat
-into the wilderness" (Lev. xvi:7-10).]
-
-[Footnote B: Smith "Dictionary," Vol. IV, p. 2774.]
-
-_6. The Paschal Sacrifice or Passover:_ In some respects the
-Paschal Sacrifice more perfectly than any other, perhaps, foreshadowed
-the future sacrifice of the Son of God for the deliverance of his
-people--those who would trust the sign of deliverance in his blood. The
-institution of the sacrifice and feast was as follows. When all other
-judgments upon Pharaoh failed to persuade him to let God's people go,
-then said the Lord to Moses:
-
-    "About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt: and all the
-    first-born in the land of Egypt shall die, from the first-born of
-    Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the first-born of the
-    maid-servant that is behind the mill; and all the first-born of beasts.
-    And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such
-    as there was none like it, nor shall be like it any more. But against
-    any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against
-    man or beast; that ye may know how that the Lord doth put a difference
-    between the Egyptians and Israel."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: Exodus xi:4-7.]
-
-When this terrible judgment was about to be executed the Lord provided
-the following means of deliverance for his people: Each family in
-Israel were commanded at a given time to take a lamb without blemish,
-a male of the first year, for a Passover Offering, and it was to be
-killed in the evening.
-
-"And they shall take of the blood and strike it on the two side-posts,
-and on the upper doorpost of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. And
-they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened
-bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. * * * And ye shall eat
-it in haste; it is the Lord's passover. For I will pass through the
-land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the first-born in the
-land of Egypt, both man and beast: and against all the gods of Egypt,
-I will execute judgment: I am the Lord. And the blood shall be to you
-for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I
-will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy
-you, when I smite the land of Egypt. And this day shall be unto you for
-a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your
-generations: ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance forever."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: Exodus xii.]
-
-Thus was the Passover established. Of it the late President Taylor said:
-
-    "It appears, that when the destroying angel passed by the houses
-    of the children of Israel he found the blood of a lamb sprinkled
-    on the doorpost; which was a type of the blood of Christ, the
-    lamb of God. The angel who was the executor of justice could not
-    touch those who were protected by that sacred symbol; because that
-    prefigured the sacrifice of the Son of God, which was provided at
-    the beginning of creation for the redemption of the human family,
-    and which was strictly in accordance with provisions then made by
-    the Almighty for that purpose--'the Lamb slain from before the
-    foundation of the world'--and accepted in full as an atonement for
-    the transgressions of mankind, according to the requirements of
-    eternal justice and agreed to by the Savior and his Father."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: "Mediation and Atonement," p. 106.]
-
-Of course it cannot be doubted that this festival of the Passover
-was instituted as a great memorial of the deliverance from Egyptian
-bondage, and the birth of the nation of Israel; and there are not
-wanting those who maintain that this was its primary significance.
-But the leading feature in the festival, the Paschal Lamb, "a male,
-without blemish;" the killing of it; the blood sprinkled upon the door
-post, the sign of safety to God's people; the eating of the lamb in
-preparation of the journey; the subsequent honoring of this feast by
-the Christ with his disciples; the substitution of the Sacrament of
-the Lord's Supper for the Passover festival at the very time and on
-the very occasion of celebrating the feast of the passover among the
-Jews;[A] together with the subsequent inspired reference to Christ
-as the Paschal Lamb of the Christians,[B] are circumstances too
-numerous and too nearly related to doubt of the significance of the
-Passover festival having reference to the great sacrifice to be made
-by the Son of God through the shedding of his blood in atonement for
-the deliverance of his people. Of the Passover being a symbol of the
-sacrifice of the Son of God, the writer upon that theme in Smith's
-"Bible Dictionary" says:
-
-[Footnote A: Matt. xxvi and Luke xxii.]
-
-[Footnote B: I Cor. v:7.]
-
-    "No other 'shadow of good things to come' contained in the law
-    can vie with the festival of the passover in expressiveness and
-    completeness. Hence we are so often reminded of it, more or less
-    distinctly, in the ritual and language of the Church. Its outline,
-    considered in reference to the great deliverance of the Israelites
-    which it commemorated, and many of its minute details, have been
-    appropriated as current expressions of the truths which God has
-    revealed to us in the fullness of times in sending his Son upon
-    earth."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: Smith's "Dictionary of the Bible" (Hackett's edition),
-Vol. IV, p. 2355.]
-
-_7. The Testimony of Some "Christian Fathers:_" Certain of the
-socalled Christian Fathers agree with this view of the Old Testament
-sacrifices figuring forth the sacrifice to be made by the Christ, both
-as to sacrifices in the early patriarchal times and under the law of
-Moses. Of these, first, is
-
-(a) _Eusebius of Caesarea:_ Born 264 A. D. (about); died 349 (about).
-
-"Eusebius of Caesarea, in a passage too long for quotation, alleges,
-that animal sacrifice was first of all practiced by the ancient lovers
-of God (the patriarchs) and that not by accident, but through a certain
-divine contrivance, under which, as taught by the divine spirit, it
-became their duty thus to shadow forth the great and venerable victim,
-really acceptable to God, which was, in time then future, destined to
-be offered in behalf of the whole human race ("Demonst. Evang." i:8,
-pp. 24,25)."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: Kitto, Vol. II, p. 661.]
-
-(b) _Athanasius:_ Born 296 A. D.; died 373.
-
-"Next we come to Athanasius, who, speaking of the consent of the Old
-Testament to the fundamental doctrines of the New, says: 'What Moses
-taught, these things his predecessor Abraham had preserved; and what
-Abraham had preserved, with those things Enoch and Noah were well
-acquainted; for they made a distinction between the clean and the
-unclean [animals], and were acceptable to God. Thus also in like manner
-Abel bore testimony; for he knew what he had learned from Adam, and
-Adam himself taught only what he had previously learned from the Lord"
-(Synod. Nicen. contr. Haer, Arian, Decret., Opp. i, 403).[A]
-
-[Footnote A: Ibid.]
-
-(c) _Augustine_: Bp. of Hippo. Born 354 A. D.; died 430.
-
-"Augustine, after expressly referring the origin of sacrifice to the
-divine command, more distinctly evolves his meaning by saying: 'The
-prophetic immolation of blood, testifying from the very commencement of
-the human race the future passion of the Mediator, is a matter of deep
-antiquity inasmuch as Abel is found in Holy Scripture to have been the
-first who offered up his prophetic immolation (Cont. Faust. Manich.
-Onp. vi:145). These testimonies certainly vindicate the opinion of the
-divine origin of primitive sacrifice from the charge of being a modern
-innovation, with no voice of antiquity in its favor."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: Kitto, Vol. II, p. 661.]
-
-
-
-LESSON X.
-
-(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
-
-THE FACT OF THE ATONEMENT IN NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES.[A]
-
-ANALYSIS.
-
-I. The Atonement Considered as a Fact.
-
-II. The Testimony to the Fact.
-
-1. Gabriel;
-
-2. John the Baptist;
-
-3. The Christ;
-
-4. The Judean Apostles:
-
-(a) Paul,
-
-(b) Peter,
-
-(c) John.
-
-REFERENCES.
-
-St. Luke, Ch. i; also Heb. ix and x, and all the New Testament
-citations in the text of this lesson--the context of these passages
-should also be considered.
-
-Richard-Little Compendium, Art. "Atonement," pp. 8-13, and all its
-references.
-
-Mediation and Atonement (Taylor), Chs. iii, iv, v and vi.
-
-The Gospel (Roberts), Ch. ii (3rd Edition).
-
-_SPECIAL TEXT: "And almost all things are by the law purged with blood
-and without shedding of blood is no remission." (Heb. ix:22.)_
-
-[Footnote A: "New Testament Scriptures," as here used means more than
-the New Testament of the Bible. It means that New Testament of course,
-but that plus the Book of Mormon books written after the birth of
-Messiah, beginning with III Nephi, and also the immediate scriptures of
-the New Dispensation, viz., the Doctrine and Covenants.]
-
-DISCUSSION.
-
-_1. The Fact of the Atonement:_ The important thing to be
-established in the mind of man concerning the atonement is the fact
-of it. While it is not the intention of this treatise to avoid the
-discussion of the philosophy of the Atonement[A]--by which is meant
-only a discussion of the reasonableness of it--and rest in the mere
-fact of it as proved from the Scriptures, still I repeat that the fact
-of it and man's acceptance of it as a fact, is of first importance.[B]
-This and the following lesson of Part II, therefore, are devoted to
-grouping the scriptural texts for the fact of the Atonement from "New
-Testament Scriptures."
-
-[Footnote A: Part III is wholly devoted to that division of the
-subject.]
-
-[Footnote B: Elsewhere on this theme I have said: How is it that
-through the sacrifice of one who is innocent salvation may be purchased
-for those under the dominion of death? I will observe, in passing, that
-what should most concern us is, not so much how it is that such is the
-case, but is it a fact? Is it true that God has established such a
-scheme of redemption, is what should concern us most.
-
-To that question the blood sprinkled upon a thousand Jewish altars,
-and the smoke that darkened the heavens for ages from burnt offerings,
-answer yes. For those sacrifices, and that sprinkled blood were but
-typical of the great sacrifice to be made by the Messiah.
-
-Even the mythology of the heathen nations retains the idea of an
-Atonement that either has been, or is to be made for mankind.
-Fantastic, distorted, confused; buried under the rubbish of savage
-superstition it may be, but it nevertheless exists. So easily traced,
-so distinct is this feature of heathen mythology, that some writers
-have endeavored to prove that the gospel plan of redemption was derived
-from heathen mythology. Whereas the fact is that the gospel was
-understood and extensively preached in the earliest ages; men retained
-in their tradition a knowledge of those principles or parts of them,
-and however much they may have been distorted, traces of them may still
-be found in nearly all the mythologies of the world.
-
-The prophets of the Jewish scriptures answer the foregoing question
-in the affirmative. The writers of the New Testament make Christ's
-Atonement the principal theme of their discourses and epistles. The
-Book of Mormon, speaking as the voice of an entire continent of people,
-whose prophets and righteous men sought and found God, testifies to
-the same great fact, and the revelations of God as given through the
-Prophet Joseph Smith are replete with passages confirming this doctrine.
-* * * The evidence here indicated is more than sufficient, it seems to
-me, to establish the _fact_ of the Atonement beyond the possibility of
-a doubt: and if there are some things in it not yet within the scope
-of our comprehension, still there is sufficient foundation for our
-glorious hope and faith of eternal life through its power: for the
-evidence proving the fact of that Atonement is sufficient, wanting
-nothing, either in quality or quantity" "(The Gospel," Ch. ii.)]
-
-_2. The Angel's Testimony to the Atonement of Christ:_ "Joseph,
-thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: * * * She
-shall bring forth a Son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus; for he
-shall save his people from their sins."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: Matt. i:18, 23.]
-
-Such were the words of the angel to Joseph, the betrothed husband of
-Mary, the Mother of Christ.
-
-_3. John the Baptist's Testimony:_ "Behold, the Lamb of God, that
-taketh away the sins of the world * * * and I saw and bear record that
-this is the Son of God."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: St. John, Ch. i:29, 34.]
-
-Such John's testimony concerning Jesus of Nazareth, as he saw that more
-than Prophet coming to his baptism.
-
-_4. The Christ's Testimony to the Atonement:_ "And as Moses lifted
-up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted
-up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal
-life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son,
-that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting
-life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but
-that the world through him might be saved."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: St. John iii:15-17.]
-
-Such the Christ's testimony of himself. And again the Christ:
-
-"When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am
-he[A] [i. e., the one that taketh away the sins of men]."[B] "And I, if
-I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men unto me." This he
-said signifying by what death he should die."[C]
-
-[Footnote A: Ibid viii:28.]
-
-[Footnote B: Ibid, verse 24.]
-
-[Footnote C: St. John xii:32, 33.]
-
-When instituting the sacrament, at the passover supper, celebrated upon
-the night of his betrayal, as the disciples were eating, "Jesus took
-bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples,
-and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave
-thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it, for this is my
-blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission
-of sins."[A] Mark and Luke practically give the same account of the
-incident.
-
-[Footnote A: Matt. xxvi:26-28.]
-
-After the resurrection, Jesus, overtaking two of the disciples on their
-way to Emmaus, engaged them in conversation respecting the crucifixion
-of Jesus. And in course of their narrative of the missing body of the
-Christ, the resurrected Messiah interrupted them, saying:
-
-    "O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have
-    spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to
-    enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets
-    he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning
-    himself."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: St. Luke xxiv:25-27.]
-
-Subsequently, he was known of these two disciples by the breaking of
-bread. And after these two astonished disciples returned to Jerusalem
-and were detailing their experience to the eleven Apostles, and those
-that were with them, Jesus entered the room where they were gathered:
-
-    "And he said unto them: These are the words which I spake unto
-    you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled
-    which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and
-    in the psalms, concerning me. Then opened he their understanding,
-    that they might understand the scriptures, and said unto them, Thus
-    it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise
-    from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of
-    sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at
-    Jerusalem."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: St. Luke xxiv:44-47.]
-
-_5. Testimony of the Judean Apostles:_ Turning now to the
-disciples after the departure of the resurrected Christ from their
-midst, and the endowment of the apostles with the Holy Ghost, they
-teach: "Neither is there salvation in any other [name than the
-Christ's]: for there is none other name under heaven given among men,
-whereby we must be saved."[A] "Feed the church of God which he hath
-purchased with his own blood."[B] "For all have sinned, and come short
-of the glory of God; being justified freely by his grace, through the
-redemption that is in Christ Jesus; whom God hath set forth to be a
-propitiation, through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness
-for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of
-God."[C]
-
-[Footnote A: Acts iv:10-12.]
-
-[Footnote B: Acts xx:28.]
-
-[Footnote C: Rom. iii:23-25.]
-
-"If we believe on him that raiseth up Jesus our Lord from the dead;
-who was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our
-justification."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: Rom. iv:24, 25.]
-
-_6. Paul's Testimony to the Atonement:_ An extended passage in
-his letter to the Romans, Paul reasons upon the atonement made by the
-Christ in the following manner:
-
-    "For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for
-    the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet
-    peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God
-    commandeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners,
-    Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his
-    blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we
-    were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son,
-    much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not
-    only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by
-    whom we have now received the Atonement. Wherefore, as by one man
-    sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed
-    upon all men, for that all have sinned. But not as the offense, so
-    also is the free gift. For if through the offense of one many be
-    dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is
-    by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: Romans v:6-12, 15. See also Ch. vii.]
-
-All will remember Paul's passage in the first letter to the
-Corinthians: "Since by man [Adam] came death, by man [the man Christ
-Jesus] came also the resurrection from the dead. For as in Adam all
-die; even so in Christ shall all be made alive."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: I Cor. xv:21, 22.]
-
-"For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how
-that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that
-he was buried, and that he arose again the third day according to the
-scriptures."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: I. Cor. xv:3-4.]
-
-"To the praise of the glory of his grace wherein he hath made us
-accepted in the beloved: in whom we have redemption through his blood,
-the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: Eph. i:6,7.]
-
-"Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers
-of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from
-the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of
-his dear Son: in whom we have redemption through his blood; even the
-forgiveness of sins."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: Col. i:12-14.]
-
-"For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the man
-Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified of in
-due time."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: I Tim. ii:5, 6.]
-
-"We see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels[A] for the
-suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor; that by the grace
-of God should taste death for every man."[B] "Who needeth not daily
-as those high priests [i. e., of the Mosaic law] to offer sacrifices,
-first for his own sins, and then for the people's: for this he [the
-Christ] did once, when he offered up himself."[C]
-
-[Footnote A: "A little while inferior to" is the marginal rendering of
-the passage. See also "Mormon Doctrine of Deity," p. 163--Note--for a
-discussion of the passage.]
-
-[Footnote B: Heb. ii:8-10.]
-
-[Footnote C: Hebrews vii.]
-
-"But Christ * * * by his own blood * * * entered in once into the holy
-place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood
-of the bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the
-unclean, sanctified to the purifying of the flesh: _how much more shall
-the blood of Christ_ who through the eternal Spirit offered himself
-without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve
-the living God. * * * And almost all things are by the law purged with
-blood; _and without shedding of blood is no remission_."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: Heb. ix:12-14. 22.]
-
-_7. The Testimony of the Apostle Peter to the Atonement:_ The
-Apostle Peter is equally emphatic with Paul in testifying of the virtue
-of the Atonement of Christ in bringing to pass the redemption of man
-through his death, as witness the following:
-
-    "Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through
-    sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the
-    blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied. * * *
-    Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible
-    things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received
-    by tradition from your fathers; _but with the precious blood of
-    Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:_ who verily
-    was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was
-    manifest in these last times for you."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: I Peter i:2, 18-20.]
-
-Again: "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the
-unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh,
-but quickened by the Spirit: by which also he went and preached unto
-the spirits in prison."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: I Peter iii:18-19.]
-
-_8. The Testimony of John, the Beloved Disciple, to the
-Atonement:_ So also John, the beloved disciple, testifies to the
-same effect: "If we walk in the light as he [God] is in the light, we
-have fellowships one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his
-Son cleanseth us from all sin."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: I John i:5-7.]
-
-    "My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin
-    not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus
-    Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins: and
-    not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world."[A]
-
-    "And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the
-    book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast
-    redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue,
-    and people and nation: and hast made us unto our God kings and
-    priests; and we shall reign on the earth."[B]
-
-    "And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him [the
-    dragon--Satan], whose names are not written in the book of life of
-    the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world."[C]
-
-[Footnote A: I John ii:1.2.]
-
-[Footnote B: Rev. v:9, 10.]
-
-[Footnote C: Rev. xiii:8.]
-
-
-
-LESSON XI.
-
-(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
-
-THE FACT OF THE ATONEMENT IN THE NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES--(Continued).
-
-ANALYSIS.
-
-III. The Testimony to the fact of the Atonement (Continued).
-
-5. The Book of Mormon as a Witness:
-
-(a) The Testimony of the Christ to the Nephites.
-
-(b) The Testimony of Christian Institutions.
-
-(1) The Ordinance of Baptism.
-
-(2) The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper.
-
-IV. Testimony of the New Dispensation Scriptures--Doctrine and
-Covenants.
-
-V. The Only Adequate Gospel Sermon--Jesus Christ.
-
-REFERENCES.
-
-References same as those in Lesson X, with the citations in the body
-of this Lesson, and the contexts of the texts, which should be fully
-considered.
-
-_SPECIAL TEXT: "Behold, I am Jesus Christ, the Son of God. * * * I have
-come into the world to bring redemption unto the world, to save the
-world from sin." (The Christ to the Nephites: III Nephi ix:15, 21.)_
-
-DISCUSSION.
-
-_1. The Testimony of the Book of Mormon to the Atonement:_ The
-third book of Nephi, in the Book of Mormon, may well be called the
-"Fifth Gospel,"[A] the beginning of the New Testament of the Nephite
-scriptures. In it is detailed the account of the Christ's visit to
-the western hemisphere and the circumstances attendant upon the
-establishment of his Church among the Nephites. The voice of God, which
-was heard after the great destruction which swept over the land during
-the entombment of the Christ, said:
-
-[Footnote A: The term was first used by Dr. Paden of Salt Lake. See
-"Defense of the Faith and the Saints," Vol. 1, pp. 371-399, for full
-treatment of the subject.]
-
-    "Behold, I am Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I created the heavens
-    and the earth, and all things that in them are. I was with the
-    Father from the beginning. I am in the Father, and the Father in
-    me; and in me hath the Father glorified his name. I came unto my
-    own, and my own received me not. And the scriptures concerning my
-    coming are fulfilled. And as many as have received me, to them have
-    I given to become the Sons of God; and even so will I to as many as
-    shall believe on my name, for behold, by me redemption cometh, and
-    in me is the law of Moses fulfilled. * * * For behold, I have come unto
-    the world to bring redemption unto the world, to save the world
-    from sin."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: III Nephi ix:15-17.]
-
-_2. The Testimony of the Resurrected Christ:_ Then again, upon
-his appearing among the Nephites after his resurrection and his
-post-resurrection ministry in Palestine, the Christ said:
-
-    "Behold, I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified should come
-    into the world: and behold, I am the light and the life of the
-    world; and I have drunk out of that bitter cup which the Father
-    hath given me, and have glorified the Father in taking upon me the
-    sins of the world, in the which I have suffered the will of the
-    Father in all things from the beginning. * * * And it came to pass
-    that the Lord spake unto them saying: Arise and come forth unto
-    me, that ye may thrust your hands into my side, and also that ye
-    may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that
-    ye may know that I am the God of Israel, and the God of the whole
-    earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: III Nephi xi:10-14.]
-
-_3. Evidence of the Atonement in the Symbol of Baptism:_
-Convincing as testimony to the fact of the Atonement is the Christian
-institution of baptism, the formula of which is given in the Book of
-Mormon. In it is shown the authority of the Christ in this ordinance
-of salvation, since in addition to the Holy Trinity being named as
-authorizing the ordinance, the administrator specifically declares that
-he has authority from Jesus Christ for performing it. The ordinance
-itself, providing as it does for the immersion of the candidate,
-symbolizes the Christ's death and burial for the sinner; and also in
-bringing forth the baptized from the watery grave, symbolizes the
-resurrection--all which is done that forgiveness of sin might be
-granted to those who thus palpably manifest that they do most solemnly
-accept the Atonement of the Christ of which his baptism is a most
-beautiful symbol--of his death, burial and resurrection.[A]
-
-[Footnote A: III Nephi xi:10-14. The matter is treated somewhat more in
-detail in Lesson XXI.]
-
-_4. Evidence of the Atonement in the Symbol of the Lord's Supper:_
-The Christ also established the sacrament of the Lord's Supper among
-the Nephites and constituted it the symbol of the Atonement. After
-breaking bread and blessing it, he gave it to his Nephite disciples
-and said: "This shall ye do in remembrance of my body, which I have
-shown unto you, and it shall be a testimony unto the Father that ye do
-always remember me, and if you do always remember me, ye shall have my
-spirit to be with you."[A] So also with the wine which he blessed and
-gave them to drink, adding, "Ye shall do it in remembrance of my blood,
-which I have shed for you, that you may witness unto the Father that ye
-do always remember me."[B]
-
-[Footnote A: III Nephi xviii.]
-
-[Footnote B: Ibid.]
-
-What may be called the "New Testament"[A] part of the Book of Mormon,
-then, no less than the New Testament of the Bible testifies to the fact
-of the Atonement. The same may be said of the immediate scriptures of
-the New Dispensation, the Doctrine and Covenants.
-
-[Footnote A: Referring to those parts of the Book of Mormon which were
-written after the birth of the Christ, beginning with the III Nephi.]
-
-_6. Testimony of the New Dispensation Scriptures--Doctrine and
-Covenants:_ In a revelation to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery,
-given in June, 1829, the Lord said: "Remember the worth of souls is
-great in the sight of God: For behold, the Lord your Redeemer suffered
-death in the flesh; wherefore he suffered the pain of all men, that
-all men might repent and come unto him. And he hath risen again from
-the dead, that he might bring all men unto him, on conditions of
-repentance."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: Doc. & Cov. Sec. 18:10-12.]
-
-Again, in a revelation to Martin Harris, given through Joseph the
-Prophet, in March, 1830, the Lord said: "Therefore I command you to
-repent--repent, lest I smite you by the rod of my mouth, and by my
-wrath, and by my anger, and your sufferings be sore--how sore you know
-not! how exquisite you know not! yea, how hard to bear you know not!
-For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all that they
-might not suffer if they would repent, but if they would not repent,
-they must suffer even as I. Which suffering caused myself, even God,
-the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every
-pore, and to suffer both body and spirit: and would that I might not
-drink the bitter cup and shrink--Nevertheless, glory be to the Father,
-and I partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: Doc. & Cov. Sec. 19:15-19.]
-
-The declaration that Jesus Christ made an atonement for man is
-frequently repeated as follows:
-
-    "I am Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who was crucified for the sins
-    of the world, even as many as will believe on my name, that they
-    may become the sons of God, even one in me as I am in the Father,
-    as the Father is one in me, that we may be one."[A]
-
-    "I am Christ, and in mine own name, by the virtue of the blood
-    which I have spilt, have I pleaded before the Father for them; but
-    behold, the residue of the wicked have I kept in chains of darkness
-    until the judgment of the great day; which shall come at the end of
-    the earth."[B]
-
-[Footnote A: Doc. & Cov. Sec. xxxv:1, 2.]
-
-[Footnote B: Doc. & Cov., Sec. xxxviii:4, 5.]
-
-Again:
-
-    "Listen to him who is the Advocate with the Father, who is pleading
-    your cause before him, saying, Father, behold the sufferings and
-    death of him who did no sin, in whom thou wast well pleased; behold
-    the blood of thy Son which was shed--the blood of him whom thou
-    gavest that thyself might be glorified; wherefore, Father, spare
-    these my brethren that believe on my name, that they may come unto
-    me and have everlasting life."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: Doc. & Cov., Sec. xlv:3-5.]
-
-_7. The One Adequate Gospel Discourse (Brigham Young):_ Perhaps
-this branch of our treatise--the fact of the atonement--cannot be more
-fittingly closed than by quoting a passage from one of the discourses
-of Brigham Young, setting forth the impossibility of a man adequately
-preaching a gospel discourse in this our mortal life; and holding that
-Christ alone, in his creative work under the Fathers direction, in his
-earth-life, death, resurrection, and the final presentation of the
-finished work to his Father--this alone is the adequate gospel sermon:
-
-    "There is but one discourse to be preached to all the children of
-    Adam; and that discourse should be believed by them, and lived up
-    to. To commence, continue, and finish this gospel sermon, will
-    require all the time that is alloted to man, to the earth, and
-    all things upon it, in their mortal state; that is my idea with
-    regard to preaching. No man is able to set before a congregation
-    all the items of the gospel, in this life, and continue these
-    items to their termination, for this mortal life is too short.
-    It is inseparably connected, one part with the other, in all the
-    doctrines that have been revealed to man, which are now called the
-    various doctrines of Christianity, of which all the professors of
-    religion believe a portion; but severally reject, or desire to
-    reject, other portions of the truth: each sect or individual taking
-    to themselves portions of the Bible, portions of the doctrine of
-    salvation, that are the most pleasing to them, rejecting all the
-    rest, and mingling these doctrines with the tenets of men.
-
-    "But let a gospel sermon be preached, wherein all the principles
-    of salvation are embodied, and we will acknowledge, at the end of
-    the mortality of this earth, and all things created upon it--at
-    the closing up scene, at the final consummation of all things that
-    have been from the commencement of the creation of the world, and
-    the peopling of it, unto the latest generation of Adam and Eve,
-    and the final finishing up of the work of Christ--I say, we shall
-    acknowledge that there is the gospel sermon, and that it could not
-    be preached to finite beings in one short life.
-
-    "Christ is the author of this gospel, of this earth, of men and
-    women, of all the posterity of Adam and Eve, and of every living
-    creature that lives upon the face of the earth, that flies in the
-    heavens, that swims in the waters, or dwells in the field. Christ
-    is the author of salvation to all this creation; to all things
-    pertaining to this terrestrial globe we occupy.
-
-    "He has redeemed the earth; he has redeemed mankind and every
-    living thing that moves upon it; and he will finish his gospel
-    discourse when he overcomes his enemies and puts his last enemy
-    under his feet--when he destroys death, and him that hath the power
-    of it--when he has raised up this kingdom, and finished his work
-    which the Father gave him to do, and presents it to his Father,
-    saying, 'I have done the work, I have finished it; I have not only
-    created the world, but I have redeemed it; I have watched over it,
-    and I have given to those intelligent beings, that you have created
-    by me, their agency, and it has been held with perfection to
-    every creature of intelligence, to every grade of mankind; I have
-    preserved inviolate their agency; I have watched over them, and
-    overruled all their actions, and held in my hand the destinies of
-    men; and I have finished up my gospel sermon,' as he presents the
-    finished work to his Father.
-
-    "It takes just such a character as the Savior, to preach one gospel
-    discourse; and this was commenced with the commencement of all men
-    upon this earth or any other; and it will never close until the
-    winding up scene, and all is finished, and the kingdom is presented
-    to the Father."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: Journal of Discourses, Vol. III, pp. 80, 81.]
-
-
-
-LESSON XII.
-
-(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
-
-THE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD RELATED TO THE ATONEMENT.
-
-ANALYSIS.
-
-I. Attributes[A] Ascribed to God--First Group.
-
-1. Eternity;
-
-2. Immutability;
-
-3. Omnipotence;
-
-4. Omniscience;
-
-5. Omnipresence.
-
-II. The Attributes Expounded--Limitations.
-
-REFERENCES.
-
-Doc. & Cov.: "Lectures on Faith," Lectures III and IV. Catechism (John
-Jaques), Ch. v; Doc. & Cov. Sec. 20:17-28.
-
-Richards and Little's Compendium: "True and Living God," pp. 187-193.
-
-Also collection of passages in Oxford or Cambridge "Bible Helps," or
-"Bible Treasury," under captions, "God" and "Attributes." Also the
-scripture passages quoted and cited in the body of this lesson.
-
-_SPECIAL TEXT: "Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever
-thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to
-everlasting, thou art God." (Psalms xc:2.)_
-
-[Footnote A: Attribute: A characteristic or distinguishing mark,
-especially an excellent or lofty quality or trait (Cent. Diet.).
-"By this word 'attribute' is meant something which is immovable and
-inseparable from the essence of its subject, as that which constitutes
-it (Descartes). Attribute is considered a word of lofty significance:
-Thus, for example, it would be felt as indecorous to speak of the
-'qualities' of God, and as ridiculous to talk of the 'attributes' of
-matter."--Hamilton.]
-
-DISCUSSION.
-
-_1. The Attributes Ascribed to God:_ As the attributes of God are
-necessarily involved in the philosophy of the Atonement, I think it
-proper here to make brief allusion to them, especially to those more
-immediately involved in the Atonement. The attributes usually assigned
-to God, either upon the ground of scripture or the supposed necessity
-of his nature are: Eternity, Immutability, Omnipotence, Omniscience,
-Omnipresence, Wisdom, Holiness, Truth, Justice, Mercy, Love.
-
-_2. Eternity:_ By "Eternity," spoken of as an attribute of God, is
-meant God's eternal existence. We may not in rational thought assume
-a time when God was not--or when He did not exist. God's eternity
-is sustained by such scripture as David's 90th Psalm, "Before the
-mountains were brought forth, or thou hadst formed the earth and the
-world, even from everlasting to everlasting thou art God." Also Paul
-bears the same witness: "And thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid
-the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine
-hands. They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax
-old as doth a garment; and as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and
-they shall be changed; but thou art the same and thy years shall not
-fail."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: Heb. i:10-12.]
-
-_3. Immutability:_ God's "Immutability," his unchangeableness,
-is sustained in such passages of both ancient and modern scriptures
-as follow: "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and
-cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness,
-neither shadow of turning."[A] "For I am the Lord, I change not;
-therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed."[B] "For God does not
-walk in crooked paths, neither does he turn to the right hand nor to
-the left, or vary from that which he has said; therefore his paths
-are straight, and his course is one eternal round,"[C] "Listen to the
-voice of the Lord your God, even Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the
-end, whose course is one eternal round, the same yesterday, today and
-forever."[D]
-
-[Footnote A: James i:17.]
-
-[Footnote B: Malachi iii:6.]
-
-[Footnote C: Doc. & Cov., Sec. 3, v. 2.]
-
-[Footnote D: Doc. & Cov., Sec. 35, v. 1.]
-
-_4. Omnipotence:_ By "Omnipotence" is meant all-powerfulness. This
-attribute is essential to all rational thinking upon God. We may not
-think upon God and then think upon him as being overruled by a higher
-power, and still have him remain to our thought as God. The Scriptures
-in their whole spirit present this view of the Omnipotence of Deity.
-"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. * * * And God
-said, Let there be light, and there was light. * * * And God said. Let
-the waters be gathered together in one place, and let the dry land
-appear: and it was so." In this manner the work proceeds throughout the
-creation periods.[A]
-
-[Footnote A: Gen. i-iii.]
-
-Of this attribute David sings: "The heavens shall praise thy wonders,
-O Lord: * * * for who in the heaven can be compared unto the Lord? Who
-among the sons of the Mighty can be likened unto the Lord? * * * O Lord
-God of hosts, who is a strong Lord like unto thee? Thou rulest the
-raging of the sea: when the waves arise thou stillest them. * * * The
-heavens they are thine, the earth also is thine: as for the world and
-the fulness thereof, thou hast founded them. * * * Thou hast a mighty
-arm: strong is thy hand, and high is thy right hand."[A] To the same
-effect sang Isaiah (Ch. xl:10-15); also Jeremiah (Ch. xxvii:17), and
-Daniel (Ch. iv:35).
-
-[Footnote A: Psalms lxxxix.]
-
-In the New Testament, the Christ teaches that "with God all things
-are possible;"[A] and negatively, "with God nothing shall be
-impossible."[B] The Revelation uses the term "omnipotent" direct: "And
-I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of
-many waters, and the voice of the mighty thunderings, saying Alleluia:
-for the Lord God _omnipotent_ reigneth."[C]
-
-[Footnote A: Matt. xix:26.]
-
-[Footnote B: Luke i:37.]
-
-[Footnote C: Rev. xix:6. Also "Lectures on Faith," Doc. & Cov., Lecture
-III. So, too, in Mosiah iii:17, 18, 21.]
-
-_5. Omniscience:_ By "Omniscience" is meant all-knowing. "Known
-unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world,"[A] said
-the Holy Spirit-inspired council of the apostles and elders of the
-early Christian church. "Remember the former things of old. * * * I am
-God and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning,
-and from ancient time the things that are not yet done, saying my
-counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure."[B] A sparrow
-falls not to the ground without the Father's notice.[C] In reasoning
-with Abraham upon the Intelligences in heaven and the fact that they
-varied in degree of intelligence, the Lord said that where there were
-two intelligences and the one was more intelligent than the other,
-"there shall be another more intelligent than they: I am the Lord, thy
-God, _I am more intelligent than them all_."[D] By which is meant, as
-I think, not that God is more intelligent than any other one of the
-Intelligences, but more intelligent than all of them together.
-
-[Footnote A: Acts xv:18.]
-
-[Footnote B: Isaiah xlvi:9, 10.]
-
-[Footnote C: Matt. x:29.]
-
-[Footnote D: Book of Abraham iii:17-19.]
-
-_6. Omnipresence:_ "Omnipresence" means everywhere present; and
-perhaps the best description of this attribute of God is in David's
-passage--"Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee
-from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I
-make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of
-the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there
-shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say
-surely darkness shall cover me: even the night shall be light about
-me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee: but the night shineth as
-the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to these."[A] "Will
-God indeed dwell on the earth," asked Solomon, in dedicating the first
-temple, "Behold the heaven, and heaven of heavens cannot contain Thee;
-how much less this house that I have builded."[B] And Paul, in teaching
-the nearness of God to men, said that God had made of one blood all
-nations of men: and had given to all the privilege of seeking the Lord,
-if happily they might feel after him, and find him, "though he be not
-far removed from every one of us, for in him we live and move and have
-our being."[C]
-
-[Footnote A: Psalms cxxxix:27.]
-
-[Footnote B: I Kings viii:27.]
-
-[Footnote C: Acts xvii:26-28.]
-
-Under the attribute of "Omnipotence"--all-powerful--I include "Power,"
-which is sometimes, and usually, treated separately as an attribute
-of God: and under "Omniscience" I include "Knowledge," which is also
-usually regarded separately as an attribute of Deity; but both these
-terms--"Power" and "Knowledge"--may very appropriately fall under the
-larger terms--"Omnipotence" and "Omniscience"--which, respectively,
-include them.
-
-_7. Limitation in the Attributes of God:_ W. may now consider
-somewhat the limitations of the attributes so far named. The Eternity
-of God may be regarded as absolute. "I am that I am," the Eternal One,
-the Self-existent, admits of no modification as to his Eternity.
-
-His Immutability should be regarded as stability, adherence to
-principle. What stands among men under the name of "constitutional
-morality," fixed devotion to law; and working through law to the
-achievement of his divine purposes, rather than by caprice, or by
-arbitrary, personal action. But God's immutability should not be
-so understood as to exclude the idea of advancement or progress of
-God. Thus, for example: God's kingdom and glory may be enlarged, as
-more and more redeemed souls are added to his kingdom: as worlds and
-world-systems are multiplied and redeemed and enrolled with celestial
-spheres, so God's kingdom is enlarged and his glory increased. So that
-in this sense there may come change and progress even for God. Hence we
-could not say of God's immutability as we do of his eternity that it is
-absolute, since there may come change through progress even for God:
-but an absolute immutability would require eternal immobility--which
-would reduce God to a condition eternally static, which, from the
-nature of things, would bar him from participation in that enlargement
-of kingdom and increasing glory that comes from redemption and
-the progress of men. And is it too bold a thought, that with this
-progress, even for the Mightiest, new thoughts, and new vistas may
-appear, inviting to new adventures and enterprises that will yield new
-experiences, advancement, and enlargement even for the Most High?[A]
-It ought to be constantly remembered that terms absolute to man may be
-relative terms to God, so far above our thinking is his thinking; and
-his ways above our ways.
-
-[Footnote A: On this point Sir Oliver Lodge has a passage at once
-advanced and bold, and yet for which he claims Christian warrant.
-It is, however, far removed from modern Christian orthodoxy, though
-splendidly true: "The universe is not a 'being,' but a 'becoming'--an
-ancient but light bringing doctrine when realized,--it is in change,
-in development, in movement upward and downward, that activity
-consist. A stationary condition, or stagnation, would be to us simple
-non-existence: the element of progression, of change, of activity,
-must be as durable as the universe itself. Monotony, in the sense of
-absolute immobility, is unthinkable, unreal, and cannot anywhere exist:
-save where things have ceased to be.
-
-"Such ideas, the ideas of development and progress, extend even up to
-God himself, according to the Christian conception. So we return to
-that with which we started: The Christian idea of God is not that of a
-being outside the universe, above its struggles, and taking no part in
-the process, solely exalted, beneficent, self-determined and complete;
-no, it is also that of a God who loves, who yearns, who suffers, who
-keenly laments the rebellious and misguided activity of the free agents
-brought into being by himself as part of himself, who enters into the
-storm and conflict, and is subject to condition as the Soul of it all:
-conditions not artificial and transitory, but inherent in the process
-of producing free and conscious beings, and essential to the full
-self-development even of Deity.
-
-"It is a marvelous and bewildering thought, but whatever its value, and
-whether it be an ultimate revelation or not, it is the revelation of
-Christ." ("Science and Immortality," p. 292.)]
-
-The attribute "Omnipotence" must needs be thought upon also as
-somewhat limited. Even God, notwithstanding the ascription to him of
-all-powerfulness in such scripture phrases as "With God all things are
-possible," "Nothing shall be impossible with God"--notwithstanding all
-this, I say, not even God may have two mountain ranges without a valley
-between. Not even God may place himself beyond the boundary of space:
-nor on the outside of duration. Nor is it conceivable to human thought
-that he can create space, or annihilate matter. These are things that
-limit even God's Omnipotence. What then, is meant by the ascription of
-the attribute Omnipotence to God? Simply that all that may or can be
-done by power conditioned by other eternal existences--duration, space,
-matter, truth, justice--God can do. But even he may not act out of
-harmony with the other eternal existences which condition or limit even
-him.
-
-So with the All-knowing attribute, Omniscience: that must be understood
-somewhat in the same light as the other attributes considered: not that
-God is Omniscient up to the point that further progress in knowledge is
-impossible to him; but that all knowledge that is, all that exists, God
-knows. He is Universal Consciousness, and Mind--he is the All-knowing
-One, because he knows all that is known.
-
-So the attribute "Omnipresence"--the Everywhere Present attribute. This
-must be so far limited as to be ascribed to God's Spirit, or Influence,
-or Power: but not of God as a Person or Individual; for in these
-latter respects even God is limited by the law that one body cannot
-occupy two places at one and the same time. But radiating from his
-presence, as beams of light and warmth radiate from our sun, is God's
-Spirit, penetrating and permeating space, making space and all worlds
-in space vibrate with his life and thought and presence: holding all
-forces--dynamic and static--under control, making them to subserve his
-will and purposes.
-
-God also uses other agencies to reflect himself, his power or
-authority: also his Wisdom, Goodness, Justice and Mercy--angels and
-arch-angels, both in heaven and on earth; and in the earth prophets,
-apostles, teachers--all that make for up-lift, for righteousness; all
-that catch some ray of the Divine Spirit in poem, music, painting,
-sculpture, state-craft or mechanical arts--all these but reflect God
-and are a means of multiplying and expressing him, the Divine. And in a
-special way, as witness for God, and under very special conditions, the
-Holy Ghost, that Being accounted the Third Person of the Godhead--he
-reflects and stands for God, his Power, and Wisdom; his Justice, Truth
-and Mercy--for all that can be, or is, called God, or is God. All these
-means, direct and indirect, convey God into the universe, and keep him
-everywhere present in all his essentials of Wisdom, Power and Goodness,
-while his bodily presence remains at the center of it all.
-
-
-
-LESSON XIII.
-
-(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
-
-THE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD RELATED TO THE ATONEMENT (Continued).
-
-ANALYSIS.
-
-III. Attributes Ascribed to God--Second Group.
-
-1. Wisdom:
-
-2. Holiness;
-
-3. Truth;
-
-4. Justice;
-
-5. Mercy;
-
-6. Love.
-
-IV. The Attributes of God Constitute a Harmony--This Relates Them to
-the Atonement.
-
-REFERENCES.
-
-References same as in Lesson XII. Also Scriptures quoted and cited in
-the body of this lesson.
-
-_SPECIAL TEXT: "God does not walk in crooked paths, neither does he
-turn to the right hand nor to the left, or vary from that which he has
-said; therefore his paths are straight, and his course is one eternal
-round." (Doc. & Cov., Sec. 2:2.)_
-
-DISCUSSION.
-
-There is yet to be considered the attributes of Wisdom, Holiness,
-Truth, Justice, Mercy, Love; and these are the attributes referred to
-which are more immediately involved in the doctrine of Atonement.
-
-_1. Wisdom:_ Wisdom that arises from knowledge seems essentially
-an attribute of Deity; as well from the nature of the attribute as
-from the declaration of scripture. God as un-wise is unthinkable;
-unpossessed of this attribute, he could not appeal to the consciousness
-of man as God at all. Therefore it is agreeable to think with Elihu in
-Job, that God "is mighty in strength and wisdom."[A] Also with David:
-"O Lord, how manifold are thy works! In wisdom thou hast made them
-all: the earth is full of thy riches."[B] And again David: "Great is
-our Lord, and great of power; his understanding is infinite."[C] So
-Paul: "To God, only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever;"[D]
-"The wisdom of the world is foolishness with God;"[E] He says, so high
-above the wisdom of men does he esteem the wisdom of God; and even
-"the foolishness of God is wiser than men."[F] We may fittingly close
-his testimony with his prayer: "Now, unto the King Eternal, immortal,
-invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory forever, and ever.
-Amen."[G]
-
-[Footnote A: Job xxvi:5.]
-
-[Footnote B: Psalms cxv:24.]
-
-[Footnote C: Psalms cxvii:5.]
-
-[Footnote D: Rom. xvi:27.]
-
-[Footnote E: I Cor. i:25.]
-
-[Footnote F: I Cor. i:26.]
-
-[Footnote G: I Tim. i:17.]
-
-Worthy to go with this testimony is that of Joseph Smith, in which is
-found the same spiritual music: "The Lord is God, and beside him there
-is no Savior; great is his Wisdom, marvelous are his ways, and the
-extent of his doings none can find out; his purposes fail not, neither
-are there any who can stay his hand."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: Doc. & Cov., Sec. 76:1-3.]
-
-_2. Holiness:_ "Holiness," as an attribute of God, is equally
-indispensable as Wisdom. Equally unthinkable is it that Deity should
-not possess it. No marvel that Moses sang, "Who is like unto thee, O
-Lord, among the gods, glorious in holiness?"[A] "I am the Lord your
-God; * * * ye shall be holy: for I am holy,"[B] was God's word to
-ancient Israel. Throughout the scriptures God is spoken of as the
-"Holy One of Israel." "Thou art Holy, O thou that inhabitest the
-praises in Israel."[C] "Sing unto the Lord * * * at the remembrance
-of his Holiness."[D] "God that is Holy shall be sanctified in
-righteousness."[E] "And one cried unto another, and said: Holy, holy,
-holy is the Lord God of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory."
-Such Isaiah's vision.[F] Both the Old and the New Testaments are
-replete with the doctrine. In one of the prophets it is written: "O
-Lord, * * * thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not
-look on iniquity."[G] And again in the scripture: "I the Lord cannot
-look upon sin with the least degree of allowance;"[H] which perhaps
-more than any other utterance of holy writ, asserts the Holiness of God.
-
-[Footnote A: Ex. xv:11.]
-
-[Footnote B: Lev. xi:44.]
-
-[Footnote C: Psalms xxii:3.]
-
-[Footnote D: Psalms xxx:4.]
-
-[Footnote E: Isaiah v:16.]
-
-[Footnote F: Isaiah vi:3.]
-
-[Footnote G: Hab. i:12,-13.]
-
-[Footnote H: Doc. & Cov., Sec. i:31: "Nevertheless," continues the
-passage, "he that repents and does the commandments of the Lord shall
-be forgiven." Showing that while God may not compromise with sin by
-looking upon it with any degree of allowance, yet he has compassion
-upon the sinner who repents.]
-
-_3. Truth:_ The attribute of "Truth" is ascribed to God; and
-here we again come in touch with the absolute, as when speaking of
-God's Eternity. God can be no other than absolute in this quality. An
-untruthful God! the thought is blasphemy. "God is not a man that he
-should lie, neither the son of man that he should repent."[A] "Mercy
-and Truth shall go before thy face."[B] "A God of truth and without
-iniquity, just and right is he."[C] "Thou hast redeemed me, O Lord
-God of Truth."[D] "Abundant in goodness and Truth."[E] So our modern
-scriptures: "God does not walk in crooked paths, neither does he
-turn to the right hand nor the left, or vary from that which he has
-said, therefore his paths are straight, and his course is one eternal
-round."[F] It cannot be emphasized too strongly--God is a God of Truth;
-and does not, and cannot lie without ceasing to be God. It would wreck
-the moral universe for God to lie. He must _be_, he is TRUTH! "A God of
-truth, without iniquity, just and right is he."[G]
-
-[Footnote A: Numbers xxiii:19.]
-
-[Footnote B: Psalms lxxxix:14.]
-
-[Footnote C: Deut. xxxii:4.]
-
-[Footnote D: Psalms xxxi:5.]
-
-[Footnote E: Ex. xxxiv:6.]
-
-[Footnote F: Doc. & Cov., Sec. 3:2.]
-
-[Footnote G: Deut. xxxii:4.]
-
-_4. Justice:_ "Justice," as an attribute, is of the same quality
-as the attribute of Truth--it must be conceived as absolute in Deity.
-God not just! The thought would be blasphemous. Of course we have
-scripture warrant for the doctrine: "Justice and judgment are the
-habitation of thy throne."[A] "There is no God beside me: a Just God
-and a Savior."[B] "The Just God is in the midst thereof."[C] "Behold
-thy King cometh unto thee: he is Just and having salvation."[D]
-
-[Footnote A: Psalms lxxxix:14.]
-
-[Footnote B: Isaiah xv:21.]
-
-[Footnote C: Zech. iii:5.]
-
-[Footnote D: Zech. ix:9.]
-
-_5. Mercy:_ "Mercy" as an attribute of God is in a class with
-Truth and Justice and Holiness. A God without compassion--only another
-name for mercy--would be a monstrosity. No, God must be Merciful! Else
-what shall become of man? God not merciful! It is unthinkable, that is
-all. The quality of Mercy as an attribute of God is not strained;
-
-  "It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
-  Upon the place beneath; it is twice blest;
-  It blesses him that gives, and him that takes;
-  'Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes
-  The throned monarch better than his crown;
-  * * * It is an attribute to God himself!"
-
-"Mercy and truth shall go before his face," is the testimony of the
-Psalmist.[A] "And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The
-Lord, the Lord God, Merciful and gracious."[B] "But thou art a God
-ready to pardon, gracious and merciful."[C]
-
-[Footnote A: Psalms lxxxix:14.]
-
-[Footnote B: Ex. xxxiv:6.]
-
-[Footnote C: Neh. ix:17.]
-
-_6. Love:_ Love! the crowning glory of all the attributes of
-God! We may revel in this attribute. "He that loveth not, knoweth not
-God; for God is Love!"[A] "God is Love, and he that dwelleth in love
-dwelleth in God, and God in him."[B] "Every one that loveth is born of
-God."[C] "In this was manifested the Love of God towards us, because
-that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live
-through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved
-us, and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins."[D]
-
-[Footnote A: I John iv:8.]
-
-[Footnote B: I John iv:16.]
-
-[Footnote C: St. John iii:16.]
-
-[Footnote D: I John iv:9,10.]
-
-"God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that
-whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting
-life."[A] More perfect evidence than this of love, even God cannot give.
-
-[Footnote A: St. John iii:16.]
-
-_7. The Harmony of God's Attributes:_ These attributes as well as
-those considered in lesson XII, must be thought upon as constituting a
-harmony; those with the existences as real and eternal as themselves;
-these with reference to harmony within or among themselves. Thus
-Justice may not deny the claims of Mercy. Mercy may not rob Justice.
-Even Love may not allow God to intrude upon Justice, or Wisdom or
-Truth. At the same time it must be remembered that Mercy and Love, no
-less than Justice, are attributes of God and somehow and somewhere must
-find entrance into the divine economy, must get themselves expressed
-and that worthily; worthy of their intrinsic nature, and worthy of God
-in whom they inhere. And while "all must be law" or at least in harmony
-with law; all "must be love," in harmony with love--for God, from first
-to last, is Love.
-
-The attributes of God must be preserved in perfect accord if the moral
-harmony of the universe is to be maintained. It is these considerations
-which unite the attributes of God with the subject of Atonement.
-If God's moral government of the universe is, like his physical
-government, one of law, then Law, not personal, arbitrary, capricious
-Will must rule.
-
-
-
-LESSON XIV.
-
-(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
-
-THE REIGN OF LAW.[A]
-
-ANALYSIS.
-
-I. The Government of the Universe--Two Methods Conceived of:
-
-1. By Unvarying Law;
-
-2. By Special Providence.
-
-II. Harmonization of Government by Unvarying Law, and the Existence of
-Special Providence.
-
-1. Misconception of Unvarying Law; Laws Have Their Limitations.
-
-2. Misconception of "Miracles."
-
-III. The New Dispensation--Its Prophet and Doctrine Committed to the
-Reign of Law in Both the Physical and the Spiritual World.
-
-REFERENCES.
-
-Doc. & Cov., Sec. 88; also Sec. 130.
-
-A History of the Warfare of Science with Theology (White); Conflict
-Between Religion and Science (Draper); Natural Law in the Spiritual
-World (Drummond).
-
-Joseph Smith, the Prophet-Teacher (Roberts), pp. 42-49.
-
-Studies in Religion (Fiske), pp. 158-169, 337, 338.
-
-_SPECIAL TEXT: "There are many kingdoms, and to every kingdom is given
-a law; and to every law there are certain bounds also, and conditions.
-All beings who abide not in those conditions [i. e., laws] are not
-justified." (Doc. & Cov., Sec. 88:37-39.)_
-
-DISCUSSION.
-
-_1. Government of the Universe--(A) By Unvarying Law:_ "Two
-interpretations may be given of the mode of government of the world,"
-says Professor John W. Draper.
-
-[Footnote A: "The fundamental conception of law is an ascertained
-working sequence or constant order among the phenomena of nature.
-
-* * "The laws of nature are simply statements of the orderly condition
-of things in nature, what is found in nature by a sufficient number of
-competent observers.
-
-"And despite the limitations of its sphere on every side, Law is still
-the largest, richest, and surest source of human knowledge." (Henry
-Drummond: Natural Law in the Spiritual World, Introduction, pp. 4, 5.)]
-
-"It may be by incessant, divine interventions, or by the operation of
-unvarying law." The former view is held by Draper to be the view of
-the Roman religion (pre-Christian); and later of the Roman Christian
-religion. A priesthood, he holds, will always incline to the theory
-of "divine interventions," "since it must desire to be considered as
-standing between the prayer of the votary and the providential act."
-"Not without reason, therefore," he continues, "did they [the priests]
-look upon the doctrine of government by 'unvarying law' with disfavor."
-And then continues in the following manner:
-
-_2. Draper's View--Unvarying Law:_ "The orderly movement of
-the heavens could not fail in all ages to make a deep impression on
-thoughtful observers--the rising and setting of the sun; the increasing
-or diminishing light of the day; the waxing and waning of the moon; the
-return of the seasons in their proper course; the measured march of the
-wandering planets in the sky--what are all these and a thousand such,
-but manifestations of an orderly and unchanging procession of events?
-The faith of early observers in this interpretation may perhaps have
-been shaken by the occurrence of such a phenomenon as an eclipse, a
-sudden and mysterious breach of the ordinary course of events; but it
-would be resumed in tenfold strength as soon as the discovery was made
-that eclipses themselves recur, and may be predicted.
-
-"Astronomical predictions of all kinds depend upon the admission of
-this fact--that there never has been and never will be any intervention
-in the operation of natural laws. The scientific philosopher affirms
-that the condition of the world at any given moment is the direct
-result of its condition in the preceding moment, and the direct cause
-of its condition in the subsequent moment."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: Conflict Between Religion and Science, p. 229.]
-
-In the remainder of the chapter here quoted, Draper traces the struggle
-between the idea of government by special Providence and government
-by "unvarying law." until the latter triumphs in modern thought and
-science.
-
-_3. White's View--Unvarying Law:_ To the same purpose, Andrew D.
-White, once professor of History at Cornell University, and President
-of the University for twenty-five years, published his great work, "A
-History of the Warfare of Science with Theology,"[A] The title of a few
-of the chapters will show the drift of the thought: "From Creation to
-Evolution," "From 'Signs and Wonders' to Law in Heaven," "From Genesis
-to Geology," "From Magic to Chemistry and Physics," "From Miracles to
-Medicine," and so following.
-
-[Footnote A: The Work is in Two Volumes, Appleton and Co., 1903.]
-
-_4. John Fiske's View--Unvarying Law:_ Of course John Fiske (and
-the same may be said practically of all our modern scientists and
-philosophers) inclines to the same view--government of the universe by
-"unvarying law." Fiske describes the effect of the modern intellectual
-movement to be "to discredit more than ever before the Latin idea
-of God as a power outside of the course of nature and occasionally
-interfering with it. In all directions the process of evolution has
-been discovered, working after similar methods, and this has forced
-upon us the belief in the Unity of Nature. We are thus driven to the
-Greek conception of God as the power working in and through nature,
-without interference or infraction of law. We have so far spelled out
-the history of creation as to see that all has been done in strict
-accordance with law. * * * So beautiful is all this orderly coherence, so
-satisfying to some of our intellectual needs, that many minds are
-inclined to doubt if anything more can be said of the universe than
-that it is a Reign of Law, an endless aggregate of coexistences and
-sequences."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: Studies in Religion, pp. 337-8.]
-
-_5. Henry Drummond's View--Unvarying Law:_ Drummond, in 1893,
-published his "Natural Law in the Spiritual World," with a view, as
-the title suggests, of bringing the phenomena of the spirit-world into
-harmony with the modern scientific conceptions that obtain respecting
-the natural world. His self-imposed task was to "demonstrate the
-naturalness of the supernatural;" that the natural and the spiritual
-world are one. Drummond's conception was a noble one, and resulted in
-the production of a very notable and convincing work, though meeting in
-some quarters with the impatience that attaches to works of its class,
-viz., the class that attempts to work out harmony between science and
-religion; or between the natural and the spiritual world.[A]
-
-[Footnote A: Thus Andrew D. White, in his "Warfare of Science
-with Theology," speaking of the phases of theological attack upon
-science, represents the third and the last--as "an attempt" at
-compromise--"compromise by means of far-fetched reconciliations of
-textual statements with ascertained fact" (Warfare, Vol. I, p. 218).
-That Drummond himself was aware that these "attempts at compromise"
-of the differences between science and religion, or the "natural and
-spiritual world," is evident from his preface, where he says: "No class
-of works is received with more suspicion, I had almost said derision,
-than those which deal with Science and Religion. Science is tired
-of reconciliations between two things which never should have been
-contrasted. Religion is offended by the patronage of an ally which it
-professes not to need; and the critics have rightly discovered that,
-in most cases where Science is either pitted against Religion or fused
-with it, there is some fatal misconception to begin with as to the
-scope and province of either."]
-
-_6. Difficulties in the Way of Government by Unvarying Law; (1)
-Limitations of Laws:_ The difficulties between the conception of
-government of the world by "unvarying law," and the facts of man's
-spiritual or religious experiences, which seems at times to be in
-contravention of law, answers to prayer, healing the sick through
-faith, foreknowledge of coming events, and the like, would disappear
-if only men would recognize the fact that laws have their limitations;
-and that laws in nature known to us may have their force broken or
-counteracted by the operation of other forces. For example: the power
-of ocean currents and the winds to carry objects with them in the
-direction of their movement is overcome by another force, though no
-less operating under law, viz., the force found in steam; the force
-of gravitation by the levitating power of gas; the natural tendency
-of water to seek its level by evaporation and the absorbing power of
-the atmosphere, are examples. This principle of "law being governed
-by law," was taught by Joseph Smith as early as 1832, in a revelation
-received in that year, and in which it was said: "Unto every kingdom
-is given a law; _and unto every law there are certain bounds also and
-conditions_." The context of the passage makes it clear that "kingdoms"
-here are not groups of men or nations over which a monarch reigns; but
-substances, matter; worlds and world-systems, and their inhabitants
-under the dominion of law; the universe considered in its divisions
-and subdivisions. "Verily I say unto you," continues the revelation,
-"he [God] hath given a law unto all things by which they move in their
-times and their seasons; and their courses are fixed; even the courses
-of the heavens and the earth, which comprehend the earth and all the
-planets."[A] And yet these laws have their metes and bounds, their
-limitations; fixed, however, by the operation of other laws, not by the
-arbitrary will of an absolute monarch.
-
-[Footnote A: Doc. & Cov., Sec. 88:42, 43.]
-
-_(2) "Miracles" Part of the Divine Economy:_ The criticism of
-religionists on the conception of the government of the universe by
-the operation of "unvarying law," is that it bars out of the economy
-of things any place for the special providences of God; destroys all
-value in prayer; and eliminates miracles. To which the answer is "Not
-at all!" The whole seeming difficulty arises from a misconception of
-the means by which the providences of God are wrought; and the means
-by which socalled "miracles" are brought to pass. This subdivision
-of the subject may be treated under a brief discussion of "Miracles"
-usually defined to be an "event in derogation of the laws of nature."
-What I have said elsewhere upon this subject will answer my purpose
-here.[A] There is a general misapprehension of the term miracle.
-It is usually understood as "an event or effect contrary to the
-established constitution and course of things, or a deviation from
-the known laws of nature." Renan defines a miracle to be, "not simply
-the inexplicable, it is a formal derogation from recognized laws in
-the name of a particular desire." What is especially faulty in these
-definitions is this: Miracles are held to be events outside or contrary
-to the laws of nature. Let us examine this:
-
-[Footnote A: "New Witnesses for God," Vol. I, p. 252.]
-
-Two hundred years ago the only motive powers known to ocean navigators
-were wind and the ocean currents. Suppose at that time those old
-mariners had seen one of our modern ocean steamers running against
-both ocean currents and the wind, and, withal, making better speed, in
-spite of both wind and tide than the old sailing vessel could match
-even when running before the wind and the ocean currents in her favor.
-What would have been the effect on the mind of the old-time sailor? "It
-is a miracle!" he would have exclaimed; that is, it would have been an
-"effect contrary to the established constitution and course of things,"
-"a derogation from recognized laws." But is such an effect to us who
-know something of the force of steam contrary to the laws of nature?
-No; it is simply the employment of forces in nature of which the
-old-time mariner was ignorant; and while it would have been a miracle
-to him, to us it is merely the application of a newly-discovered force
-of nature, and it is now so common that we cease to look upon it with
-wonder. So with the things that we in our ignorance call miracles--such
-as healing the sick, restoring the blind to sight, making the lame
-to walk, through exercise of faith; and the resurrection of the
-dead--instead of these things being in "derogation from recognized
-laws, we shall yet learn that they are done simply by the application
-of laws of which we are as yet in ignorance."[A] With man's limited
-knowledge of the laws of nature, how presumptuous it is in him to say
-that the healing of the sick or even the resurrection of the dead are
-in "derogation of the laws of nature," or that deviation from those
-few laws of nature with which he is acquainted will never happen, or
-is impossible! Better reasoners are they who, like George Rawlinson,
-say: "Miraculous interpositions on fitting occasions may be as much a
-regular, fixed, and established rule of his [God's] government, as the
-working ordinarily by what are called natural laws." In other words,
-what we in our ignorance call miracles, are to God merely the results
-of the application of higher laws or forces of nature not yet learned
-by man. Miracles are to be viewed as a part of the divine economy.
-
-[Footnote A: "In the progress of science, all phenomena have been
-shown, by indisputable evidence, to be amenable to law, and even in the
-cases in which those laws have not yet been exactly ascertained, delay
-in ascertaining them is fully accounted for by the special difficulties
-of the subject; the defenders of miracles have adapted their argument
-to this altered state of things, by maintaining that a miracle need
-not necessarily be a violation of law. It may, they say, take place in
-fulfilment of a more recondite law, to us unknown.
-
-"If by this it be only meant that the Divine Being, in the exercise
-of his power of interfering with and suspending his own laws, guides
-himself by some general principle or rule of action, this, of course,
-cannot be disproved, and is in itself the most probable supposition."
-("Theism," in "Three Essays on Religion"--Mill,--pp. 223-4.)
-
-Shedd treats upon the same theme and much in the same spirit; "The
-miracle is not contrary to all nature but only to nature as known to
-us," he represents the Apologists of early Christianity as saying, and
-then quotes a long and admirable passage from Augustine. ("History of
-Christian Doctrine," Vol. I, pp. 167-169.)]
-
-_3. The New Dispensation Committed to the Reign of Law:_ The
-Prophet of the New Dispensation, as we have seen, taught the doctrine
-of the reign of law in God's universe; and not alone in the physical or
-natural universe, but as well in the spiritual and moral phases of that
-universe.
-
-In the revelation already quoted for the reign of law in the physical
-universe, he also says: "And again, verily I say unto you, that
-which is governed by law is also preserved by law, and perfected and
-sanctified by the same. That which breaketh a law, and abideth not by
-law, but seeketh to become a law unto itself, and willeth to abide
-in sin, and altogether abideth in sin, cannot be sanctified by law,
-neither by mercy, justice nor judgment. Therefore they must remain
-filthy still." And again he said: "There is a law irrevocably decreed
-in heaven before the foundations of this world upon which all blessings
-are predicated; and when we obtain any blessing from God it is by
-obedience to that law upon which it is predicated."[A] The Prophet
-of the New Dispensation, then, the gospel of that dispensation, its
-Theology, stand committed to the sublime doctrine that the universe
-in every way is under the reign of law; and hence, in some way, the
-Atonement, by and through which man is redeemed; the necessity,--the
-absolute necessity--for it; the reason why that means, and that means
-alone, could bring redemption and put man in the way of salvation--all
-this must be by reason of the existence of some law by which the facts
-in the case are governed. These laws and an understanding of them are
-the object of our research.
-
-[Footnote A: Doc. & Cov., Sec. 130:21,22.]
-
-
-
-LESSON XV.
-
-(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
-
-THE EXORABLENESS[A] OF LAW.
-
-ANALYSIS.
-
-I. The Effective Quality in Law--Inexorableness.
-
-II. Reign of Law vs. Government by "Arbitrary Will."
-
-III. Mercy and Special Providence in a Reign of Law.
-
-IV. Law and Destructive and Constructive Forces.
-
-V. God No Respector of Persons; Mercy and Special Providence Under
-Dominion of Law.
-
-REFERENCES.
-
-Doc. & Cov., Sec. 88: also Sec. 130.
-
-Drummond's Natural Law in the Spiritual World--Introduction.
-
-Fiske's Studies in Religion, pp. 337-340; and the works and passages
-quoted in the body of this lesson.
-
-_SPECIAL TEXTS: "Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come
-out thence [from prison] till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing."
-(The Christ: Matt, v.26.)_
-
-_"Think not I am come to destroy the law I a. not come to destroy,
-but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass
-one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be
-fulfilled." (Matt, v.17, 18.)_
-
-[Footnote A: "Inexorable"--literally not to be moved or changed by
-petition or prayer. Immovable, relentless. See Cent. Dict.]
-
-DISCUSSION.
-
-_1. The Essence of Law:_ Inexorableness is of the essence of law.
-There can be no force in law only as it is inexorable. What effect is
-to cause, in the physical world, that penalty must be to violation of
-law in the moral and spiritual kingdom. This is what is meant by the
-inexorableness of law.
-
-The inexorableness of law is at once both its majesty and glory;
-without it neither majesty nor glory could exist; neither respect nor
-sense of security, nor safety, nor rational faith. If the idea of the
-"reign of law" be set aside and there be substituted for it the reign
-of God by his sovereign will, independent of law, even then we must
-postulate such conception of the attributes of God that regularity will
-result from his personal government, not capriciousness, today one
-thing, tomorrow another. Hence one of old viewing God's government from
-the side of its being a direct, personal reign of God rather than a
-reign of God through law, wrote his message from God as follows:
-
-"I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not
-consumed."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: Malachi iii:6. For the notion expressed in the text that
-Malachi viewed God's government from the side of a personal reign, see
-the preceding verses of the chapter cited.]
-
-And another occupying the same point of view, said:
-
-"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down
-from the Father of light--"
-
-And then he adds immediately, "With whom is no variableness, neither
-shadow of turning."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: James i:17.]
-
-_2. The Quality of Regularity of Law--How Secured:_ View the
-matter, then, from which standpoint you may, government of the world by
-the personal, sovereign will of God, or the government of God through
-the reign of law, the quality of regularity, that can only come of
-inexorableness--arising either from the quality of God's attributes,
-or the inherent nature of law--is necessary to a sense of security,
-to right mental attitude, to rational thinking and right conduct. All
-this becomes apparent if the matter is thought upon conversely. If a
-reign of law is supposed to exist and the law is not inexorable, but
-may be set aside, suspended, abridged, enlarged, or its penalties
-annulled; and these changes affected not by the operation of any fixed
-principle, or by some controlling higher law, but capriciously, through
-the interposition of some sovereign will, call it special providence
-or what not, then, of course, you have no reign of law at all; but the
-reign of a sovereign will that operates independent of law. Under such
-government--if, indeed, it could be called government--all would be
-confusion, uncertainty, perplexity, doubt, despair. Happily no such
-conditions exist; but instead there exists a divine government in the
-world, operating through a reign of law; and the virtue and value of
-that government arises from the inexorableness of law.
-
-_3. Where, Then, is Mercy?_ If, however, the exorableness of
-law is to be insisted upon up to this degree of emphasis, where then
-does mercy, which is supposed to mitigate somewhat the severity and
-inexorableness of law; and, furthermore, is supposed in some way to
-represent the direct and gracious act of God when mitigating the law's
-severity--where does Mercy appear? At what point does she enter into
-the moral and spiritual economy? A large question, this, and one not to
-be considered just yet, except to say that the entrance of Mercy into
-the economy of the moral and spiritual kingdom, is not in violation of
-law, but in harmony with it. In fact, as we shall see somewhat later,
-Mercy takes her part in the economy of the moral and spiritual kingdoms
-because of the existence of a reign of law, rather than in derogation
-of it.
-
-_4. Destructive Forces Under the Dominion of Law:_ When a reign
-of law is conceived as governing in the physical world, then the
-conception must include the destructive, or disintegrating forces as
-operating under law as well as the constructive or integrating forces,
-else your reign of law is not universal.
-
-Moses stood with God and beheld the multitude of his creations: "And
-the Lord God said unto Moses, For mine own purpose have I made these
-things; * * * and by the word of my power, have I created them. * * *
-And worlds without number have I created; and I have created them for
-mine own purpose. * * * Behold there are many worlds that have passed
-away by the word of my power. And there are many that now stand, and
-innumerable are they with man. * * * And as one earth shall pass away,
-and the heavens thereof, even so shall another come, and there is no
-end to my works, neither to my words."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: Book of Moses (P. of G. P.) i:31-38.]
-
-This passage implies constant movement in the universe. The statement,
-"As one earth shall pass away and the heavens thereof, even so shall
-another come," corresponds somewhat to the modern scientist's notion
-of "evolution and devolution;"[A] but the thing to be noted here is
-that not only is God represented as having created these worlds and
-world-systems "by the word of his power;" but also that "there are many
-worlds that have passed away by the word of his power." By which we
-are to understand that destructive as well as creating forces in the
-physical world operate under law. So also should we understand that in
-the moral and spiritual world, where there appears to be a modification
-of the inexorableness of law, such as comes in a manifestation of Mercy
-in the modification, or suspension, or the obliteration of the penalty
-of a law by the forgiveness of sin--for "sin is the transgression of
-the law"[B]--all this must not be thought upon as capriciousness, the
-arbitrary act of Deity in the interests of special favorites. No; the
-manifestation of mercy which seems to set aside the severity of the
-law, which seems to soften its inexorableness by allowing an escape
-from its penalty, by forgiveness of sins--this is the result of the
-operation of law, as much so as when the law proceeds to the utmost of
-its severity, to the extreme manifestation of its inexorableness in the
-exaction of the utmost farthing of its penalty. It is not by special
-and personal favor that men shall have forgiveness of sins, and find
-shelter under the wings of Mercy. That must be obtained, if obtained at
-all, under the operation of law governing the application of Mercy in
-the economy of the moral and spiritual world; by law that operates upon
-all alike. Forgiveness of sins, like other blessings, is predicated
-upon the obedience to law, and is not based upon personal favor. "There
-is a law irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundation of the
-world, upon which all blessings are predicated; and when we obtain
-any blessing from God it is by obedience to that law upon which it
-is predicated"[C]--forgiveness of sins with the rest. It is because
-we live under this reign of law that the scriptures teach that God
-is no respector of persons. God "regardeth not persons, nor taketh
-reward."[D] "Neither doth God respect any person; yet doth he devise
-means, that his banished be not expelled from him."[E] "Peace to every
-man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile; for
-there is no respect of persons with God."[F] "Call on the Father, who
-without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work."[G]
-
-[Footnote A: "While new cosmic bodies arise and develop out of rotating
-masses of nebula in some parts of the universe, in other parts old,
-extinct, frigid suns come into collision, and are once more reduced
-by the heat generated to the condition of nebulae. * * * While minute
-and then larger bodies are being formed by this pyknotic [condensing]
-process in one part of space, and the intermediate ether increases
-its strain, the opposite process--the destruction of cosmic bodies by
-collision--is taking place in another quarter. The immense quantity of
-heat which is generated in this mechanical process of the collision
-of swiftly moving bodies represents the new kinetic energy which
-effects the movement of the resultant nebulae and the construction of
-new rotating bodies. The eternal drama begins afresh. Even our mother
-earth, which was formed of part of the gyrating solar system millions
-of ages ago, will grow cold and lifeless after the lapse of further
-millions, and, gradually narrowing its orbit, will fall eventually into
-the sun." (Ernest Haeckel: "Riddle of the Universe"--1900,--pp. 240,
-243).]
-
-[Footnote B: I John iii:4.]
-
-[Footnote C: Doc. & Cov., Sec. 130.]
-
-[Footnote D: Deut. xiv:17.]
-
-[Footnote E: II Sam. xiv:14.]
-
-[Footnote F: Rom. ii:10, 11.]
-
-[Footnote G: I Peter i:17.]
-
-"The collision of suns may have produced nebulae and these nebulae
-in turn may gradually develop themselves into suns again. It seems
-reasonably certain that nebulae are the stuff from which the stars are
-made" ("Science-History of the Universe," Vol. I; "Astronomy," p. 318).]
-
-_5. Sense of Security Under a Reign of Law:_ So here men stand
-under the reign of Law, before God. No one may hope to escape the
-penalty due to violation of law through favor; no one will fall under
-the condemnation of the law-through lack of favor with God, by reason
-of capriciousness in him, much less through vindictiveness, which is
-unthinkable in God. God will make no infraction of the law, in the
-interests of supposed favorites; such "blessings," whether in the
-providing of permanent opportunities for individuals, families, or
-races, as may reach through the apparent complexity of things to men;
-or occasional blessings such as seem to come to some individuals as
-special acts of providence; all will come in accordance with the laws
-upon which such blessings were predicated before the foundations of the
-world were laid; and this notwithstanding inequalities and diversity
-of fortunes and misfortunes that exist among individuals, families,
-nations, races of men. Underneath all the diversities and equalities
-that exist, so difficult to account for in some of their aspects, there
-law is operating despite all seeming incongruities; and out of all
-these diversities and complexities of experiences, at the last will
-come justice--God's justice; and men will be satisfied that it is so.
-
-Meanwhile this reign of law, with all its inexorableness--nay, rather
-because of it--present and operating as well in disintegrating as in
-integrating processes; present in the manifestations of mercy and
-"special acts of providence," as in manifestations of severity in the
-moral and spiritual world; how splendid it all is! How satisfying!
-What assurance, what confidence it gives! No wonder that John Fiske,
-remarking upon the idea of the reign of law, said: "So beautiful is
-all this orderly coherence, so satisfying to some of our intellectual
-needs, that many minds are inclined to doubt if anything more can be
-said of the universe than that it is a 'Reign of Law,' an endless
-aggregate of coexistences and sequences."
-
-But the deeper and truer view of things will be, not to accept this
-"reign of law" as God; nor mistake it for Deity--for mistake it would
-be if confounded with God. Let the reign of law be conceived rather
-as the means through which God is working to the achievement of his
-high purposes--God in the world, and working through law;[A] God, the
-administrative Power in the reign of law.
-
-[Footnote A: It is only just to John Fiske to say that such is his
-conception of the matter; for, commenting upon the effect upon the
-thinker who has this conception of the reign of law in the world, he
-says: "The thinker in whose mind divine action is thus identified
-with orderly action and reign of law, and to whom a really irregular
-phenomenon would seem like a manifestation of sheer diabolism, foresees
-in every possible extension of knowledge a fresh confirmation of
-his faith in God. From his point of view there can be no antagonism
-between our duty as inquirers and our duty as worshipers. To him
-no part of the universe is godless. In the swaying to and fro of
-molecules and ceaseless pulsations of ether, in the secular shifting
-of planetary orbits, in the busy work of frost and raindrop, in the
-mysterious sprouting of the seed, in the everlasting tale of death and
-life renewed, in the dawning of babe's intelligence, in the varied
-deeds of men from age to age, he finds that which awakens the soul to
-reverential awe: and each act of scientific explanation but reveals
-an opening through which shines the glory of the Eternal Majesty"
-("Studies in Religion," pp. 167-8).]
-
-It is this quality of exorableness in law, excellent and essential as
-it is, that made the Atonement of the Christ necessary to the salvation
-of man.
-
-
-
-LESSON XVI.
-
-(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
-
-THE APPLICATION OF PRINCIPLES--(A) ARBITRARY ACTION EXCLUDED IN MAN'S
-REDEMPTION.
-
-ANALYSIS.
-
-I. Recapitulation of Principles.
-
-II. The Commandment Given--Violated--Effects
-
-III. The Commandment Given as to an Immortal Person--The Penalty
-Eternal.
-
-IV. The Problem Propounded--
-
-1. What can man do?
-
-2. What can God do?
-
-V. Redemption by the Sovereign Act of God--Arbitrary Action Under Reign
-of Law, Inadmissable.
-
-REFERENCES.
-
-Doc. & Cov., Sec. 29; Gen. ii and iii.
-
-Hebrews ix and x.
-
-Alma xxxiv and the works and passages cited in the body of this lesson.
-
-_SPECIAL TEXT: "And thus we see that all mankind were fallen, and they
-were in the grasp of justice yea the justice of God, which consigned
-them forever to be cut off from his presence." (Book of Alma xlii:14.)_
-
-DISCUSSION.
-
-_1. Recapitulation:_ Let us now begin the application of our
-principles to the Atonement. But first a brief recapitulation of them.
-
-We have seen in preceding lessons--
-
-That Intelligences, though differing in degree of intelligence are all
-eternal; and are begotten spirits in a heavenly kingdom; and God is
-their Father;
-
-That the purpose of God with reference to his spirit-offspring is to
-bring to pass their eternal life and progress and joy;
-
-That to bring to pass possible progress and happiness to the spirits
-of men, union of the spirits with earth elements is necessary, hence
-earth-birth and earth-life are provided for man;
-
-That to get an environment bringing man in contact with sin and
-suffering and death, all which shall give him the experience
-essential to his progress--the harmony in the "reign of law" must be
-broken--there must be violation of law, there must be a fall of man;
-
-That the fall of man did not surprise the purposes of God, but
-furthered them;
-
-That violations of law, however ignorantly done or designedly planned,
-and that even for right ends, involves destruction nevertheless of the
-harmony of things, and relations, and also involves the transgressor
-in the penalties inseparably connected with law, and without which law
-would be of no force at all;
-
-That the attributes of God, each complete and perfect, must exist in
-harmony with each other, no one supplanting another or intruding upon
-its domain;
-
-That a reign of law subsists throughout the universe as well in the
-moral and spiritual kingdom as in the physical world;
-
-That any manifestations of mercy, or special providence prompted by
-love must not violate the harmony subsisting in the attributes of God,
-or be contrary to the conception of the universal reign of law;
-
-That Love and Mercy, however, must enter into the economy of the
-earth-order of things; they must get themselves in some way worthily
-expressed; no divine economy can exist without them, and without such
-expression; even justice crys aloud for their presence.
-
-To get Love and Mercy adequately expressed in the earth-order of
-things, and in harmony with law, is the burden and mission of the
-Christ through the Atonement.
-
-This is the point to which our previous lessons have led us; and now to
-the working out of the application of our principles.
-
-_2. The Commandment Given and Violated.--Effects:_ The commandment
-is given, saying: "O. every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat;
-but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat
-of it; for in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: Gen. ii:16, 17.]
-
-We need not speculate upon the nature of the thing forbidden. It is
-enough to know here that partaking of the thing forbidden by the
-commandment led to the knowledge of evil, as well as of good--to
-knowledge that comes of experience; and though, as I have before
-argued, the transgression so far from surprising the purposes of God
-was essential to them, yet when law is transgressed, in the nature of
-things, penalties must follow, else laws are but a mockery and the
-reign of law a myth.
-
-Adam transgressed the law, as already detailed;[A] the penalties
-followed. The nature of those penalties must be found in the events
-following the "fall" as consequences as well as in the penalty
-pronounced--"In the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."
-The harmony of things was broken: innocence fled; union with God was
-severed; God banished man from his presence--spiritual death;[B]
-physical death also followed; for as to his body, dust man is, and unto
-dust shall he return, was the decree of God,[C] and all the woes that
-make up the sum of evil in man's earth life followed.
-
-[Footnote A: Lessons VII and VIII.]
-
-[Footnote B: "The task we have set ourselves is to investigate the
-essential nature of Spiritual Death. And we have found it to consist of
-a want of communion with God" (Drummond's "Natural Law in the Spiritual
-World," p. 158). So that spiritual life consists in a union with God;
-destroy that union--and sinning against God destroys it--and spiritual
-death ensues. For this doctrine we have the warrant of revelation:
-
-"Adam * * * partook of the forbidden fruit and transgressed the
-commandment; * * * whereupon I, the Lord God, caused that he should
-be cast out from the Garden of Eden, from my presence, because of
-his transgression, wherein he became spiritually dead, which is the
-first death, even that same death which is the last death, which is
-spiritual, which shall be pronounced upon the wicked when I shall say,
-'Depart ye cursed'" (Doc. & Cov., Sec. xxix:40, 41). "The fall had
-brought upon all mankind a spiritual death as well as a temporal; that
-is, they were cut off from the presence of the Lord" (Alma xlii:9).]
-
-[Footnote C: Gen. iii:19. The several sentences of this chapter
-pronounced upon man and woman should be included as penalties affixed
-to the commandment, "Thou shalt not eat of it," as well as "Thou shalt
-surely die."]
-
-_3. The Commandment is Given as to An Immortal Being:_ This is now
-the situation: The law is broken. The penalty is incurred. The law is
-inexorable. The law was addressed to one provisionally immortal--had
-not man sinned his life would have been eternal. The law was not
-temporal, but eternal. "Not at any time," said the Lord to Joseph
-Smith and six elders, in Fayette, September, 1830--"not at any time
-have I given unto you a law which was temporal; neither Adam your
-father whom I created. Behold, I gave unto him that he should be an
-agent unto himself; and I gave unto him commandment, but no temporal
-commandment gave I unto him, for my commandments are spiritual; they
-are not natural, nor temporal, neither carnal nor sensual."[A] The
-Prophet Joseph also said: "All things whatsoever God in his infinite
-wisdom has seen fit and proper to reveal to us, while we are dwelling
-in mortality, in regard to our mortal bodies, are revealed to us in the
-abstract, and independent of affinity with this mortal tabernacle; but
-are revealed to our spirits precisely as though we had no bodies at
-all; and those revelations which will save our spirits will save our
-bodies. God reveals them to us in view of no eternal dissolution of the
-body, or tabernacle."[B]
-
-[Footnote A: Doc. & Cov., Sec. xxix:34, 35.]
-
-[Footnote B: Sermon of April Conference, 1844--the "King Follett
-Sermon," "Improvement Era" for January, 1909; published also in
-"History of the Church," Vol. VI, with notes by the Editor.]
-
-_4. The Problem:_ What, Then, Can Man or God Do? The commandment,
-then, is given to Adam as to an eternal being, and by violating the
-law, and doubtless an eternal law, he and the race he shall beget is
-under an eternal penalty.[A] Under these circumstances what shall man
-do? Nay, rather, what can he do? What shall God do? Nay, what can he
-do? Forgive man his transgression out of hand as becomes the true
-sovereign of the universe? An ancient and, I might say, a time-honored
-suggestion. Origen the theologian of the third Christian century, and
-held to be "the greatest Christian mind of the ante-nicene age," at
-least held forth the possibility of such procedure. For in his views
-"the remission of sin is made to depend upon arbitrary will, without
-reference to retributive justice, as is evidenced by his assertion that
-God might have chosen milder means to save man than he did; e. g.,
-that he might by a sovereign act of his will have made the sacrifices
-of the Old Testament to suffice for man's sin."[B] "But logic," as
-Shedd subsequently remarked, "could not stop at this point;" for
-if the provision for ratifying the broken law is resolved into an
-optional act on the part of God, it follows that an Atonement might be
-dispensed with altogether. "For the tribitrary and almighty will that
-was competent to declare the claims of justice to be satisfied by the
-finite sacrifice of bulls and goats would be competent also to declare
-that those claims should receive no satisfaction at all."
-
-[Footnote A: On this particular point the late Elder Orson Pratt
-wrote: "We believe that all mankind, by the transgression of their
-first parents, and not by their own sins, were brought under the curse
-and penalty of that transgression, which consigned them to an eternal
-banishment from the presence of God, and their bodies to an endless
-sleep in the dust, never more to rise, and their spirits to endless
-misery under the power of Satan; and that, in this awful condition,
-they were utterly lost and fallen and had no power of their own to
-extricate themselves therefrom" (Pratt's Works, "Remarkable Visions)."
-Also the Book of Mormon: "Wherefore the first judgment which came upon
-man [the judgment of death] must needs have remained to an endless
-duration" (II Nephi ix:7).]
-
-[Footnote A: Shedd, "History of Christian Doctrine," Vol. II, p. 234.
-He cites Redepenning; Origines II, 409, for his authority.
-
-The views of Origen are all the more surprising from the fact that the
-Epistle to the Hebrews makes clear the inadequacy of the sacrifices
-of animals for the satisfaction of the claims of justice for man's
-transgression of the law (Chs. ix and x). On this point the Prophet
-Alma is very clear: "Behold. I say unto you, that I do know that
-Christ shall come among the children of men, to take upon himself the
-transgressions of his people, and that he shall atone for the sins of
-the world; for the Lord God hath spoken it; for it is expedient that
-an Atonement should be made; for according to the great plan of the
-eternal God, there must be an Atonement made or else all mankind must
-unavoidably perish; yea, all are hardened; yea, all are fallen and
-are lost, and must perish except it be through the Atonement which it
-is expedient should be made; for it is expedient that there should
-be a great and last sacrifice; yea, not a sacrifice of man, neither
-of beast, neither of any manner of fowl; for it shall not be a human
-sacrifice; but it must be an infinite and eternal sacrifice. * * * *
-And behold, this is the whole meaning of the law; every whit pointing
-to that great and last sacrifice; and that great and last sacrifice
-will be the Son of God; yea, infinite and eternal."]
-
-Abelard (twelfth century) also held that there was "nothing in the
-Divine nature which necessitates a satisfaction for past transgression
-antecedently to remission of penalty; like creating out of nothing,
-redemption may and does take place by a _fiat_, by which sin is
-abolished by a word, and the sinner is received into favor. * * *
-Abelard denies the doctrine of satisfaction and contends that God may
-remit penalty by a sovereign act of will.[A] Even Augustine, according
-to Neander, declared that if considered from the point of view of the
-divine omnipotence" he believed the answer must be in the affirmative;
-that is, that choice of other means for man's redemption than the
-Atonement could have been made. "But no other way," Augustine supposed,
-"would have been so well adapted for man's recovery from his wretched
-condition," as the one that was adopted in the Atonement of Christ.
-Not, however, from the "intrinsic nature of the case; not from the daws
-of the moral government of the world;" but because of the subjective
-influence that the union of the divine nature with the human--effected
-in the incarnation and the Atonement by the Christ, would have upon
-man.[B]
-
-[Footnote A: Shedd, "History of Christian Doctrine," Vol. II, pp. 260,
-261.]
-
-[Footnote B: The matter is stated at length in Neander's "History
-of the Christian Religion and Church," Vol. IV, pp. 497-8. See also
-Augustine (De Trinitate), Lib. xiii, Ch. x. "This idea of an 'abstract'
-omnipotence accompanies the history of the doctrine of atonement down
-from the earliest to the latest times. In the ancient church, Irenaeus
-(Adv. Haer. III, XX.), Cyril of Jerusalem, Basil, and Ambrose contend
-for an absolute necessity of Christ's satisfaction; while Athanasius,
-Augustine, Cyril of Alexandria, Theodoret, and John Damascene assert
-only a relative necessity. In the mediaeval church, Anselm, and perhaps
-Hugh St. Victor assert an absolute, while Abelard, Bernard, Lombard,
-Hales, Bonaventure, and Aquinas (Cont. Gent. IV, liv, lv) concede
-only a relative necessity. In the seventeenth century, the subject
-was discussed by Owen, and Twise (the prolocutor of the Westminster
-Assembly); the former asserting and the latter denying, the absolute
-necessity of a satisfaction. See Owen's tract, 'On the Nature of
-Justice'" ("History of Christian Doctrine," Vol. II, p. 302, note).]
-
-It should be remembered, however, that the doctrine of the "reign
-of law," in the moral government of the world, excludes arbitrary
-action--action independent of law--even though beneficent; and if that
-were not true, then God must act in harmony with his own attributes.
-Mercy must not be at variance with Justice. Even God's Omnipotence must
-keep step with the attributes of Truth and Wisdom. Satisfaction for
-violated law, satisfaction to divine justice is a claim that may no
-more be set aside than the pleadings of Mercy. A way shall be found out
-of these difficulties, but it must not be by "a schism in the Deity,
-and an intestine conflict between the divine attributes."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: Shedd's "History of Christian Doctrine," p. 300.]
-
-It can be readily understood that not even God's Omnipotence could make
-it possible for him to act contrary to Truth and Justice.[A] It ought
-to be no more difficult to understand that God's Omnipotence could
-not permit him to set aside a satisfaction to Justice as an arbitrary
-concession to Mercy. Mere power has not the right to nullify law. Not
-even Omnipotence has the light to abolish Justice. Might in Deity is
-not more fundamental than Right. God we must conclude will act in
-harmony with all his attributes, else confusion in the moral government
-of the world.
-
-[Footnote A: See closing paragraphs Lesson XII.]
-
-These reflections lead to the inevitable conclusion that there must be
-a satisfaction made to justice before there can be redemption for man.
-But how?
-
-
-
-LESSON XVII.
-
-(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
-
-APPLICATION OF PRINCIPLES--(B) THE REDEMPTION TO BE THE WORK OF GOD.
-
-ANALYSIS.
-
-VI. Repentance and Future Obedience--Ineffectual as Satisfaction for
-the Past; Atonement Must Equal Offense.
-
-VII. The Atonement Also a Matter of Power--Ability to Restore that
-which was Lost.
-
-VIII. Man May Not Be Left Under the Sentence of a Broken Law, as that
-Would Violate God's Promise of Eternal Life.
-
-IX. Conditions that Must Be Met in the Atonement of Deity for the
-Salvation of Man.
-
-REFERENCES.
-
-Book of Alma xxxiv; Book of Mosiah xv; St. John x:14-18; also v:19-29.
-
-Mormon Doctrine of Deity--"Jesus Christ the Revelation of God," Ch. iv.
-
-And the quotations and references in the body of this lesson.
-
-_SPECIAL TEXTS: "For as the Father hath life in himself, so hath he
-given to the Son to have life in himself." (St. John v.26.)_
-
-_"For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them, even so
-the Son quickeneth whom he will." (St. John v.21.)_
-
-DISCUSSION.
-
-_1. The Helplessness of Man in the Presence of Broken Law:_ The
-preceding lesson closed with the question how can satisfaction be made
-to justice in order that redemption may reach fallen man. Admittedly
-man, the transgressor of law, is powerless to make such satisfaction.
-True, it is conceivable that he might repent of his transgression, and
-through struggle maintain himself in righteousness for the future. But
-that does not reach the past. If he should by struggle maintain himself
-in righteousness for the future, that is no more than he ought to do.
-Man owes that duty every day in the present and in the future. It is
-the breach in the law that must be mended. Man is under the sentence
-of eternal death, spiritual and temporal;[A] for a past transgression
-of the law of God. Doing what is merely his duty in the present and
-the future will not make satisfaction for the past. Man is helpless
-in the presence of that broken law; no act of his can atone for the
-transgression of Adam or stay the effects of the fall upon the race, or
-redeem them from the penalty of death.
-
-[Footnote A: "Wherefore the first judgment which came upon man [the
-judgment of death] must needs have remained to an endless duration.
-And if so, this flesh must have laid down to rot and to crumble to its
-mother earth, to rise no more" (II Nephi ix:7). Because of the fall of
-Adam "all mankind were fallen, and they were in the grasp of justice;
-yea, the justice of God, which consigned them forever to be cut off
-from his presence" (Alma xl ii; 14).]
-
-_2. Only Deity Can Satisfy the Claims of Deity:_ The sin of Adam
-was a sin against divine law; a sin against the majesty of God. Only a
-God can render a satisfaction to that insulted honor and majesty. Only
-Deity can satisfy the claims of Deity.
-
-And hence Alma says, in speaking of the Atonement, and in view of the
-inadequacy of any atonement man himself can make: "It shall not be a
-human sacrifice; but it must be an infinite and eternal sacrifice. * * *
-And behold, this is the whole meaning of the law; every white pointing
-to that great and last sacrifice; and that great and last sacrifice
-will be the Son of God; yea, infinite and eternal. * * * The plan of
-mercy could not be brought about except an atonement should be made;
-therefore God himself atoneth for the sins of the world to bring about
-the plan of Mercy, to appease the demands of Justice."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: Alma xxxiv:10-14; xlii:15. See also II Nephi ix:7]
-
-_3. The Atonement Also a Matter of Power to Make It--Capacity:_
-Moreover the Atonement is not only a matter of satisfying the insulted
-honor and majesty of God adequately by like meeting like, and measure
-answering measure; but it is also a question of power. Not only must
-the dishonor towards God be removed by satisfaction, but there must be
-power over death; there must be a power of life that that which was
-lost may be restored; and not only as to the spiritual life of man with
-God; but restored union between the spirit and body of man--physical
-life upon which the happiness and progress that God has designed for
-man depends. "Man," it should be always remembered, "is spirit." "The
-elements [meaning elements of matter] are eternal; and spirit and
-element inseparably connected receive a fulness of joy."[A] Hence the
-importance of man's physical life, the union of his deathless spirit
-with a body that must be made equally immortal; and since the fall
-brought to man this physical death as well as the spiritual death; his
-redemption, to be complete, must re-establish that physical life by
-reuniting the essential elements of the body of man and his spirit, in
-the resurrection, and the resurrection must be universal; the Atonement
-in its redeeming effects must be as universal as the fall. As in Adam
-all die, so through the Redeemer of men must all be made alive,[B] if
-the redemption is to be complete. It was doubtless these considerations
-which led some of the Nephite prophets to say that the Atonement
-"must needs be an infinite atonement;" by which, as I think, they
-sought to express the idea of the sufficiency of it; its completeness;
-the universality and power of it to restore all that was lost, both
-spiritual and physical, as well as to express the rank and dignity of
-him who would make the Atonement.
-
-[Footnote A: Doc. & Cov., Sec. 93:33, 34.]
-
-[Footnote B: I Cor. xv:22.]
-
-The Redeemer, then, must be a Lord of life, hence Deity. He must not
-only have the power of life within himself, but the power to impart it
-to others--a God-like power; and to inspire faith in his possession
-of such power, the manner of the Atonement must be such as to include
-demonstration of that fact, else how shall men have faith in him? All
-these considerations lift the Redeemer and the Atonement far above man
-and what man can do. Truly the redemption of man is to be the work of
-God.
-
-_4. Scripture Warrant for Above Conclusions:_ And now for the
-scripture warrant for these conclusions:
-
-    "I lay down my life for the sheep [men]. * * * Therefore doth my
-    Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it
-    again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I
-    have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This
-    commandment have I received of my Father.[A]
-
-    "Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up; * * *
-    he spake of the temple of his body, when therefore he was risen
-    from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto
-    them."[B] "Thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the
-    dead the third day."[C]
-
-    "In him was life; and the life was the light of men."[D] "Verily,
-    verily I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what
-    he seeth the Father do; for what things soever he doeth, these also
-    doeth the Son likewise. For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth
-    him all things that himself doeth; and he will shew him greater
-    works than these, that ye may marvel. For as the Father raiseth up
-    the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he
-    will.[E] Verily, verily, I say unto you, the hour is come and now
-    is when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and they
-    that hear shall live. For as the Father hath life in himself so
-    hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; and hath given
-    him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of
-    man. Marvel not at this; for the hour is coming, in which all that
-    are in the graves shall hear his voice. And shall come forth; they
-    have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have
-    done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation."[F]
-
-[Footnote A: St. John x:17, 18.]
-
-[Footnote B: Ibid ii:19-22.]
-
-[Footnote C: Luke xxiv:46.]
-
-[Footnote D: St. John i:4.]
-
-[Footnote E: St. John v:19-29.]
-
-[Footnote F: St. John v:25-29.]
-
-_5. Man May Not Be Left to Suffer the Course of Justice, As That
-Would Thwart the Divine Purposes and Promises:_ But to return
-now to the thought that God himself must make atonement for man's
-transgression. And we come back to that thought with increased
-conviction after considering the necessary element of power in
-connection with the Atonement, the ability to restore that which was
-lost--life, spiritual and physical; not the work of man, but the work
-of a Deity, a Lord of life--God must himself redeem man. That or
-justice must take its course and the sinner be left to satisfy the
-justice of God by an endless misery under the sentence of law; without
-union with God--spiritual death; and subject to the dissolution of
-spirit and body, without the power of resurrection--physical death. But
-that would thwart the purpose of God with reference to the earth-life
-of man, which was designed for his progress, that progress might bring
-him joy.[A] Moreover, to leave man under the penalty of a broken law,
-which means to him eternal death, physical and spiritual, would be
-contrary to the pledge of eternal life "which God, that cannot lie,
-promised before the world began."[B] Under these circumstances justice
-may not be left to take its course. There must be an atonement made for
-man and as none but God can make an adequate atonement in the case,
-then a Deity must make it. And hence one of the Nephite prophets,
-coming to the same conclusion, wrote: "And now the plan of mercy could
-not be brought about, except an atonement should be made; therefore God
-himself atoneth for the sins of the world, to bring about the plan of
-mercy, to appease the demands of justice, that God might be a perfect,
-just God, and a merciful God also"[C] The Atonement, we conclude, must
-be made by a Deity, in order to be adequate; but it must be made by a
-Deity living a man's life--hence the incarnation of the spirit of a
-Deity in the person of Jesus Christ.[D] It must be made by a Deity
-who will live man's life with all its temptations, yet remain without
-sin that the sacrifice might be without spot or blemish;" by one who
-will give to the world the illustration and the one demonstration of a
-perfect life--a life in which the will is wholly subjected to the will
-of God Also the Atonement must be made by a Deity living man's life
-that the satisfaction to the justice of God may be rendered from the
-same plane on which the offense was offered, and essentially from amid
-the same conditions. Hence the special temptation of Jesus by Lucifer.
-The Atonement must be made by a Deity who shall die man's death, but
-who shall not be holden of it, but break its bands and demonstrate
-the power of the resurrection of which he is the first fruits, and
-ever after Lord of life and the power of the resurrection--such, for
-instance, as was Jesus Christ.
-
-[Footnote A: II Nephi ii:25; Doc. & Cov., Sec. 93:33,34, and I Peter
-i:18-20.]
-
-[Footnote B: Paul to Titus: Titus i:1, 2; see also Lesson IV.]
-
-[Footnote C: Jesus Christ not only Divine but Deity. See Lecture by
-the writer, "Mormon Doctrine of Deity," Ch. iv.]
-
-[Footnote D: "Ye know that ye were not redeemed by corruptible things,
-* * but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without
-blemish, and without spot" (I Peter i:18, 19). All the victims in the
-sacrifices under the law which typified the Christ were required to be
-perfect, spotless, without blemish, foreshadowing that he, too, who was
-to atone for man's sin would be without fault.]
-
-
-
-LESSON XVIII.
-
-(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
-
-SCOPE AND MOTIVE FORCE OF THE ATONEMENT.
-
-ANALYSIS.
-
-I. Scope of the Atonement Broader Than Individual Sins.
-
-II. Distinction Between Adam's Sin and Individual Sins.
-
-1. Free Redemption from the First.
-
-2. Conditional Redemption from the Second.
-
-III. The Same Principle Involved in Both General and Individual
-Atonement.
-
-IV. The Motive Force of the Atonement.
-
-REFERENCES.
-
-Orson Pratt's Remarkable Visions, closing pages. Also The Kingdom of
-God, part III, subdivision V, Pratt's Works.
-
-The Gospel (Roberts), Chs. ii and iii.
-
-II Nephi ii, and Alma xii and xlii.
-
-And the text and context of passages quoted and cited in this lesson.
-
-_SPECIAL TEXT: "Wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world, and
-death by sin and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.
-* * * Therefore as by the offense of one judgment came upon all men to
-condemnation, even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came
-upon all men unto justification of life." (Rom. v:12, 18.)_
-
-DISCUSSION.
-
-1. The Atonement of Broader Scope than Making Satisfaction for Adam's
-Sin: So far the Atonement has been considered only with reference to
-its effect upon the transgression of Adam. It is, however, of much
-broader scope than that. Not only must the sin of Adam be atoned, but
-satisfaction must be made for the sins of every man, if the integrity
-of the moral government of the world is to be preserved. Man is just
-as helpless with reference to his own, individual sins, as Adam was
-with reference to his sin. Man when he sins by breaking the laws of
-God, sins of course against divine law; commits a crime against the
-majesty of God, and thereby dishonors him. And man is just as helpless
-to make adequate satisfaction to God, I repeat, as Adam was for his sin
-in Eden; and is just as hopelessly in the grasp of inexorable law as
-Adam and his race were after the first transgression. For individual
-man from the beginning was as much in duty bound to keep the law of God
-as Adam was; and if now, in the present and for the future he observes
-the law of God and remains righteous, he is doing no more than he ought
-to have done from the beginning; and doing his duty now and for the
-future can not free him from the consequences of his past violations
-of God's law. The individual man, then, is just as much in need of
-a satisfaction being made to the justice of God for his individual
-transgression of divine law, for his violence to the honor of God, for
-his insult to the majesty of God, as was Adam for his sin.
-
-_2. Distinction Between Adam's Sin and Individual Sin:_ The
-difference between the sin of Adam and the sin of the individual man
-is this: First, Adam's sin, which the scriptures call the fall, was
-racial, in that it involved all the race of Adam in its consequences,
-bringing upon them both a spiritual and a physical death, the nature
-of which has already been explained.[A] Man's individual sin is more
-limited in its consequences though for a time his personal sins may
-involve the happiness of others in their consequences, yet ultimately
-they will be narrowed down to personal results; affecting the actual
-sinner's personal relationship to God, to righteousness, to truth, to
-progress, to happiness.
-
-[Footnote A: Lesson XV.]
-
-Second. Adam's sin was necessary to the creation of those conditions
-under which man could obtain the experiences of earth-life necessary to
-the union of his spirit with earth elements; necessary to his progress
-as a divine Intelligence; necessary to his knowledge of good and evil
-in actual conflict; joy and sorrow; pleasure and pain; life and death;
-in a word, necessary that man might become acquainted with these
-opposite existences,[A] their conflicts and their values; all which
-was essential to, and designed for man's progress, for his development
-in virtue and power and largeness and splendor of existence. But man's
-individual sins are not necessary to these general purposes of God.
-That is, the fall of Adam was necessary to the accomplishment of the
-general purposes of God; but it was not necessary to those purposes
-that Cain should kill Abel, his brother; or "that every imagination of
-the thoughts of man's heart" should be "evil continually."[B]
-
-[Footnote A: See II Nephi, ii also "New Witness for God," Vol. III, pp.
-219-227.]
-
-[Footnote B: Gen. vi:5.]
-
-The fall of Adam, I say, was necessary to the attainment of these
-possibilities and hence the atonement made for Adam's sin is of
-universal effect and application without stipulations or conditions, or
-obedience or any other act as a condition precedent to participation
-in the full benefits of release from the consequences of Adam's
-transgression. Hence it is written: "Since by man came death, by man
-came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even
-so in Christ shall all be made alive."[A] And again: "Therefore, as
-by the offense of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation;
-even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men
-to the justification of life."[B] Free redemption then is provided
-from the consequences of Adam's transgression, because the fall was
-essential to the achievement of God's purpose with reference to man.
-Not so, however, with the individual man. His individual sinning is not
-absolutely necessary to the achievement of God's purposes. All men may
-sin; nay, all who come to years of accountability, doubtless, do sin;
-"For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God."[C] "And so
-death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." "There is none
-righteous, no not one; * * They are all gone out of the way; * * there
-is none that doeth good, no, not one."[D] But while all men sin--except
-those who die in infancy or early childhood--it is not necessary that
-men should sin, and hence they may be held fully accountable to the
-justice of God for their individual transgressions of law, and are
-so held accountable. The penalty for the individual sins of men is
-a second spiritual death, not a physical death, not a separation of
-the spirit and the body of man after the resurrection, for what is
-achieved for man's physical life by the resurrection remains.[E] But
-for his own individual sins (and this constitutes the third distinction
-between Adam's sin and the sins of other men) he is subject to a second
-spiritual death, to banishment from the presence of God; his spiritual
-union and communion with God is broken, and spiritual death ensues.
-The Lord, in speaking of Adam and his first transgression, says: "I
-the Lord caused that he should be cast out from the Garden of Eden,
-from my presence, because of his transgression, wherein he became
-spiritually dead, which is the first death, even that same death, which
-is spiritual, which shall be pronounced upon the wicked when I shall
-say--Depart, ye cursed."[F]
-
-[Footnote A: I Cor. xv:21, 22.]
-
-[Footnote B: Rom. v:18.]
-
-[Footnote C: Rom. iii:23.]
-
-[Footnote D: Rom. iii:10-12.]
-
-[Footnote E: "Now, there is a death which is called a temporal death;
-and the death of Christ shall loose the bands of this temporal death,
-that all shall be raised from this temporal death; the spirit and the
-body shall be reunited again in perfect form; both limb and joint shall
-be restored to its proper frame, even as we now are at this time; and
-we shall be brought to stand before God, knowing even as we know now
-and have a bright recollection of all our guilt. Now this restoration
-shall come to all, both old and young, both bond and free; both male
-and female, both the wicked and the righteous and even there shall
-not so much as a hair of their heads be lost but all things shall be
-restored to their perfect frame, as it is now, or in the body, and
-shall be brought and arraigned before the bar of Christ the Son, and
-God, the Father, and the Holy Spirit which is one Eternal God, to be
-judged according to their works, whether they be good or whether they
-be evil. Now, behold, I have spoken unto you, concerning the death of
-the mortal body, and also concerning the resurrection of the mortal
-body. I say unto you that this mortal body is raised to an immortal
-body; that is from death; even from the first death unto life, that
-they can die no more; their spirits uniting with their bodies, never to
-be divided. Thus the whole becoming spiritual and immortal, that they
-can no more see corruption" (Alma Ch. xi:42-45).]
-
-[Footnote F: Doc. & Cov. Sec. 29:41.]
-
-So Alma, explaining the fall of man, and how God gave unto men
-commandments, after having made known unto them the plan of redemption,
-saying: "That they should not do evil, the penalty thereof being a
-second death, which was an everlasting death as to things pertaining to
-righteousness."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: Alma xii:31, 32.]
-
-Again Alma, describing the impenitent dead before the bar of God, says:
-
-    "And now behold I say unto you, then cometh a death, even a second
-    death, which is a spiritual death; then is a time that whosoever
-    dieth in sins, as to a temporal death, shall also die a spiritual
-    death; yea he shall die as to things pertaining unto righteousness;
-    * * * Then I say unto you, they shall be as though there had been
-    no redemption made; for they cannot be redeemed according to God's
-    justice; and they cannot die, seeing there is no more corruption."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: Alma xii:16, 18.]
-
-Samuel the Lamanite prophet says: "The resurrection of Christ redeemeth
-mankind, yea, even all mankind, and bringeth them back into the
-presence of the Lord; * * * but whosoever repenteth not * * * then cometh
-upon them again a spiritual death, for they are cut off again as to
-things pertaining to righteousness."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: Helaman Ch. xiv:17, 18.]
-
-3. Men as Dependent on the Atonement for Individual Sins as for
-Redemption from Adam's Sin: As already remarked, men having
-transgressed the law of God by their own personal violations of it,
-they are helpless of themselves to make satisfaction to the justice of
-God;[A] and are just as dependent upon a Redeemer to rescue them from
-the spiritual effects of their personal transgression of the divine law
-as from the effects of Adam's fall. Also, under a reign of law, God may
-not pardon men for their individual sins by arbitrary act of sovereign
-will. He may no more set aside the claims of justice unsatisfied in
-the case of men's personal sins than in the case of Adam's first sin.
-In both cases "a necessary and immanent attribute of Deity" stands
-in the way of the non-infliction of the penalty due to sin, _viz._,
-the attribute of Justice, which not even the attribute of Mercy may
-displace, or rob of that satisfaction which is due. God must act in
-harmony with his own attributes.
-
-[Footnote A: The late Elder Orson Pratt, put this doctrine of the
-helplessness of man to escape the penalty of his own sin in the most
-forcible manner. He said: "We believe that all who have done evil,
-having a knowledge of the law, or afterwards in this life coming to
-the knowledge thereof, are under a penalty, which is not inflicted
-in this world but in the world to come. Therefore such in this world
-are prisoners, shut up under the sentence of law, awaiting with awful
-fear for the time of judgment, when the penalty shall be inflicted,
-consigning them to a second banishment from the presence of their
-Redeemer, who had redeemed them from the penalty of the first law.
-But, enquires the sinner, is there no way for escape? Is my case
-hopeless? Can I not devise some way by which I can extricate myself
-from the penalty of the second law and escape this second banishment?
-The answer is,--if thou canst hide thyself from the all-searching eye
-of an Omnipresent God, that he shall not find thee, or if thou canst
-prevail with him to deny justice its claim, or if thou canst clothe
-thyself with power, and contend with the Almighty, and prevent him
-from executing the sentence of the law, then thou canst escape. If
-thou canst cause repentance, or baptism in water, or any of thine
-own works, to atone for the least of thy transgressions, then thou
-canst deliver thyself from the awful penalty that awaits thee. But be
-assured, O sinner, that thou canst not devise any way of thine own to
-escape, nor do anything that will atone for thy sins, therefore, thy
-case is hopeless, unless God hath devised some way for thy deliverance"
-(Remarkable Visions, Orson Pratt's Works).]
-
-_4. Identical Principles Operative in Man's Individual Sins as in
-Adam's Sin:_ In the case of man's individual violations of law,
-as in Adam's sin, the inexorableness of law holds good.[A] Thus
-satisfaction to justice in the case of individual sins like the
-satisfaction to justice for Adam's sin, must be rendered by God to
-God, "since only Deity can satisfy the claims of Deity." There is the
-same act against the honor of God; hence the same question of rank
-and dignity in the one who makes the Atonement. The same necessity
-for one not only willing but capable of making the Atonement, by
-suffering the penalty due to the sins of all men. He must suffer for
-them; for the ground work of their forgiveness and restoration to union
-with God must be that the penalty due to their sin has been paid.
-This or Justice goes unsatisfied--Mercy robs Justice or else the law
-must take its course and punishment be actually inflicted upon the
-transgressors which leaves man to a life of eternal misery, alienated
-from God, separated from the source of spiritual life and light; no
-longer in union with the power divine that could uplift and direct him
-to sublime heights of moral and spiritual excellence--man, under such
-circumstances, would indeed be spiritually dead, and dead eternally,
-since he is helpless to extricate himself from such conditions, as a
-sinner can not justify his sin, nor a criminal pardon his own crime.
-But to leave the punishment to be actually inflicted upon man would
-thwart the purpose of God with reference to man's earth-life; for God
-designed that mail's earth-life should eventuate in his happiness,
-in the union of man with God. "Men are that they might have joy." By
-other Book of Mormon teachers the plan for man's redemption is called
-"the plan of happiness," "the great plan of happiness;"[B] and as this
-happiness depends upon union and communion with God, it is proper to
-think of the gospel as contemplating the spiritual union of man with
-Deity.
-
-[Footnote A: Behold justice exerciseth all his demands. * * * What! do
-ye suppose that mercy-can rob justice? I say unto you, nay; not point
-urged by the Nephite writer is that God will act in harmony with his
-attributes, see the context--the whole chapter.]
-
-[Footnote B: Alma xlii:8, 15.]
-
-We conclude then that for man's individual sins as for Adam's sin,
-though differing in some respects already noted, involves the same
-necessity of Atonement to the honor of God by one equal with God--hence
-God.
-
-There is the same inexorableness of law; the same helplessness on the
-part of man to make satisfaction for his sin, hence man's dependence
-upon a vicarious atonement, if he is to find redemption at all. There
-is the same need for capacity in the one making the atonement to
-make full satisfaction to the justice of God by paying the uttermost
-farthing of man's obligations to the law; the idea of satisfaction
-necessarily involves that of penal suffering, coupling together those
-two ideas, satisfaction and expiation; or satisfaction to Justice
-through expiation. The Deity who redeems man must pay the penalty due
-to sin by suffering in man's stead.
-
-_5. Motive Force of the Atonement:_ And what shall prompt a Deity
-to make such an atonement? Two attributes of the Deity now a long
-time kept in the back ground, viz., Love and Mercy. We have seen and
-considered at some length the helplessness of man in the midst of
-those earth conditions necessary to his progress; God saw it from the
-beginning; and--
-
-    "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that
-    whosoever believeth on him might not perish but have everlasting
-    life.
-
-    "For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but
-    that the world through him might be saved."
-
-    "He that believeth on him is not condemned; but he that believeth
-    not is condemned already because he hath not believed in the name
-    of the only begotten Son of God.
-
-    "And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world,
-    and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were
-    evil."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: St. John iii:16-19.]
-
-
-
-LESSON XIX.
-
-(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
-
-THE ADVENT OF MERCY INTO THE EARTH-SCHEME OF THINGS.
-
-ANALYSIS.
-
-I. Source of Redemption.
-
-II. Antiquity of the Plan of Redemption.
-
-III. Vicarious Work of the Christ.
-
-IV. The Balancing of the Claims of Justice and Mercy.
-
-V. Man's Part in the Scheme of Redemption--Repent or Suffer.
-
-VI. The Advent of Mercy--Alternatives.
-
-VII. The Justice, Wisdom and Mercy of God.
-
-REFERENCES.
-
-The references of Lesson XVIII.
-
-Also Taylor's Mediation and Atonement, Chs. xix, xxiv, xxv; and the
-text and context of the passages of scriptures quoted and cited in this
-lesson.
-
-_SPECIAL TEXT: "The law entered that sin might abound. But when sin
-abounded, grace did more abound that as sin hath reigned unto death,
-even so might grace reign through righteousness, unto eternal life by
-Jesus Christ our Lord." (Rom. v:20, 21.)_
-
-DISCUSSION.
-
-_1. Manner of the Christ's Atonement Foreshadowed:_ This lesson
-continues with the truth with which the last one concluded, viz., "God
-so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever
-believeth on him might not perish, but have everlasting life." This
-declaration is preceded in the testimony of John with the following:
-
-    "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must
-    the Son of man be lifted up; that whosoever believeth in him should
-    not perish but have eternal life."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: St. John iii:14, 15.]
-
-Showing the manner of Christ's atonement.
-
-Peter the chief of the Judean apostles, and hence chief of the
-witnesses for the great truth of salvation through Christ, says: "For
-Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that
-he might bring us to God."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: I Peter iii:18.]
-
-_2. Source of Redemption:_ Inexorableness of Justice: The Nephite
-writers are even more explicit. Lehi says:
-
-    "The way is prepared and salvation is free, and men are
-    sufficiently instructed that they know good from evil. And the law
-    is given unto men. And by the law, no flesh is justified; or, by
-    the law, men are cut off. Yea, by the temporal law, they were cut
-    off; and also, by the spiritual law they perish from that which is
-    good, and become miserable forever. Wherefore, redemption cometh in
-    and through the Holy Messiah; for he is full of grace and truth.
-    Behold he offereth himself a sacrifice for sin, to answer the ends
-    of the law, unto all those who have a broken heart and a contrite
-    spirit; and unto none else can the ends of the law be answered."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: II Nephi ii;4-7.]
-
-So also Jacob, brother of the first Nephi, said: "And he [the Christ]
-cometh into the world that he may save all men, if they will hearken
-unto his voice; for behold, he suffereth the pains of all men; yea the
-pains of every living creature, both men, women, and children, who
-belong to the family of Adam."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: Ibid ix:21.]
-
-_3. Antiquity of the Plan of Man's Redemption:_ After explaining
-that it was appointed unto men to die, "and after death they must
-come to judgment;" and that God saw that it was expedient that men
-should come to a knowledge of these things and accordingly, from early
-time,[A] "sent angels to converse with them, who caused men to behold
-the glory of God"--Alma says:
-
-[Footnote A: Book of Moses--P. of G. P--Ch. v:6-8, 58.]
-
-    "And they began from that time forth to call on his name;
-    therefore God conversed with men, and made known unto them the
-    plan of redemption, which had been prepared from the foundation
-    of the world; and this he made known unto them according to their
-    faith and repentance, and their holy works; wherefore he gave
-    commandments unto men, they having first transgressed the first
-    commandments as to things which were temporal and becoming as
-    Gods, knowing good from evil, placing themselves in a state to
-    act, or being placed in a state to act according to their wills
-    and pleasures, whether to do evil or to do good; therefore God
-    gave unto them commandments, after having made known unto them
-    the plan of redemption, that they should not do evil, the penalty
-    thereof being a second death, which was everlasting death as to
-    things pertaining unto righteousness; for on such the plan of
-    redemption could have no power, for the works of justice could not
-    be destroyed, according to the supreme goodness of God. But God
-    did call on men, in the name of his Son, (this being the plan of
-    redemption which was laid) saying, 'If ye will repent, and harden
-    not your hearts, then will I have mercy upon you, through mine
-    only begotten Son; therefore, whosoever repenteth and hardeneth
-    not his heart, he shall have a claim on mercy through mine only
-    begotten Son, unto a remission of his sins; and these shall enter
-    into my rest. And whosoever will harden his heart, and will do
-    iniquity, behold, I swear in my wrath that he shall not enter into
-    my rest."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: Alma xii:29-35.]
-
-_4. The Vicarious Work of the Christ and Its Purpose:_ Again Alma:
-
-    "Behold I say unto you, that I do know that Christ shall come among
-    the children of men, to take upon him the transgressions of his
-    people, and that he shall atone for the sins of the world; for the
-    Lord God hath spoken it; for it is expedient that an atonement
-    should be made; for according to the great plan of the eternal
-    God, there must be an atonement made, or else all mankind must
-    unavoidably perish; yea, all are fallen and are lost, and must
-    perish except it be through the atonement which it is expedient
-    should be made And behold, this is the whole meaning of the law;
-    every whit pointing to that great and last sacrifice; and that
-    great and last sacrifice will be the Son of God; yea, infinite
-    and eternal; and thus he shall bring salvation to all those who
-    shall believe on his name; and this being the intent of this last
-    sacrifice to bring about the bowels of mercy, which over powereth
-    justice, and bringeth about means unto men that they may have faith
-    unto repentance. And thus mercy can satisfy the demands of justice,
-    and encircle them [the penitent sinners] in the arms of safety,
-    while he that exercises no faith unto repentance, is exposed to the
-    whole law of the demands of justice therefore only unto him that
-    has faith unto repentance is brought about the great and eternal
-    plan of redemption."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: Alma xxxiv:8, 9, 14-16.]
-
-_5. The Counter Claims of Justice and Mercy--Mercy Triumphant:_
-And again Alma:
-
-    "All mankind were fallen, and they were in the grasp of justice;
-    yea, the justice of God which consigned them for ever to be cut
-    off from his presence. And now the plan of mercy could not be
-    brought about, except an atonement should be made; therefore God
-    himself atoneth for the sins of the world to bring about the plan
-    of mercy, to appease the demands of justice, that God might be a
-    perfect, just God, and a merciful God also. * * * But there is a
-    law given, and a punishment affixed, and a repentance granted;
-    which repentance, mercy claimeth: otherwise justice claimeth
-    the creature, and executeth the law, and the law inflicteth the
-    punishment; if not so, the works of justice would be destroyed,
-    and God would cease to be God. But God ceaseth not to be God,
-    and mercy claimeth the penitent, and mercy cometh because of the
-    atonement; and the atonement bringeth to pass the resurrection of
-    the dead; and the resurrection of the dead bringeth back men into
-    the presence of God; and thus they are restored into his presence,
-    to be judged according to their works; according to the law and
-    justice; for behold justice exerciseth all his demands, and also
-    mercy claimeth all which is her own; and thus none but the truly
-    penitent are saved. What! do ye suppose that mercy can rob justice?
-    I say unto you, nay; not one whit. If so, God would cease to be
-    God. And thus God bringeth about his great and eternal purposes
-    which were prepared from the foundation of the world. And thus
-    cometh about the salvation and the redemption of men, and also
-    their destruction and misery."[A]
-
-    [Footnote A: Alma xlii.]
-
-    The revelations given through Joseph Smith are equally explicit:
-    "Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God; for,
-    behold, the Lord your Redeemer suffered death in the flesh;
-    wherefore he suffered the pain of all men, that all men might
-    repent and come unto him."[A]
-
-    [Footnote A: Doc. & Cov. Sec. 18:10, 11.]
-
-    _6. Man Must Repent or Suffer:_ And again:
-
-    "And surely every man must repent or suffer, for I, God, am
-    endless; wherefore, I revoke not the judgment which I shall pass,
-    but woes shall go forth, weeping wailing and gnashing of teeth,
-    yea, to those who are found on my left hand; nevertheless it is
-    not written that there shall be no end to this torment, but it
-    is written endless torment. * * * Therefore I command you to repent,
-    repent, lest I smite you by the rod of my mouth, and by my wrath,
-    and by my anger, and your sufferings be sore--how sore you know
-    not! how exquisite you know not! yea, how hard to bear ye know
-    not! For behold, I, God have suffered these things for all, that
-    they might not suffer if they would repent. But if they would not
-    repent, they must suffer even as I. Which suffering caused myself,
-    even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to
-    bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit; and would
-    that I might not drink the bitter cup and shrink--nevertheless,
-    glory be to the Father, and I partook and finished my preparations
-    unto the children of men; wherefore, I command you again to repent,
-    lest I humble you with my almighty power, and that you confess your
-    sins, lest you suffer these punishments of which I have spoken,
-    of which in the smallest, yea, even in the least degree you have
-    tasted at the time I withdrew my spirit."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: Doc. & Cov. Sec. 19:4-6, and 15-20.]
-
-_7. The Advent of Mercy--Summary:_ From the doctrines of these
-scriptures, how like a flood comes rushing into this world-scheme
-of things the Love and Mercy of God! The Justice of God, as we have
-seen, has been exacting--otherwise it would not be Justice, the very
-nature of Justice is to be exacting--demanding all that is its due
-satisfaction for the injured honor and majesty of God; and the penalty
-due to broken law. But once these claims are satisfied, Justice is
-silent, and Love and Mercy have free range to bring to pass the
-complete redemption of man.
-
-Let us for a moment contemplate our theme from this view-point though
-at the cost of iteration.
-
-God, loving always the spirits of men, desires their progress and their
-eternal happiness.[A]
-
-[Footnote A: See Lesson IV where the doctrine is worked out in detail.]
-
-To achieve this the union of spirit and earth-elements are necessary,
-that the spirit may get more perfect self expression, and attain to
-higher manifestations and power than would otherwise be possible.[A]
-
-[Footnote A: See Lesson IV where the doctrine is developed somewhat in
-detail.]
-
-Also to achieve this end, the experience of earth-life amid broken
-harmonies is necessary; the experience of viewing opposite existences
-in conflict--good and evil; faith and doubt; hope and despair; victory
-and defeat; freedom and bondage; joy and sorrow; perfect health and
-physical pain; life and death.[A]
-
-[Footnote A: The subject is discussed at length in Lesson VII.]
-
-To bring to pass these broken harmonies that the rich lessons and
-necessary experiences they teach may be available to man, there must
-needs be "a fall of man," a violation of law, else there can be no
-broken harmonies.
-
-Man falls; Adam transgresses law and the earth-life of man begins among
-all the conditions essential to his instruction and experience with
-opposite existences in conflict.
-
-But this violation of law, though necessary to these ends, is
-nevertheless a violation of law, for which a satisfaction must be made
-and that the broken harmonies may be restored.
-
-Not only did Adam transgress law in order to bring to pass the
-conditions necessary to man's instruction and consequent progress, but
-man--all men--coming to years of accountability, also violate law--sin
-on their own account and incur the consequences due to sin.
-
-In both cases men are unable to restore that which was lost--give
-satisfaction to the injured honor and insulted majesty of God, or
-create grounds of justification for the pardon of man's sin; either for
-Adam's transgression--the fall--or for man's personal sins.
-
-_8. Alternatives--But One Admissable:_ This creates a situation
-that can only be met in one of two ways if justice is to be maintained,
-the integrity of the moral government of the world perpetuated, and the
-harmony of God's attributes remain unbroken;
-
-First: _Justice must take its course, the punishment must be inflicted
-upon the actual sinner, leaving man to satisfy justice by an endless
-misery; or_
-
-Second: _God must satisfy his own claims against man; he must make a
-satisfaction to justice, there must be a vicarious Atonement made for
-man, since, as we have seen, man himself is helpless._
-
-The adoption of the first of these alternatives would thwart the
-general purpose of God with reference to man, the bringing to pass
-his progress and the possibility of his eternal happiness; and also
-it would violate the covenant of God with man, made before the world
-began, the promise of eternal life.[A] This alternative, is impossible,
-then, and may be dismissed without further consideration.
-
-[Footnote A: Titus i:2.]
-
-The second alternative is all that remains. God must make a vicarious
-Atonement for man; a Deity must satisfy the claims of God's honor. God
-must satisfy the demands of justice, that Mercy may assert her claims
-and redeem man.
-
-And that order of things is in force; that is "the great plan of
-happiness"--the Gospel--"Glad tidings;" "Glad tidings of great joy,
-which shall be unto all people."[A] Back of it, underlying it, is the
-great Love of God for man; Love manifested in great acts of mercy; for
-Mercy is but Love active.
-
-[Footnote A: Luke ii:10.]
-
-This Love prompts God to make reparation to God's honor, and satisfy
-Justice by undergoing the penalty due to Adam's sin, that he might
-bring to pass the resurrection from the dead; and make it possible for
-man spirit and body united, to resume his union with God.
-
-This Love prompts God to suffer for the individual sins of men; to pay
-the penalty due to each man's sin, that there might be ground for man's
-justification under the law. That Mercy might claim the sinner upon
-conditions that Love may prescribe.
-
-_9. The Justice, Wisdom, and Mercy of God:_ In view of all this is
-it any marvel that men coming to a full consciousness of the balanced
-claims of Justice and Mercy in ecstasy exclaim--as Jacob the brother of
-Nephi did--
-
-    "O the greatness and the justice of our God! For he executeth all
-    his words, and they have gone forth out of his mouth, and his law
-    must be fulfilled. * * *
-
-    "O the greatness of the mercy of our God, the Holy One of Israel!
-    for he delivereth his saints, from that awful monster the devil,
-    and death and hell."[A]
-
-    "O the wisdom of God! his mercy and grace! For behold, if the flesh
-    should rise no more, our spirits must become subject to that angel
-    who fell from before the presence of the eternal God, and became
-    the devil, to rise no more."
-
-    "And our spirits must have become like unto him, and we become
-    devils, angels to a devil, to be shut out from the presence of our
-    God, and to remain with the Father of lies, in misery, like unto
-    himself; yea, to that being who beguiled our first parents; who
-    transformeth himself nigh unto an angel of light, and stirreth up
-    the children of men unto secret combinations of murder, and all
-    manner of secret works of darkness."[B]
-
-[Footnote A: II Nephi ix:17, 19.]
-
-[Footnote B: II Nephi ix:8-9.]
-
-Or else with Paul declare--
-
-    "By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves;
-    it is the gift of God."[A]
-
-    "The law entered that sin might abound. But where sin abounded,
-    grace did more abound; that as sin hath reigned unto death, even so
-    might grace reign through righteousness, unto eternal life by Jesus
-    Christ our Lord."[B]
-
-[Footnote A: Eph. ii.]
-
-[Footnote B: Rom. v:20-21.]
-
-
-
-LESSON XX.
-
-(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
-
-CO-OPERATION OF MAN NECESSARY TO INDIVIDUAL REDEMPTION.
-
-ANALYSIS.
-
-I. The Two Effects of the Atonement.
-
-II. The Necessity of Man's Co-operation in Individual Salvation.
-
-III. Sanctification as Well as Justification.
-
-IV. Spiritual and Moral Growth.
-
-V. Free Redemption of Little Children and Those Who Die without Law.
-
-REFERENCES.
-
-Book of Mormon: II Nephi ix; Doc. & Cov., Sec. 19; Alma xi.
-
-The Gospel (Roberts), Ch. iii.
-
-Orson Pratt's Kingdom of God, Part III, Subdivision V. Works
-
-Taylor's Mediation and Atonement, Chs. xxi and XXV.
-
-The texts and contexts of the scriptures quoted in the body of this
-lesson.
-
-_SPECIAL TEXT: "Wherefore the rather brethren, give diligence to make
-your calling and election sure." (II Peter i:10.)_
-
-DISCUSSION.
-
-_1. The Atonement as Related to Adam's Transgression, and Man's
-Individual Sins:_ As already observed a difference is to be noted
-between the results flowing out of the Atonement for Adam's first
-sin--the fall; and the results derived from the satisfaction made by
-the Christ for man's individual sins.
-
-The difference consists in this: First, from the consequences of
-Adam's transgression, there comes full and free redemption--salvation
-unconditional and universal. "By Adam came the fall of man. And
-because of the fall of man, came Jesus Christ even the Father and the
-Son;[A] and because of Jesus Christ came the redemption of man. And
-because of the redemption of man, which came by Jesus Christ, they
-are brought back into the presence of the Lord; yea, this is wherein
-all men are redeemed, because the death of Christ bringeth to pass
-the resurrection, which bringeth to pass a redemption from an endless
-sleep, from which sleep all men shall be awakened by the power of God
-when the trump shall sound; and they shall come forth, both small and
-great, and all shall stand before his bar, being redeemed and loosed
-from this eternal band of death, which death is a temporal death."[B]
-
-[Footnote A: For explanation see Doc. & Cov. Sec. xciii:1-6.]
-
-[Footnote B: Book of Mormon, Ch. ix:12, 13. Also II Nephi Ch. ix.
-Both chapters are devoted to the idea of the text above, and should be
-studied carefully; they are too long for quotation here.]
-
-To this may be added Paul's great generalization: "Since by man came
-death, by man came also the resurrection from the dead; for as in Adam
-all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: I Cor. xv:21, 22.]
-
-The universal physical death is overcome by the equally universal
-resurrection.[A] The universal banishment of men from the presence of
-God, the spiritual death, is overcome by the universally established
-possibility of reunion with God; and all will be brought back into
-the presence of God at the day of judgment; but their right and power
-to remain in that presence and maintain union with God, will depend
-upon conditions to be considered later. Second, redemption from the
-consequences of man's individual sins, the penalties for which the
-Christ has expiated, are granted to men only upon compliance with
-certain conditions. "By grace are ye saved _through faith_"[B] "He that
-believeth and is baptized shall be saved."[C] "Wo unto him who knoweth
-that he rebelleth against God; for salvation cometh to none such except
-it be through repentance and faith on the Lord Jesus Christ."[D] "He
-shall take upon himself the transgression of those who believe on his
-name; and these are they that shall have eternal life, and salvation
-cometh to none else."[E] "Behold, I God, have suffered these things for
-all that they might not suffer if they would repent, but if they would
-not repent they must suffer even as I, which suffering caused myself,
-even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain and to bleed
-at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit."[F] "And being made
-perfect, he became the author of eternal life unto all them that obey
-him."[G]
-
-[Footnote A: Doc. & Cov. Sec. xix:26-29, 41. Matt. xxv:31-46. Alma
-xi:40, 41.]
-
-[Footnote B: Eph. ii:8.]
-
-[Footnote C: Mark xvi:16.]
-
-[Footnote D: Mosiah iii:11, 12.]
-
-[Footnote E: Alma xi:40, 41.]
-
-[Footnote F: Doc. & Cov. Sec. xix:16-19.]
-
-[Footnote G: Heb. v:9.]
-
-_2. Man's Co-operation With God in Working out Man's Salvation,
-Grounded in Necessity:_ These scriptures establish the truth that
-for redemption from the consequences of man's individual sins the
-co-operation of man is required, his faith, his repentance; in a word
-his obedience.
-
-The Gospel so far as the individual man is concerned, is the power of
-God unto salvation to everyone that believes and obeys the same. In the
-difference between the redemption from the transgression of Adam and
-redemption from man's personal sins, the one being free, unconditional,
-universal; and the other being free, possible to all, but conditional,
-and therefore limited to those who comply with the conditions, there
-is to be observed nice discriminations in the justice of God. Free
-and universal redemption comes from the consequences of Adam's fall
-because that fall is absolutely necessary to the accomplishment of
-the purposes of God with reference to man; without it nothing may
-be done for his progress, therefore since that fall is necessary to
-these ends Justice demands that there be provided free and universal
-and complete and unconditional redemption from its consequences. But
-in the case of man's personal sins they are not absolutely necessary
-to the accomplishment of the general purposes of God. Of course the
-earth-environment of man, including the broken harmonies as we find
-them, including the self-wilfullness, and even the personal sins of
-men, with the consequent suffering and sorrow, may be necessary to
-the experience of man; but all that will abundantly come once men
-are at the same time free to choose, and good and evil is set before
-them. But what is here meant is that it is not absolute necessity that
-individual men should sin, or that they sin without limit. Men can
-refrain from sin if they will; the power is in them. They are able
-to stand, "yet free to fall." They have power to choose good and to
-follow that instead of evil if they so elect. Therefore, while it is
-eminently proper that the Atonement of the Christ should be made to
-include satisfaction to Justice for the personal sins of men, and the
-debt of suffering due to them should be paid vicariously,--especially
-since man is powerless to offer expiation himself--for it is needful
-that ample provision be made for the justification of man's pardon;
-yet it is also in accordance with Justice that man shall co-operate
-with God in bringing about the blessed result of his deliverance from
-the consequences of his personal sins; and that conditions shall be
-required as necessary to participation in the forgiveness provided;
-such conditions as belief in and acceptance of the terms of Atonement;
-repentance of sin, and a hearty co-operation with God in overcoming
-evil and its effects in the human soul.
-
-_3. The Work of Salvation a Work of Sanctification as well as of
-Justification:_ Moreover, this salvation from the effects of
-personal sins is not only a matter of forgiveness of past sins; a
-matter of justification before God; a matter of re-establishing union
-with God, which is spiritual life; but it is a matter of sanctification
-of the soul; and of power to maintain the renewed spiritual life with
-God. It is a matter that involves human desires and human will. Surely
-it is unthinkable that God would hold man in union with himself against
-his desire, or against his will. Such a condition would not be "union"
-but bondage. The co-operation of man then in this work of his personal
-salvation becomes an absolute necessity, and hence the conditions of
-individual salvation already noted, and which may be summed up in the
-doctrine of man's self-surrender unto God, manifested by his obedience
-to God under the law; and the declared intention of that obedience by
-receiving the symbols of the Atonement, to be found in the ordinances
-of the Gospel, especially in baptism and the sacrament of the Lord's
-supper.
-
-_4. Spiritual and Moral Growth:_ The attainment of this condition
-of Christian righteousness, however, becomes a matter of character
-building under the favorable conditions provided by the gospel; and
-character building, even under favorable conditions is a matter of
-slow, self-conquest, It means to follow the admonition of the chief
-Judean apostle, and "add to your faith, virtue; and to virtue,
-knowledge; and to knowledge, temperance; and to temperance, patience;
-and to patience, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and
-to brotherly kindness, charity. For if these things be in you and
-abound," said he, "they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor
-unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: II Peter i.]
-
-To be fruitful in that knowledge means to be growing in grace, in
-knowledge of the truth, in righteousness. It means development
-according to the type of the Christian spiritual life, which is Christ
-Jesus. "If you wish to go where God is," said the Prophet Joseph, "you
-must be like God, or possess the principles God possesses." All of
-which, of course, may not be possessed without divine help, as well
-as human effort. "He that lacketh these things"--the virtues above
-enumerated by Peter, and the disposition to build them up by his own
-effort, as well as by divine grace, "is blind and cannot see afar off,"
-continues that apostle, "and hath forgotten that he was purged from his
-old sins. Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your
-calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never
-fall: for so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into
-the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: II Peter i:9-11.]
-
-_5. Phase of the Atonement Peculiar to "Mormonism:"_ It may
-be remarked in passing that the difference noted in the foregoing
-paragraphs of this lesson on applying the Christ's Atonement to Adam's
-sin and man's personal sins--in the first case unconditional, and in
-the second conditional--is a doctrine, in modern times, peculiar to
-"Mormonism;" or, to speak more accurately, to the New Dispensation
-of the Gospel revealed to Joseph Smith; and is derived almost wholly
-from the teachings of the Book of Mormon.[A] In that distinction the
-beauty and glory of the Atonement, the balanced claims of justice and
-mercy shine forth as no where else, even in holy writ,--much less in
-the uninspired writings of men. It may be regarded as the "Mormon"
-contribution to views of the Atonement of Christ, for it is to be found
-no where else except in Mormon literature.
-
-[Footnote A: See II Nephi ii. Ibid ix. Alma xxxiv and xlii. Mormon ix.]
-
-_7. The Free and Complete Redemption of Little Children:_ From the
-foregoing difference in the application of the Atonement to the sin
-of Adam and the individual sins of men there arises another important
-matter viz.: If redemption from the consequences of Adam's fall is to
-be absolutely unconditional, and universal, and that entirely through
-the Atonement of the Christ and without the co-operation of man, then
-it logically follows that if man himself remains absolutely without
-sin, he would stand in need of no satisfaction being made for his sin
-and no forgiveness of sins, since in the case supposed they have no
-existence; and therefore the Atonement of the Christ for the sin of
-Adam, would be all sufficient to redeem man from the power of death and
-restore him to union with God. It follows that if any part of the human
-race die in this state of personal innocence then they are redeemed
-by virtue of the Atonement of Christ without any other consideration
-whatsoever. Hence Mormon said:
-
-    "Listen to the words of Christ, your Redeemer, your Lord and your
-    God. Behold, I came into the world not to call the righteous but
-    the sinners to repentance; the whole need no physician, but they
-    that are sick! wherefore little children are whole, for they are
-    not capable of committing sin; wherefore the curse of Adam is taken
-    from them in me, that it hath no power over them. * * * Little
-    children need no repentance, neither baptism. * * * Little children
-    are alive in Christ, even from the foundation of the world."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: Moroni viii:8-12.]
-
-No less explicit is the word of the Lord through the Prophet Joseph
-Smith:
-
-    "But, behold, I say unto you, that little children are redeemed
-    from the foundation of the world through mine only Begotten,
-    wherefore they cannot sin, for power is not given unto Satan to
-    tempt little children, until they begin to become accountable
-    before me."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: Doc. & Cov. Sec. xxix:46, 47.]
-
-_8. The Redemption of Those Who Die Without Law:_ Moreover, it
-appears that Mercy has special claims upon those men and women, and
-also upon nations and races who know not the Gospel. The first Nephi in
-speaking of the Atonement of Christ and its effects where proclaimed
-and rejected, says:
-
-    "Wherefore he [God] has given a law; and where there is no law
-    given there is no punishment; and where there is no punishment,
-    there is no condemnation; and where there is no condemnation, the
-    mercies of the Holy One of Israel have claim upon them because of
-    the atonement; for they are delivered by the power of him [Christ];
-    for the atonement satisfieth the demands of his justice upon all
-    those who have not the law given to them, that they are delivered
-    from that awful monster, death and hell, and the devil, and the
-    lake of fire and brimstone [See Alma xii:17],[A] which is endless
-    torment; and they are restored to that God who gave them breath,
-    which is the Holy One of Israel."[B]
-
-[Footnote A: The torments of the ungodly sinners are likened unto a
-lake of fire and brimstone by this writer, Nephi. Not that the sinners
-are plunged into a lake of fire and brimstone as so-called orthodox
-Christians teach. Indeed, in the above passage there is a definition of
-what the lake of fire is--it is "endless torment," which ever exists
-for the punishment of impenitent sinners--each one partaking of it to
-such a degree and for such time as is necessary to satisfy the demand
-of justice. In this very chapter above quoted Nephi says of the wicked:
-"And their torment is as a lake of fire and brimstone, whose flames
-ascend up for ever, and have no end."]
-
-[Footnote B: Nephi ix:25, 26.]
-
-And so Moroni:
-
-    "For the power of redemption cometh on all they that have no
-    law; wherefore, he that is not condemned, or he that is under
-    no condemnation, cannot repent; and unto such baptism availeth
-    nothing."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: Moroni viii:22.]
-
-To this also agrees the teachings of Paul:
-
-    "For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without
-    law:[A] and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by
-    the law."[B]
-
-[Footnote A: I venture the suggestion, basing it on the sense of the
-whole passage, that it should read: "Shall also be judged without the
-law."]
-
-[Footnote B: Rom. ii:12.]
-
-
-
-LESSON XXI.
-
-(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
-
-SYMBOLS OF THE ATONEMENT.
-
-ANALYSIS.
-
-I. The Two Great Christian Symbols.
-
-II. Baptism.
-
-1. Introduction and Formula.
-
-2. Symbolism of Atonement in Baptism.
-
-3. Realities Give Virtue to Symbols.
-
-III. The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper--Eucharist.[A]
-
-1. The Prayer of Consecration--Formula of.
-
-2. Symbolism of the Atonement in the Eucharist.
-
-3. Realities Back of Symbols.
-
-REFERENCES.
-
-All the texts and contexts of this lesson, and also
-
-Matt. xi:26-29; Luke xxii; I Cor. xi:23-30.
-
-Doc. & Cov., Sec. xx.
-
-Moroni ix, v.
-
-_SPECIAL TEXT: "Except a man be born of the water and of the spirit he
-can not enter into the kingdom of God." (St. John iii:5.)_
-
-_"For as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do show the
-Lord's death till he come." (I Cor. xi:26.)_
-
-[Footnote A: The commemoration of the sacrifice of our Lord is often
-and I may say generally called Eucharist. "The Lord's Supper, a solemn
-rite commemorating the dying of Christ for the salvation of men; the
-Holy Sacrament, the communion of the body and the blood of Christ" (Funk
-& Wagnall Dic.).]
-
-DISCUSSION.
-
-_1. The Two Great Christian Symbols:_ The two great Christian
-institutions of baptism and the sacrament of the Lord's supper have
-already been alluded to as evidence of the fact of the Atonement.[A]
-They are now to be considered as symbols of the Atonement. I take up
-baptism first, as introduced by the Christ himself among the Nephites,
-because there more perfectly than elsewhere we have this symbol set
-forth, and only there, in ancient scripture, is the exact formula of
-the ceremony given. The account of it in the Nephite record stands as
-follows:
-
-[Footnote A: Lesson XI which see.]
-
-_2. Introduction of Baptism Among the Nephites--Its Formula:_
-
-    "And he said unto them, on this wise shall ye baptize; and there
-    shall be no disputations among you. Verily I say unto you that who
-    so repenteth of his sins through your words, and desireth to be
-    baptized in my name, on this wise shall ye baptize him; behold,
-    ye shall go down and stand in the water, and in my name shall ye
-    baptize them. And now, behold, these are the words which ye shall
-    say, calling them by name, saying:
-
-    'Having authority given me of Jesus Christ, I baptize you in the
-    name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.'
-
-    And then shall we immerse them in the water and come forth again
-    out of the water."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: III Nephi xi:22-26.]
-
-_3. The Symbol of the Atonement in Baptism:_ In this ordinance
-we have recognized first of all Jesus Christ in whose authority the
-administrator acts--"Having authority given me of Jesus Christ," etc.
-
-"I baptize you * * * then shall we immerse them in the water and come
-forth again out of the water." By this immersion in the water is
-symbolized the death and burial of the Christ, the Atonement he made
-for the sins of man. In the coming forth again out of the water, is
-symbolized the resurrection of the Christ, his triumph over death, the
-victory side of the Atonement; death is conquered, life is triumphant;
-Christ is the first fruits of the resurrection and through him all men
-participate in the resurrection. "For since by man came death by man
-came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so
-in Christ shall all be made alive.'"[A]
-
-[Footnote A: Cor. xv:21, 22.]
-
-Nor is this all; but in baptism is symbolized the forgiveness of sins
-to the baptized. John preached "the baptism of repentance for the
-remission of sins."[A] Peter commanded the multitude on the day of
-Pentecost to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for
-the remission of sins.[B] "Arise and be baptized and wash away thy
-sins."[C] "Come unto me and be baptized in my name that ye may receive
-a remission of your sins."[D] "Thou shalt declare * * * remission of
-sins by baptism."[E] "Preach repentance and remission of sins by way of
-baptism in the name of Jesus Christ."[F]
-
-[Footnote A: Mark i:4. Luke iii:3.]
-
-[Footnote B: Acts ii:38.]
-
-[Footnote C: Acts xxii:16.]
-
-[Footnote D: III Nephi xxx:2.]
-
-[Footnote E: Doc. & Cov. Sec. xix:31.]
-
-[Footnote F: Doc. & Cov. Sec. iv:2.]
-
-    "Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ
-    were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by
-    baptism into death; that like as Christ was raised up from the dead
-    by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness
-    of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of
-    his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: Rom. vi:4, 5. See also "The Gospel"--Third Edition, Ch.
-xvi.]
-
-Baptism then not only becomes a symbol of the Christ's death, burial
-and resurrection to newness of life; but also the death and burial to
-sin of the baptized; and his resurrection to a newness of moral and
-spiritual life. To him it is a birth to righteousness.
-
-Water baptism is completed by the baptism of the spirit, by which man
-is placed in union with God, through the reception of the Holy Ghost,
-foreshadowing that more complete union which shall come when man shall
-dwell in the very presence of God the Father, and God the Son after the
-resurrection.[A]
-
-[Footnote A: Doc. & Cov. Sec. xxvi.]
-
-And thus the symbols of the Atonement of Christ to the very uttermost
-are found in this Christian institution of baptism.
-
-_4. Realities Give Virtue to Symbols:_ Let it be said here,
-however, and because following the above presentation of baptism it
-may be seen better than in any other connection, that it is not the
-physical fact of being immersed in water that brings remission of sins,
-nor the physical fact of the imposition of hands that re-established
-the union with God through the medium of the Holy Ghost. These as we
-have tried to explain are symbols of the deeper and greater realities
-that produce the results of forgiveness of sins and union with God.
-Back of the physical fact of baptism is the Atonement of Christ,
-wrought out by his making satisfaction to the injured honor of God,
-occasioned by sin, and bringing to pass the resurrection from the dead,
-because a Lord of life, and having the power to impart life to others,
-to the dead. Back of the physical fact of the immersion of a man in
-water, in order to a remission of his individual sins, is the fact that
-Jesus by his own suffering paid the penalty due to that and every other
-man's sins in the world, and thus brought all men within the claims of
-Mercy, and made it possible for the sins of men to be forgiven without
-violence to the Justice of God. This ordinance of baptism supplies the
-symbols of these realities; it is, however, in the realities instead of
-the signs or symbols of the realities whence arises the power of God
-unto salvation. Still the symbols of the realities may not be dispensed
-with; they are necessary to the perpetuation, in palpable form, of the
-realities behind them, hence the Church teaches and will always teach
-the necessity of conforming to or obeying them; they are but the signs
-and seals of our salvation, however, rather than the ground of it;
-and they would have no virtue at all except for the existence of the
-realities which they image forth to outward senses, and witness to the
-world the covenant which those who accept the gospel make with God.
-
-_5. The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper as a Symbol of the
-Atonement:_ This, like baptism, is a permanent Christian
-institution; and also like baptism it is best set forth in the Nephite
-scriptures,[A] the Book of Mormon; for there, and no where else in
-ancient scripture, is the formula of the institution as given by the
-Christ to be found. The prayer of consecration of these symbols is of
-the highest value, and one of the noblest monuments of Nephite or any
-other Christian literature extant. I give the prayers of consecration
-together with the introductory remarks of Moroni which declare their
-origin.
-
-[Footnote A: The best New Testament account of the introduction of the
-Lord's Supper is (1) That given by Matthew; and (2) by Paul. The first
-of these is as follows: "And as they were eating, Jesus took bread and
-blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples and said, Take
-eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it
-to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; for this is my blood of the new
-testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins" (Matthew
-Ch. xxvi:26-28).
-
-The second in Paul's first letter to the Corinthians: "For I have
-received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the
-Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread; and when
-he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take eat; this is my body,
-which is broken for you; this do in remembrance of me. After the same
-manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is
-the new testament in my blood; this do ye, as oft as ye drink of it in
-remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this
-cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come. Wherefore whosoever
-shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall
-be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine
-himself and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he
-that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to
-himself not discerning the Lord's body" (I Corinthians, Ch. xi:23-29).]
-
-_Introduction:_
-
-"The manner of their Elders and Priests administering the flesh and
-blood of Christ unto the church. And they administered it according to
-the commandments of Christ; wherefore we know the manner to be true;
-and the Elder or Priest did minister it. And they did kneel down with
-the Church and prayed to the Father in the name of Christ, saying:
-
-_Prayer of Consecration over the Broken Bread--the Body:_
-
-"O God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee in the name of thy Son Jesus
-Christ, to bless and sanctify this bread to the souls of all those who
-partake of it, that they may eat in remembrance of the body of thy Son,
-and witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that they are willing
-to take upon them the name of thy Son, and always remember him, and
-keep his commandments which he hath given them, that they may always
-have his spirit to be with them. Amen."
-
-"The manner of administering the wine. Behold they took the cup, and
-said:
-
-_Consecration of the Wine--the Blood:_
-
-"O God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee, in the name of thy Son Jesus
-Christ, to bless and sanctify this wine to the souls of all those who
-drink of it, that they may do it in remembrance of the blood of thy
-Son, which was shed for them, that they may witness unto thee, O God,
-the Eternal Father, that they do always remember him, that they may
-have his spirit to be with them. Amen."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: Book of Moroni, Chs. iv and v. Of these formulas I have
-elsewhere said what Archdeacon Paley has said of the Lord's prayer,
-when appealing to its excellence as evidence of its divine origin--"For
-a succession of solemn thoughts, for fixing the attention on a few
-great points, for suitableness, for sufficiency, for conciseness
-without obscurity, for the weight and real importance of their
-petitions, these prayers are without an equal." The composition of
-them in excellence arises far above any performance that Joseph Smith
-could be considered equal to; and, in a word, carry within themselves
-the evidence of a divine authorship. Such passages as these need no
-argument in support of their divine origin. We may trust entirely
-to the self-evidence which breathes through every sentence" ("New
-Witnesses for God," Vol. III, p. 489).]
-
-_6. Exposition of the Symbols of the Atonement in Holy Sacrament:_
-In these prayers, the whole scheme of man's salvation is generalized
-and symbolized. There is a more solemn and awe-inspiring title used in
-addressing the Deity than is used in the Lord's prayer, but that is
-wholly warranted from the nature of the prayer of consecration which is
-to follow--"O, God, the Eternal Father." And this is repeated in the
-body of both prayers in a second appeal to God the Father. But this
-does not fall under the head of "vain repetition," since it is the
-repetition of emphasis, of deep solemnity, as any one will determine if
-he considers it with attention and will allow for both the solemnity
-and greatness of the occasion. But not only is God the Eternal Father
-recognized in this prayer, but the Son also--"We ask thee in the
-name of thy Son, Jesus Christ," etc. And not only is the Father and
-Son recognized but the Holy Spirit also--"That they may always have
-his Spirit to be with them." This prayer of consecration, then, is a
-confession of faith in the Holy Trinity.
-
-"Bless and sanctify this bread to the souls of all those who partake
-of it, that they may eat in remembrance of the body of thy Son."
-* * * "Bless and sanctify this wine to the souls of all those who
-drink of it, that they may do it in remembrance of the blood of thy
-Son, which was shed for them." The broken bread is the symbol of the
-broken or wounded body of the Christ, broken for sinful man. The
-wine is the symbol of the blood--the blood shed for the sins of men:
-and the sincere Christian eats of the one and drinks of the other
-in grateful remembrance of what the Christ has done for him--the
-suffering he underwent in order to establish justification of man and
-the forgiveness of his sin under a reign of law, without violence to
-the Justice of God or the exclusion of Mercy from our earth-scheme
-of things. In all this the Atonement is recognized and celebrated
-most beautifully, and its benefits accepted and appropriated by the
-celebrants. Moreover, they witness in the act of eating and drinking
-these emblems of the body and the blood of the Christ, "that they
-are willing to take upon them the name," of the Christ, become
-"Christians." "And always remember him;" and who could remember him
-and not with gratitude in view of what he had done for mankind! "And
-keep his commandments which he hath given them"--a solemn covenant of
-obedience upon which, as we have seen, depends the reception of the
-benefits of the Atonement made for man's individual sins--"he [the
-Christ] became the author of eternal salvation to all them that obey
-him." And to what end does all this lead--this covenanting to take
-upon them the name of Christ; to always remember him; to keep his
-commandments--to what culmination does all this conduct the celebrant?
-To union with God, the one thing most important; the climax is "that
-they may always have his spirit to be with them!" Just as the several
-steps of faith, repentance and baptism culminate in possession of the
-Holy Ghost.[A]
-
-[Footnote A: Acts ii:38, 39. Heb. vi:1-6.]
-
-Thus in two paragraphs, making less than fifteen lines of printed
-matter is given the story of man's redemption, in this symbol of the
-Atonement--the Lord's Supper. As in the case of baptism, however,
-I would remind the student that the virtue is not in the symbols,
-but in the realities they represent; in the actually broken body
-of Christ--broken by nail-wounds, by crown of thorns, by spear
-thrusts in the side; by suffering of mental and spiritual agony that
-made blood-sweat for the body, and torture for the sin-burdened
-spirit--vicariously suffering for the sins of all men. By these
-realities was our salvation purchased; and the virtue lies in them,
-not in the symbols of them. The symbols we use in remembrance of the
-realities, and without mistaking them for the realities themselves.
-
-
-
-LESSON XXII.
-
-(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
-
-DOES THE NECESSITY OF THE ATONEMENT ARISE FROM THE NATURE OF THE CASE,
-OR FROM ARBITRARY ARRANGEMENT?
-
-ANALYSIS.
-
-I. Could Other Means than the Atonement Have Been Provided for Man's
-Salvation?
-
-1. The Evidence from the Fact of Divine Institution.
-
-2. The Evidence of Scripture.
-
-II. The Severity of the Atonement Justified.
-
-1. By the Value of the Things Purchased.
-
-2. On the Ground that it was a Voluntary Sacrifice.
-
-3. By the Lessons it Teaches Man.
-
-REFERENCES.
-
-The texts and contexts of scriptures quoted and cited in the body of
-this lesson.
-
-History of Christian Doctrine (Shedd), Book V, Ch. ii; Anselm's Theory
-of Satisfaction; Neander's History of the Christian Religion and
-Doctrine, Vol. IV, pp 49-511.
-
-Taylor's Mediation and Atonement.
-
-_SPECIAL TEXT: "Put up thy sword into its place. Thinkest thou that
-I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more
-than Twelve legions of angels? But how then shall the scriptures be
-fulfilled, that thus it must be?" (Matt. xxvi:52, 54.)_
-
-DISCUSSION.
-
-1. Could Other Means than the Atonement Have Been Devised for Man's
-Salvation: The question, could any other plan have been devised for
-the redemption of man than the Atonement as made by the Christ,
-was discussed, in part, in a previous lesson when considering the
-question of possible redemption by the sovereign act of God.[A] It
-is a question that has been often asked, and oftener in our own day
-perhaps than at any previous time, since our age is pre-eminently
-critical, and questions the rationality of the Atonement as set forth
-in the scriptures and also as taught by the Catholic and the Protestant
-churches. Shedd propounds the question in this form:
-
-[Footnote A: See Lesson XVI.]
-
-    "Does the necessity of expiation in order to pardon arise from the
-    nature of the case, or from an arbitrary arrangement? Could the
-    Deity have dispensed with any or all satisfaction of Justice, or is
-    Justice of such an absolute and necessary character, that it would
-    be impossible to save the guilty without an antecedent satisfaction
-    of this attribute [Justice] as it would be for God to lie?"[A]
-
-[Footnote A: "History of Christian Doctrine," Shedd--Vol. II, p. 223.]
-
-Answering these questions from the point of view developed in this
-treatise, it would be necessary to say (1) that the necessity of
-expiation in order to pardon does arise from the nature of the case and
-not from arbitrary arrangement; (2) that the Deity could not dispense
-with any or all satisfaction to Justice since Justice as an attribute
-of God is of such an absolute and necessary character that it would be
-as impossible to save the guilty without an antecedent[A] satisfaction
-as it would be for God to lie. The attribute of Justice is as necessary
-to maintain in Deity as the attribute Truth.
-
-[Footnote A: Or pre-determined satisfaction, that ultimately must
-be realized in fact. I make this qualification of "antecedent"
-satisfaction in the interest of the great truth that the effects of
-the Atonement were realized by the ancient saints previous to the
-coming of Christ to earth and hence previous to his actually making
-the Atonement; but that was because the Atonement for man's sins, the
-satisfaction to Justice, had been pre-determined upon, and this fact
-gave virtue to their faith, repentance and obedience to ordinances of
-the Gospel. (See Seventy's Year Book II, Lesson XX. "Antiquity of the
-Gospel.")]
-
-_2. (a). The Evidence of Scripture:_ Considered from the
-standpoint of scriptural evidence, there can be no doubt of the
-absolute necessity of the Atonement as it was wrought out in the
-suffering and death of the Christ. The two disciples overtaken on their
-way to Emmaus by the unrecognized, risen Savior, gave him an account
-of the crucifixion and the reported resurrection of Jesus. They also
-voiced their own great disappointment in the seeming anti-climax of the
-events which had resulted in the crucifixion by saying: "But we trusted
-that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel;" but it was now
-three days since the crucifixion, and consequently their hopes were
-disappointed. Then said the Christ unto them:
-
-    "O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have
-    spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to
-    enter into his glory?"[A]
-
-[Footnote A: Luke xxiv:13-27.]
-
-The same evening Jesus appeared to a company of his disciples and gave
-the most palpable demonstration of his resurrection, and said to them:
-
-    "These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with
-    you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the
-    law of Moses, and in the Prophets and in the Psalms, concerning me.
-    Then opened he their understanding that they might understand the
-    scriptures. And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it
-    behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day;
-    and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his
-    name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: Luke xxiv:44-47.]
-
-If, then, "all things must be fulfilled" which are written in Moses
-and in the Prophets and in the Psalms concerning Christ; and if it
-"_behoved Christ thus to suffer and to rise from the dead_ * * that
-repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among
-all nations;" then it would seem that there must have been absolute
-necessity for that order of procedure followed in the events which make
-up and attend upon the Atonement as we now know it. To this evidence
-there must be added the thrice repeated, agonized prayer of the Christ,
-in Gethsemane, when contemplating the approaching climax of his
-passion:[A] "O, my Father, if it be possible let this cup pass from me!
-nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt."[B]
-
-[Footnote A: Passion--Any suffering or endurance of imposed or
-inflicted pain * * especially the suffering of Christ between the time
-of the last supper and his death--especially in the garden and on the
-cross. (Webster.)]
-
-[Footnote B: Matt. xxvi:39.]
-
-The silence of God in the presence of that prayer tells us that it
-was not possible for other means to be devised for man's salvation.
-And when the officers and the rabble led by Judas came upon Jesus and
-his friends in the garden and Peter drew the sword in defense of the
-Master, the latter said:
-
-    "Put up thy sword into its place; * * thinkest thou that I cannot
-    now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than
-    twelve legions of angels? But how then shall the scriptures be
-    fulfilled, _that thus it must be?_"[A]
-
-[Footnote A: Ibid, verses 52-54.]
-
-"_Thus it must be_," confirms again the absolute necessity of the
-Atonement as the Christ made it.
-
-_3. (b). Evidence of Necessity from the Fact that God Instituted
-It:_ The opinions of some of the early Christian fathers upon the
-possibility of other and perhaps milder means being used to save men
-than the Atonement, have already been considered, as connected with
-the suggestion that God might arbitrarily forgive sin by the virtue
-of his Omnipotence. Also a list was given of both the principal early
-Christian fathers and the medieval Christian doctors and the views they
-respectively supported;[A] and from the necessity of the principles
-involved, the conclusion was reached that the Atonement as made by
-Christ was absolutely necessary. It might be argued with great force
-that since God instituted the Atonement it must have been necessary or
-it would never have been ordained; especially if milder means could
-have been made to answer or the satisfaction to justice could have been
-set aside, and man's reconciliation with God brought about by an act of
-pure benevolence; for it is inconceivable that either God's Justice or
-his Mercy[B] would require or permit more suffering on the part of the
-Redeemer than was absolutely necessary to accomplish the end proposed.
-
-[Footnote A: Lesson XVI.]
-
-[Footnote A: Ibid, p.-- and note --]
-
-On the influence of pain and suffering Baring-Gould has the following
-fine passage:
-
-    "There was no necessity, some theologians have taught, for Christ
-    to have died but as S. Bernard says, "perhaps that method is best,
-    whereby in a land of forgetfulness and sloth we might be more
-    powerfully and vividly reminded of our fall, through the so great
-    and so manifold sufferings of Him who repaired it." Then quoting
-    Oxenham:
-
-    "'Pain is one of the deepest and truest things in our nature; we
-    feel instinctively that it is so, even before we can tell why. Pain
-    is what binds us most closely to one another and to God. It appeals
-    most directly to our sympathies, as the very structure of our
-    language indicates. To go no further than our own, we have English
-    words, such as condolence, to express sympathy with grief; we have
-    no one word to express sympathy with joy. So, again, it is a common
-    remark that, if a funeral and wedding procession were to meet,
-    something of the shadow of death would be cast over the bridal
-    train, but no reflection of bridal happiness would pass into the
-    mourners' hearts. Scripture itself has been not inaptly called 'a
-    record of human sorrow.' The same name might be given to history.
-    Friendship is scarcely sure till it has been proved in suffering,
-    but the chains of an affection riveted in the fiery furnace are
-    not easily broken. So much, then, at least, is clear, that the
-    Passion of Jesus was the greatest revelation of sympathy: 'Greater
-    love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his
-    friends.' And hence fathers and schoolmen alike conspire to teach,
-    that one reason why he chose the road of suffering was to knit us
-    more closely to himself. For this he exalted his head, not on a
-    throne of earthly glory, but on the cross of death. It is, indeed,
-    no accident of the few, but a law of our present being, which the
-    poet's words express:
-
-  'That to the Cross the mourner's eve should turn
-  Sooner than where the stars of Christmas burn.'
-
-    For in all, in their several ways and degrees, are mourners. The
-    dark threads are woven more thickly than the bright ones into the
-    tangled skein of human life; and as time passes on, the conviction
-    that it is so is brought home to us with increasing force.' I
-    (Oxenham: "Doctrine of the Atonement, 1869, pp. 290-292.)
-
-    "The Incarnation is the manifestation of perfect love, but perfect
-    love cannot halt at anything short of the extreme disintegration
-    wrought by the fall. Christ must sacrifice Himself wholly to man,
-    or his love is not sufficient to draw man to him. He must enter
-    into man's joys and man's woes, to meet him at every turn of the
-    winding lane of life. Love is not satisfied till it has made
-    every sacrifice that is in its power to make and no more complete
-    sacrifice can be imagined than that of honor, ease, and finally
-    life.
-
-    The narrative of Christ's life is, therefore, one of continuous
-    sacrifice, of emptying himself of everything in the overflowing
-    Passion of his love, counting all as nought if only he might catch
-    man's eye and draw him towards himself.
-
-    "He came to seek and to save that which was lost. Such is reported
-    by the Evangelist to be the account he gave of his mission." * * *
-    "Pain is the deepest thing we have in our nature, and union through
-    pain has always seemed more real and more holy than any other.[A]
-
-[Footnote A: "Origin and Development of Religious Beliefs," Vol. II,
-pp, 305, 307, 330.]
-
-_4. The Severity of the Atonement Justified from the Value of Things
-Purchased by It:_ The severity of the Atonement may be justified
-if viewed with reference to what it purchased for man, and the effect
-it was doubtless designed to have in forever fixing the values upon
-certain great things, in the mind of man. When the plan of redemption
-is contemplated with reference to what it cost the Christ, then we must
-have exalted notions ever after of the majesty and Justice of God, for
-it was to make ample satisfaction to that majesty and Justice of God
-that the Christ suffered and died; we must have exalted conceptions of
-the value of that stately fabric known as the moral government of the
-world, for it was for the preservation of its integrity that the Christ
-suffered and died; we must hence forth have a higher regard for God's
-attribute of Mercy, for it was that Mercy might be brought into the
-earth-scheme of things, and claim her own, that the Christ suffered and
-died; we must set a higher value even upon physical life hereafter, for
-it was in order to bring to pass the resurrection of man to physical
-life, and to make that life immortal, that the Christ suffered and
-died; new glory must attach hereafter to spiritual life,--perpetual
-union between soul of man and soul of God,--for to bring to pass that
-spiritual life, that indissoluble union with God on which it depends
-for existence, that the Christ suffered and died; we must henceforth
-have a deeper reverence for the Love of God and the Love of the Christ
-for man,--and a higher regard for man himself since God so loved
-him--for it was to give a manifestation of that Love, that the Christ
-suffered and died.
-
-If it be true, and it is, that men value things in proportion to what
-they cost, then how dear to them must be the Atonement, since it cost
-the Christ so much in suffering that he may be said to have been
-baptized by blood-sweat in Gethsemane, before he reached the climax of
-his passion, on calvary. "Behold he suffereth the pains of all men;
-yea, the pains of every living creature, both men, women, and children,
-who belong to the family of Adam;"[A] "surely every man must repent or
-suffer [i. e., the eternal consequences of sin]. * * * For behold, I
-God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if
-they would repent, but if they would not repent, they must suffer even
-as I, which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to
-tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both
-body and spirit, and would that I might not drink the bitter cup."[B]
-Advantages to be realized in eternal life purchased at such a cost as
-this, should indeed be regarded by men as pearls of great price, to
-obtain which a man would be justified in selling all that he hath, that
-he might buy them.
-
-[Footnote A: II Nephi ix:21.]
-
-[Footnote B: Doc. & Cov. Sec. xix:4, 16-18.]
-
-But on the other hand if high values for the great and important things
-enumerated above could only be secured by the severity of suffering
-that attended upon the Atonement made by the Christ, then, I say, and I
-trust with becoming reverence, that they were worth all that even the
-Christ by his blessed suffering paid for them.
-
-_5. The Atonement a Voluntary Offering:_ Another thing may be
-urged in justification of the severity of the plan of redemption
-through the Atonement--it was a voluntary act; and no one was compelled
-to undertake the terrible mission unless he himself elected to do so.
-"Whom shall I send," asked God the Father, after he had explained the
-necessity of a Redeemer for man in the earth-scheme of things.[A]
-"Whom shall I send? And one answered like unto the Son of man, saying,
-'Here am I, send me.'" The act was voluntary. Indeed the glory of the
-Atonement as well as the justification for its severity depend upon
-its being so. "Therefore doth my father love me," said the Christ,
-"because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. _No man taketh
-it from me, but I lay it down of myself._ I have power to lay it down
-and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of
-my Father."[B] And when one would have defended him by physical force
-the Christ bade him put up his sword, saying, "Thinkest thou that I
-cannot now pray to my father and he shall give me more than twelve
-legions of angels?" That is, to deliver him from his captors. "But," he
-added, after declaring the possibility of his deliverance by legions of
-angels, "how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that _thus it must
-be?_"[C]
-
-[Footnote A: See Lesson VI.]
-
-[Footnote B: John x:17, 18.]
-
-[Footnote C: Matt. xxvi:53, 54.]
-
-_6. Lesson Taught by Severity of the Atonement:_ Let the severity
-of the Atonement impress men with one very important truth, viz.,
-that breaking up the harmony of the moral government of the world
-is a serious, adventurous, and dangerous business, even though when
-necessary to bring about conditions essential to the progress of
-Intelligences; and more serious when man in his presumption and
-apostasy from God, of his own perverse will, to gratify his ambition,
-or pride or appetite or passions, violates the law of God and breaks
-the union between himself and Deity. That is serious; and how difficult
-it is to re-establish that union, to purchase forgiveness for that sin!
-How hard it is to make amends to the majesty of God, dishonored by
-man's individual transgression of divine law--let the severity of the
-Christ's Atonement for man's sin bear witness; for it required all that
-the Christ gave in suffering and agony of spirit and body, to lay the
-grounds for man's forgiveness and reconciliation with God.
-
-The severity of the Atonement should impress men with the fact that we
-live in a world of stern realities; that human actions draw with them
-tremendous consequences that may not be easily set aside if the actions
-in which they have their origin are wrong.
-
-Moral laws have their penalties as physical laws have their
-consequences; there could be no moral laws without penalties; and
-penalties of laws must be enforced, else laws are mere nullities.
-Violations of moral law are attended by shame and suffering; suffering
-is the consequence or the penalty of violating divine, moral law; and
-the penalty must be paid, either by the one sinning or by another who
-shall suffer vicariously for him.
-
-This brings us to one of the great questions inseparably connected
-with the Atonement. Can there be such a thing as vicarious suffering?
-And can the vicarious suffering of an innocent victim pay the debt to
-justice due from one who is guilty of the transgression of law?
-
-
-
-LESSON XXIII.
-
-(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
-
-THE EFFICACY OF VICARIOUS ATONEMENT.
-
-ANALYSIS.
-
-I. The Law of Righteousness.
-
-II. Possibility of the Spirit Suffering.
-
-III. The Suffering of Men.
-
-1. Because of Their Own Sins.
-
-2. Because of the Sins of Others.
-
-3. With Each Other on Account of Sin.
-
-4. Willingness of Men to Suffer for Others and what it Suggests.
-
-IV. Vicarious Suffering the Doctrine of Christ.
-
-V. The Reign of Law and Love.
-
-REFERENCES.
-
-The texts and contexts of the scriptures quoted and cited in the body
-of this lesson.
-
-_SPECIAL TEXT: "He that loveth not knoweth not God, for God is love. * *
-* Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent
-his Son to be the Propitiation for our sins._
-
-_"Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." (I
-John iv:8-11.)_
-
-DISCUSSION.
-
-_1. The Law of Righteousness:_ All sin against moral law is
-followed by suffering. At first glance that statement may not be
-accepted without qualification; but it is true. "Sin is transgression
-of the law," is scripture definition of sin.[A] No difficulty will
-arise from that definition, but there might arise difference of opinion
-as to what constitutes "moral law," which to violate would be sin.
-Of course moral law, varies among different races, and nations; and
-indeed varies in the same race and nation in different periods of time;
-but no matter how variant the law may be, between different races or
-nations; or how variant it may be between individuals, the principle
-announced that suffering follows sin will hold good. Of course between
-the Christian whose conscience is trained in the moral law of the
-doctrine of Christ, and the heathen, "who know not God," there is a
-wide difference. Many things which are sin to the Christian conscience
-are not sin to the heathen races, unenlightened by the ethics of the
-Christian religion; but, nevertheless, what I say is true; and if
-heathen peoples do not have the same moral standards that prevail in
-Christian lands, they have _some_ moral standards; and whenever they
-violate what to them is the "rule of righteousness," it is followed
-by chagrin, by sorrow, by mental suffering for them; and so with the
-Christian people who are instructed in the high, moral principles of
-the Christian religion. When they fall below their ideals, when they
-consciously violate their rule of righteousness, it is followed by
-suffering, by sense of shame, by sorrow; and, indeed, the great bulk
-of the sorrows of this world spring from sin, the transgression of the
-moral law, and there is no escaping its penalty--suffering.
-
-[Footnote A: I John iii:4; and Rom. iv:15.]
-
-_2. Possibility of the Spirit Suffering:_ It is just as real,
-this suffering of the spirit for the violation of the moral law, as
-the suffering of physical pain that comes from the violation of some
-physical law. The mind no less than the body may be hurt, wounded as
-deeply as the body, and carry its scars as the evidence of its wounds
-as long. Mental suffering is as real and poignant as physical pain; and
-he who sins suffers. "And it often happens," says Guizot, "that the
-best men, that is, those who have best conformed their will to reason,
-have often been the most struck with their insufficiency, the most
-convinced of the inequality between the conduct of man and his task
-between liberty and law;" and therefore have they suffered most. It is
-possible, then, for men to suffer because of their own sins.
-
-_3. Men Suffer Because of the Sins of Others:_ This we know, also,
-it is possible for men to suffer _because_ of the sins of others, and
-they often do it. You can scarcely conceive of a man being so far
-isolated, so far outside the sympathies of the world, that it can be
-said of him that he lives unto himself alone; that his sinning and
-his suffering concerns only himself. We are so knit together in a net
-work of sympathies--not seen, but real nevertheless--that we suffer
-_because_ of each other. It is easily proven. Take the case of an
-honorable father and mother who have led we will say--and there are
-such fathers and mothers--ideal lives. They have lived in honor; they
-have met their obligations to the world with reasonable fidelity; they
-have lived lives of righteousness; they have set good examples to their
-children; they have taught the Christian truths at the fireside; they
-have surrounded their family with every advantage that would prepare
-them for honorable stations among men. They have taken pride as they
-have seen their children grow from infancy to manhood, and their souls
-have hoped that a sort of immortality would subsist in the perpetuation
-of their race through their children. Then out of this family group,
-over which the parents have watched with such anxious solicitude, there
-comes forth a reprobate youth, in whom there seems to be scarcely any
-moral sense. He violates all the conventions of society, and of moral
-living; he destroys his intellect by his excesses, and he becomes
-a vagabond and outcast among men, a degenerate, perhaps finds his
-way through the sewers of sin, into the prison house, and at last,
-perchance, may go to the very gallows itself.
-
-And what is the condition of that righteous father and mother the
-while, when they look upon this sad mischance in their household?
-Sorrow! The one who has led the shameful life, though he may suffer
-somewhat for his sins, has not suffered the one-thousandth part of the
-shame and humiliation and disgrace that has been experienced by this
-father and mother. They suffer _because_ of the sins of this wayward
-son. They illustrate in their experience the fact that men can suffer
-because of each other; _the innocent are involved in the sins and
-crimes of the guilty._
-
-From this confessedly extreme case all down the line of human
-experiences and relationships in constantly varying degrees men suffer
-_because_ of each other.
-
-_4. Men Suffer With Each Other on Account of Sin:_ Then men suffer
-_with_ each other? An outsider, looking at this scene I have presented
---I mean one not a member of the grief-stricken family--witnessing
-the sorrow of the father, and the inconsolable grief of the mother;
-the mental distress and shame experienced by brother and sisters; the
-stranger witnessing all this, weeps with the sorrowing father and
-mother; he suffers _with_ them.
-
-_5. Willingness of Men to Suffer for Each Other:_ There is still
-another phase of this suffering on account of sin, and one that draws
-very near to the point I am trying to reach. There is among men, and
-especially among men of highly sensitive natures, a willingness to
-suffer _for_ others. Take the case, for instance, of David and Absolom.
-Absolom was the most worthless of all David's many worthless sons;
-he had planned rebellion against the grand old king; he would have
-clutched the crown from the hoary head of David and put it upon his
-own. In every way he had warred against the honor and the interests
-o. his noble father. Yet when news was brought to the king that the
-worthless young man had been caught in the battle and slain, the old
-king was stricken with sorrow, and gave vent to the parent-cry that
-rings through all the ages--"Oh Absolom, my son! my son! would to
-God I had died for thee!" In this experience of David's we see the
-willingness of one to suffer _for_ another. Nor is this willingness
-confined to parents alone who would so often and so willingly take upon
-themselves the consequences of their children's sins, though those
-consequences involved death. The same willingness exists on the part
-of the children, but perhaps is less frequently manifested, to suffer
-for their parents. The same is true also as to brothers and sisters,
-and among friends, where no tie of consanguinity exists; and even among
-strangers, on the occasion of great, imminent danger, this impulse in
-man, this willingness to risk his own life for others is frequently
-manifested. Such experiences make up the history of heroism, which is
-the chief glory of our human race.
-
-_6. The Great Principle Suggested by the Foregoing Facts:_ Does
-this fact of willingness to suffer for others, so abundantly attested
-in human experiences, bear witness to the existence of no great and
-eternal principle, that may be of incalculable benefit in the moral
-economy of the world? Is it meaningless? I think not. On the contrary
-it suggests the existence of a great and effective truth, namely, that
-the Intelligences of the universe are so bound together in sympathetic
-relations that at need they can suffer for each other, as well as with
-each other, and because of each other. "Greater love hath no man than
-this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."[A] This is true
-because when a man lays down his life for a cause or for a friend he
-has then given all he has to give; for with life goes all things else;
-he can give no more. Shall those Intelligences we must needs think of
-as Divine, as making up David's "congregation of the Mighty," the Gods
-among whom God the greatest of all the Intelligences, standeth and
-judges,[B] shall these be denied the privilege of love-manifestation
-which goes with this giving of all? And shall this suffering for others
-have no benefiting effect upon those others for whom the suffering is
-endured? Shall this love-force of men and of divine Intelligences be
-mere waste of the highest and most refined of all forces--spiritual
-force? Not so, if reason answers the question. Certainly not so if
-scripture answers it. "Here by perceive we the love of God, because he
-laid down his life for us."[C] "God so loved the world that he gave his
-only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish
-but have everlasting life."[D] "For Christ hath also once suffered for
-sin, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God."[E] "When
-we were yet without strength in due time Christ died for us. * * * Being
-now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. *
-* * When we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his
-son * * *."[F] The scriptures then abundantly confirm the declaration
-made that divine Intelligences are not denied the power of giving the
-highest love manifestation for others by suffering for them; and in
-that love-manifestation giving all they can give even to taking upon
-themselves the consequences of the sins of others and making Atonement
-for them; suffering that others might have placed within their reach
-the means of escape from suffering, if only they would accept such
-means and apply them. Otherwise, of course, the sinners themselves must
-suffer all the consequences due to their sins; for nothing is clearer
-in the revealed word of God, developed in this treatise, than that
-satisfaction must be made to Justice whenever the domain of Justice is
-trespassed upon, else all is confusion in the moral government of the
-world; so that if men will not avail themselves of means which Mercy
-provides for their redemption, then they themselves must meet the
-inexorable demands of Justice.
-
-[Footnote A: St. John iii:15.]
-
-[Footnote B: Psalms lxxxii.]
-
-[Footnote C: I John iii:16.]
-
-[Footnote D: St. John iii:16.]
-
-[Footnote E: I Peter iii:16.]
-
-[Footnote F: Rom. v:6-10.]
-
-_7. Vicarious Suffering. Its Reality and Its Effectiveness is the
-Doctrine of the Christ:_ This, then, is the especial doctrine of the
-Christ on which his earth-life's mission is based. One Intelligence at
-need can suffer for others. It is possible for one to stand responsible
-for another; a man can be his brother's keeper, and vicariously endure
-even suffering for another's sins; make a satisfaction to justice, and
-bring the quality of Mercy into the moral economy of things, and give
-it legitimate standing under a reign of law, softening somewhat the
-otherwise harsh aspect of things.
-
-_8. The Reign of Law and Love:_ To this then our inquiry and
-discussions lead us; to recognize in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the
-central truth of which is the Atonement, a reign of Law and Love; and
-that to preserve this Law, and to manifest this Love was the purpose of
-the earth-life's mission of the Christ. To teach and to demonstrate,
-first of all, God-love for man, by a sacrifice that tasks God that
-man might be saved;[A] and second, to inspire man-love for God, by
-the demonstration that God first loved man, and how deeply God loved
-man;[B] and third, to teach man-love for man. "For beloved," said
-the apostle whom Jesus loved pre-eminently--"If God so loved us, we
-also ought to love one another."[C] In this love for one another
-the children of God are manifest, he contends. "Whosoever doeth not
-righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.
-For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we
-should love one another. * * We know that we have passed from death into
-life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother
-abideth in death. * * Here by perceive we the love of God, because he
-laid down his life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for
-the brethren."[D] It is not to be marveled at that this same apostle
-declared that "He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love,"[E]
-or that Paul, accepting the same principles, should say, "he that
-loveth another, hath fulfilled the law. * * * Love worketh no ill to
-his neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law."[F]
-
-[Footnote A: St. John iii:16, 17.]
-
-[Footnote B: "In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because
-that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live
-through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved
-us, and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins" (I John iv:9,
-10.)]
-
-[Footnote C: I John iv:11.]
-
-[Footnote D: I John iii:10-16.]
-
-[Footnote E: I John iv:8.]
-
-[Footnote F: Rom. xiii:8, 10.]
-
-Jesus, however, teacheth the matter most perfectly. Accepting the love
-of God for man as assured, then the great commandment for man is--
-
-    "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with
-    all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great
-    commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy
-    neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and
-    the prophets."[A] "Love is the fulfilling of the law"[B]--
-
-    _"All's Love, yet all's Law."_[C]
-
-[Footnote A: Matt. xxii.]
-
-[Footnote B: Rom. xiii:10.]
-
-[Footnote C: Browning.]
-
-Love exists in the earth-scheme of things, in the moral government of
-the world, as we have seen, in harmony with the universal reign of law.
-It is not born of some caprice, or mere impulse, howsoever beneficent;
-but interwoven it is into the very web of things, and is immanent
-in them, an indestructible _Presence_. It is because love reigns in
-harmony with law that we mortals can be so sure of it; and rest so
-secure in it. For as it was not born of caprice, so, too, it will
-not depart from the world, nor from individuals on caprice; but will
-endure as space itself endures--from the very nature of it; as truth
-abides; as law itself subsists; as God lives; for it is of the _Eternal
-Things--the Things that do not pass away._
-
-
-
-APPENDIX.
-
-Other Views of the Atonement.
-
-I.
-
-HISTORY OF SOTERIOLOGY[A] FROM APOSTOLIC TIMES UNTIL IT TAKES
-DEFINITE FORM UNDER THE TEACHING OF ANSELM IN THE TWELFTH CENTURY.
-
-[Footnote A: Soteriology is that branch of theological science which
-treats of the work of the Redeemer, or of the divine agency in the
-salvation of the soul (Die. Funk & Wagnall). This brief historical
-statement of soteriology is either condensed or quoted from Shedd's
-work on the "History of Christian Doctrine," and is not mine.]
-
-Not even an epitome of the history of the doctrine of the Atonement may
-be attempted here. The title is written out, not to attempt a summary
-of the history of this branch of theological science; but merely to
-make a few remarks about that history.
-
-It is quite generally conceded that the doctrine of the Atonement
-developed slowly. "Taking the term Atonement in its technical
-signification to denote the satisfaction of divine justice for the sin
-of man, by the substituted penal sufferings of the son of God, we shall
-find a slower scientific unfolding of this great cardinal doctrine than
-of any other of the principal truths of Christianity."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: "History of Christian Doctrine" V. "History of
-Soteriology," Vol. II, p. 204.]
-
-_Heretical Views During the First Two Christian Centuries:_
-There were two views of the atonement held to be heretical during the
-two first Christian centuries, the Gnostic[A] and the Ebionite,[B]
-respectively.
-
-[Footnote A: The Gnostics were a sect which arose in the Christian
-Church in the first century, flourished in the second, and had
-almost entirely disappeared by the sixth. The Gnostics held that
-knowledge rather than faith was the road to heaven, and professed to
-have a peculiar knowledge of religious mysteries. They rejected the
-literal interpretation of the scriptures, and attempted to combine
-their teachings with those of the Greek and Oriental philosophies
-and religions. They held that God was the unknowable and the
-unapproachable; that from him proceeded, by emanation, subordinate
-deities termed "eons," from whom again proceeded other still inferior
-spirits (Cent. Dict.--Gnostics).]
-
-[Footnote B: The Ebionites were a party of Judaizing Christians which
-appeared in the church as early as the second century and disappeared
-about the fourth century. They agreed in (1) the recognition of Jesus
-as the messiah; (2) the denial of the divinity; (3) belief in the
-universal obligation of the Mosaic law, and (4) rejection of Paul and
-his writings The two great divisions of Ebionites were the Pharisaic
-Ebionites, who emphasized the obligation of the Mosaic law, and the
-Essentic Ebionites, who were more speculative and leaned toward
-Gnosticism (Cent. Diet.--Ebionites).]
-
-The Gnostic heresy as affecting the Atonement brought against the
-scripture doctrine on that subject two contradictions; the first by
-one Basilides (A. D. 125), who affirmed only a human suffering in the
-Redeemer, which was not expiatory for the reason, first, because as
-merely human it was finite, and inadequate to atone for the sins of
-the whole world; and, second, because the idea of substituted penal
-suffering is inadmissible. "Suffering for the purposes of justice,"
-their teacher said, of necessity implied personal criminality in the
-sufferer," and therefore can never be endured by an innocent person
-like Christ." "The principle of vicarious substitution, in reference to
-justice, he held to be untenable.
-
-The other contradiction of Gnosticism was made by Marcion (A. D.
-150). He affirmed a divine suffering in the Redeemer, which was but
-apparent, however, because the "Logos," or "Word"--Christ--having
-assumed a phantom, not a real body, only a seeming suffering could
-occur, and could not, of course, be expiatory. "It was merely
-emblematical--designed to symbolize the religious truth, that man, in
-order to attain his true and highest life must die to his earthly life."
-
-"If now we examine these Gnostic and Judaizing theories," says Shedd,
-from whom I am condensing this account, "we find that they agree in one
-capital respect, viz., in the rejection of the scripture doctrine of a
-real and true expiation of human guilt."
-
-_2. Soteriology of the Apostolic Fathers:_ In the writings of the
-Apostolic Fathers, we obtain the views of the Church upon the doctrine
-of the Atonement during the first half century after the death of the
-last inspired apostle (A. D. 100-150). Examining them, we find chiefly
-the repetition of Scripture phraseology, without further attempt at an
-explanatory doctrinal statement. There is no scientific construction
-of the doctrine of Atonement in the writings of these devout and pious
-disciples of Paul and John; yet the idea of vicarious satisfaction is
-distinctly enunciated by them."
-
-Our author then quotes from the Apostolic Fathers in proof of the above
-statement.[A]
-
-[Footnote A: See "History of Christian Doctrine," Vol. II, pp. 208-212.]
-
-_3. Early Patristic Soteriology:_[A] One characteristic of
-the early Patristic Soteriology which strikes the attention is the
-important part which the doctrine of Satan plays in it. The death
-of Christ is often represented as ransoming man from the power and
-slavery of the devil. Such passages as Colossians ii:15, and Hebrews
-ii:14: "Having spoiled principalities and powers (Satanic dominion),
-he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it. * * * That
-through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that
-is, the devil,"--were made the foundation of this view. The writer who
-exhibits it more plainly and fully than any other is Iranaeus (+200?)
-As an illustration of his sentiments, we quote a passage from the first
-chapter of the fifth book of his important work, "Adversus Haereses:"
-"The Word of God (the Logos), omnipotent and not wanting in essential
-justice, proceeded with strict justice even against the apostasy or
-kingdom of evil itself, redeeming from it that which was his own
-originally, not by using violence, as did the devil in the beginning,
-but my persuasion, as it became God, as that neither justice should be
-infringed upon, nor the original creation of God perish."
-
-[Footnote A: This period extends into the last quarter of the 2nd
-century.]
-
-All true scientific development of the doctrine of the Atonement it is
-very evident, must take its departure from the idea of divine justice.
-This conception is the primary one in the Biblical representation of
-this doctrine. The terms, "propitiation" and "sacrifice," and the
-phraseology, "made a curse for us," "made sin for us," "justified by
-blood," "saved from wrath," which so frequently occur in the revealed
-statement of the truth, immediately direct the attention of the
-theologian to that side of the divine character, and that class of
-divine attributes, which are summed up in the idea of justice. And
-as we follow the history of the doctrine down, we shall find that
-just in proportion as the mind of the Church obtained a distinct and
-philosophic conception of this great attribute, as an absolute and
-necessary principle in the divine nature, and in human nature, was
-it enabled to specify with distinctness the real meaning and purport
-of the Redeemer's passion, and to exhibit the rational and necessary
-grounds for it.
-
-Now, turning to the writings of the Patristic period, we shall see that
-sufferings and death of the Redeemer are, in the main, represented as
-sustaining their most immediate and important relation to the justice
-of God. It is not to be disguised that the distinctness with which this
-is done varies with different writers. We shall find in this period,
-as in every other one, some minds for whom the pollution of sin is
-more impressive than its criminality, and in whose experience the
-doctrine of justification[A] is less formative than the doctrine of
-sanctification.[B]
-
-[Footnote A: Justification, as here used, is the act of God by which
-the sinner is declared righteous, or justly free from obligation to
-penalty, and fully restored to divine favor.]
-
-[Footnote B: Sanctification, the act of sanctifying or making holy. In
-Theology the act of God's grace, coupled with the efforts of man, by
-which the affection are purified and the soul is cleansed from sin and
-consecrated to God.]
-
-_4. Soteriology of Athanasius and the Greek Fathers:_ "Athanasius
-(373) is distinct and firm in maintaining the expiatory nature of
-the work of Christ. He recognizes its relations to the attribute of
-divine justice, and has less to say than his predecessors respecting
-its relations to the kingdom and claims of Satan. The more important
-bearings of the doctrine of vicarious satisfaction, it is evident, were
-now beginning to receive a closer attention, while less stress was
-laid upon its secondary aspects. We can find in the representations of
-Athanasius the substance of that doctrine of plenary satisfaction of
-eternal justice by the theanthropic sufferings of Christ which acquired
-its full scientific form in the mind of Anselm, and which lies under
-the whole Protestant church and theology."
-
-"Athanasius composed no tract or treatise upon the Atonement and we
-must consequently deduce his opinions upon this subject from his
-incidental statements while discussing other topics. In his discourses
-against Arians, there are frequent statements respecting the work of
-Christ, in connection with those respecting his person and dignity, and
-from these we select a few of the most distinct and conclusive: 'Christ
-as man endured death for us, inasmuch as he offered himself for that
-purpose to the Father.' Here, the substitutionary nature of his work
-is indicated. 'Christ takes our sufferings upon himself, and presents
-them to the Father, entreating for us that they be satisfied in him.'
-Here, the piacular[A] nature of his work is taught, together with his
-intercessory office. 'The death of the incarnate Logos is a ransom for
-the sins of men, and a death of death.' 'Desiring to annual our death,
-he took on himself a body from the Virgin Mary, that by offering this
-unto the Father a sacrifice for all, he might deliver us all, who by
-fear of death were all our life through subject to bondage.' 'Laden
-with guilt, the world was condemned of law, but Logos assumed the
-condemnation and suffering in the flesh gave salvation to all.' Here,
-the obligation of the guilty world is represented not as relating to
-Satan but to law; and the Redeemer assumes a condemnation, or in modern
-Protestant phraseology becomes a voluntary substitute for the guilty,
-for purposes of legal satisfaction."
-
-[Footnote A: "Piacular"--expiatory.]
-
-"If we examine the soteriology of the Greek church during the last half
-of the fourth and the first half of the fifth centuries, we meet with
-very clear conceptions of the atonement of Christ. The distinctiveness
-of the views of Athanasius upon this subject undoubtedly contributed
-to this; for this great mind exerted as powerful an influence upon the
-Eastern doctrinal system, generally, as Augustine exercised over the
-Western."
-
-_5. Soteriology of Augustine and Gregory the Great:_ "Augustine
-(430): Augustine's view of the work of the Christ is essentially that
-of the fathers who had preceded him, neither falling short nor making
-any marked advance in scientific respects. * * * 'All men,' he says,
-'are separated from God by sin. Hence they can be reconciled with him,
-only through the remission of sin, and this only through the grace of
-a most merciful Savior, and this grace through the one only victim
-of the most true and only priest.' In another place, alluding to our
-Lord's comparison of his own crucifixion with the lifting up of the
-serpent by Moses, Augustine thus expresses himself: 'Our Lord did not,
-indeed, transfer sin itself into his flesh as if it were the poison of
-the serpent, but he did transfer death; so that there might be, in the
-likeness of human flesh, the punishment of sin without its personal
-guilt, whereby both the personal guilt and punishment of sin might be
-abolished from human flesh.'
-
-"These passages, and many others like them, scattered all through
-his writings, prove indisputably that Augustine held the doctrine of
-vicarious satisfaction."
-
-_Gregory, the Great, Bishop of Rome (604):_ Gregory, in his
-writings, lays great stress upon the idea of a sacrifice offered in
-the death of Christ. He starts from the conception of guilt, and from
-this derives immediately the necessity of a theanthropic[A] sacrifice.
-"Guilt," he says, "can be extinguished only by a penal offering to
-justice. But it would contradict the idea of justice, if for the sin
-of a rational being like man, the death of an irrational animal should
-be accepted as a sufficient atonement. Hence, a man must be offered as
-the sacrifice for man; so that a rational victim may be slain for a
-rational criminal. But how could a man, himself stained with sin, be
-an offering for sin? Hence a sinless man must be offered. But what man
-descending in the ordinary course would be free from sin? Hence, the
-Son of God must be born of a virgin, and become man for us. He assumed
-our nature without corruption. He made himself a sacrifice for us, and
-set forth for sinners his own body, a victim without sin, and able
-both to die by virtue of its humanity, and to cleanse the guilty, upon
-grounds of justice."
-
-[Footnote A: Theantropic--both divine and human; being or pertaining to
-the God-man.]
-
-_6. Anselm's Theory of Satisfaction:_ A. Anselm's views of
-the Atonement (1109 A. D.) are fundamentally those of Protestant
-Christendom, it is important that they be stated in sufficient detail
-to make the leading principle clear.
-
-The fundamental position of Anselm is that "the Atonement of the Son
-of God is absolutely or metaphysically necessary in order to the
-remission of sin. Anselm concedes by implication, throughout his work,
-that if it cannot be made out that the vicarious satisfaction of divine
-justice by the theanthropic suffering of Jesus Christ is required
-by a necessary and immanent attribute of the Divine Nature, then a
-scientific character cannot be vindicated for the doctrine; for nothing
-that is not metaphysically necessary is scientific. Hence, in the
-very beginning of the tract, he affirms that a mere reference to the
-divine benevolence, without any regard to the divine justice, cannot
-satisfy the mind that is seeking a necessary basis in the doctrine
-of atonement. For benevolence is inclined to dispense with penal
-suffering, and of itself does not demand it.
-
-"It is not the attribute of mercy, but the attribute of justice,
-which insists upon legal satisfaction, and opposes an obstacle to
-the salvation of a sinner. Setting aside, therefore, the divine
-justice, and taking into view merely the divine compassion, there
-does not appear to be any reason why God should not by an act of bare
-omnipotence deliver the sinner from suffering and make him happy. This
-conducts Anselm to that higher position from which the full-orbed
-nature and character of the Deity is beheld, and he proceeds to show
-that compassion cannot operate in an isolated and independent manner in
-the work of redemption, and that if anything is done for the recovery
-and weal of the transgressor, it cannot be at the expense of any
-necessary quality in the divine nature, through the mere exercise of an
-arbitrary volition, and unbridled omnipotence.
-
-"The leading positions, and the connection of ideals, in this
-exceedingly profound, clear, and logical tract of the eleventh century
-are as follows:
-
-"Beginning with the idea of sin, Anselm defines this as the withholding
-from God what is due to him from man. Sin is debt. But man owes to God
-the absolute and entire subjection of his will, at all times to the
-divine law and will. This is not given, and hence the guilt, or debt,
-of a man to Deity. The extinction of this guilt does not consist in
-simply beginning again to subject the will entirely to its rightful
-sovereign, but in giving satisfaction for the previous cessation in so
-doing. God has been robbed of his honor in the past, and it must be
-restored to him in some way, while at the same time the present and
-future honor due to him is being given. But how is man, who is still
-a sinner, and constantly sinning, to render this double satisfaction,
-viz.: satisfy the law in the future by perfectly obeying it, and in
-the past by enduring its whole penalty? It is impossible for him to
-render it; and yet this impossibility, argues Anselm, does not release
-him from his indebtedness or guilt, because this impossibility is
-the effect of a free act, and a free act must be held responsible
-for all its consequences, in conformity with the ethical maxim, that
-the cause is answerable for the effect. But now the question arises:
-Cannot the love and compassion of God abstracted from his justice come
-in at this point, and remit the sin of man without any satisfaction?
-This is impossible because it would be irregularity and injustice. If
-unrighteousness is punished neither in the person of transgressor, nor
-in that of a proper substitute, then unrighteousness is not subject
-to any law or regulations of any sort; it enjoys more liberty than
-righteousness itself, which would be a contradiction and a wrong.
-Furthermore, it would contradict the divine justice itself, if the
-creature would defraud the creator of that which is his due, without
-giving any satisfaction for the robbery. Since there is no attribute
-more just and necessary than that primitive righteousness innate to
-deity which maintains the honor of God. This justice, indeed, is God
-himself, so that to satisfy it, is to satisfy God himself.
-
-"Having in this manner carried the discussion into the very heart of
-the divine nature, and shown that a necessary and immanent attribute
-of the Deity stands in the way of non-infliction of punishment and
-the happiness of the transgressor, Anselm proceeds to consider the
-possibility of satisfying the claims of justice--the claims of Satan
-being expressly denied. There are two ways, he says, in which this
-attribute can be satisfied. First, the punishment may be actually
-inflicted upon the transgressor. But this, of course, would be
-incompatible with his salvation from sin, and his eternal happiness,
-because the punishment required is eternal, in order to offset the
-infinite demerit of robbing God of his honor. It is plain, therefore,
-that man cannot be his own atoner, and render satisfaction for his
-own sin. A sinner cannot justify a sinner, any more than a criminal
-can pardon his own crime. The second, and only other way in which the
-attribute of justice can be satisfied is by substituted or vicarious
-suffering. This requires the agency of another being than the
-transgressor. But here everything depends upon the nature and character
-of the being who renders the substituted satisfaction. For it would be
-an illegitimate procedure to defraud justice by substituting a less for
-a more valuable satisfaction. It belongs, therefore, to the conception
-of a true vicarious satisfaction, that something be offered to justice
-for the sin of man that is greater than the finite and created, or,
-in Anselm's phrase, is 'greater than all that is not God.' In other
-words, an infinite value must pertain to that satisfaction which is
-substituted for the sufferings of mankind. But he who can give and has
-the right to give, out of his own resources, something that is greater
-than the infinite universe, must himself be greater than all that is
-not God, or than all that is infinite and created. But God alone is
-greater than all that is not in God, or the created universe. Only
-God, therefore, can make this satisfaction. Only Deity can satisfy the
-claims of Deity.
-
-But, on the other hand, man must render it, otherwise it would not
-be a satisfaction for man's sin. Consequently, the required and
-adequate satisfaction must be theanthropic, i. e., rendered by a
-God-Man. As God, the God-Man can give to Deity more than the whole
-finite creation combined could render. Furthermore, this theanthropic
-obedience and suffering was not due from the mere humanity of Christ.
-This was sinless and innocent, and justice had no claims, in the way
-of suffering, upon it. And, moreover, only a man's obedience, and not
-that of a God-Man, could be required of a man. Consequently this Divine
-Human obedience and suffering was a surplusage, in respect to the man
-Christ Jesus, and might overflow and inure to the benefit of a third
-party--in other words, to the benefit of the transgressor for whom it
-was voluntarily rendered and endured.
-
-"This satisfaction made by incarnate Deity to meet the claims of one of
-his own attributes, Anselm represents as even more than an equivalent
-for the sin of mankind."
-
-This brings us to the point where now the view of the Atonement by
-Catholics and Protestants respectively may be stated.
-
-II.
-
-THE ROMAN CATHOLIC VIEW OF THE ATONEMENT.
-
-_Original Sin:_[A] "Original sin is distinguished from actual,
-or personal sin, because actual or personal sin is the sin which we
-personally with our own free will commit, whilst original sin is that
-sin which our human nature has committed with the will of Adam, in
-whom all our human nature was included, and with whom our human nature
-is united as a branch to a root, as a child to a parent, as men who
-partake with Adam the same nature which we have derived from him, and
-as members of the same human family of which Adam was the head. The
-difference that exists between original and personal sin is, that the
-latter is committed with the will physically our own, whilst original
-sin is committed with a will physically of another, and only morally
-our own, because it forms with that other (Adam), who is our head, one
-moral body.
-
-[Footnote A: I take the Catholic doctrine of the Atonement from
-"Catholic Belief," by Very Rev. Joseph Faa Di Bruno, D. D., which is
-based, of course, upon the decisions of the Council of Trent, held from
-1545 to 1563, and which among other things declared what the Catholic
-doctrine was upon "Original Sin" and "Justification."]
-
-"If our hand strike a fellow-creature unjustly, though the hand has
-itself no will, yet it is considered guilty, not indeed as viewed
-separately by itself, but inasmuch as it is united to the rest of the
-body, and to the soul, forming one human being therewith, and thus
-sharing in the will of the soul with which it is connected.
-
-"Also the sin committed inwardly by the human will, by a bad desire,
-belongs to the whole human being.
-
-"Of the original sin in which we are born we are not personally guilty
-with our own personal will, but our nature is guilty of it by the will
-of Adam, our head, with whom we form one moral body through the human
-nature which we derive from him. * * * The Catholic Church teaches that
-Adam, by his sin, has not only caused harm to himself, but to the whole
-human race; that by it he lost the supernatural justice and holiness
-which he received gratuitously from God, and lost it, not only for
-himself, but also for all of us; and that he, having stained himself
-with the sin of disobedience, has transmitted not only death and other
-bodily pains and infirmities to the whole human race, but also sin,
-which is the death of the soul.
-
-"The teaching of the Council of Trent (Session V) is confirmed by these
-words of St. Paul: 'Wherefore as by one man sin entered into this
-world, and by sin death; and so death passed upon all men, in whom all
-have sinned' (Rom. v:12).
-
-"Surely the early Christians believed in original sin, as it can be
-gathered from what St. Augustine said to Pelagius, opposing him on the
-matter: 'I did not invent original sin, which Catholic faith holds from
-ancient time; but thou, who deniest it, thou, without doubt, art a new
-heretic" (De nuptiis, lib. xi, c. 12).
-
-"It may be said that this belief is as old as the human race, for
-traces of this ancient tradition are spread in all nations, insomuch
-that Voltaire had to confess that 'The fall of man is the base of the
-theology of nearly all ancient people' (Philosophic de l'histoire,
-chapter xvii).
-
-"Beside the guilt of original sin, which is that habitual state of
-sinfulness in which we are born (because our human nature is justly
-considered to have consented in Adam to the rejection of original
-justice), there is also in man the stain of original sin, entailing the
-privation in the human soul of that supernatural lustre which, had we
-born in the state of original justice, we all should have had.
-
-"As neither Adam nor any of his offspring could repair the evil done
-by his sin, we should ever have remained in the state of original sin
-and degradation in which we were born, and we should have been forever
-shut out from the Beatific Vision of God in Heaven, had not God, in his
-infinite mercy, provided for us a Redeemer."
-
-_The Incarnation of God the Son:_ Respecting this great mystery,
-Catholics believe that the Holy Trinity, out of infinite mercy, decreed
-to provide for us a Redeemer, who could suffer, and suffer as an
-individual of the human race, and at the same time be in himself so
-exalted as to be able to give infinite value to his sufferings; because
-sin, being an offense against the infinite majesty of God could only be
-atoned for by an expiation of infinite value.
-
-"To accomplish this end, God the Son, the second person of the Holy
-Trinity, the Eternal Word, chose the Blessed Virgin Mary of Nazareth,
-to become his Mother, and on receiving her consent, he, by the
-supernatural agency of the Holy Spirit, took human flesh from her, and
-thus became man, and his holy name is Jesus Christ.
-
-"By becoming man the Eternal Word did not lay aside his divine nature,
-but, remaining what he had ever been from all eternity, took upon
-himself human nature without a human personality, so that from the
-first moment of his incarnation there was in him, and there ever will
-be, not one only but two natures, the divine and the human, united in
-his divine personality, the person of God the Son.
-
-"The divine nature of Jesus is one and the same as that of the Eternal
-Father and of the Holy Spirit, and his human nature is in all things
-like ours, sin and tendency to sin excepted. He is equal to the Father
-as to his Godhead, and less than the Father as to his manhood.
-
-"Our Lord Jesus Christ suffered and died in his human nature on Mount
-Calvary, and thereby effectually interposed his atonement between his
-eternal Father and man, and thus made a plentiful expiation and paid a
-full ransom to the Eternal Justice for the sins of the whole world. * *
-
-_"Jesus Our Only Mediator of Redemption:_ "Catholics believe
-that our Lord Jesus Christ is alone the great Centre of the Christian
-religion, the Fountain of all grace, virtue, and merit as in the
-natural world (if the comparison may be allowed), the sun is the centre
-and enlivening created source of light, heat, and growth.
-
-"This grand truth they believe to be the vital, essential part of
-Christianity, 'for other foundation no man can lay but that which is
-laid; which is Christ Jesus' (I Corinthians iii:11).
-
-"They hold that to be united to Jesus Christ is the highest and noblest
-aim of man, and that only the holy Catholic church supplies the means
-for the closest union with Jesus Christ; and they are convinced that
-the yearning to possess this closer communion with Christ has, by
-divine attraction, drawn thousands of earnest minds to seek in the
-Catholic church this, the highest happiness to be enjoyed on earth.
-
-"They believe that Jesus Christ is our Redeemer, because he has
-redeemed us from the bondage of Satan, with the ransom of his most
-precious blood; that he alone is our Savior because he saves us from
-stain, the guilt, and the curse of sin; that he is our only mediator
-of redemption and salvation, because he alone, by his own merits, has
-efficiently interposed between God and man, to obtain the full pardon
-of our sins through the sacrifice of himself: 'There is one God, and
-one mediator of God and men, the man Jesus Christ, who gave himself a
-redemption for all' (I St. Timothy ii:5, 6). Neither is there salvation
-in any other. For there is no other name under heaven given to man,
-whereby we must be saved' (Acts iv:12).
-
-"They believe that Jesus died on the cross to purchase mercy, grace,
-and salvation for all men--'Who will have all men to be saved, and to
-come to the knowledge of the truth' (I St. Timothy ii:4). And that
-since Adam's fall, mercy, grace, and salvation can be obtained by man
-only through the passion and death of Jesus Christ.
-
-"Believing that Jesus Christ is truly God, they hold that the homage
-of supreme adoration is due to Him, the God-man, as well as to God the
-Father, and to God the Holy Spirit."
-
-_Catholic View of Justification:_ "Justification is a divine act
-which conveys sanctifying grace, and by that grace communicates a
-supernatural life to the soul which by sin, whether original or actual,
-had incurred spiritual death: that is to say, justification is a change
-in the human soul or translation from the state of sin into the state
-of grace.
-
-"It is a gift of Almighty God, a ray, as it were, coming direct from
-the divine goodness and filling the soul, which makes those who receive
-it pleasing to God and justified in his sight.
-
-"The grace of justification produces a change affecting the soul of the
-regenerate by its presence, elevating and perfecting it. By this grace
-the likeness of God is brought out in them, and they are raised to a
-state of friendship with him, and of divine sonship.
-
-"The Catholic church teaches that the grace of justification not merely
-covers sin, but blots it out; that is, blots out the guilt and stain
-arising from sin, and remits the everlasting punishment due to it.
-
-"Justifying is not dressing splendidly a dead man's body, it is
-vivifying it. It is not covering a leprosy with a beautiful shining
-dress, it is curing it thoroughly. It is not gilding a piece of coal,
-leaving it inwardly black, but it is transforming it into a brilliant
-diamond.
-
-"What unspeakable regrets it would leave in the justified man if he had
-ever to see his soul, indeed magnificently arrayed, still in itself
-stained with sin, deformed, corrupt, black, and horrible as before.
-
-"Merely covering sin is a human way of forgiving, which consists in
-passing over the crime of a sinner, and in treating him outwardly as
-if he had not committed it, and as if no stain were in the soul in
-consequence of it, though the guilt and the stain are still there.
-
-"God's way of pardoning a sinner is very different, and wholly divine.
-It is a way worthy of his infinite goodness, sanctity, omnipotence
-and worthy too of the immense efficacy of Christ's blood, and of his
-superabundant redemption, and of his infinite merits.
-
-"God's way of pardoning is to cleanse away entirely the guilt and stain
-of sin, so that instead of it, God sees in the pardoned sinner the
-"charity of God poured forth in our hearts by the Holy Ghost" (Rom.
-v:5), which, like a fire, has destroyed all the dross of sin, and
-rendered man pure, upright, and holy.
-
-"Hence the justification of a sinner is represented in Scripture as
-the putting on of the new man who is "created in justice, and holiness
-of truth" (Ephesians iv:24): the "renovation of the Holy Ghost" (Titus
-iii:5).
-
-"In the case of the grown-up persons, some dispositions are required on
-the part of the sinner in order to be fit to obtain this habitual and
-abiding grace of justification. A man can only dispose himself by the
-help of divine grace, and the dispositions which he shows do not by any
-means effect or merit justification, but only serve to prepare him for
-it; and for that reason are simply called dispositions or preparations.
-This is the teaching of the Council of Trent, which declares: "We are
-said to be justified gratuitously, because none of the things which
-precede justification, whether it be faith or good works, can merit
-this blessing for us." (Session VI, chapter viii.) The same holy
-council declares that sins are remitted gratuitously by the mercy of
-God through the merits of Jesus Christ (Session VI, chapter vii).
-
-"The principal dispositions required for justification are the
-following acts, which can only be made by the assistance of God's
-actual grace, namely, an act of faith or belief in revealed truths,
-of fear of God, of hope, and of charity; an act of repentance for
-past sins, with a purpose to avoid sin in future, and to keep the
-commandments: a desire of receiving baptism for those who have not yet
-been baptized, and for those who have fallen into sin after baptism,
-a resolution to approach the sacrament of penance (Council of Trent,
-Session VI, chapter vi).
-
-"Justification may be lost by wilfully violating a commandment of God,
-either by doing what is forbidden, or by not doing what is commanded.
-Justification is a talent or gift which should be made to bear fruit,
-or we shall be punished for the neglect.
-
-"By justification we are raised to the dignity of Sons of God, heirs
-of his kingdom; and this entails upon us the duty of acting in a way
-becoming to so high a dignity. If thou wilt enter into life, keep the
-commandments,' said the Lord (St. Matt. xix:17). By justification we
-are incorporated with Christ, like a branch growing on a vine; but
-if the branch produces no fruit it will be cut off and cast into the
-fire (St. John xv:6). Hence the grace of justification is compared
-by our Savior, not to a pond, but to a fountain, whose waters reach
-unto heaven: 'But the water that I will give him shall become in him a
-fountain of water springing up into life everlasting" (St. John iv:14).
-
-_"How Christ's Redemption is Applied to Men that They May Be
-Justified and Sanctified:_ "Jesus Christ died for all mankind; he
-truly died that 'he might taste death for all' (Hebrews ii:9). Yet we
-know that all men will not be saved but only those who do his will,
-for we read in St. Paul: 'And being consummated, he became to all
-that obey him the cause of eternal salvation' (Hebrews v:9). And so,
-notwithstanding Christ's redemption, it is stated in the gospel that
-some 'shall go into everlasting punishment' (St. Matt. xxv:46). St.
-Paul did not say that God will save all men, but, 'who will have all
-men to be saved' (I Timothy ii:4), implying thereby that for salvation,
-man's will and co-operation is required to fulfill the conditions, and
-use the means appointed by God himself for the purpose.
-
-"Only those who "have washed their robes and have made them white in
-the blood of the Lamb" (Apocalypse [Rev.] vii:14), that is, who have
-the merits of Christ applied to them, and who persevere to the end in
-doing what is commanded, will be saved.
-
-"The direct means instituted by Christ himself for applying his
-infinite merits to the souls of men are the holy sacraments, which are
-so many channels instituted by Jesus Christ to convey to men his grace
-purchased for us at the price of his most precious blood.
-
-_"The Holy Sacraments:_ "The Catholic church teaches that there
-are truly and properly seven, and only seven sacraments of the new law,
-instituted by Jesus Christ our Lord, and necessary for the salvation
-of mankind, though not all of them necessary for every person, as, for
-instance, holy order and matrimony.
-
-"These seven sacraments are:
-
-"1st, Baptism, by which we are made Christians, children of God, and
-members of his holy church..
-
-"2nd, Confirmation, by which we receive the Holy Ghost, to make us
-strong and perfect Christians and soldiers of Jesus Christ.
-
-"3rd, Holy Eucharist, which is the true body and blood, with the soul
-and divinity, of Jesus Christ, under the appearances of bread and wine.
-
-"4th, Penance, by which the sins that we commit after baptism are
-forgiven.
-
-"5th, Extreme Unction, which in serious or dangerous illness, comforts
-the soul, remits sin, and restores health of body, if God sees it to be
-expedient.
-
-"6th, Holy Order, by which bishops, priests, and other ministers of the
-Church are ordained.
-
-"7th, Matrimony, the sacrament which sanctifies the union by marriage
-of man and woman.
-
-"Each of these has the three conditions necessary for a sacrament
-understood in the strict sense of the word, namely, the outward sign,
-the inward grace, and the institution by Jesus Christ, who alone has
-the power to institute sacraments, that is, outward signs as means of
-grace."
-
-III.
-
-THE PROTESTANT VIEW OF THE ATONEMENT.
-
-There are some slight variations in the views of the leading
-subdivisions of Protestant Christendom in relation to the Atonement;
-but these do not so much concern the nature of the Atonement itself
-as the manner of appropriating or receiving its benefits. At any rate
-their views of the Atonement are so nearly alike that they may be
-stated with sufficient clearness from any one of the standard works of
-these subdivisions.[A] The statement here used to represent the views
-of the leading subdivisions of Protestant Christendom is from the
-"Westminster Confession of Faith" of the Presbyterian church.
-
-[Footnote A: "At the time of the Reformation, we have seen that both
-Lutheran and Calvanistic theologians adopted the Anselmic theory of
-a strict satisfaction. This soteriology enters into all the Lutheran
-and Calvanistic symbols of the continent, and into the Episcopalian,
-Presbyterian, and Congregational symbols of England and America. So
-far, therefore, as the principal Protestant creeds are concerned, the
-theory of an absolute necessity of atonement, and a strict satisfaction
-of justice by the suffering of Christ, is the prevalent one" ("History
-of Christian Doctrine," Shedd, Vol. II, p. 349).]
-
-_Of the Fall of Man, of Sin, and of the Punishment Thereof:_
-Section I.--Our first parents being seduced by the subtlety and
-temptation of Satan, sinned in eating the forbidden fruit. This their
-sin God was pleased, according to his wise and holy counsel, to permit,
-having purposed to order it to his own glory.
-
-"Section II.--By this sin they fell from their original righteousness,
-and communion with God, and so became dead in sin, and wholly defiled
-in all faculties and parts of soul and body.
-
-"Section III.--They being the root of all mankind, the guilt of this
-sin was imputed, and the same death in sin and corrupted nature
-conveyed to all their posterity, descending from them by ordinary
-generation.
-
-"Section IV.--From this original corruption, whereby we are utterly
-indisposed, disabled, and made opposite to all good, and wholly
-inclined to all evil, do proceed all actual transgressions.
-
-"Section V.--This corruption of nature, during this life, doth remain
-in those that are regenerated; and although it be through Christ
-pardoned and mortified, yet both itself, and all the motions thereof,
-are truly and properly sin.
-
-"Section VI.--Every sin, both original and actual, being a
-transgression of the righteous law of God, and contrary thereunto,
-doth, in its own nature, bring guilt upon the sinner, whereby he is
-bound over to the wrath of God, and curse of law, and so made subject
-to death, with all miseries, spiritual, temporal, and eternal.
-
-_"Of God's Covenant with Man:_ Section I.--The distance between
-God and the creature is so great, that although reasonable creatures do
-owe obedience unto him as their Creator, yet they could never have any
-fruition of him as their blessedness and reward, but by some voluntary
-condescension on God's part, which he hath been pleased to express by
-way of covenant.
-
-"Section II.--The first covenant made with man was a covenant of works,
-wherein life was promised to Adam, and in him to his posterity, upon,
-condition of perfect and personal obedience.
-
-"Section III.--Man by his fall having made himself incapable of life by
-that covenant, the Lord was pleased to make a second, commonly called
-the covenant of grace: whereby he freely offereth unto sinners life and
-salvation by Jesus Christ, requiring of them faith in him, that they
-may be saved; and promising to give unto all those that are ordained
-unto life his Holy Spirit, to make them willing and able to believe.
-
-"Section IV.--This covenant of grace is frequently set forth in the
-Scripture by the name of a testament, in reference to the death of
-Jesus Christ the testator, and to the everlasting inheritance, with all
-things belonging to it, therein bequeathed.
-
-"Section V.--This covenant was differently administered in the time
-of the law, and in the time of the gospel: under the law it was
-administered by promises, sacrifices, circumcision, the paschal lamb,
-and other types and ordinances delivered to the people of the Jews, all
-fore-signifying Christ to come, which were for that time sufficient
-and efficacious, through the operation of the Spirit, to instruct and
-build up the elect in faith in the promised Messiah, by whom they had
-full remission of sins, and eternal salvation: and is called the Old
-Testament.
-
-"Section VI.--Under the gospel, when Christ the substance was
-exhibited, the ordinances in which this covenant is dispensed are, the
-preaching the Word, and the administration of the sacraments of baptism
-and the Lord's supper: which, though fewer in number, and administered
-with more simplicity and less outward glory, yet in them it is held
-forth in more fulness, evidence, and spiritual efficacy, to all
-nations, both Jews and Gentiles; and is called the New Testament. There
-are not, therefore, two covenants of grace differing in substance, but
-one and the same under various dispensations.
-
-_"Of Christ the Mediator:_ Section I."--It pleased God in his
-eternal purpose, to choose and ordain the Lord Jesus, his only begotten
-Son, to be mediator between God and man; the Prophet, Priest, and King;
-the Head and Savior of his Church; the Heir of all things; and Judge of
-the world: unto whom he did from all eternity give a people to be his
-seed, and to be by him in time redeemed, called, justified, sanctified,
-and glorified.
-
-"Section II.--The Son of God, the second person in the Trinity, being
-very and eternal God, of one substance, and equal with the Father, did,
-when the fulness of time was come, take upon him man's nature, with all
-the essential properties and common infirmities thereof, yet without
-sin; being conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost, in the womb of the
-Virgin Mary, of her substance. So that two whole, perfect, and distinct
-natures, the Godhead and the Manhood, were inseparably joined together
-in one person, without conversion, composition, or confusion. Which
-person is very God and very man, yet one Christ, the only Mediator
-between God and man.
-
-"Section III.--The Lord Jesus, in his human nature thus united to the
-divine, was sanctified and anointed with the Holy Spirit above measure;
-having in him all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge; in whom it
-pleased the Father that all fulness should dwell: to the end that being
-holy, harmless, undefiled, and full of grace and truth, he might be
-thoroughly furnished to execute the office of a Mediator and Surety.
-Which office he took not unto himself, but was thereunto called by his
-Father; who put all power and judgment into his hands, and gave him
-commandment to execute the same.
-
-"Section IV.--This office the Lord Jesus did most willingly undertake;
-which that he might discharge, he was made under the law, and did
-perfectly fulfil it endured most grievous torments immediately in his
-soul, and most painful sufferings in his body; was crucified, and
-died; was buried, and remained under the power of death, yet saw no
-corruption. On the third day he arose from the dead, with the same body
-in which he suffered; with which he ascended into heaven, and there
-sitteth at the right hand of his Father, making intercession; and shall
-return to judge men and angels at the end of the world.
-
-"Section VII.--Christ, in the work of mediation, acteth according to
-both natures; by each nature doing that which is proper to itself;
-yet by reason of the unity of the person, that which is proper to one
-nature is sometimes in Scripture attributed to the person denominated
-by the other nature.
-
-"Section VIII.--To all those for whom Christ hath purchased redemption,
-he doth certainly and effectually apply and communicate the same:
-making intercession for them; and revealing unto them, in and by the
-Word, the mysteries of salvation; effectually persuading them by his
-Spirit to believe and obey; and governing their hearts by his Word and
-Spirit; overcoming all their enemies by his almighty power and wisdom,
-in such manner and ways as are most consonant to his wonderful and
-unsearchable dispensation" (Westminster Confession of Faith).
-
-IV.
-
-THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CATHOLIC AND PROTESTANT SOTERIOLOGY.
-
-The difference between the Soteriology of these great divisions
-of Christendom--Catholic and Protestant--consists chiefly in the
-conception of the mode in which the Atonement of the Son of God became
-available to the believers. Shedd, in pointing out these differences,
-states that the decisions of the Council of Trent, which, as we
-have seen, formulated the church's doctrine on "Original Sin," and
-"Justification," "makes inward holiness in conjunction with the merits
-of Christ the ground of justification. The unintentional confounding of
-the distinction between justification and sanctification," which Shedd
-admits appears occasionally in the writings of some of the Christian
-Fathers--Augustine especially--"becomes a deliberate and emphatic
-identification in the scheme of the papal church." He then sets forth
-the Protestant view as follows:
-
-_The Protestant Position:_ "The Anselmic and Protestant
-soteriologies mean by the term 'justification,' that divine act,
-instantaneous and complete, by which sin is pardoned. If we
-distinguish the entire work of redemption into two parts, a negative
-and a positive, justification in the Pauline and in the Reformed
-sanctification would include the former and would include nothing more.
-Justification is the negative acquittal from condemnation, and not in
-the least the positive infusion of righteousness, or production of
-holiness. This positive element, the Reformers were careful to teach,
-invariably accompanies the negative; but they were equally careful
-to teach that it is not identical with it. The forgiveness of sin is
-distinct and different from the sanctification of the heart. It is an
-antecedent which is always followed, indeed, by its consequent; but
-this does not render the consequent a substitute for the antecedent, or
-one and the same thing with it."
-
-In a foot note our author quotes the Westminster Confession on the
-distinction of justification and sanctification:
-
-"The Westminster Confession thus states the distinction between
-justification and sanctification. 'Although sanctification be
-inseparably joined with justification, yet they differ, in that
-God in justification _imputeth_ the righteousness of Christ; in
-sanctification, his Spirits _infuseth_ grace, and enableth to the
-exercise thereof: in the former, sin is _pardoned_; in the other it is
-_subdued_; the _one_ doth equally free all believers from the revenging
-wrath of God, and that perfectly in this life, that they never fall
-into condemnation; the _other_ is neither equal in all, nor in this
-life perfect in any, but growing up to perfection" (Larger Catechism,
-Q. 77).
-
-Shedd, continuing the discussion of the differences between the
-Catholics and Protestants upon this subject, says:
-
-"The Council of Trent resolved _justification_ into _sanctification_,
-and in the place of a gratuitous justification and remission of sins
-through the expiation of the Redeemer, substituted the most subtle form
-of the doctrine of justification by works that has yet appeared, or
-that can appear. Man is justified and accepted at the bar of justice
-by his _external acts_ of obedience to the moral or the ecclesiastical
-law. This is, indeed, the doctrine that prevails in the common practice
-of the papal church, but it is not the form in which it appears in the
-Tridentine canons. According to these, man is justified by an inward
-and spiritual act which is denominated the act of faith; by a truly
-divine and holy habit or principle infused by the gracious working of
-the Holy Spirit. The ground of the sinner's justification is thus a
-divine and a gracious one. God works in the sinful soul to will and
-to do, and by making it inherently just justifies it. And all this is
-accomplished through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ; sot
-that, in justification there is a combination of the objective work of
-Christ with the subjective character of the believer. This statement
-is the more subtle, because it distinctly refers the infused grace or
-holiness to God as the author, and thereby seems to preclude the notion
-of self-righteousness. But it is fundamentally erroneous, because this
-infused righteousness, or holiness of heart, upon which remission of
-sins rests in part, is not _piacular_.[A] It has in it nothing of
-the nature of a satisfaction to justice. So far forth, therefore,
-as infused grace in the heart is made a ground and procuring cause
-of the pardon of sin, the judicial aspects and relations of sin are
-overlooked, and man is received into the divine favor without any true
-and proper expiation of his guilt."
-
-[Footnote A: "Piacular," expiatory, atoning.]
-
-Our author quotes Hooker as in substantial agreement with the above
-views as follows:
-
-"Then what is the fault of the church of Rome? Not that she requireth
-works at their hands which will be saved: but that she attributeth unto
-works a power of satisfying God for sin" (Hooker "On Justification,"
-Works II, 538).
-
-_Another Statement of the Protestant Attitude:_ "It was in their
-profound sense of the reality of sin, and of its dominion in the human
-will, that the Protestants laid the foundation of their theology. The
-body of the Reformers rested on the Anselmic idea of satisfaction [in
-the Atonement] which likewise formed a part of the opposing [i. e.,
-the Roman Catholic] creed. The point of difference was on the vital
-question how the soul, burdened with self-condemnation, is to obtain
-forgiveness of sins and peaceful reunion to God in the character of a
-reconciled father. In the teachings, injunctions, services, ceremonies
-of the Church, the Reformers had sought for this infinite good in vain.
-They found it in the doctrine of gratuitous pardon, from the bare
-Mercy of God, through the mediation of Christ; a pardon that waits for
-nothing but acceptance on the part of the soul--the belief, the trust,
-the faith of the penitent. Everything of the nature of satisfaction
-or merit on the part of the offender is precluded, by the utterly
-gratuitous nature of the gift, by the sufficiency of the Redeemer's
-expiation. Every assertion of the necessity of works or merit on the
-side of the offender, as the ground of forgiveness, is a disparagement
-of the Redeemer's Mercy and of his expiatory office. Faith, thus
-laying hold of a free forgiveness and reconnecting the soul with God,
-is the fountain of a new life of holiness, which depends not on fear
-and homage to law, but on gratitude and on filial sentiments. Christ
-himself nourishes this new life by spiritual influences that flow into
-the soul through the channel of its fellowship with him. Justification
-is thus a forensic[A] term; it is equivalent to the remission of sins.
-To justify, signifies not to make the offender righteous, to deliver
-him from the accusation of the law by the bestowal of a pardon. Saving
-faith is not a virtue to be rewarded, but an apprehensive act; the hand
-that takes the free gift. Such, in a brief statement, was the cardinal
-principle of the Protestant interpretation of the Gospel. The Christian
-life has its centre in this experience of forgiveness. Virtues of
-character and victories over temptation grow out of it. Christian
-ethics are united to Christian theology by this vital bond.
-
-[Footnote A: A term used in argumentation or discussion.]
-
-[Footnote: This idea of justification is the keynote in Luther's
-"Commentary on the Epistle to the Gallatians," and Malancthon's
-"Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans." It is the distinctive
-feature of the Protestant exegesis of the writings of Paul" (Fisher).]
-
-_The Authority for Protestant Conclusions:_ But to what authority
-could the Reformers appeal in behalf of their proposition? What
-assurance had they of its truth? How did they arrive at the knowledge
-of it? They had found this obscured and half-forgotten truth recorded
-as they believed with perfect clearness, in the Scriptures. The
-authority of the Scriptures was fully acknowledged by the church in
-which they had been trained, however it might superadd to them other
-authoritative sources of knowledge, and however it might deny the
-competence of the individual to interpret the Bible for himself.
-That Christ spoke in the Scriptures all admitted. What his voice
-was the Reformer could not doubt; for the truth that he uttered
-was one of which they had immediate, spiritual recognition. Their
-interpretation verified itself to their hearts by the light and peace
-which that truth brought with it, as well as to their understandings
-on a critical examination of the text. The church then denied their
-interpretation and commanded them to abandon it, was in error; it
-could not be authorized, infallible interpreter of Holy Writ. Thus the
-traditional belief in the authority of the Roman church gave way, and
-the principle of the exclusive authority of the Scriptures, as the rule
-of faith, took its place. By this process the second of the distinctive
-principles of Protestantism was reached. That the meaning of the Bible
-is sufficiently plain and intelligible was implied in this conclusion.
-Hence, the right of private judgment is another side of the same
-doctrine" ("The Reformation," by Geo. P. Fisher, D. D.--Scribners--pp.
-460-462).
-
-_The Roman Catholic Side of the Controversy:_ On the Roman side of
-the controversy it is but proper that the statement of the Council of
-Trent on essential points at issue should be quoted:
-
-"Justification is not the mere remission of sins, but also the
-sanctification and renovation of the inward man through the voluntary
-reception of grace and gifts of grace; whereby an unjust man becomes
-just, the enemy a friend, so that he may be an heir according to the
-hope of eternal life. * * * The only formal cause of justification
-is the justice * * * of God, not that by which he himself is just,
-but that by which he makes us just--that namely by which we are
-gratuitously renewed by him in the spirit of our minds, and are not
-only reputed, but really are and are denominated just, receiving
-justice into ourselves each one according to his own measure, which the
-Holy Spirit imparts to each as he pleases, and also, according to each
-one's own disposition and co-operation. * * *
-
-* * * When the Apostle asserts that man is justified by faith and
-gratuitously, his language is to be understood in that sense which the
-constant agreement of the Catholic church has affixed to it; in such a
-manner, namely, as that we are said to be justified by faith, because
-faith is the beginning of human salvation, the foundation and root of
-all justification, without which it is impossible to please God (Heb.
-xi:6). And we are said to be justified gratuitously, because none of
-those things which precede justification, whether faith or works,
-merits the grace itself of justification."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: Canones Concilii, Tridentini: De Justificatione vii, viii.]
-
-The contrast between Protestant and Catholic views on justification are
-even more distinctly seen when the anathematizing clauses of the Trent
-Council utterances are considered, and which are added to guard the
-Catholic faith. They follow:
-
-"If any one shall say that the sinner is justified by faith alone, in
-the sense that nothing else is required which may co-operate towards
-the attainment of the grace of justification, and that the sinner does
-not need to be prepared and disposed by the motion of his own will:
-_let him be accursed_.
-
-"If any one shall say, that men are justified either by the sole
-imputation of the righteousness of Christ, or by the sole remission of
-sin, to the exclusion of that grace and charity which is shed abroad in
-their hearts by the Holy Spirit, and which inheres in them, or shall
-say that the grace whereby we are justified is merely and only the
-favor of God: _let him be accursed_.
-
-"If any one shall say that justiying faith is nothing but confidence in
-the divine mercy remitting sin on account of Christ, or that this faith
-is the sole thing by which we are justified; _let him be accursed_."
-
-_Protestant Rejoinder:_ Upon this statement Shedd makes the
-following comment, with which, we think, not even Catholics would be
-displeased, as it but emphasizes their position on justification:
-
-"It will be perceived from these extracts that the Tridentine
-theologian regarded 'justification' as prospective and not
-retrospective, in its essential nature. It is not the forgiveness of
-'sins that are past,' but the cure and prevention of sins that are
-present and future. The element of guilt is lost sight of, and the
-piacular [expiatory] work of Christ is lost sight of with it; and
-the whole work of redemption is interpreted to be merely a method of
-purification. Thus the Tridentine theory implies, logically, that sin
-is not guilt, but only disease and pollution. Furthermore, according to
-the papal theory, justification is not instantaneous, but successive.
-It is not a single and complete act upon the part of God, but a gradual
-process in the soul of man. For it is founded upon that inward holiness
-or love which has been infused by divine grace."[A]
-
-[Footnote A: History Christian Doctrine--Shedd--Vol. II, p. 326.]
-
-V.
-
-"THE MODERN LIBERAL VIEW" ON THE DOCTRINE OF ATONEMENT.
-
-There is still another class of Christians entertaining views upon
-the Atonement whose ideas ought to be presented and yet are extremely
-difficult to classify, as they may neither be called Protestant nor
-Catholic. They are a modern product, accepting the conclusions of what
-is called "higher criticism," and the doctrine of evolution. They make
-a wide departure from the old conception of the doctrine of Atonement
-as of all things else in the old Christian theological schools, and yet
-retain a respect and I may say a veneration for the Christ, and seek to
-give him place in the order of things as conceived by them. For want of
-a better title I have called their conception of the work of Christ,
-"The Modern Liberal View," which, while it may not be as perfectly
-descriptive as could be desired, will not, I trust, be offensive, and
-will serve the mere purpose of classification.
-
-Perhaps the most complete statement, in concise form, of this Liberal
-View is made by Dr. Lyman Abbott in his "Theology of an Evolutionist,"
-published in 1897. I begin his statement with what he says of sin.
-
-_"Innocence, Temptation, Fall, Sin:_ This is the biography of
-every man, save only Him who passed from innocence to virtue through
-temptation, yet without sin. Man cannot grow from innocence to
-virtue without temptation; he cannot experience temptation without a
-possibility of sin,--that is, of yielding to temptation; and yielding
-to temptation is fall. Every man when he yields to temptation and
-sins falls from a higher to a lower, from a spiritual to an animal
-condition. He falls back from that state from which he had begun to
-emerge. It is true that the animal man is worse in his animalism than
-the animal from which he has emerged or is emerging. The ferocity of
-the tiger is no match for that of the ferocious man; the intemperance
-of the brute is far less than that of the brutalized man. How can it be
-otherwise when the higher powers which God has conferred upon him are
-subordinated to and made the instruments of his animalism?
-
-"Sin, then, is not a means to good. It is not "good in the making."
-The fall is not a "fall upward." Every yielding to temptation is a
-hindrance, not a help, to moral development; but every temptation
-offers what, rightly employed, is an indispensable means of moral
-development. For all moral development is through temptation to virtue.
-There can be no virtue without temptation; for virtue is victory over
-temptation. An untempted soul may be innocent, but cannot be virtuous,
-for virtue is the choice of right when wrong presses itself upon us and
-demands our choosing. How can we have courage, unless there is danger
-and apprehension of the danger? How can we have patience, unless there
-are burdens? How can we have fidelity, unless there is some trust to be
-maintained, and some temptation calling on us to leave the trust and be
-false to it? The scorn of "goody-goody" is justified, for "goody-goody"
-is innocence, not virtue; and the boy who never does anything wrong
-because he never does anything at all is of no use in the world.
-Temptation is struggle, and virtue emerges from struggle. And we cannot
-have the choice of right without the possibility of doing wrong; and
-choosing wrong is sin; and sin is fall; because it is choosing the
-animal from which we are emerging rather than the spiritual condition
-into which we have partially emerged.
-
-_The Means of Salvation: Saved by the Blood--i. e., The Life of
-the Christ:_ "Vicarious sacrifice is not an episode. It is the
-universal law of life. Life comes only from life. This is the first
-proposition. Lifegiving costs the life-giver something. That is the
-second proposition. Pain is travail-pain, birth-pain; and it is a part
-of the divine order--that is, of the order of nature--that the birth of
-a higher life should always be through the pain of another.
-
-"This is the law of God,--that is, the nature of God. For the laws of
-God are not edicts promulgated; they are the expressions of Himself;
-and the law that life comes only by the pouring out of life through
-suffering is an expression of the divine nature. This is the meaning
-of Paul's teaching in the eighth chapter of Romans: first, that it
-is the universal law that all life is by impartation of life; and,
-secondly, that this is universal because it is divine; that God Himself
-is the great Life-giver, and gives by His own suffering His life to the
-children of men.
-
-"This, too, is what is meant by that statement so dear to some and so
-shocking to others,--that we are saved by the blood of Christ. Let us
-try for a moment to disabuse our minds of traditional opinions and see
-what that phrase means looked at in the light of history. Is 'the blood
-of Christ' the blood which flowed from Him at the crucifixion? His was
-almost a bloodless death; a few drops of blood only trickled from the
-pierced hands and feet; for the blood and water that came from the side
-when the spear pierced it came after death, when the suffering was all
-over. Blood, the Bible itself declares, is life; we are saved by the
-blood of Christ when we are saved by the life of Christ, by Christ's
-own life imparted to us, by Christ's life transmitted; and by Christ's
-life transmitted, as life alone can be transmitted, through the gateway
-of pain and suffering. The suffering of Jesus Christ was not a single
-episode,--one short hour, one short three years: the suffering of Jesus
-Christ was the revelation of the eternal fact that God is from eternity
-the Life-giver, and that giving life costs God something as it costs us
-something."
-
-_Meaning of Revelation and the Struggle for Righteousness:_
-"Knowledge of the truth, clearness of apprehension and tenacity of
-grasp upon it, are developed by struggle with error. Revelation is
-not a divine contrivance for saving men from struggle, but a divine
-incitement to and encouragement in struggle! Virtue is developed by
-struggle with temptation. Grace is not an easy bestowment of virtue
-on an unstruggling creature, but such aid as is necessary to inspire
-the courage of hope and give assurance of victory. But struggle is
-for others as well as for self: the struggle of love as well as
-of self-interest; the struggle of parents for their offspring, of
-reformers for the state, of martyrs for the church. And these struggles
-all point to and are prophetic for the service and the sacrifice of the
-Son of God. For this struggle of love is divine. It belongs not to the
-infirmity of humanity, but is an essential element in that process of
-evolution which is God's way of doing things.
-
-"It is only by human experiences that we can interpret the Divine. *
-* * * We shall never enter into the mystery of redemption unless we
-enter in some measure into these two experiences of wrath and pity, and
-into the mystery of their reconciliation. We must realize that God has
-an infinite and eternal loathing of sin. If the impure and the unjust,
-the drunkard and the licentious, are loathsome to us, what must be
-the infinite loathing of an infinitely pure Spirit for those who are
-worldly and selfish, licentious and cruel, ambitious and animal! But
-with this great loathing is a great pity. And the pity conquers the
-loathing, appeases it, satisfies it, is reconciled with it, only as
-it redeems the sinner from his loathsomeness, lifts him up from his
-degradation, brings him to truth and purity, to love and righteousness;
-for only thus is he or can he be brought to God. The Old Theology has,
-it seems to me, grievously erred in personifying these two experiences;
-in imputing all the hate and wrath to the Father and all the pity and
-compassion to the Son. But the New Theology will still more grievously
-err if it leaves either the wrath or the pity out of its estimate of
-the divine nature, or fails to see and teach that reconciliation is the
-reconciliation of a great pity with a great wrath, the issue of which
-is a great mercy and a great redemption. * * * * *
-
-"There are many in the Church of Christ who think of God as a just
-and punitive God, who must be satisfied either by penalty laid on
-the guilty, or by an equivalent for the penalty. That is one form of
-paganism. There are many who, reacting against that conception, think
-of God, as an indifferent, careless God, who does not care much about
-iniquity, does not trouble Himself about it, is not disturbed by it!
-That is another form of paganism. And there are many who try to solve
-the problem by thinking of two Gods, a just God and a merciful God, and
-imagining that the merciful God by the sacrifice of Himself appeases
-the wrath of the just God. That also is a modified form of paganism.
-The one transcendent truth which distinguishes Christianity from all
-forms of paganism is that it represents God as appeasing His own wrath
-or satisfying His own justice by the forth-putting of His own love. But
-He saves men from their sins by an experience which we can interpret
-to ourselves only by calling it a struggle between the sentiments of
-justice and pity."
-
-
-
-
-
-
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-(Fourth Year), by B. H. Roberts
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