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28 KiB
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521 lines
28 KiB
D
8 page printout
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THE DEATH OF CHRIST.
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by
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Charles Watts
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(Vice-President of the National Secular Society)
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Price Twopence
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LONDON:
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WATTS & CO., 17, JOHNSON'S COURT, FLEET ST.
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1896
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**** ****
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THE DEATH OF CHRIST
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THE sermons preached on Good Friday last, as reported in the
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various newspapers, afforded strange and peculiar reading to the
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non-theological mind. The one theme dwelt upon in all the pulpits
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was the death of christ with its complete and sublime scheme of
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redemption for fallen man." It was urged that Eve and Adam fell
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from a state of purity and perfection by an act of transgression in
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the Garden of Eden, and thereby involved the whole of the human
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family in sin and depravity. To remove the consequences of this
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alleged act of transgression, it was contended that the death of
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Christ was necessary in order to atone to God, against whom a sin
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had been committed. It was further urged that, through our "first
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parents" partaking of the forbidden fruit, God became estranged
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from his children, and that the sacrifice of his Son was required
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to reconcile the Father to his children. As it is put in the
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Thirty-nine Articles of the Church of England, "Christ was
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crucified to reconcile his Father to us. To be a sacrifice for sins
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of men" (Article 2). It is also stated in the Confession of Faith
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that Christ's death "purchased reconciliation " (chap. viii.). The
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Biblical authority, as accepted by orthodox believers, for this
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view of the death of Christ is as follows: "Behold the Lamb of God,
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which taketh away the sins of the world" (John i. 29) he is the
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propitiation for the sins of the whole world" (I John ii. 2); "the
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Son of man came to give his life a ransom for many" (Matt. xx.);
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"through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the
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atonement" (Romans v.); "this is my blood of the New Testament
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which is shed for many for the remission of sins" (Matt. xxvi. 28);
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"Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many" (Hebrews ix.
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28); and "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be
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made alive" (i Cor. xv.). Upon these and a few other texts in the
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New Testament orthodox Christians base their theory of the
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Atonement.
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It may be interesting to note the conflicting character of the
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theories which professed Christians have held concerning the
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atonement, which is supposed to have been made through the death of
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Christ. The Augustinian school taught that mankind were doomed to
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hell through the fall of Adam, and that Christ's death canceled the
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sin committed, and thus saved them from being utterly lost. The
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Calvinists believe that God foresaw that Adam would fall, and that
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posterity would thereby be damned; and therefore he selected a few,
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Bank of Wisdom
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Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
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1
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THE DEATH OF CHRIST
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who are termed the "elect," to be saved, while the many are
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deprived of this special provision for their salvation. It seems to
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us that if God possessed the foreknowledge here ascribed to him,
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and if he were all-powerful, it would have been more to his credit
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if he had included the entire human family among his "elect." The
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evangelical Christians suppose that the vicarious sufferings of
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Christ secures conditional pardon, the condition being the belief
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that Christ died as a substitute for sinners -- that is, that an
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avowed innocent person was made to suffer for those alleged to be
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guilty. The Universalists consider that no one is damned beyond his
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personal sin in this world. If an individual be ever so bad in the
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present life, all evil will depart at death, and he will be ushered
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into heaven pure and spotless, The Unitarians, rejecting all the
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above theories, contend that the object of Christ's life, rather
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than of his death, was to reconcile man to God, not God to man.
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Relying upon such statements in the Bible as "Every man shall die
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for his own sin," (,To punish the just is not good," they consider
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the popular view of the Atonement fallacious. Such are a few of the
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conflicting notions held by the Christian sects as to the nature of
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the simple plan of salvation."
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Some of the early Christian Fathers taught that the death of
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Christ was a satisfaction to the Devil. The Rev. Scott Porter, in
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his 'History of the Doctrine, of the Atonement, says: "The doctrine
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of satisfaction, when it was plainly broached, which was not till
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about two hundred years after the death of Christ, did not
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represent his blood as satisfying the claims of divine justice, but
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as a payment made to the Devil!" This was the doctrine advocated by
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the celebrated Origen, who wrote: "It was the Devil who held us in
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bondage: for to him we had been given over for our sins. Wherefore,
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he demanded the blood of Christ as the price of our redemption" (p.
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19). St. Ambrose states "We were in pledge to a bad creditor for
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sin; but Christ came and offered his blood for us." Optatus says:
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"The souls of men were in the possession of the Devil till they
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were ransomed by the blood of Christ." According to St. Augustine,
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"the blood of Christ is given as a price that we might be delivered
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from the Devil's bonds." He regards the death of Christ, "not as a
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payment of a debt due to God, but as an act of justice to the Devil
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in discharge of his fair and lawful claims" (ibid).
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Other eminent Christian divines taught that it was not merely
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the man Jesus who died, but God himself. Osiander, a friend and
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fellow-laborer of Luther, maintained that Christ died and satisfied
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divine justice, not as man, but as God. Hooper, a venerable name in
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the Christian Church, states that he cares "for no knowledge in the
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world but this, that man hath sinned, and God hath suffered"
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(Porter's Lectures on the Atonement, p. 68). The same belief is
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expressed by Dr. Watts, who in his hymns exclaims: --
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Well might the sun in darkness hide,
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And shut his glories in,
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When God, the mighty Maker, died
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For man, the creature's, sin.
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Behold a God descends and dies
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To save my soul from gaping hell.
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Bank of Wisdom
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Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
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2
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THE DEATH OF CHRIST
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Wesley also exclaims: --
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Sinners, turn! why will ye die?
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God your Savior asks you why;
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God, who did your souls retrieve,
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Died himself that ye might live.
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Is it not evident, from the diversity of opinions which is
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here shown to have existed (and much of that diversity still
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obtains) in the Christian world as to the character and meaning of
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the death of Christ, how perplexing any scheme must be that is
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based upon it?
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The fact is, apart from all sectarian and forced
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interpretations, it appears to us that the Bible plan of redemption
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through the death of Christ is simply this: About six thousand
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years ago an all-wise, all-powerful, and beneficent God made man
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and woman, and placed them in a position surrounded by temptations
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it was impossible for them to withstand. For instance, he implanted
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within them desires which, as God, he must have known would produce
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their downfall. He next caused a tree to bear fruit that was
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adapted to harmonies with the very desires which he had previously
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imparted to his children. God, all-good, then created a serpent of
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the worst possible kind, in order that it might be successful in
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tempting Eve to partake of the fruit. God commanded Adam and Eve
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not to eat of this fruit, under the penalty of death, knowing at
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the same time that they would eat of it, and that they would not
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die. The serpent is allowed to succeed in his plan of temptation,
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and then God curses the ground for yielding the tree which he
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himself had caused to grow; further, the Almighty Being dooms both
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man and woman to lives of pain and sorrow, and assures them that
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their posterity shall feel the terrible effects of their having
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done what it was impossible, under the circumstances, for them to
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avoid. Although at first God pronounced his creative work to be
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"very good," it proved to be quite the opposite. So bad did the
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human family become that God determined to bring a flood upon the
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earth and wash every member, one household excepted, out of
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existence. This "water-cure" was not, however, sufficient to
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correct the "divine" errors, for the people grew worse than ever.
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God now decided upon another plan -- namely, to send his son -- who
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was as old as himself, and, therefore, not his son -- to die, but
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who was invested with immortality and could not die, to atone for
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sins that had never been committed by people who were not then
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born, and who could not, therefore, have been guilty of any sin. As
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a conclusion to the whole scheme, this all-merciful God prepared a
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hell, containing material fire of brimstone, to burn the immaterial
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souls of all persons who should fail to believe the truth, justice,
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and necessity of this jumble of cruelty and absurdity.
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We now propose to show that this "sublime scheme of
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redemption" is not only illogical, but that it was unnecessary,
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supremely unjust, inconsistent, and has been an utter failure in
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achieving its avowed object.
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The Christian pretension, that the death of Christ provided a
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complete atonement for the alleged transgression in the Garden of
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Eden, is not supported by the details of the scheme as contained in
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Bank of Wisdom
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Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
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3
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THE DEATH OF CHRIST
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the Bible, or by the exposition of it as given by eminent
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theological writers. The orthodox position is that the Godhead "Is
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composed of three persons of one substance, power, and duration. If
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this be so, and if an atonement was really necessary, it should
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have been threefold, inasmuch as the Son and the Holy Ghost, being
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a part of the Trinity, required to be satisfied equally with the
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Father; but we do not read of any sacrifice having been. made to
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them. Besides, if the three persons were one in substance, etc., it
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is difficult to see how one part could be wrathful and another part
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merciful at the same time. The Now Testament speaks of God's wrath,
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and such Christian writers as the pious Flavel, Wesley, and Dr.
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Watts state that it was from this wrath that the death of Christ
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was intended to save the human race. Flevel, who was an exponent of
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the evangelical school, writes: "To wrath -- to the wrath of an
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infinite God, without mixture -- to the very torments of hell, was
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Christ delivered; and that by the hand of his own Father. God stood
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upon full satisfaction, and would not remit one sin without it"
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(Works, folio edition, p. 10). Dr. Watts speaks of Jesus's blood
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turning God's "wrath to grace," and, Wesley writes "Jesus speaks
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and pleads his blood. He disarms the wrath of God."
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It is folly to claim, as Christians do, that this priestly-
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invented scheme of the Atonement manifests a spirit of divine
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forgiveness. Instead of being a forgiving plan, it is one of
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exaction and vengeance. According to the story, God demands and
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receives payment before he grants pardon; Christ exacts belief in
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himself as the condition of salvation; and he who sins against the
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Holy Ghost is never to be forgiven. Stockel admits that, "in a
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strict and proper sense, God does not forgive sin, for Christ hath
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given him full satisfaction. How, then, can it be justly said that
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God pardoneth sins and transgressions? Surely that debt can never
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be forgiven that is paid" (cited by Dr. Bruce, Sermons, 2nd
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edition, p. 354). From a rational point of view, the matter
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resolves itself into this Christ either paid the "debt" or he did
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not. If he did pay it, that should settle the account, and we ought
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not to be the bothered with it any further; whereas, if he did not
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pay the "debt," the whole scheme is a sham and a delusion.
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The absurdity of the orthodox view of the death of Christ is
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further manifested in the supposition that it was a part of the
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indivisible Godhead that died. This is theological conjecture run
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mad; for, if it were Christ alone who died and remained lifeless in
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the grave for three days and three nights, he was not equal in
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internity with his father; while, on the other hand, if the whole
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of the deity expired, then we have the curious spectacle of a dying
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and a dead God, and the world for a time existing without any
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"divine" aid in its government. To say that it was only the manhood
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of Christ which suffered and died is but raising another difficulty
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in allying humanity with what is termed divinity; thus adding a
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fourth part to the Trinity, and thereby destroying the perfection
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of the whole, for where the human element is there can be no
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perfection. Moreover, according to the orthodox theory, a mere
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human death was not enough to redeem humanity from the effects of
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the sin committed against an infinite God. Of course, we do not
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admit that any such sin ever occurred, for the simple reason that,
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if a person is compelled to perform an act, it is no sin upon his
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part. And, as we have shown in a previous page, Adam add Eve acted
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Bank of Wisdom
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Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
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4
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THE DEATH OF CHRIST
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as they did under compulsion. As to enmity existing between God and
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man as the result of partaking of the fruit, the question arises:
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Where did the enmity come from? Did God implant it in the minds of
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his children? If so, he was responsible for the consequences which
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followed. If, however, man acquired it independently of God, then
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he was not the creator of all things, as the Bible states he was --
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even of evil. We are aware it is said that God gave man a free
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will; but this is only another theological error. There can be no
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freedom where circumstances impel in one direction, as, according
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to the account, they did in the Garden of Eden. Besides, we read
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that the plan was arranged "before the foundation of the world"
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(Ephesians i. 4; 1 Peter i. 19, 20).
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Not only is the theory that the world was redeemed through the
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death of Christ utterly absurd, but it came too late. If the
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Atonement were at all necessary, it should have been made
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immediately after Adam's alleged transgression, so as to have
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prevented a single generation from going to the grave with the
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curse of original sin unremoved. But, according to the Bible
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theory, God allowed four thousand years to elapse, and millions of
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his children to die, ere the Atonement was made. This, to say the
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least, was not either just or merciful upon the part of "the Great
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Father of all." If it be true that no one can be saved except
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through belief in Christ, then it may be fairly asked, What became
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of the numberless human beings who died prior to his birth? And,
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further, what will be the fate of those who are now living who have
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not heard, and probably never will hear, of the mission of Jesus of
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Nazareth? To say that the former were saved by anticipation, and
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that the latter will be excused on account of their lack of
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knowledge, is oddly to represent the scheme as being still more
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absurd, and altogether useless. If a portion of mankind could be
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saved without the Crucifixion, what necessity was there for Christ
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to have suffered at all? His sorrow, agony, and bloody sweat might
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all have been avoided, and many saints might have been spared the
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tortures of the stake and the rack. Surely, if for thousands of
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years people could go to heaven without the supposed advantages of
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the death of Christ, it was superfluous to introduce the "sign of
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the Cross" to secure an object which had already been achieved.
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Besides, if the ignorance of the existence of this "atoning
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scheme" will exempt a person from "punishment hereafter," is it not
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cruel and futile to send missionaries to the heathens with the
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"glad tidings"? Let them not know of it, and there would be no
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danger of their being punished for rejecting it; but let them be
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informed of the scheme, and their happiness in another world
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becomes very doubtful. Considering the diversity of the perceptive
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powers, even among "heathens," we cannot reasonably suppose that
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all to whom the scheme is expounded will be able to receive it as
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true. Thus the salvation, which was secure in a blissful state of
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ignorance, is placed in jeopardy by missionary efforts. The truth
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is, that if the death of Christ were really necessary to redeem a
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"fallen race," it was unjust upon the part of God to permit so many
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centuries to pass before the people had the alleged benefit of his
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atoning blood. If, on the other hand, the death of Christ was not
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required to restore a "lost race," then it was a reckless and an
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unnatural act for a father to give his son to a wild mob, to be
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executed amidst the exaltations of a disappointed and fanatical
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people.
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Bank of Wisdom
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Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
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5
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THE DEATH OF CHRIST
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Moreover, if it were desirable upon the part of God to send
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his son to save the world from eternal perdition, why was it that,
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when be did arrive, so many nations were kept in ignorance of his
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mission? Even the Jews, God's chosen people, had no knowledge that
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an incarnate deity was to expire on the Cross. If the regeneration
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of the world had been the object of Christ, would it not have been
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better, instead of ascending to heaven, for him to have remained on
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earth, teaching practical truths, and showing by his own personal
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example how the world could be rescued from that moral and
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intellectual darkness and despair to which it had been reduced by
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the influence of a degrading theology?
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The orthodox idea of the object of Christ's death involves the
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committal of a gross act of injustice upon the part of God in
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making the declared innocent suffer for the avowed guilty. Justice
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has been defined to "consist in rendering to everyone according to
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his moral deserts; good if he be good, and evil if evil -- for the
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purpose of promoting goodness and discouraging guilt." If this be
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a recognized standard of right in human affairs, surely it should
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not be ignored in dealing with "divine" actions. Suppose,
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therefore, that Christ was "without sin," as stated in the New
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Testament (Hebrews iv. 15), was it not unjust to punish him for the
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wrong-doing of others? Let us take the case of an earthly father,
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who had, say, seven children, six of whom were thoroughly bad, and
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the seventh as good as human nature could possibly be. Now, would
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it be considered just upon the part of that father to punish the
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one good child for the misdeeds of the six bad ones? Such conduct
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would ensure for its perpetrator a general and an emphatic
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condemnation. If a judge were knowingly to sentence to death an
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innocent man as a substitute for a criminal, the act would provoke
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universal detestation, and the judge's judicial position would in
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all probability be forfeited. No Christian would think it just to
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imprison and torture priests to-day simply because their
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predecessors, under the influence of fanaticism, defiled portions
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of the earth with human slaughter. Is it consistent for Christians
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to ascribe an act to their God which good men would refuse to
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perform? We think not.
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Besides, the alleged redeeming feature in the death of Christ
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manifests cruelty to the human race in asserting that, although its
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members had no control over the acts of Eve and Adam, still, in
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consequence of what they did, we are all "born in sin and shapened
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in iniquity." Upon what principle of justice can such merciless
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treatment be defended? According to this orthodox notion, the
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moment we enter life, in our infantile helplessness and childish
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innocence, we are thought to be deserving of the wrath of God. Even
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if it were true that sin was committed in the Garden of Eden, will
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that justify wrong being done to us? Are we on that account to be
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rendered liable to be doomed to eternal torment? If so, a God who
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could either arrange or permit such cruel injustice will never be
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recognized by Secularists as a kind and loving father. We know that
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the Bible, on more than one occasion, represents its God as
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punishing the innocent for the guilty. For instance, we read that
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he is "a jealous God, visiting the iniquities of the fathers upon
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the children" (Exodus xx. 5); that he cut off seventy thousand men
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in Israel by a pestilence, on account of the sin of David in
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numbering the people (2 Samuel xxiv. 15); and that he deprived an
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|
||
Bank of Wisdom
|
||
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
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||
6
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THE DEATH OF CHRIST
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innocent child of life to show his displeasure of a crime committed
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by this "man after God's own heart" (2 Samuel xii. 14). It is such
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actions as these, which, contrary to all true standards of right,
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are performed by the Christian Deity, that impel us to prefer
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Atheism to the belief in a being who could inflict such wrongs upon
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the human family.
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Attempts have been made to palliate these "divine acts" by
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asserting that in the coarse of nature the innocent have to suffer
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for the guilty, as in the case of drunkards and debauchees, who
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transmit disease and debility to their offspring. But two wrongs
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cannot make one right; besides, if God was the author of Nature,
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could he not have so arranged her operations that this evil of
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transmission would have been avoided? The two cases, however are
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not analogous, inasmuch as the children referred to do not suffer
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for, but through, the vices of their parents; and, moreover, in
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such suffering there is no punishment intended; it is a
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consequence, not a penalty. The children of criminal parents are
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not blamed, but are rather pitied, for being innocent victim,, of
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others. This was not the case, according to orthodox teaching, with
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Christ, who was punished for the sins of others.
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The theory that the death of Christ was an atonement to God
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for actual sins committed is so glaringly inconsistent that it is
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really marvelous how it can be regarded as true by sensible men and
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women. It is stated that the death of Christ was ordained before
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the foundation of the world, and, at the same time, we are informed
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that man was created perfect and immortal. If it were ordained that
|
||
Christ should die for the redemption of the world, the
|
||
transgressions of Eve and Adam were Only a part of God's plan, and
|
||
certainly did not deserve any curse, but rather merited a blessing.
|
||
As we have already pointed out, there was no free-will in the case,
|
||
for it was originally arranged that but one course had to be
|
||
followed -- namely, the one that led to the sacrifice of Christ. If
|
||
Adam and Eve had adopted any other course, God's plans would have
|
||
been thwarted, for we read in the fourth Gospel that Christ knew
|
||
from the beginning that he would be betrayed; and this betrayal was
|
||
the first act in the tragedy of the cross. Now, if the death of
|
||
Christ were preordained, so also was the "Fall of Man," for the one
|
||
depends upon the other, as the Bible says: "For as in Adam all
|
||
died, so in Christ shall all be made alive." Assuming this to be
|
||
true, man could not have been created perfect but the very fact of
|
||
his "falling," or giving way to temptation, was a proof of his
|
||
imperfection. The truth is, the Bible story of the fall of man is
|
||
a phase of an ancient myth; and, as Dr. Kalisch observes, it is "no
|
||
exclusive feature of the Hebrews." Professor Jowett considered the
|
||
account, as given in the Bible, "a grand Hebrew poem." Similar
|
||
stories were current among the Greeks, the Egyptians, and the
|
||
Persians. The Hindoos had a "tree of life," which was said to be
|
||
guarded by spirits, and contained a juice that was thought to
|
||
impart immortality to those who partook of it. It is time that the
|
||
belief in this fiction of the Fall as being a reality should cease.
|
||
The lesson of history and experience is that the career of man has
|
||
been one of ascent, not descent of progression, not retrogression.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
Bank of Wisdom
|
||
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
|
||
7
|
||
|
||
THE DEATH OF CHRIST
|
||
|
||
Further inconsistencies in this scheme of redemption through
|
||
the death of Christ are the allegation that he came to save the
|
||
whole world, and his reported conduct while on earth. If universal
|
||
salvation were the object of his mission, it proved a decided
|
||
failure. But Christ did not attempt to achieve such a result, for
|
||
he stated himself that he came to the Jews, and to the Jews alone;
|
||
and even among them his labors were not crowned with success.
|
||
Following Christ to the close of his career, we behold the
|
||
culmination of inconsistency in the manner in which he acted in the
|
||
garden of Gethsemane. Here was a man who had preached upon the
|
||
utility of a faith which, it was said, not only afforded
|
||
consolation through life, but was capable of robbing death of its
|
||
terrors; yet when the hour of death approached, when the period had
|
||
arrived for him to prove to the world the efficacy of this faith,
|
||
he was tortured with doubt and racked with fear. In that scene,
|
||
which was not only to rivet the attention of an amazed multitude,
|
||
but was also to consecrate a life of divinity -- a scene which was
|
||
not only to be the great climax to the scheme of redemption, but
|
||
was to afford an example that should remain as a lasting monument
|
||
of greatness to a wondering people; at this moment, when it was
|
||
expected that the hopes of his followers were about to be sealed,
|
||
when he should have maintained his position with unsurpassed
|
||
bravery he was weak and vacillating, and in bitter despair he
|
||
prayed that the cup might pass from him. Where can we recognize
|
||
consistency and heroism in the death of Christ? Is it in the
|
||
conduct of one who came to die for man, yet, when about to fulfil
|
||
his destiny, implored to be allowed to escape the death? Is it in
|
||
teaching that Christ came as a voluntary sacrifice, yet had to be
|
||
betrayed by man? Is it in a Father of reputed love and kindness
|
||
inflicting unnecessary torture upon his sensitive son? Is it in the
|
||
statement that Christ, by asking, could obtain an answer to any
|
||
request made to his father; yet his fervent supplications were
|
||
unheeded, and his dying prayers were unanswered? Finally, is it in
|
||
the act of a God who, having allowed his son to be placed upon a
|
||
felon's cross, permits him to yield up a sorrowful life, after
|
||
uttering unavailing reproaches in those memorable words: My God! my
|
||
God! why hast thou forsaken me?"
|
||
|
||
in conclusion, let us remember that from the Christian's
|
||
standpoint the object of the death of Christ has not been attained.
|
||
That object was to make a complete satisfaction for all sin, and to
|
||
remove such sin from the world. But these objects have not been
|
||
attained, for mankind has still to secure its own exemption from
|
||
the supposed effects of sin; and, further, sin still surrounds us.
|
||
If Christ, by his death, paid the debt that is said to have been
|
||
incurred through sin entering into the world, why should man be
|
||
required to make a second payment? As to the boasted victories of
|
||
the cross, where are they? We have still misery, pain, folly,
|
||
ignorance, crime, and injustice in the world. The erection of the
|
||
cross has not frightened the miscreant nor appalled the tyrant. The
|
||
voice from the height of Calvary has not destroyed error nor
|
||
cemented truth; neither has the death of Christ produced that
|
||
condition of society in which it is impossible for man to be
|
||
depraved and poor. If, as we are told, the Savior has come, it may
|
||
be fairly asked, "Whence comes salvation?"
|
||
|
||
**** ****
|
||
Reproducible Electronic Publishing can defeat censorship.
|
||
|
||
Bank of Wisdom
|
||
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
|
||
8
|
||
|