The Articles of Faith. James E. Talmage

Чтение книги онлайн.

      LECTURE IV.

       THE ATONEMENT, AND SALVATION.

       Table of Contents

      Article 3.—We believe that through the atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel.

      THE ATONEMENT.

      1. The Atonement of Christ is taught as a leading doctrine by all sects professing Christianity. The expression is so common a one, and the essential point of its signification is so generally admitted, that definitions may appear to be superfluous; nevertheless, there is a peculiar importance attached to the use of the word atonement, in a theological sense. The doctrine of the atonement comprises proof of the divinity of Christ's earthly ministry; and the vicarious nature of His death, as a fore-ordained and voluntary sacrifice, intended for and efficacious as a propitiation for the sins of mankind, thus becoming the means whereby salvation may be obtained.

      2. The New Testament, which is properly regarded as the scripture of Christ's mission among men, is imbued throughout with the doctrine of salvation through the work of atonement wrought by the Savior; and yet the word atonement, occurs but once in the whole record; and in that single instance, according to the opinion of most biblical authorities, it is confessedly misused. The instance referred to is found in the words of Paul addressed to the saints at Rome:—"But we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement."191 The marginal rendering gives, instead of atonement, reconciliation, and of this word a related form is used in the preceding verse. A consistent translation, giving a full agreement between the English and the Greek, would make the verse quoted, and that immediately preceding it, read in this way:—"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 reconciliation."192 The term atonement occurs repeatedly in the Old Testament, and with marked frequency in three of the books of the Pentateuch, viz.: Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers; and the sense in which it is employed is invariably that of a sacrifice of propitiation, usually associated with the death of an acceptable victim, whereby reconciliation was to be effected between God and His creatures.

      3. The structure of the word in its present form is suggestive of this, the true meaning; it is literally at-one-ment, "denoting reconciliation, or the bringing into agreement of those who have been estranged."193 And such is the significance of the saving sacrifice of the Redeemer, whereby He expiated the transgression of the Fall, through which came death into the world, and provided ready and efficient means for man's attainment of immortality through reconciliation with God.

      4. Nature of the Atonement.—The atonement wrought by Jesus Christ is a necessary sequence of the transgression of Adam; and, as the infinite foreknowledge of God made clear to Him the one even before Adam was placed on earth, so the Father's boundless mercy prepared a Savior for mankind before the world was framed. Through the Fall, Adam and Eve have entailed the conditions of mortality upon their descendants; therefore all beings born of earthly parents are subject to bodily death. The sentence of banishment from the presence of God was in the nature of a spiritual death; and that penalty, which was visited upon our first parents in the day of their transgression, has likewise followed as the common heritage of humanity. As this penalty came into the world through an individual act, it would be manifestly unjust to cause all to eternally suffer therefrom, without a chance of deliverance. Therefore was the promised sacrifice of Jesus Christ ordained as a propitiation for broken law, whereby Justice could be fully satisfied, and Mercy be left free to exercise her beneficent influence over the souls of mankind.194 All the details of the glorious plan, by which the salvation of the human family is assured, may not lie within the understanding of man; but surely man has learned, from his futile attempts to fathom the primary cause of the phenomena of nature, that his powers of comprehension are limited; and he will admit, that to deny an effect because of his inability to elucidate its cause, would be to forfeit his claims as an observing and reasoning being.

      5. Simple as is the plan of redemption in its general features, it is confessedly a mystery to the finite mind in detail. President John Taylor has written in this wise:—"In some mysterious, incomprehensible way, Jesus assumed the responsibility which naturally would have devolved upon Adam; but which could only be accomplished through the mediation of Himself; and by taking upon Himself their sorrows, assuming their responsibilities, and bearing their transgressions or sins. In a manner to us incomprehensible and inexplicable, He bore the weight of the sins of the whole world, not only of Adam, but of his posterity; and in doing that, opened the kingdom of heaven, not only to all believers and all who obeyed the law of God, but to more than one half of the human family who die before they come to years of maturity, as well as to the heathen, who, having died without law, will through His mediation be resurrected without law, and be judged without law, and thus participate, according to their capacity, works, and worth, in the blessings of His atonement."195

      6. But, however incomplete may be our comprehension of the scheme of redemption through Christ's vicarious sacrifice in all its parts, we cannot reject it without becoming infidel; for it stands as the fundamental doctrine of all scripture, the very essence of the spirit of prophecy and revelation, the most prominent of all the declarations of God unto man.

      7. The Atonement a Vicarious Sacrifice.—It is to many a matter of surpassing wonder that the voluntary sacrifice of a single being could be made to operate as a means of ransom for the rest of mankind. In this, as in other things, the scriptures are explicable only by the spirit of scriptural interpretation. The sacred writings of ancient times, the words of modern prophets, the traditions of mankind, the rites of sacrifice, and even the sacrileges of heathen idolatries, involve the idea of vicarious atonement. God has never refused to accept an offering made by one who is authorized on behalf of those who are in any way incapable of doing the required service themselves. The scape-goat,196 and the altar victim197 of ancient Israel, if offered with repentance and contrition, were accepted by the Lord in mitigation of the sins of the people. It is interesting to note, that while the ceremonies of sacrifice formed so large and so essential a part of the Mosaic requirements, these rites long ante-dated the establishment of Israel as a distinct СКАЧАТЬ