PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
The Atonement
A. A. Hodge, 1823–1886 · 134,256 words · 171 reading sections
PREFACE TO BRITISH EDITION. lil
12/27/10 LIBRARY OF THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY PRINCETON, N. J. PRIA maT » day ie oi FROM THE LIBHARY OF TTD AVFHS Mane DR. JAMES McCOSH BT 265 .H68 | Hodge, Archibald Alexander, | 1823-1886. | The atonement <a - PeUEC 27 Wat <o ee Te tyre ie, eee SO INS EN Ea ENE tu? yg 2s THE BY THE ‘ohh REV eA RCHIBALD: Ay R…
772 wordsSECTION 2CHAPTER II. STATEMENT OF DOCTRINE.
It is of more importance to advert to the reference which the author makes to certain discussions on the Hixtent of the Atonement. He is far too candid to con- found the Arminian view of universal atonement with universal atonement in the sense in which it is held by Thomas Scott, and by others; according to whom the d…
808 wordsSECTION 3THE
The attitude of God, of the individual sinner, and of the moral universe, in rela- tion to the Atonement, severally considered—The Orthodox Doctrine shown to be comprehensive and consistent, and the Moral Influence and Govern- mental Hypotheses shown to be partial and inconsistent—The elements of the Orthodox Doctrine …
745 wordsSECTION 4WHAT THE SCRIPTURES TEACH AS TO THE NATURE AND GROUNDS OF JUSTI- FICATION.
tive Sacrifices were piacular—The principle established by the common con- sent of mankind—II. That the Jewish Sacrifices were strictly piacular, the doctrine of the entire Christian Church—The opinions of Bihr, Maurice, Jowett, Bushnell, and Young—tThe different kinds of Sacrifice—-The Orthodox doctrine proved, 1. Fro…
776 wordsSECTION 5THE MORAL INFLUENCE AND THE GOVERNMENTAL THEORIES OF THE ATONEMENT.
stand in irreconcilable opposition to the Moral Influence Theory as to the nature of the Atonement—The arguments of Dr. John Young answered— Ii. The view of Justification corresponding to the Governmental Theory of the Atonement stated—The true doctrine, viz., that Justification is not mere pardon, that it is a judicia…
815 wordsSECTION 6THE OBJECTIONS BROUGHT AGAINST THE REFORMED VIEW OF THE DESIGN OF THE ATONEMENT STATED, AND THE ANSWERS TO THEM INDICATED.
THE MORAL INFLUENCE AND THE GOVERNMENTAL THEORIES OF THE ATONEMENT. J. The Moral Influence Theory —The object of Christ’s death defined by Socinus —Statements to the same effect by Bushnell and Young—The objections to the Moral View are, 1. The moral influence in question is better effected by the Atonement when conce…
797 wordsSECTION 7CHAPTER I.
It is objected that our doctrine is inconsistent—1. With the general offer of the Gospel : answer—2. With those passages which declare he suffered for “‘ all,” or “the world :” answer—3. With those passages which speak of the possi- bility of those dying for whom Christ died; answer............e.esee eee Wait Ey ATONE…
792 wordsSECTION 818 THE NATURE OF THE ATONEMENT.
From the recent amazing advancement of the physical sciences, and the corresponding development of the prac- tical arts, and the wide extension of the secular interests and activities of the masses of mankind, and doubtless from many other causes unknown, the spirit of modern philosophy, whether intuitional or sensatio…
763 wordsSECTION 920 THE NATURE OF THE ATONEMENT.
fully acknowledged and defined in the following work, embraces and emphasizes on its positive side an impor- tant truth. The power, and hence the danger, of the heresy resides in that fact. But on the other hand, it is a heresy, and hence an evil to be resisted unto death, because it either: puts a subordinate principl…
688 wordsSECTION 1022 THE NATURE OF THE ATONEMENT.
This is at once very absurd and very dangerous, and none the less dangerous because of its absurdity. The present, above all other periods of human history, is intolerant of all vague, undetermined, and loosely-held views. Sharp, clearly-defined logic, and earnest faith, will hold the field at the last. Besides, these …
871 wordsSECTION 11STATEMENT OF DOCTRINE. 25
(2.) Reasonable objections against the evidences by which a doctrine is established have force, and should be duly considered; but rational objections to any prin- ciple fairly established by the language of Scripture have no force whatever, unless they amount to a palpable contradiction to other principles certainly k…
718 wordsSECTION 12STATEMENT OF DOCTRINE. 27
(1.) As to his legal relations, the Scriptures clearly teach that, at his creation, he was put under the equi- table Covenant of Works for a certain probationary period. This just constitution provided (a) everlasting well-being on condition of perfect obedience, and (b) everlasting ill-being on condition of disobedien…
794 wordsSECTION 1330 THE NATURE OF THE ATONEMENT.
The Governmental Theory, however its principles The Gov- may be disguised by vague and general statements, Eas abe essentially involves the assumption, (1.) That justice is 95 parhal only a mode of benevolence; (2.) That the penalty was sistent. not executed on Christ; that his sufferings were not necessary to satisfy …
841 wordsSECTION 14DEFINITION OF TERMS. 33
case is an act of sovereign grace. But since Christ acted by covenant, he has acquired by his performance of the stipulated conditions a strictly legal title to the salvation of all for whom he acted. As between God and the Mediator, the claim in right is perfect. As between God and the Mediator and sinful man, it is a…
816 wordsSECTION 15DEFINITION OF TERMS. 35
fective. The Reformed Churches mean he isomse Gh) oe That Christ fully satisfied all that the justice and law of God required, on the part of mankind, as the condition of their being admitted to divine favour and eternal happiness. (2.) As the demands of the law upon sinful men are both preceptive and penal—the conditi…
783 wordsSECTION 1638 THE NATURE OF THE ATONEMENT.
LA and duration. of suffering which the law—z~e,, absolute and omniscient justice—demands in each specific case, the person suffering and the sin to be expiated both. being considered. (c.) In debt, the payment of the thing due, ‘by whomsoever it may be made, ipso facto liberates the debtor, and instantly extinguishes …
790 wordsSECTION 1740 THE NATURE OF THE ATONEMENT.
cnarter and rendered. the obedience upon which our well-being “* was made to depend. Vicarious sufferings and obedi- ence are penal inflictions, and acts of obedience to law which are rendered in our place or stead (vice), as well as in our behalf, by our substitute. An alien goes to the army in the place of a drafted …
809 wordsSECTION 18' PRINCIPAL POINTS INVOLVED. 43
that ‘‘ Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us” (Gal. i. 13), is precisely equivalent to saying that he has made atonement for us. But when we speak of our “redemption drawing nigh”’ (Luke xxi. 28), of “the redemption of the purchased possession” (Eph. 1 14), of “the redemption of …
844 wordsSECTION 19THE ULTIMATE MOTIVES OF ALL GOD'S ACTS ARE IN HIMSELF ; AND THE IMMUTABLE PERFECTIONS OF THE DIVINE NATURE DEMAND THE PUNISHMENT OF SIN.
3. May all virtue be resolved into disinterested bene- volence, and all sin into selfishness? In other words, is there nothing else that ought to be except benevolence, and nothing else that ought not to be except selfishness ? Is justice only a form or mode of benevolence—.e., does God punish sin simply to prevent its…
773 wordsSECTION 2048 THE NATURE OF THE ATONEMENT.
CHAPTER [Pag tomo our first argument, we will appeal to what vel Ye =the Scriptures teach concerning the nature of God and his principle of action. In doing this, I shall attempt to prove (a) that the Scriptural doctrine is that the ultimate motive and end of all God’s actions are in himself; and (0) that the in- trins…
694 wordsSECTION 21)50 THE NATURE OF THE ATONEMENT.
This, be it observed, is predicated of the unchangeable constitution of the nature of God, and not merely of the divine will. (1.) When God commanded the Israelites to be pure, the reason assigned is not “ Because I so will it,” but “For I am holy.” (2.) If moral distinctions are the mere product of the divine will; if…
868 wordsSECTION 22THE DIVINE NATURE DEMANDS PUNISHMENT. 53
To the question why God punishes sin, only four distinct answers are possible. (1.) That all punishment is designed for the reformation of the offender. This confounds punishment with chastisement, and is a solu- _tion obviously inadmissible in the case of the eternal perdition of the reprobate and of the vicarious su…
793 wordsSECTION 23THE CHURCH DOCTRINE OF THE ATONEMENT PROVED FROM THE FACT THAT THE DIVINE LAW IS ABSOLUTELY IMMUTABLE.
resolved into any other principle whatsoever ; it is in- trinsic in sin without reference to any other principle. (1.) This is involved in every awakened sinner’s con- sciousness of his own demerit. Ps. li. 4: ‘‘I have done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when th…
827 wordsSECTION 24CHAPTER but of course the forms in which the principles are em-
give a systematic exposition of what has since been known as the Governmental Theory of the Atonement. In his great work—‘‘ Defensio Fidei Catholicee de Satis- factione Christi’””’—he maintains that the law of God is a product of his will, and not a transcript of anything inherent in his immutable nature. It hence foll…
831 wordsSECTION 2560 THE NATURE OF THE ATONEMENT.
bodied, varying endlessly with different times, circum- stances, and conditions of moral creatures, are determined by the infinitely wise, and righteous, and absolutely sovereion will of God. Hence there is no room for any puzzling distinctions, as far as concerns this discussion, between the ceremonial and the moral l…
851 wordsSECTION 26IMMUTABILITY OF THE LAW. 63
Barnes * defines punishment or penalty as ‘‘evil in- | flicted by the lawgiver, or under his direction, to show his sense of the value of the law, or of the evil of violat- ing the law.” But he also insists that Christ did not suffer the penalty of the law; that sin was not truly punished nor punitive justice truly exe…
854 wordsSECTION 27IMMUTABILITY OF THE LAW. 65
efficacy ; and a full equivalent, in being of equal efficacy cHarrsx in these respects in strict rigour of justice, according ate to the judgment of God. Consequently, what Christ suffered is by no means the same with what his people would have suffered, when considered as suf- fering, but is precisely the very same wh…
701 wordsSECTION 28DIVINE LAW.
product of the divine will, but the uncreated essence of cmarrer God himself? This uncreated essence is, as we have in- By sisted above, the absolute norm of all spiritual laws. But this divine nature never expresses itself outwardly except through the acts of the divine will. This will, and not the ‘nature of things,”…
861 wordsSECTION 2970 THE NATURE OF THE ATONEMENT.
1. To every created moral agent in the universe the law of absolute moral perfection sustains a uniform and constant natural relation, as a standard of character and rule of action. In this relation the law is absolutely perfect and absolutely changeless. All that is moral is eternally and intrinsically obligatory on a…
850 wordsSECTION 30CHAPTER VIL.
not at all the unchangeable demands of personal holi- ness, but simply those conditions upon which God’s favours are to be shown. And hence, unlike the natural relation, the federal is neither intrinsic, perpetual, nor inseparable from the person concerned. Although, of course, it is ultimately founded upon the essen…
818 wordsSECTION 3176 THE.NATURE OF THE ATONEMENT.
ADAM WAS, IN THE STRICT SENSE OF THE WORDS, THE FEDERAL RE- PRESENTATIVE OF THE RACE, AND THE ANTENATAL FORFEITURE, OF WHICH EACH OF HIS DESCENDANTS IS SUBJECT, IS THE PENAL CONSEQUENCE OF HIS PUBLIC SIN. fUR doctrine is, that God, as the legitimate Guardian of the human race, and acting for its advantage, ordered its…
842 wordsSECTION 32FEDERAL HEADSHIP OF ADAM. 79
* Dr. Edward Beecher, in his Conflict of Ages, p. 96, gives his valuable testimony as follows: ‘‘ The Princeton Review alleges. and as far as [ know correctly, that ‘ there is not a creed of any Christian Church in which the doctrine that inherent corruption, as existing prior to voluntary action, is of the nature of s…
829 wordsSECTION 33_ FEDERAL HEADSHIP OF ADAM. 81
1. We may classify them as they are, on the one hand, excogitated on purely rationalistic principles, in- dependently of revelation; or as, on the other hand, they are developed by a more or less faithful interpretation of Scripture. Or,— 2. We may classify them either as they affirm or deny the principle that all men…
703 wordsSECTION 34FEDERAL HEADSHIP OF ADAM. 83
Now it is evident that this answer gets rid of the difiiculty by denying the plain fact of the total depravity of each child from birth and by nature, antecedent to all moral action, which is proved as well by an unex- ceptional experience as by revelation. The self-deter- mining power of the human will may prove that …
612 wordsSECTION 35FEDERAL HEADSHIP OF ADAM. 85
4. The common view characteristic of the New Eng- land Theology was generated by an attempt to re-adjust the positions of old Calvinism in view of the rationalistic attacks made upon it by John Taylor of Norwich, and the Socinians of America. This view was introduced by Dr. Samuel Hopkins, and developed by Edwards, Dwi…
665 wordsSECTION 36FEDERAL HEADSHIP OF ADAM. 87
After this doctrine, which is obviously identical with that of the New England view above stated, had been ventilated a number of years, the French National Synod, meeting at Charenton (Dec. 26, 1644; Jan. 26, 1645), passed with reference to it the following decree: “There was a report made in Synod of a certain writin…
716 wordsSECTION 37FEDERAL HEADSHIP OF ADAM. 89
(2.) While this “improvement” was excogitated, as the younger Edwards said, with the design of reconciling the doctrine of the Fall with the demands of rational justice, it sets justice at defiance far more directly and uncom- promisingly than does that orthodox doctrine against the injustice of which it protests. The …
786 wordsSECTION 3892 THE NATURE OF THE ATONEMENT.
The singular exception referred to is the eccentric theory that the evil nature with which all men are born into this world has been self-originated, by a free, per- sonal self-determination to evil in a pre-existent state. As thus generally stated, this theory was first introduced into the Christian Church by Origen, …
845 wordsSECTION 3994 THE NATURE OF THE ATONEMENT.
of sin, it is said, ““By ONE MAN sin entered into the world, and death by sin.” “By one man’s offence death reigned by one.” ‘“‘ By the offence of one, jadgment came upon all men to condemnation.” ‘By one man’s dis-— obedience many were made sinners” (Rom. v. 12-21). “In Adam all die” (1 Cor. xv. 22). 3. This theory …
627 wordsSECTION 4096 THE NATURE OF THE ATONEMENT.
Shedd maintains that sin can be predicated only — of the will, its states and acts, and only of such states of the will as are consequent upon its own previous un- biased self-determination. He does not, however, limit these responsible self-determinations to single volitions, in which the soul consciously chooses or r…
676 wordsSECTION 4198 THE NATURE OF THE ATONEMENT.
Samuel Hopkins} both held the Traduce theory, yet both held the doctrine of Placzeus or the Root theory, which excludes that idea of antenatal forfeiture which it is the end and boast of the Realistic theory to vindicate. But, on the other hand, the doetrine that each soul is severally and immediately created by God at…
781 wordsSECTION 42FEDERAL HEADSHIP OF ADAM. 101
ordinary generation.”+ “The COVENANT being made with Adam as a public person” (here there is a dis- tinct definition of the representative theory of Adam’s oneness with the race, and not directly nor by implica- tion a hint of his being the genus homo, or of our generic nature acting as an impersonal co-agent with him …
862 wordsSECTION 43FEDERAL HEADSHIP OF ADAM. SN
because the eternal Word took into personal union with cmarrme himself the total genus electorum; and because, hence, ——_ we were numerically one with him on the cross, and meritorious co-agents with him in his obedience and expiatory death. But the Scriptures teach us of the sovereign election of persons to eternal li…
831 wordsSECTION 44106 THE NATURE OF THE ATONEMENT.
2. According to a principle observed in the case of the angels, and we believe universal, God created Adam with a nature positively holy and inclined to good, yet fallible, and made his future character and destiny to depend upon his obedience for a definite period, called a probation, during which he remained in a con…
845 wordsSECTION 45108 THE NATURE OF THE ATONEMENT.
our account; and (c) most gigs A treats us according to the seer of that sin. When we say that Adam’s sin was imputed to us, the Reformed Churches have always understood by it that the guilt, or legal obligation to suffer the penalty of Adam’s sin, is judicially charged to our account as the legal ground of penal trea…
838 wordsSECTION 46110 THK NATURE OF THE ATONEMENT.
unwilling to decide the question either way. The Lutherans have generally held the doctrine of Traduc- tion, and the Reformed almost universally have main- tained Creationism. 3. The great majority of the Reformed theologians, since they maintain that each soul is a new and imme- diate product of creation, have conse…
811 wordsSECTION 47CHAPTER Vil.
| 3. It is an undeniable matter of fact that the very -penalty which God denounced upon Adam has in all its particulars come upon every one of his descendants, -from their birth upward. Death, physical and spiritual, was the penalty denounced and executed on Adam the very day he transgressed; and in the same sense it h…
839 wordsSECTION 48116 THE NATURE OF THE ATONEMENT.
Bellarmine and Pascal. As to the Reformed Church, the quotations I have given above, from the Formula Consensus Helvetica, from the Westminster Confession and Catechism, and from Ursinus and Turretin, must suffice, in connection with the following from Theodore Beza, the great pupil and friend and successor of John Cal…
793 wordsSECTION 49118 THE NATURE OF THE ATONEMENT.
means whereby they might approach into his presence and conciliate his favour. 3. It is characteristic of all God’s self-revelations, under every dispensation, that he discovers himself as jealous of any use by man of un- authorized methods of worship or service. He uniformly insists upon this very point of his soverei…
693 wordsSECTION 50120 THE NATURE OF THE ATONEMENT.
“= Testament into the language of the Old.”* We point them to the fact that sacrifices, undeniably vicarious and piacular, have prevailed everywhere among all nations from before the dawn of history down, at least, to the Christian era. They respond by admitting the fact alleged to its utmost extent, but maintain that …
720 wordsSECTION 51122 THE NATURE OF THE ATONEMENT.
needs agree with Bahr in making them mere symbolical expressions of the subjective state of the offerer, who presented his victim in place of himself as an expression of ‘his sense of gratitude, of obligation, of dependence.” He admits that the inspired apostle applied the Greek words ‘Kar os and (Aacrnptoy to Christ, …
760 wordsSECTION 52SACRIFICES PIACULAR AND TYPICAL. 125
sin as a constant habit and condition in a more general sense, and together with this there was an expression made of the entire consecration of the life and substance of the worshipper to his God. In the case of the peace- offering, the characteristic feature was, that after the sin had been confessed, imposed, and at…
843 wordsSECTION 53SACRIFICES PIACULAR AND TYPICAL. 127
3. The truth we: contend for is made very plain by cuarrsr the ritual of the sacrifice, or the prescribed ceremonies, *"" which preceded and accompanied the slaughter of the victims. These were :-— (1.) The laying on of hands.—This is prescribed in the case of all kinds of bleeding sacrifices, including the burnt and …
704 wordsSECTION 54SACRIFICES PIACULAR AND TYPICAL. 129
“the wages of sin is death” (Rom. vi. 23). To this the cuarrrr whole Mosaic law was conformed; for “without shed- ““ ding of blood is no remission” (Heb. ix. 22). The sinner having presented his victim, and laying his hands upon its head, confessed and transferred his sin upon its head ; “it was accepted for him, to ma…
678 wordsSECTION 55SACRIFICES PIACULAR AND TYPICAL. 131
seen above, these sacrifices secured the remission of the omar penalties denounced by the Jewish Theocratic State- ™ Church law upon all sins, whether moral or simply cere- monial, except such as were committed “with an high hand.” As far as this ceremonial State-Church penalty was concerned, these sacrifices effected …
841 wordsSECTION 56134 THE NATURE OF THE ATONEMENT.
fice to that of vicariousness, if these ideas were not harmonious, but discordant! If sacrifice pointed to no substitution, no expiation, but only to self-surrender of the penitent worshipper, could any mode of speaking be devised more likely to mislead than calling the sacrificial offering a ransom—a Avtpoyv—the most…
850 wordsSECTION 57136 THE NATURE OF THE ATONEMENT.
nate in itself, and point to nothing future; it may refer to something past. The difference between the two will become evident if we consider that the learned researches of modern times have made it more than probable that the religions of antiquity were all symbolical in character, or so framed as to convey, under se…
748 wordsSECTION 58138 THE NATURE OF THE ATONEMENT.
3. They are expressly said to have prefigured Christ and his work. These things, Paul says, “area shadow of things..to,.come*but. the -body~is"of Christ”? (Col. ii. 17). The law had ‘a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things ””(Hebe-x 1). The tabernacle and its services were “‘ patterns of t…
664 wordsSECTION 59CHRIST THE HIGH PRIEST. 141
grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus : whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation (tXac- Tnotov), through faith im his blood” (Rom. iii, 24, 25). “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…
879 wordsSECTION 6044 THE NATURE OF THE ATONEMENT.
appealed to God, saying, ‘‘ Even to-morrow Jehovah will shew who are his, and who is holy ; and will cause him to come near unto him: even him whom he hath chosen will he cause to come near unto him” (Numb. xvi. 5). Hence a priest was one—1. Taken from among men to represent them: “Every high priest taken from among …
864 wordsSource & rights
Public-domain historical work by A. A. Hodge, 1823–1886. OCR from an original historical scan hosted by Internet Archive; OCR may contain recognition errors.
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Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.