2 Co 5'5f-).
(2) The Johnnnincuse. — Although the Johannine writer uses for 'propitiation' a ditt'erent Greek word (iXacr/io!, not VKacT-qpiov) there is no satisfactory ground for maintaining a meaning essentially ditt'erent from that presented in the Pauline thought ; characteristic words of a common re- ligion cannot .safely be applied in a ditt'erent sense where it is obvious that the same great circle of ideas is acknowledged. Propitiation is part of an apostolic system of ideas of redemption, and is found in the writings of St. John associated with its correlatives of sin and righteousness, and with the blood of Christ as the means of putting away sin and establishing righteousness, ideas with which it is vitally associated in the Pauline Epistles (for the opposite view cf. Stevens, Christinn Doctrine of Salvation, p. 108 tt'.)- The Johannine concep- tion of propitiation is inseparably associated with 'Jesus Christ the righteous,' in whom 'we have an Advocate with the Father' (1 Jn 2'), implying that the righteous nature of God involves a right- eous orde. in the Divine method of dealing with sin. Moreover, the declaration is unmistakable that Christ is a propitiation ' not for our sins only, but also for the whole world,' implying an objec-
tive accomplishment, a finished work for the whole world as the basis on which the individual forgive ness and cleansing from sin proceed ; for the vii iue of the propitiation extends beyond the subjective ex|>erience of those who actually are made i)ar- takers of its grace. Whilst these points of contact with the Pauline view of propitiation appear, there are nevertheless lines of distinction in the use of the term which constitute a Johannine variety distinguishable from that found in the Pauline u.sage. l''or instance, the propitiation is more vividly personal: 'He' is our propitiation; the life of Christ as well as His death is invcdved — His Per.son as well as His work. Then its per- petual persistence as a process as well as its achievement as a fact is a dominant Johannine idea : ' he is the propitiation,' ' his blood is cleansing us from all sin'(l Jn 1'). It is more than a completed act ; the jiropitiation abides as a living, present energy residing in the personality of Christ Himself (cf. J. McLeod Canipliell, The Nature of the Atonement, London, 1895, p. 170 f.). Hence the Johannine emphasis falls naturally upon the issues of the propitiation set forth in terms of cleansing from sin rather than of justili- cation in the sight of the Law. But the main Johannine distinction is probably found in the wealth of the Divine love, in which the writer makes explicit what is elsewhere implied in the teaching on propitiation, where it is associated more closely with the righteousness of the Law. Universally assumed in the apostolic teaching, the love of God in the propitiation sulluses the whole Johannine conception with radiant light. So far from being contrasts, love and propitiation become interchangeable realities — necessary to one another, explaining one another, even lost in one another. The writer defines love by propitiation, and pro- pitiation by love : ' in this have we come to know what love is, that he (^mikos) for us (inr^p ij/iuv) laid down his life' (1 Jn 3""). ' Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins ' (4'"). This is the writer's closer definition of what he means by ' God is love' ; he can convey no idea of love in God beyond that which shows itself in propitia- tion ; for that is love's last word ; the ultimate meaning of propitiation is love's ultimate meaning too ; contrast between them is unthinkable.
' If the propitiatory death of Jesus is eliminated from the love of God, it ini^ht be unfair to say that the love of Go<I is robhed of all meaniiit;, but it is certainly robbed of its apostolic meaning ' (Dennej', beath of Christ, p. 276).
(3) Use in Hebrews. — Propitiation in the Epistle to the Hebrews (2", ' to make propitiation for sins,' t6 iXdcTKeadai) is interpreted in terms of sacrifice and comes nearest in apostolic teaching to the OT usage. Christ is the High Priest who oilers Him- self ; He is at once Victim and Priest in a propitia- tion th.at procures forgiveness of sins and thereby the privilege of direct access to and communion with God. The writer noticeably departs from the classical construction of the verb, and adopts the biblical, making its object 'the sins of the people' ; he thus avoids making God the object of the pro- pitiation, producing in doing so a construction strange at the same time to Greek ears and to pagan ideas. What relation this propitiation bears to the nature of God this loose construction is too vague to indicate ; clearly, however, it deals in some sacrificial way with the sin that separates from God. The writer assumes that propitiation is necessary for this end, and the only propitiation known to him is that made by a priest through sacrifice ; but the necessity for it lies in a Divine fitness rather than in any definite legal obligation ; the Pauline idea of the law of righteousness is absent. If a Pauline philosophy of redemption