New-York tribune., 1890-03-31
THE ATONEMENT.
VARIOUS CONFLICTING THEORIES.
VIEWS or EMINENT cLERcYMES IN TIE cATHo
Lie. EPISCOPAL AND EVANGELICAL
CHURCHES.


C,rist's death the Christian world generally VIII po
.ued nm IA consider the great doctrine OF tho Atone
ment. and The Tribune presents herewith inc Nlc"s
Of some ccrgymen in regard to the present s"'u' VI
that doctrine. Many Others who were ">"cu u
sneak on the question declined TO do So some Dc'uS'
they were too busy. some because 'heS 'o"'o Nv.
adcouatelv discuss the subject in the crcumscrDeu
re % . ncvspaper article. some because they
o,N ,ot consclcntiously contribute anything ior a
sunday newspaper. and some. as one gooo ccrbs man
cxpresscd it, because II they candldly s'a'cu 'Vi'
views of the At0ncment. they "wouid nave I" '
fhe righteous indignation OF hosts OF ue" so"" ~
tossi,s whose business is TO keep INC ial'h "n"
mako n hot for those who arc doing the Master
work. r.. -. an
Tho need of an Atoncment and the TACT si all
Atonement are not disputed by orthodox Chrisua''N
but the nature and character OF ChiiSts N'o"e"o"O
have always been more or less open quesuohs III "o
Cnrstlan Church Multitudes of theories have been
,1 4. oy,,.;p II All of these claim TO be
founded on Scripture but none OF them nave GUM
orsoa Themselves to the universal Christian con
sciousncss The fundamental idea OF the AtohehenV
&c simple enough. The etymology OF the woi" "''
.r - 7, is the AtOne-Ment, the bringing 10
rethcr of God and man. who had Dceh cs''""s' -
through the sacrifcial death OF Christ h"' ~"
christians have been satisfied with the simple s'S'e
ment Of this fact; ana hc"oo iA'0
tions as these: ,oi,.d
Was God rcconciled to man or was man reoon'''"
10 God in the Atonement OF Christ!
Mia Christ nav the penalty of mans SIN so a 10
leave man officially innocent in the sign. oi ".u
esnec.vc Of his actual character In other "oTuS'
80, H. ,,oroucpt have the effect of throwing over
n,r, a robc Of official imputed righteousness ""io"
hid his real sinfuncss out OF sight!
was tho Atonement the result OF hard ana laS.
,.roi, hetween an angry Deity and piSihs "'"
loving son ,. ., ,naios.v
was the Atonemcnt made to vindicate 'iie l"s!ess
In oil
:, tremendous and dramatic exhibition oil DIVING
Law? ,, &c =, cx
annie of Divine Love? That is to say Is " ,"o'' -.
;uNnepce affecting men by the tender love "'''n -
h,,ts and in this way leading them INTO ''ic p~''S
Of righteousness!
ruroR1Es OF THE ATONEMENT.
These and hundred other similar Questions ns -.
:. asSod and have been asked, and the answers 10
.hem have constituted the various wor"ins "'oo'',
''', 80 ,tons,uont many of which OF venerable
.s,,r Around these theories the he"loe'.''
title has RACED for many centuries D'' mo
erumerates five great theories as worthy o' w
sidaratjon Professor Crawford names .o"
s,hstitutes for what he calls the 'a''o"o ~ ~
namely the Calvinistic doctrine OF Sa"si'"0 .s
wbother il is maintained that Christ oieo d man
Wno' - a., confirm the truth Of Ills teaching
A.. dsc,ose thc reality of "A future me- Ut - '0''
,ho Lesson Of SELF denial. to reveal "o" NV ~
.act remains that the Christian Woriu aO
.ho need and admits the fact OF an N'o"'"'.", ',
come sort The need grew ont OF man ,r,,
.no t,ct ,esulted from GODS love ana ,nSt'e' IL"
,'e '"' ;cor;ous substitution forms itself out OF
, .so of Dlvine Justice. while the theory Vi =
-, i,nucnce rests on the iue' "
Dr;re 1--we. And between these TWO ",o'
the christian world has oscila'ed' ',c PEW. ar,
of oplnon swinging sometimes IN one u''''''"
sometimes in the other' ,.- sad the
.Tle drift of Christian thought toosN' S"" ~
~. wniiau Uaves Ward of The independents
a., IN my ouinion away from the doctrine VI
Substitution and in the direction OF Wna' HAY "
called the theory Of moral influence @tho"6" ''o ~
tboorv exactly expresses just what IS most 'oN'.''
believed in the evangelical churches. was '"'"''',
,he other day with an eminent theoi"TI@"' WV 49,.
mot he can find only passage in the bio'e '"'
- -, a. spnoort the so-called governmental theory
90 ,ha Aioncment that it simply TO Nihdioa''
Gods majesty We are going back TO inc po'"'''
~ the early Church. and are beginning 10 p"' "o'
emnhasis on the fact than on any theory Vi "''
fact 49, ,, ;,
.aThc Methodist Church believes profoundly IN
v;carious Atonemcnt, bat IL hoiuN 10 ~
ous theory. The Atonement on lis "od
ward side is mystery that we may never pehe'ra'e
Int on its manward side it is SO simple 'a' d.
NAV apprehcnd it. believe with one OF our mos
eminent thcoorians that all the various theories o
the Atonemcnt contain some elements OF tiu'h' ah'
that each Of then. nav be emphasized at tines
The Rev. Thomas Dixon, ir.. the pastor OF I'M
Twenty-thirc street Baptist Church. said. on benz
asked for his views Ny view Of the Atoneincnt nal
he summed up in this sentence Jesus CHRIST was h
a sacrifice exacted In order that God might be ap
peased. bat sacrifice provided that God might D
revealed
WHAT EP.SCOPALIANs BElEVE
The Rev. Dr. George Il. Van De Water the rector 0
S. Andrews Episcopal Church, made The f,lloWlA'
statement: @Tllere is doubt that there IS ten
dency in the churches which hold to belief III IN
Divinity of Christ to rcnqush the sevcrc hold the
once had on the theory Of vicarious aonement
sec clearly a tendency III this. a. in Other Ilil'ua
doctrines 10 avoid rigid definitions. and especially L
ignore anything like the fiisd plnosOphc dH.nto''
of the schoolmen. The fact OF the Aoncment al
Christians belicvc and that II vicaIious IN 'eI''
all Christians who hold to the Catholic cIeeds mno
believe Iut that the definition, OF such theory a
are found in II. Anselm, -. AuGu-un
the Institutes OF Calvin. The Institution
of 1897. or tie declaration Of the Churc
of England IN 1543 properly portray the general De-
lief among Christian people day, l. much - d
doubted. We believe the doctrine. but we would ca
prcss il differently Doubtless in the Anglican Churc
the moral theory is quite generally held; but eve
those who hold this theory believe that in some yer
real sense Jesus Christ died for the just for the III
lust In word. while there is a tendency to give Il
or ignore the extreme statements ana deEhIors
the doctrine Of the Atomemcnt there Is 10 tendency
give up or ignore the doctrine Of vicaious N)h
mcnt itself. II any teaches a theory OF u
Atoncment as "a teaching Of the Episcopal Church. j
Is reading into our Articles Of Religion his own pr
sonal beliefs The Church has no theory. VicaroHs
otherwise IN every theory that las ever been pr
posed there is something Of truth and doubtless som
ihnc OF error. The real truth OF the AtOnenlcnt
Infinitely greater than be expressed by any thcoI
or by all theories combined. And therefore bcle'
that Christians may lawfully accept any one OF II
various current theories Of the Atoncment Men
theories OF the Catholic Faith not the Cathol
Faith The truth still lives. j. still believed. sti
inspires men everywhere Irrespective OF the theoT'
by which men may try to explain it,"
. poNA< CATUOIIC VIEW.