The doctrine of the incarnation in its en tirety illumines this subject, but of it and. of other cognate subjects, such as justification and original sin, notice cannot be taken here. The atonement, as such, has not been treated spe cifically by early writers, and it would be diffi cult to put one's finger on any dogmatic decree in which it is definitely formulated. Just as from definitions here and there spread over the volume of authoritative teaching the na ture of the atonement is elicited, so from the utterances of ecclesiastical writers one is able to reach a conclusion in harmony with the af firmation of tradition. The view still claiming attention bases itself on Scripture. Texts there from are not necessary for the present writing; they embrace the prophetic language of the Old and the literal language of the New Tes tament. The Apostolic Fathers, from Clement to Polycarp, are satisfied with stating the fun damental idea that °Christ died for us° and for our sakes. Irenmus and Origen insist that a price had to be paid to Satan because Satan had gained a rightful mastery over and own ership of men, for which the only equivalent was the blood of Jesus. This view was never universal, but now and again it is brought for ward, even up to the time of Peter Lombard. The Fathers and writers from Origen to An selm wrote more systematically on nearly every topic, but were unanimous in maintaining that the death of Christ was the sacrifice unique and par excellence and amply satisfactory. Some do, others do not, endeavor to explain whether and why this sacrifice was imperative. This is tilue of the Church East and West, Greek and Latin. Two ideas are prominent: the infinite value of the human acts of Christ, and the need of grace for human weakness. More stress is placed on the incarnation than on its concom itant effecting of the atonement. °The work of mediation was summed up but not exhausted in the dying. He was a priest and a sacrifice from the beginning, and is and always will be. The imitability of Christ's career was not confined to the death on the cross, but as well to the whole existence° (Newman).
Ocasionally a peculiar view would startle the world, but without changing the generally accepted opinion. Anselm (1033) in his (Cur Deus hom& vigorously opposes the view of Origen and others concerning the so-called bar gain by which the Almighty, through Christ, purchased back the souls of men from the grasp of Satan. Then came the age of the Schoolmen. It has been the custom to look upon these men as triflers and hair splitters, but what Huxley says of Saint Thomas is, with modification, applicable to many of these very imperfectly known and much abused investi gators: °His marvelous grasp and subtlety of intellect seem to me to be almost without a parallel° (Science and Morals). They all united in declaring that Christ by His sacrifice was the Atoner. They differ in their explanation of some points connected with the incarnation which are irrelevant here. They are broad and moderate in their views. Christ not only freed us from sin, says Aquinas, but won for us grace and glory, and it was fitting that by death He should overcome the power of death, but His death need not have been a violent one. Over the question whether the incarnation was an absolute necessity or only something con gruous, they run through every note of the gamut of argument. Duns Scotus is one of the principal figures in the discussion. Among other views he maintains that a mere man conceived without sin, or a good angel, could have made satisfaction for the entire race had it pleased God to accept it. Express treatises on the atonement cannot be found. It is al ways treated as an adjunct of the incarnation. There have been many pious and devotional essays on this topic. Since the days of the scholastics all Catholic analysis of the atone ment can be traced back to them or to the Fathers and doctors. The Reform opens with the 15th century of modern times, and those leaders only who have left an indelible impress upon their followers will receive attention. Arians, and those who reject the divinity of Christ directly or by implication, fall outside this inquiry.
An insistent tenet of the Reformers is, that Christ reconciled God to us, whereas the Tri dentine Council teaches that He reconciled us to God. The Divinity by the very force of the
divine perfections, Catholics hold, remained in itself unchanged. The fall affected man, that is, man by his transgression placed himself vol untarily under the ban of infinite justice and willingly subjected himself to all the conse quences of his disobedience. Man alone changed. God's attitude was always the same. In one of his bulls Leo X (1520) condemned 41 propositions of Luther, some of which in one way or another refer to the doctrine of the atonement. In the sixth session of the Council of Trent the decrees on justification, on tfie advent of Christ, etc., (Dec. Concil. Trid.) set forth a basis for views on the Atonement which are in opposition to those of Luther and others. Luther denies the supernatural character of man's original sanctity. God, according to Lu ther, planted in the very essence of human nature the capabilities and the acts of virtue. Hence no freedom of will. Sin is of the es sence of man. Man is wholly evil. Calvin asserts that everything coming from man's cor rupt nature is damnable and so can in no way co-operate in the atonement. It must all occur outside of himself. He contributes nothing. He is justified; he is reconciled to God, or God is reconciled to him through faith in the merits of Christ, whose obedience becomes man's obedience and whose righteousness be comes man's justification. In this way the Cre ator remits sin, reputes man just and rewards him with eternal life. Christ made satisfaction for sinners in two ways: by fulfilling the law in their place and by enduring the curse and pen alty of the law. Everything in the atonement be comes vicarious. Another person is substituted for the debtor and the criminal. These doc trines are gathered from the Epistles of Saint Paul. Only the bare statement has been here presented of the doctrine of the Reformers. A review of the reasons advanced to sustain this teaching would repay the student. Those who came after Luther and Calvin and Me lancthon modified in a lesser or greater degree this teaching and modified the idea of trans ference as atonement and demanded at least some co-operation, on the part of the sinner. Imputation soon became the great battleground of controversy. Investigation will reveal that in the Protestant churches there has been a recoil from the positive utterances of the Re formers. The disparity existing between the above and what can be gleaned from the early and modern history of the Catholic Church is undoubtedly marked. So much so that Pusey in his introductory essay to 'Essays on the Reunion of Christendom} observes: "'The Lu theran and the Catholic belief are as like two different religions as any can be, wherein the be lief as to the adorable Trinity and the incarna tion is the same. The whole doctrine of the ap plication of the merits of Christ to fallen man and the condition of man in consequence of the fall is radically different?' In fact, the difference is so radical that there is no possi bility of confounding one with the other. All Protestant theology from the rise of that re ligion is a literature which is within the reach of any one to consult, and further quotations or references are unnecessary. "'Just as the justice of man binds the judge to punish the criminal, so is some penalty exacted from man by virtue of the same attribute, which, of course, is more perfect in the divinity. It is not the spirit of vengeance which animates God. In spite of the transgression God's love remains as it was in the beginning, without diminution or alteration of any kind. The Son of man died for all men sufficiently, for the elect efficiently. Satisfaction is required of man. But that satisfaction is amply made by man by believing, who thus becomes one with the Redeemer and shares with Him in the re demption He wrought as the Head of the Re deemed. This is enough to excite love and repentance and the striving after holiness' Everything quoted above, though taken from different writers, expresses the view of the Atonement as held by Protestant ex pounders.