ATONEMENT (from atone, literally to be at one). Sin produces estrangement from God and renders man liable to the penalty of the law of God. The work of salvation from this double result is wrought by Jesus Christ, who is sent by God as the Saviour of the world. The word atonement, which originally and literally means 'reconciliation,' is appropriated in the ology to designate that portion of the saving work which is wrought by the sufferings and death of Christ. lie lays thereby the objective ground of forgiveness, which we could not lay for ourselves, and without which our salvation could not be effected. There were, therefore, some obstacles to forgiveness existing apart from the spiritual condition of the sinner him self. What these were, and how the death of Christ serves to remove them, it is the object of the doctrine of the atonement to explain.
So fundamental is the doctrine of the atone ment in the Christian religion that it does not, like many other doctrines, form a ground of distinction among the different bodies into which the Christian world has been divided. All churches may be said to be equally orthodox on this point. The Church of Rome, the Greek Church, the various Protestant churches—estab lished and dissenting—all agree, taking their standards as a criterion, in resting the sinner's hope of salvation on the mediatorial work or atonement of Jesus Christ. Nevertheless, there have been from the very beginning of speculative Christian theology, and still continue to be, within the bosom of the several churches, vari ous ways of conceiving and explaining the exact nature and mode of operation of this mediatorial work. What follows is a brief sketch of the historical development of these speculations.
Christianity differs from heathenism in the clear perception which it has of the antagonism that sin has caused between God and man. Heathenism but vaguely conceives of this vari ance, and consequently has but au ill-defined notion of the atonement required, the notion seldom containing more than the idea of a recon ciled union of the individual man with nature and the universal life. Even where its mythical divinities assume personality, it is hut an ideal personality without any concrete reality of life, and consequently without any real significance for the conscience. In this state, the abject subjection of man to nature prevents his rising into that sphere of conscious freedom which makes sin sinful, and demands an atonement with one who is Lord both of nature and of mall.
In Judaism, man stands above nature, in conscious relation to a personal God, whose written law exhibits the requirements of His relationship with man—requirements which are never met, and which only make him fearfully conscious of the ever-widening breach between him and his God. Thus the law awakened the
sense of guilt and the desire for an atonement— a desire it could never satisfy. The never ceasing demands of these ever-unfulfilled re quirements were constantly acknowledged by its whole sacrificial cultus, which expressed the hidden ground of Jewish hope and prophetically pointed to its future manifestation.
The Old Testament Scriptures, as commonly understood, present a gradually enlarging reve lation of the idea of a suffering and vicarious Messiah, culminating in the prophecy of Isaiah (chap. liii.). Of this the whole sacrificial sys tem was typical and prophetic (Lev. xvi. 21; xvii. 11; compare Heb. x. 1-18). Modern study of the Old Testament, under the influence of the idea of development, has sometimes emphasized the human element of the sacrificial system, and denied its divine origin and permanent signifi cance. But more sober employment of the canons of criticism finds the course of biblical development in favor both of the divine element from the beginning and of its true culmination in the work of Christ.
In the New Testament, Christ is everywhere exhibited as one sent from God for the salva tion of the world (John iii. 16, 17) ; and as the condition on the part of man of his obtaining this salvation, we read of the requirement of repentance, faith, and reformation (Matt. iv. 17; v. 3, 11; vi. 12; Mark xvi. 16; Luke xv. 11); while on the part of God, as conditioning and mediating His forgiveness of sins, we have ex hibited the entire life of Christ upon earth, con ceived of as embracing severally its individual features (Acts v. 31; Rom. iv. 25; viii. 34) ; but more especially His death as a ransom for our sins (Matt. xx. 28; xxvi. 28), as a vicarious sacrifice (I. Pet. i. 19; II. Cor. v. 21), by which we are redeemed from the bondage of sin (I. Tim. ii. 6: Gal. iii. 13; II. Pet. i. 3), and obtain for giveness (Rom. v. 19; I. Cor. xv. 3; I. .John f. 7) and eternal life and peace with God (John x. 11; Col. i. 20). Christ is therefore the medi ator between God and man (I. Tim. ii. 5), hav ing made peace through the blood of His cross (Col. i. 20) ; the propitiation for our sins (I. John ii. 2; iv. 10) ; and our high-priest who offers Him:yelf a sacrifice to reconcile us with Clod (Heb. ii. 17; v. 1; ix. 28).