Atonement

IMPROVEMENT ERA. Vol. IX. FEBRUARY, 1906. No. 4 ATONEMENT. BY PRESIDENT JOHN G. MCQUARRIE OF THE EASTERN STATES MISSION. The most important question in connection with the atonement is this: Is it a fact? Revelation, which is our only source of information on this particular point, answers the question in the affirmative. Here the defenders of the faith usually rest the case; drawing the conclusion that in some mysterious way Christ bears the burden of our sins. Religion is supposed to be a perfect philosophy of life, a philosophy built on two theories— the fall of man and the atonement of Jesus Christ; but if we reply that in some mysterious way man fell, and in some mysterious way Christ brought about a redemption, then it follows logically that in some mysterious way man is saved by the operation. It is hard to build a logical philosophy on two mysteries; hence, to many, the atonement is an unreal conception, and they continually ask: Why was it necessary, and how does it apply to our lives? If we could understand God's purpose in the atonement, what he did to bring it about, and some of the reasons for such actions,

266 IMPROVEMENT ERA. then what we should do to avail ourselves of that law would become clear. Without attempting to delve into that which is mysterious in the atonement, we hope to prove the absolute necessity for Christ's transcendent sacrifice, and that if we accomplish what Christ made possible for us, we shall attain to a divine life. In order to determine whether the ministry of Jesus Christ is an absolute necessity, we must first admit that it is necessary to attain to some condition. Let us take the premises that it is necessary to reach a state of happiness, and that we should avoid the opposite condition, a state of misery. It is probable that every sane person is trying to reach the former and to avoid the latter. It is true that some regard these conditions only as they affect the present life, while others extend them into eternity. It is evident, however, that we are either soaring toward the one, or sinking into the other. How are we going to reach the coveted condition? Some have argued that if God is all powerful he could make our happiness complete by relieving the stress of life, by keeping us from contact with law, or by preventing the pain and penalty that follow the breaking of law, but a little reflection will show us how impossible, how unjust, such an action would be. To remove the danger from the operation of the elements, would be to destroy their power and to rob them of their utility. If there were no penalties following the breaking of law, there would be no incentive to study its operation. In fact, there could be no law. If the forces of nature operated just as they do, but mankind were kept from contact with them by the power of a superior mind, free agency would be denied, and liberty destroyed. Moreover, no experience would be gained, and hence no knowledge acquired; and, as knowledge is power, we should be deprived of knowledge, power and freedom, the prime elements of greatness, the essential principles of happiness, the glory of God and man. Besides, if it were impossible for us to break a law, it would be equally impossible to possess a virtue. We might remaim innocent, but could never become virtuous. We cannot refer to infants as being virtuous; we can only call them innocent. To be released from law is to be outcast, not free.

ATONEMENT. 267 It will thus be seen that the gulf between ignorance and knowledge, weakness and power, vice and virtue, freedom and serfdom, could never be bridged by keeping us from contact with law, or by preventing its free operation. Experience has amply proved that ignorance, weakness, vice and serfdom are limitations that confine us to the shadows and shoals of misery. It is evident that we could never gain heaven by the method referred to above. Shakespeare answers the question by saying, "Ignorance is the curse of God; knowledge, the wings wherewith we fly to heaven." This is evidently true, whether the condition is restricted to this world or extended into the next, for from the following revelation we must draw the same conclusion, "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." (John 17: 3.) To know God we must understand his character. Revelation, then, is in harmony with the conclusions of the wisest men, — that the goal of existence is to know, and not simply to live. But how are we going to secure these wings of knowledge? The youth may answer, ' In the schools and the colleges, we may gain an education which will enable us to reach our ideal of true happiness." But some of those who have been most successful in gaining technical knowledge, men who are now resting upon the highest perch to which their collegiate wings will carry them, hesitate to answer the question. Colleges only serve to prepare us for the great school of experience where we must meet and grapple with the problems of life. * *A real education, ' ' says Herbert Spencer, ' 'should teach us how to live in the widest sense. ' ' The best educated person is the one who lives the most complete life. The main thing is not to learn a few tricks, like a poodle, but to make the most of all our powers; to grow, to develop, to ripen. Then, the end of education is character, and character embraces knowledge, and, without doubt, the happiness of the world depends on the character of the people. Now let us ask the question, What is a true character? If we should take out of the world the memory of Jesus Christ, and the writings of those who attribute their wisdom to him, would

268 IMPROVEMENT ERA. not the question be a mystery? It must be evident that no person can develop a perfect character without a true ideal to follow. In order to attain any point of excellency we need a standard by which we can measure our efforts. Also, in doing business we need a standard of values and a standard of measure. If experience has taught us that we need a standard of language, in order to speak and write correctly, surely wisdom would suggest that we need a standard of character, in order to live properly. The ability to measure character, and determine the relative merits of action, would be a rare and priceless accomplishment. Many men have been honored, trusted, followed, and even worshiped, by their contemporaries; but when time proved the fruits of their labors, and separated honesty from pretense, and sympathy from selfishness; when the tinsel of pomp and display faded like a flower, — succeeding generations have realized that these human idols were really cruel, selfish, ambitious tyrants, and the people who followed them were tools, dupes and victims. The injustice done, on the other hand, is expressed in the following couplet: Seven wealthy towns contend for Homer dead, Through which the living Homer begged his bread. The real mystery and goodness of life can be understood only when we are able to lay the measuring line on men, while they still live, distinguishing between the fleeting glory of a proud Herod, and the eternal might of a meek and lowly Christ. This article is not intended to explain the existence of God, but simply to justify the mission of Christ. Hence, I may be pardoned for assuming, without argument, that there is a God, a being in whose existence life finds its perfect expression. We can imagine him possessing a fulness of knowledge, power, justice, mercy and love; and because of these virtues, his happiness is complete. He moves in the true orbit of life, never running counter to law, but utilizing, controlling and directing all the forces of nature to the accomplishment of good. Then, this question of a true character, which is a mystery to man, is understood by God, in fact is hidden in him, and can only be revealed by him. If God has a special interest in us, and desires to bring us into his presence and make our joy complete, would it not be nee-

ATONEMENT. 269 essary for him to increase our power, knowledge, justice and love? in fact, bridge over the mental, physical and spiritual gulfs that now divide us? And if, as reason and experience both suggest, it is necessary to have a perfect character, in order to enjoy perfect happiness, would it not be necessary and reasonable that the Lord should reveal this character to us? Now let us determine from revelation what his purpose is in relation to this matter: Paul testifies, in his epistle to the Ephesians, 3: 9-19, that it was his special mission "To make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: to the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord. * * * That ye may be able to comprehend, with all saints what is the breadth, and length and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. ' ' What a glorious thought! what a grand purpose! what wonderful possibilities are here suggested: That we might be able to sound the depth and measure the height of a true character, and feel the wonderful love of Christ. Is this really God's eternal purpose, in dealing with his children? With our virtues buffeted, our better natures bound down by ignorance, vice, selfishness, stubbornness and passion, the gulf that stretches between our present condition, and an ideal condition, between humanity and divinity, between mortality and immortality, seems so broad, so deep and dark, that the possibility of spanning the chasm seems impossible; but if life, knowledge, power, justice, mercy and love, in their fulness, constitute the attributes of Deity, then the gulfs that separate the finite from the infinite are of the same nature as those which separate one race or one individual from another, they differ only in degree. The infinite is the moral, the spiritual and the perfect, but the finite tends toward these, and following their tendency may reach them. The extremes in man's character and conditions are astounding, almost overwhelming, in their extent. Humanity has its head

270 IMPROVEMENT ERA. in heaven and its feet in the mire of earth; its soul dwells with the angels, but its senses grovel with the beasts. In our minds we see visions of Paradise, yet on our souls we feel the chains of hell. The pen of the poet, the harp of the bard, the brush of the artist, the tablets of the prophets, have all alike failed to express the glories witnessed in the higher realms of thought, a realm into which the spirit soars while passion sleeps and reason sits enthroned. "Our imagination fails even more completely in trying to pierce the gloomy abyss where humanity mingles with unclean things." Surely man has a dual nature, an animal instinct, or passion, battling with an inner life that is divine. The ministry of reconciliation commences here. Its office is to help men over the gulf that stretches between the lower and higher self; to turn humanity from passion to principle, from instinct to reason; from the darkness of hatred, to the warmth and light of love; from ignorance, to knowledge; from doubt and fear, to faith and hope; from discordant, competing factions, into one united body. There are degrees and distances between life, knowledge, power and goodness, but if we should see certain principles operating to close up these gulfs, reason would suggest the application of similar principles for the accomplishment of purposes differing only in degree. Let us look into some of the experiences of life, and see if we can find principles that have been efficacious in the accomplishment of such purposes. We will take first the relationship between parents and children. The matured man or woman and the undeveloped child stand on the opposite extremes of life; the child may be interesting, but not companionable; there is a gulf between them. If you were made responsible for the development of a child, under what condition would you prefer to assume the responsibility, and what methods would you adopt? Would not the answer to the question be something like the following? We would ask that he be given to us in an entirely dependent condition, that we might prove our unselfish love. When the mother has entered the shadow of death, that the child might have life, and the father has sacrificed comforts for the child's necessities, they may well claim his obedience by right.

AlONEMENT. 271 If we were given power, but made no sacrifice, in exercising that power, we should develop hatred and resentment, thereby making it necessary to stifle the child's growth, curtail his liberty, or lose his allegiance. But if the child is dependent, and we are unselfish, we can satisfy his wants, develop his powers, awaken his gratitude, and secure his love. We will shelter him in his infancy, nurse him in sickness, and do for him what he cannot do for himself. We will teach him true principles and good morals, and when his strength develops, we will gradually bring him into contact with the world, withdraw our support that he may become strong through exertion, and wise by experience; and when his strength, power and knowledge shall be equal to our own, he will bind the righteous law upon himself. His power will make him useful, his knowledge will make him free, and his love will make him grateful, gentle and susceptible to counsel. All the gulfs will be closed; he will no longer be a child, a dependent, but a man, a friend, a companion; and his happiness, and our success will repay the sacrifice. Here we find four principles operating; dependence, experience, vicarious work, and sacrifice. Let us keep these principles in mind and see if experience in other lines will strengthen their value and add others to them. Passing from the home, let us look into the school. Here many methods have been tried in training, developing, and conducting the child through the various stages from boyhood to manhood. We have tried coercion, persuasion and fear of punishment; and out of the experiences of the race, we have evolved the following necessary factors: The child must be dependent upon the teacher for instruction; the teacher must have the right to prescribe rules and command obedience. Obedience must be secured by love, and not by force ; high ideals should be held up before the pupil, and a good example set by the teacher. The supposition here is that character should be a prime factor in education. In the government, the church, the school and the home, the attempt has been made to discipline men and train up children by coercion and fear, but in every instance the individual has remained undeveloped, or the system has been overthrown.

272 IMPROVEMENl ERA. There is something in the power of love, however, which gradually thaws the coldest heart and subdues the strongest will, without weakening its fibre. If, therefore, the carnal nature of man is to be subdued; if his powers are to be developed; his free agency granted, his manhood maintained, and his happiness secured, by what grand law is the Master going to bring it about? Experience, reason and revelation all proclaim in unison: by the wonderful law of love. But before this law can become operative, virtue must become developed in man; sympathy must be established between the governor and the governed. It may be said, without fear of contradiction, that there can be no real, no lasting, love generated, without dependence, vicarious work and sacrifice. No president has won the love of his countrymen who has disregarded these basic principles. There is no patriotism burning in any heart, no love of the fathers, no devotion to parents, where the feeling has not been awakened by noble sacrifice, and the ties that bind the present to the past have all been woven by vicarious work. (to be continued.)