and the earth, and all things that in them are. I was with the
Father from the beginning. I am in the Father, and the Father in
me; and in me hath the Father glorified his name. I came unto my
own, and my own received me not. And the scriptures concerning my
coming are fulfilled. And as many as have received me, to them have
I given to become the Sons of God; and even so will I to as many as
shall believe on my name, for behold, by me redemption cometh, and
in me is the law of Moses fulfilled. * * * For behold, I have come unto
the world to bring redemption unto the world, to save the world
from sin."[A]
[Footnote A: III Nephi ix:15-17.]
_2. The Testimony of the Resurrected Christ:_ Then again, upon
his appearing among the Nephites after his resurrection and his
post-resurrection ministry in Palestine, the Christ said:
"Behold, I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified should come
into the world: and behold, I am the light and the life of the
world; and I have drunk out of that bitter cup which the Father
hath given me, and have glorified the Father in taking upon me the
sins of the world, in the which I have suffered the will of the
Father in all things from the beginning. * * * And it came to pass
that the Lord spake unto them saying: Arise and come forth unto
me, that ye may thrust your hands into my side, and also that ye
may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that
ye may know that I am the God of Israel, and the God of the whole
earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world."[A]
[Footnote A: III Nephi xi:10-14.]
_3. Evidence of the Atonement in the Symbol of Baptism:_
Convincing as testimony to the fact of the Atonement is the Christian
institution of baptism, the formula of which is given in the Book of
Mormon. In it is shown the authority of the Christ in this ordinance
of salvation, since in addition to the Holy Trinity being named as
authorizing the ordinance, the administrator specifically declares that
he has authority from Jesus Christ for performing it. The ordinance
itself, providing as it does for the immersion of the candidate,
symbolizes the Christ's death and burial for the sinner; and also in
bringing forth the baptized from the watery grave, symbolizes the
resurrection--all which is done that forgiveness of sin might be
granted to those who thus palpably manifest that they do most solemnly
accept the Atonement of the Christ of which his baptism is a most
beautiful symbol--of his death, burial and resurrection.[A]
[Footnote A: III Nephi xi:10-14. The matter is treated somewhat more in
detail in Lesson XXI.]
_4. Evidence of the Atonement in the Symbol of the Lord's Supper:_
The Christ also established the sacrament of the Lord's Supper among
the Nephites and constituted it the symbol of the Atonement. After
breaking bread and blessing it, he gave it to his Nephite disciples
and said: "This shall ye do in remembrance of my body, which I have
shown unto you, and it shall be a testimony unto the Father that ye do
always remember me, and if you do always remember me, ye shall have my
spirit to be with you."[A] So also with the wine which he blessed and
gave them to drink, adding, "Ye shall do it in remembrance of my blood,
which I have shed for you, that you may witness unto the Father that ye
do always remember me."[B]
[Footnote A: III Nephi xviii.]
[Footnote B: Ibid.]
What may be called the "New Testament"[A] part of the Book of Mormon,
then, no less than the New Testament of the Bible testifies to the fact
of the Atonement. The same may be said of the immediate scriptures of
the New Dispensation, the Doctrine and Covenants.
[Footnote A: Referring to those parts of the Book of Mormon which were
written after the birth of the Christ, beginning with the III Nephi.]
_6. Testimony of the New Dispensation Scriptures--Doctrine and
Covenants:_ In a revelation to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery,
given in June, 1829, the Lord said: "Remember the worth of souls is
great in the sight of God: For behold, the Lord your Redeemer suffered
death in the flesh; wherefore he suffered the pain of all men, that
all men might repent and come unto him. And he hath risen again from
the dead, that he might bring all men unto him, on conditions of
repentance."[A]
[Footnote A: Doc. & Cov. Sec. 18:10-12.]
Again, in a revelation to Martin Harris, given through Joseph the
Prophet, in March, 1830, the Lord said: "Therefore I command you to
repent--repent, lest I smite you by the rod of my mouth, and by my
wrath, and by my anger, and your sufferings be sore--how sore you know
not! how exquisite you know not! yea, how hard to bear you know not!
For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all that they
might not suffer if they would repent, but if they would not repent,
they must suffer even as I. Which suffering caused myself, even God,
the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every
pore, and to suffer both body and spirit: and would that I might not
drink the bitter cup and shrink--Nevertheless, glory be to the Father,
and I partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men."[A]
[Footnote A: Doc. & Cov. Sec. 19:15-19.]
The declaration that Jesus Christ made an atonement for man is
frequently repeated as follows:
"I am Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who was crucified for the sins
of the world, even as many as will believe on my name, that they
may become the sons of God, even one in me as I am in the Father,
as the Father is one in me, that we may be one."[A]
"I am Christ, and in mine own name, by the virtue of the blood
which I have spilt, have I pleaded before the Father for them; but
behold, the residue of the wicked have I kept in chains of darkness
until the judgment of the great day; which shall come at the end of
the earth."[B]
[Footnote A: Doc. & Cov. Sec. xxxv:1, 2.]
[Footnote B: Doc. & Cov., Sec. xxxviii:4, 5.]
Again:
"Listen to him who is the Advocate with the Father, who is pleading
your cause before him, saying, Father, behold the sufferings and
death of him who did no sin, in whom thou wast well pleased; behold
the blood of thy Son which was shed--the blood of him whom thou
gavest that thyself might be glorified; wherefore, Father, spare
these my brethren that believe on my name, that they may come unto
me and have everlasting life."[A]
[Footnote A: Doc. & Cov., Sec. xlv:3-5.]
_7. The One Adequate Gospel Discourse (Brigham Young):_ Perhaps
this branch of our treatise--the fact of the atonement--cannot be more
fittingly closed than by quoting a passage from one of the discourses
of Brigham Young, setting forth the impossibility of a man adequately
preaching a gospel discourse in this our mortal life; and holding that
Christ alone, in his creative work under the Fathers direction, in his
earth-life, death, resurrection, and the final presentation of the
finished work to his Father--this alone is the adequate gospel sermon:
"There is but one discourse to be preached to all the children of
Adam; and that discourse should be believed by them, and lived up
to. To commence, continue, and finish this gospel sermon, will
require all the time that is alloted to man, to the earth, and
all things upon it, in their mortal state; that is my idea with
regard to preaching. No man is able to set before a congregation
all the items of the gospel, in this life, and continue these
items to their termination, for this mortal life is too short.
It is inseparably connected, one part with the other, in all the
doctrines that have been revealed to man, which are now called the
various doctrines of Christianity, of which all the professors of
religion believe a portion; but severally reject, or desire to
reject, other portions of the truth: each sect or individual taking
to themselves portions of the Bible, portions of the doctrine of
salvation, that are the most pleasing to them, rejecting all the
rest, and mingling these doctrines with the tenets of men.
"But let a gospel sermon be preached, wherein all the principles
of salvation are embodied, and we will acknowledge, at the end of
the mortality of this earth, and all things created upon it--at
the closing up scene, at the final consummation of all things that
have been from the commencement of the creation of the world, and
the peopling of it, unto the latest generation of Adam and Eve,
and the final finishing up of the work of Christ--I say, we shall
acknowledge that there is the gospel sermon, and that it could not
be preached to finite beings in one short life.
"Christ is the author of this gospel, of this earth, of men and
women, of all the posterity of Adam and Eve, and of every living
creature that lives upon the face of the earth, that flies in the
heavens, that swims in the waters, or dwells in the field. Christ
is the author of salvation to all this creation; to all things
pertaining to this terrestrial globe we occupy.
"He has redeemed the earth; he has redeemed mankind and every
living thing that moves upon it; and he will finish his gospel
discourse when he overcomes his enemies and puts his last enemy
under his feet--when he destroys death, and him that hath the power
of it--when he has raised up this kingdom, and finished his work
which the Father gave him to do, and presents it to his Father,
saying, 'I have done the work, I have finished it; I have not only
created the world, but I have redeemed it; I have watched over it,
and I have given to those intelligent beings, that you have created
by me, their agency, and it has been held with perfection to
every creature of intelligence, to every grade of mankind; I have
preserved inviolate their agency; I have watched over them, and
overruled all their actions, and held in my hand the destinies of
men; and I have finished up my gospel sermon,' as he presents the
finished work to his Father.
"It takes just such a character as the Savior, to preach one gospel
discourse; and this was commenced with the commencement of all men
upon this earth or any other; and it will never close until the
winding up scene, and all is finished, and the kingdom is presented
to the Father."[A]
[Footnote A: Journal of Discourses, Vol. III, pp. 80, 81.]
LESSON XII.
(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
THE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD RELATED TO THE ATONEMENT.
ANALYSIS.
I. Attributes[A] Ascribed to God--First Group.
1. Eternity;
2. Immutability;
3. Omnipotence;
4. Omniscience;
5. Omnipresence.
II. The Attributes Expounded--Limitations.
REFERENCES.
Doc. & Cov.: "Lectures on Faith," Lectures III and IV. Catechism (John
Jaques), Ch. v; Doc. & Cov. Sec. 20:17-28.
Richards and Little's Compendium: "True and Living God," pp. 187-193.
Also collection of passages in Oxford or Cambridge "Bible Helps," or
"Bible Treasury," under captions, "God" and "Attributes." Also the
scripture passages quoted and cited in the body of this lesson.
_SPECIAL TEXT: "Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever
thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to
everlasting, thou art God." (Psalms xc:2.)_
[Footnote A: Attribute: A characteristic or distinguishing mark,
especially an excellent or lofty quality or trait (Cent. Diet.).
"By this word 'attribute' is meant something which is immovable and
inseparable from the essence of its subject, as that which constitutes
it (Descartes). Attribute is considered a word of lofty significance:
Thus, for example, it would be felt as indecorous to speak of the
'qualities' of God, and as ridiculous to talk of the 'attributes' of
matter."--Hamilton.]
DISCUSSION.
_1. The Attributes Ascribed to God:_ As the attributes of God are
necessarily involved in the philosophy of the Atonement, I think it
proper here to make brief allusion to them, especially to those more
immediately involved in the Atonement. The attributes usually assigned
to God, either upon the ground of scripture or the supposed necessity
of his nature are: Eternity, Immutability, Omnipotence, Omniscience,
Omnipresence, Wisdom, Holiness, Truth, Justice, Mercy, Love.
_2. Eternity:_ By "Eternity," spoken of as an attribute of God, is
meant God's eternal existence. We may not in rational thought assume
a time when God was not--or when He did not exist. God's eternity
is sustained by such scripture as David's 90th Psalm, "Before the
mountains were brought forth, or thou hadst formed the earth and the
world, even from everlasting to everlasting thou art God." Also Paul
bears the same witness: "And thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid
the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine
hands. They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax
old as doth a garment; and as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and
they shall be changed; but thou art the same and thy years shall not
fail."[A]
[Footnote A: Heb. i:10-12.]
_3. Immutability:_ God's "Immutability," his unchangeableness,
is sustained in such passages of both ancient and modern scriptures
as follow: "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and
cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness,
neither shadow of turning."[A] "For I am the Lord, I change not;
therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed."[B] "For God does not
walk in crooked paths, neither does he turn to the right hand nor to
the left, or vary from that which he has said; therefore his paths
are straight, and his course is one eternal round,"[C] "Listen to the
voice of the Lord your God, even Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the
end, whose course is one eternal round, the same yesterday, today and
forever."[D]
[Footnote A: James i:17.]
[Footnote B: Malachi iii:6.]
[Footnote C: Doc. & Cov., Sec. 3, v. 2.]
[Footnote D: Doc. & Cov., Sec. 35, v. 1.]
_4. Omnipotence:_ By "Omnipotence" is meant all-powerfulness. This
attribute is essential to all rational thinking upon God. We may not
think upon God and then think upon him as being overruled by a higher
power, and still have him remain to our thought as God. The Scriptures
in their whole spirit present this view of the Omnipotence of Deity.
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. * * * And God
said, Let there be light, and there was light. * * * And God said. Let
the waters be gathered together in one place, and let the dry land
appear: and it was so." In this manner the work proceeds throughout the
creation periods.[A]
[Footnote A: Gen. i-iii.]
Of this attribute David sings: "The heavens shall praise thy wonders,
O Lord: * * * for who in the heaven can be compared unto the Lord? Who
among the sons of the Mighty can be likened unto the Lord? * * * O Lord
God of hosts, who is a strong Lord like unto thee? Thou rulest the
raging of the sea: when the waves arise thou stillest them. * * * The
heavens they are thine, the earth also is thine: as for the world and
the fulness thereof, thou hast founded them. * * * Thou hast a mighty
arm: strong is thy hand, and high is thy right hand."[A] To the same
effect sang Isaiah (Ch. xl:10-15); also Jeremiah (Ch. xxvii:17), and
Daniel (Ch. iv:35).
[Footnote A: Psalms lxxxix.]
In the New Testament, the Christ teaches that "with God all things
are possible;"[A] and negatively, "with God nothing shall be
impossible."[B] The Revelation uses the term "omnipotent" direct: "And
I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of
many waters, and the voice of the mighty thunderings, saying Alleluia:
for the Lord God _omnipotent_ reigneth."[C]
[Footnote A: Matt. xix:26.]
[Footnote B: Luke i:37.]
[Footnote C: Rev. xix:6. Also "Lectures on Faith," Doc. & Cov., Lecture
III. So, too, in Mosiah iii:17, 18, 21.]
_5. Omniscience:_ By "Omniscience" is meant all-knowing. "Known
unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world,"[A] said
the Holy Spirit-inspired council of the apostles and elders of the
early Christian church. "Remember the former things of old. * * * I am
God and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning,
and from ancient time the things that are not yet done, saying my
counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure."[B] A sparrow
falls not to the ground without the Father's notice.[C] In reasoning
with Abraham upon the Intelligences in heaven and the fact that they
varied in degree of intelligence, the Lord said that where there were
two intelligences and the one was more intelligent than the other,
"there shall be another more intelligent than they: I am the Lord, thy
God, _I am more intelligent than them all_."[D] By which is meant, as
I think, not that God is more intelligent than any other one of the
Intelligences, but more intelligent than all of them together.
[Footnote A: Acts xv:18.]
[Footnote B: Isaiah xlvi:9, 10.]
[Footnote C: Matt. x:29.]
[Footnote D: Book of Abraham iii:17-19.]
_6. Omnipresence:_ "Omnipresence" means everywhere present; and
perhaps the best description of this attribute of God is in David's
passage--"Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee
from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I
make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of
the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there
shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say
surely darkness shall cover me: even the night shall be light about
me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee: but the night shineth as
the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to these."[A] "Will
God indeed dwell on the earth," asked Solomon, in dedicating the first
temple, "Behold the heaven, and heaven of heavens cannot contain Thee;
how much less this house that I have builded."[B] And Paul, in teaching
the nearness of God to men, said that God had made of one blood all
nations of men: and had given to all the privilege of seeking the Lord,
if happily they might feel after him, and find him, "though he be not
far removed from every one of us, for in him we live and move and have
our being."[C]
[Footnote A: Psalms cxxxix:27.]
[Footnote B: I Kings viii:27.]
[Footnote C: Acts xvii:26-28.]
Under the attribute of "Omnipotence"--all-powerful--I include "Power,"
which is sometimes, and usually, treated separately as an attribute
of God: and under "Omniscience" I include "Knowledge," which is also
usually regarded separately as an attribute of Deity; but both these
terms--"Power" and "Knowledge"--may very appropriately fall under the
larger terms--"Omnipotence" and "Omniscience"--which, respectively,
include them.
_7. Limitation in the Attributes of God:_ W. may now consider
somewhat the limitations of the attributes so far named. The Eternity
of God may be regarded as absolute. "I am that I am," the Eternal One,
the Self-existent, admits of no modification as to his Eternity.
His Immutability should be regarded as stability, adherence to
principle. What stands among men under the name of "constitutional
morality," fixed devotion to law; and working through law to the
achievement of his divine purposes, rather than by caprice, or by
arbitrary, personal action. But God's immutability should not be
so understood as to exclude the idea of advancement or progress of
God. Thus, for example: God's kingdom and glory may be enlarged, as
more and more redeemed souls are added to his kingdom: as worlds and
world-systems are multiplied and redeemed and enrolled with celestial
spheres, so God's kingdom is enlarged and his glory increased. So that
in this sense there may come change and progress even for God. Hence we
could not say of God's immutability as we do of his eternity that it is
absolute, since there may come change through progress even for God:
but an absolute immutability would require eternal immobility--which
would reduce God to a condition eternally static, which, from the
nature of things, would bar him from participation in that enlargement
of kingdom and increasing glory that comes from redemption and
the progress of men. And is it too bold a thought, that with this
progress, even for the Mightiest, new thoughts, and new vistas may
appear, inviting to new adventures and enterprises that will yield new
experiences, advancement, and enlargement even for the Most High?[A]
It ought to be constantly remembered that terms absolute to man may be
relative terms to God, so far above our thinking is his thinking; and
his ways above our ways.
[Footnote A: On this point Sir Oliver Lodge has a passage at once
advanced and bold, and yet for which he claims Christian warrant.
It is, however, far removed from modern Christian orthodoxy, though
splendidly true: "The universe is not a 'being,' but a 'becoming'--an
ancient but light bringing doctrine when realized,--it is in change,
in development, in movement upward and downward, that activity
consist. A stationary condition, or stagnation, would be to us simple
non-existence: the element of progression, of change, of activity,
must be as durable as the universe itself. Monotony, in the sense of
absolute immobility, is unthinkable, unreal, and cannot anywhere exist:
save where things have ceased to be.
"Such ideas, the ideas of development and progress, extend even up to
God himself, according to the Christian conception. So we return to
that with which we started: The Christian idea of God is not that of a
being outside the universe, above its struggles, and taking no part in
the process, solely exalted, beneficent, self-determined and complete;
no, it is also that of a God who loves, who yearns, who suffers, who
keenly laments the rebellious and misguided activity of the free agents
brought into being by himself as part of himself, who enters into the
storm and conflict, and is subject to condition as the Soul of it all:
conditions not artificial and transitory, but inherent in the process
of producing free and conscious beings, and essential to the full
self-development even of Deity.
"It is a marvelous and bewildering thought, but whatever its value, and
whether it be an ultimate revelation or not, it is the revelation of
Christ." ("Science and Immortality," p. 292.)]
The attribute "Omnipotence" must needs be thought upon also as
somewhat limited. Even God, notwithstanding the ascription to him of
all-powerfulness in such scripture phrases as "With God all things are
possible," "Nothing shall be impossible with God"--notwithstanding all
this, I say, not even God may have two mountain ranges without a valley
between. Not even God may place himself beyond the boundary of space:
nor on the outside of duration. Nor is it conceivable to human thought
that he can create space, or annihilate matter. These are things that
limit even God's Omnipotence. What then, is meant by the ascription of
the attribute Omnipotence to God? Simply that all that may or can be
done by power conditioned by other eternal existences--duration, space,
matter, truth, justice--God can do. But even he may not act out of
harmony with the other eternal existences which condition or limit even
him.
So with the All-knowing attribute, Omniscience: that must be understood
somewhat in the same light as the other attributes considered: not that
God is Omniscient up to the point that further progress in knowledge is
impossible to him; but that all knowledge that is, all that exists, God
knows. He is Universal Consciousness, and Mind--he is the All-knowing
One, because he knows all that is known.
So the attribute "Omnipresence"--the Everywhere Present attribute. This
must be so far limited as to be ascribed to God's Spirit, or Influence,
or Power: but not of God as a Person or Individual; for in these
latter respects even God is limited by the law that one body cannot
occupy two places at one and the same time. But radiating from his
presence, as beams of light and warmth radiate from our sun, is God's
Spirit, penetrating and permeating space, making space and all worlds
in space vibrate with his life and thought and presence: holding all
forces--dynamic and static--under control, making them to subserve his
will and purposes.