received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the
Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread; and when
he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take eat; this is my body,
which is broken for you; this do in remembrance of me. After the same
manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is
the new testament in my blood; this do ye, as oft as ye drink of it in
remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this
cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come. Wherefore whosoever
shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall
be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine
himself and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he
that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to
himself not discerning the Lord's body" (I Corinthians, Ch. xi:23-29).]
_Introduction:_
"The manner of their Elders and Priests administering the flesh and
blood of Christ unto the church. And they administered it according to
the commandments of Christ; wherefore we know the manner to be true;
and the Elder or Priest did minister it. And they did kneel down with
the Church and prayed to the Father in the name of Christ, saying:
_Prayer of Consecration over the Broken Bread--the Body:_
"O God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee in the name of thy Son Jesus
Christ, to bless and sanctify this bread to the souls of all those who
partake of it, that they may eat in remembrance of the body of thy Son,
and witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that they are willing
to take upon them the name of thy Son, and always remember him, and
keep his commandments which he hath given them, that they may always
have his spirit to be with them. Amen."
"The manner of administering the wine. Behold they took the cup, and
said:
_Consecration of the Wine--the Blood:_
"O God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee, in the name of thy Son Jesus
Christ, to bless and sanctify this wine to the souls of all those who
drink of it, that they may do it in remembrance of the blood of thy
Son, which was shed for them, that they may witness unto thee, O God,
the Eternal Father, that they do always remember him, that they may
have his spirit to be with them. Amen."[A]
[Footnote A: Book of Moroni, Chs. iv and v. Of these formulas I have
elsewhere said what Archdeacon Paley has said of the Lord's prayer,
when appealing to its excellence as evidence of its divine origin--"For
a succession of solemn thoughts, for fixing the attention on a few
great points, for suitableness, for sufficiency, for conciseness
without obscurity, for the weight and real importance of their
petitions, these prayers are without an equal." The composition of
them in excellence arises far above any performance that Joseph Smith
could be considered equal to; and, in a word, carry within themselves
the evidence of a divine authorship. Such passages as these need no
argument in support of their divine origin. We may trust entirely
to the self-evidence which breathes through every sentence" ("New
Witnesses for God," Vol. III, p. 489).]
_6. Exposition of the Symbols of the Atonement in Holy Sacrament:_
In these prayers, the whole scheme of man's salvation is generalized
and symbolized. There is a more solemn and awe-inspiring title used in
addressing the Deity than is used in the Lord's prayer, but that is
wholly warranted from the nature of the prayer of consecration which is
to follow--"O, God, the Eternal Father." And this is repeated in the
body of both prayers in a second appeal to God the Father. But this
does not fall under the head of "vain repetition," since it is the
repetition of emphasis, of deep solemnity, as any one will determine if
he considers it with attention and will allow for both the solemnity
and greatness of the occasion. But not only is God the Eternal Father
recognized in this prayer, but the Son also--"We ask thee in the
name of thy Son, Jesus Christ," etc. And not only is the Father and
Son recognized but the Holy Spirit also--"That they may always have
his Spirit to be with them." This prayer of consecration, then, is a
confession of faith in the Holy Trinity.
"Bless and sanctify this bread to the souls of all those who partake
of it, that they may eat in remembrance of the body of thy Son."
* * * "Bless and sanctify this wine to the souls of all those who
drink of it, that they may do it in remembrance of the blood of thy
Son, which was shed for them." The broken bread is the symbol of the
broken or wounded body of the Christ, broken for sinful man. The
wine is the symbol of the blood--the blood shed for the sins of men:
and the sincere Christian eats of the one and drinks of the other
in grateful remembrance of what the Christ has done for him--the
suffering he underwent in order to establish justification of man and
the forgiveness of his sin under a reign of law, without violence to
the Justice of God or the exclusion of Mercy from our earth-scheme
of things. In all this the Atonement is recognized and celebrated
most beautifully, and its benefits accepted and appropriated by the
celebrants. Moreover, they witness in the act of eating and drinking
these emblems of the body and the blood of the Christ, "that they
are willing to take upon them the name," of the Christ, become
"Christians." "And always remember him;" and who could remember him
and not with gratitude in view of what he had done for mankind! "And
keep his commandments which he hath given them"--a solemn covenant of
obedience upon which, as we have seen, depends the reception of the
benefits of the Atonement made for man's individual sins--"he [the
Christ] became the author of eternal salvation to all them that obey
him." And to what end does all this lead--this covenanting to take
upon them the name of Christ; to always remember him; to keep his
commandments--to what culmination does all this conduct the celebrant?
To union with God, the one thing most important; the climax is "that
they may always have his spirit to be with them!" Just as the several
steps of faith, repentance and baptism culminate in possession of the
Holy Ghost.[A]
[Footnote A: Acts ii:38, 39. Heb. vi:1-6.]
Thus in two paragraphs, making less than fifteen lines of printed
matter is given the story of man's redemption, in this symbol of the
Atonement--the Lord's Supper. As in the case of baptism, however,
I would remind the student that the virtue is not in the symbols,
but in the realities they represent; in the actually broken body
of Christ--broken by nail-wounds, by crown of thorns, by spear
thrusts in the side; by suffering of mental and spiritual agony that
made blood-sweat for the body, and torture for the sin-burdened
spirit--vicariously suffering for the sins of all men. By these
realities was our salvation purchased; and the virtue lies in them,
not in the symbols of them. The symbols we use in remembrance of the
realities, and without mistaking them for the realities themselves.
LESSON XXII.
(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
DOES THE NECESSITY OF THE ATONEMENT ARISE FROM THE NATURE OF THE CASE,
OR FROM ARBITRARY ARRANGEMENT?
ANALYSIS.
I. Could Other Means than the Atonement Have Been Provided for Man's
Salvation?
1. The Evidence from the Fact of Divine Institution.
2. The Evidence of Scripture.
II. The Severity of the Atonement Justified.
1. By the Value of the Things Purchased.
2. On the Ground that it was a Voluntary Sacrifice.
3. By the Lessons it Teaches Man.
REFERENCES.
The texts and contexts of scriptures quoted and cited in the body of
this lesson.
History of Christian Doctrine (Shedd), Book V, Ch. ii; Anselm's Theory
of Satisfaction; Neander's History of the Christian Religion and
Doctrine, Vol. IV, pp 49-511.
Taylor's Mediation and Atonement.
_SPECIAL TEXT: "Put up thy sword into its place. Thinkest thou that
I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more
than Twelve legions of angels? But how then shall the scriptures be
fulfilled, that thus it must be?" (Matt. xxvi:52, 54.)_
DISCUSSION.
1. Could Other Means than the Atonement Have Been Devised for Man's
Salvation: The question, could any other plan have been devised for
the redemption of man than the Atonement as made by the Christ,
was discussed, in part, in a previous lesson when considering the
question of possible redemption by the sovereign act of God.[A] It
is a question that has been often asked, and oftener in our own day
perhaps than at any previous time, since our age is pre-eminently
critical, and questions the rationality of the Atonement as set forth
in the scriptures and also as taught by the Catholic and the Protestant
churches. Shedd propounds the question in this form:
[Footnote A: See Lesson XVI.]
"Does the necessity of expiation in order to pardon arise from the
nature of the case, or from an arbitrary arrangement? Could the
Deity have dispensed with any or all satisfaction of Justice, or is
Justice of such an absolute and necessary character, that it would
be impossible to save the guilty without an antecedent satisfaction
of this attribute [Justice] as it would be for God to lie?"[A]
[Footnote A: "History of Christian Doctrine," Shedd--Vol. II, p. 223.]
Answering these questions from the point of view developed in this
treatise, it would be necessary to say (1) that the necessity of
expiation in order to pardon does arise from the nature of the case and
not from arbitrary arrangement; (2) that the Deity could not dispense
with any or all satisfaction to Justice since Justice as an attribute
of God is of such an absolute and necessary character that it would be
as impossible to save the guilty without an antecedent[A] satisfaction
as it would be for God to lie. The attribute of Justice is as necessary
to maintain in Deity as the attribute Truth.
[Footnote A: Or pre-determined satisfaction, that ultimately must
be realized in fact. I make this qualification of "antecedent"
satisfaction in the interest of the great truth that the effects of
the Atonement were realized by the ancient saints previous to the
coming of Christ to earth and hence previous to his actually making
the Atonement; but that was because the Atonement for man's sins, the
satisfaction to Justice, had been pre-determined upon, and this fact
gave virtue to their faith, repentance and obedience to ordinances of
the Gospel. (See Seventy's Year Book II, Lesson XX. "Antiquity of the
Gospel.")]
_2. (a). The Evidence of Scripture:_ Considered from the
standpoint of scriptural evidence, there can be no doubt of the
absolute necessity of the Atonement as it was wrought out in the
suffering and death of the Christ. The two disciples overtaken on their
way to Emmaus by the unrecognized, risen Savior, gave him an account
of the crucifixion and the reported resurrection of Jesus. They also
voiced their own great disappointment in the seeming anti-climax of the
events which had resulted in the crucifixion by saying: "But we trusted
that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel;" but it was now
three days since the crucifixion, and consequently their hopes were
disappointed. Then said the Christ unto them:
"O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have
spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to
enter into his glory?"[A]
[Footnote A: Luke xxiv:13-27.]
The same evening Jesus appeared to a company of his disciples and gave
the most palpable demonstration of his resurrection, and said to them:
"These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with
you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the
law of Moses, and in the Prophets and in the Psalms, concerning me.
Then opened he their understanding that they might understand the
scriptures. And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it
behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day;
and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his
name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem."[A]
[Footnote A: Luke xxiv:44-47.]
If, then, "all things must be fulfilled" which are written in Moses
and in the Prophets and in the Psalms concerning Christ; and if it
"_behoved Christ thus to suffer and to rise from the dead_ * * that
repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among
all nations;" then it would seem that there must have been absolute
necessity for that order of procedure followed in the events which make
up and attend upon the Atonement as we now know it. To this evidence
there must be added the thrice repeated, agonized prayer of the Christ,
in Gethsemane, when contemplating the approaching climax of his
passion:[A] "O, my Father, if it be possible let this cup pass from me!
nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt."[B]
[Footnote A: Passion--Any suffering or endurance of imposed or
inflicted pain * * especially the suffering of Christ between the time
of the last supper and his death--especially in the garden and on the
cross. (Webster.)]
[Footnote B: Matt. xxvi:39.]
The silence of God in the presence of that prayer tells us that it
was not possible for other means to be devised for man's salvation.
And when the officers and the rabble led by Judas came upon Jesus and
his friends in the garden and Peter drew the sword in defense of the
Master, the latter said:
"Put up thy sword into its place; * * thinkest thou that I cannot
now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than
twelve legions of angels? But how then shall the scriptures be
fulfilled, _that thus it must be?_"[A]
[Footnote A: Ibid, verses 52-54.]
"_Thus it must be_," confirms again the absolute necessity of the
Atonement as the Christ made it.
_3. (b). Evidence of Necessity from the Fact that God Instituted
It:_ The opinions of some of the early Christian fathers upon the
possibility of other and perhaps milder means being used to save men
than the Atonement, have already been considered, as connected with
the suggestion that God might arbitrarily forgive sin by the virtue
of his Omnipotence. Also a list was given of both the principal early
Christian fathers and the medieval Christian doctors and the views they
respectively supported;[A] and from the necessity of the principles
involved, the conclusion was reached that the Atonement as made by
Christ was absolutely necessary. It might be argued with great force
that since God instituted the Atonement it must have been necessary or
it would never have been ordained; especially if milder means could
have been made to answer or the satisfaction to justice could have been
set aside, and man's reconciliation with God brought about by an act of
pure benevolence; for it is inconceivable that either God's Justice or
his Mercy[B] would require or permit more suffering on the part of the
Redeemer than was absolutely necessary to accomplish the end proposed.
[Footnote A: Lesson XVI.]
[Footnote A: Ibid, p.-- and note --]
On the influence of pain and suffering Baring-Gould has the following
fine passage:
"There was no necessity, some theologians have taught, for Christ
to have died but as S. Bernard says, "perhaps that method is best,
whereby in a land of forgetfulness and sloth we might be more
powerfully and vividly reminded of our fall, through the so great
and so manifold sufferings of Him who repaired it." Then quoting
Oxenham:
"'Pain is one of the deepest and truest things in our nature; we
feel instinctively that it is so, even before we can tell why. Pain
is what binds us most closely to one another and to God. It appeals
most directly to our sympathies, as the very structure of our
language indicates. To go no further than our own, we have English
words, such as condolence, to express sympathy with grief; we have
no one word to express sympathy with joy. So, again, it is a common
remark that, if a funeral and wedding procession were to meet,
something of the shadow of death would be cast over the bridal
train, but no reflection of bridal happiness would pass into the
mourners' hearts. Scripture itself has been not inaptly called 'a
record of human sorrow.' The same name might be given to history.
Friendship is scarcely sure till it has been proved in suffering,
but the chains of an affection riveted in the fiery furnace are
not easily broken. So much, then, at least, is clear, that the
Passion of Jesus was the greatest revelation of sympathy: 'Greater
love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his
friends.' And hence fathers and schoolmen alike conspire to teach,
that one reason why he chose the road of suffering was to knit us
more closely to himself. For this he exalted his head, not on a
throne of earthly glory, but on the cross of death. It is, indeed,
no accident of the few, but a law of our present being, which the
poet's words express:
'That to the Cross the mourner's eve should turn
Sooner than where the stars of Christmas burn.'
For in all, in their several ways and degrees, are mourners. The
dark threads are woven more thickly than the bright ones into the
tangled skein of human life; and as time passes on, the conviction
that it is so is brought home to us with increasing force.' I
(Oxenham: "Doctrine of the Atonement, 1869, pp. 290-292.)
"The Incarnation is the manifestation of perfect love, but perfect
love cannot halt at anything short of the extreme disintegration
wrought by the fall. Christ must sacrifice Himself wholly to man,
or his love is not sufficient to draw man to him. He must enter
into man's joys and man's woes, to meet him at every turn of the
winding lane of life. Love is not satisfied till it has made
every sacrifice that is in its power to make and no more complete
sacrifice can be imagined than that of honor, ease, and finally
life.
The narrative of Christ's life is, therefore, one of continuous
sacrifice, of emptying himself of everything in the overflowing
Passion of his love, counting all as nought if only he might catch
man's eye and draw him towards himself.
"He came to seek and to save that which was lost. Such is reported
by the Evangelist to be the account he gave of his mission." * * *
"Pain is the deepest thing we have in our nature, and union through
pain has always seemed more real and more holy than any other.[A]
[Footnote A: "Origin and Development of Religious Beliefs," Vol. II,
pp, 305, 307, 330.]
_4. The Severity of the Atonement Justified from the Value of Things
Purchased by It:_ The severity of the Atonement may be justified
if viewed with reference to what it purchased for man, and the effect
it was doubtless designed to have in forever fixing the values upon
certain great things, in the mind of man. When the plan of redemption
is contemplated with reference to what it cost the Christ, then we must
have exalted notions ever after of the majesty and Justice of God, for
it was to make ample satisfaction to that majesty and Justice of God
that the Christ suffered and died; we must have exalted conceptions of
the value of that stately fabric known as the moral government of the
world, for it was for the preservation of its integrity that the Christ
suffered and died; we must hence forth have a higher regard for God's
attribute of Mercy, for it was that Mercy might be brought into the
earth-scheme of things, and claim her own, that the Christ suffered and
died; we must set a higher value even upon physical life hereafter, for
it was in order to bring to pass the resurrection of man to physical
life, and to make that life immortal, that the Christ suffered and
died; new glory must attach hereafter to spiritual life,--perpetual
union between soul of man and soul of God,--for to bring to pass that
spiritual life, that indissoluble union with God on which it depends
for existence, that the Christ suffered and died; we must henceforth
have a deeper reverence for the Love of God and the Love of the Christ
for man,--and a higher regard for man himself since God so loved
him--for it was to give a manifestation of that Love, that the Christ
suffered and died.
If it be true, and it is, that men value things in proportion to what
they cost, then how dear to them must be the Atonement, since it cost
the Christ so much in suffering that he may be said to have been
baptized by blood-sweat in Gethsemane, before he reached the climax of
his passion, on calvary. "Behold he suffereth the pains of all men;
yea, the pains of every living creature, both men, women, and children,
who belong to the family of Adam;"[A] "surely every man must repent or
suffer [i. e., the eternal consequences of sin]. * * * 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."[B]
Advantages to be realized in eternal life purchased at such a cost as
this, should indeed be regarded by men as pearls of great price, to
obtain which a man would be justified in selling all that he hath, that
he might buy them.
[Footnote A: II Nephi ix:21.]
[Footnote B: Doc. & Cov. Sec. xix:4, 16-18.]
But on the other hand if high values for the great and important things
enumerated above could only be secured by the severity of suffering
that attended upon the Atonement made by the Christ, then, I say, and I
trust with becoming reverence, that they were worth all that even the
Christ by his blessed suffering paid for them.
_5. The Atonement a Voluntary Offering:_ Another thing may be
urged in justification of the severity of the plan of redemption
through the Atonement--it was a voluntary act; and no one was compelled
to undertake the terrible mission unless he himself elected to do so.
"Whom shall I send," asked God the Father, after he had explained the
necessity of a Redeemer for man in the earth-scheme of things.[A]
"Whom shall I send? And one answered like unto the Son of man, saying,
'Here am I, send me.'" The act was voluntary. Indeed the glory of the
Atonement as well as the justification for its severity depend upon
its being so. "Therefore doth my father love me," said the Christ,
"because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. _No man taketh
it from me, but I lay it down of myself._ I have power to lay it down
and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of
my Father."[B] And when one would have defended him by physical force
the Christ bade him put up his sword, saying, "Thinkest thou that I
cannot now pray to my father and he shall give me more than twelve
legions of angels?" That is, to deliver him from his captors. "But," he
added, after declaring the possibility of his deliverance by legions of
angels, "how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that _thus it must
be?_"[C]
[Footnote A: See Lesson VI.]
[Footnote B: John x:17, 18.]
[Footnote C: Matt. xxvi:53, 54.]
_6. Lesson Taught by Severity of the Atonement:_ Let the severity
of the Atonement impress men with one very important truth, viz.,
that breaking up the harmony of the moral government of the world
is a serious, adventurous, and dangerous business, even though when
necessary to bring about conditions essential to the progress of
Intelligences; and more serious when man in his presumption and
apostasy from God, of his own perverse will, to gratify his ambition,
or pride or appetite or passions, violates the law of God and breaks
the union between himself and Deity. That is serious; and how difficult
it is to re-establish that union, to purchase forgiveness for that sin!
How hard it is to make amends to the majesty of God, dishonored by
man's individual transgression of divine law--let the severity of the
Christ's Atonement for man's sin bear witness; for it required all that
the Christ gave in suffering and agony of spirit and body, to lay the
grounds for man's forgiveness and reconciliation with God.
The severity of the Atonement should impress men with the fact that we
live in a world of stern realities; that human actions draw with them
tremendous consequences that may not be easily set aside if the actions
in which they have their origin are wrong.