THE doctrine of the Atonement*, or reconciliation, lies at the very foundation of the Christian religion. Having thus the most important place in theology, a clear understanding of this subject is very essential, and this is generally conceded amongst Christian people. Nevertheless, the Atonement, though believed in, is little understood; the various ideas and theories respecting it are disconnected as well as vague; and faith built upon these disconnected and vague views of the foundation doctrine must, of necessity, be proportionately unstable, weak and vague. On the contrary, if this important subject be clearly seen, in all the grandeur of the proportions accorded it in the Word of God, as the foundation of the divine plan of salvation, it not only will firmly establish faith, rooting and grounding it upon correct principles, but it will serve as a guide in discriminating between truth and error in connection with all the minutiae of faith. When the foundation is well established and clearly discerned, and every item of faith built upon it is kept in exact alignment with the foundation, the entire faith superstructure will be perfect. As we will show later, every doctrine and theory may be brought in contact with this touchstone, and have its proportion of gold or of dross quickly determined thereby.
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*Atonement, or At-one-ment, is based on the Hebrew word Kaphar (Strong's Hebrew #3722). This word is given several meanings: "(1) to cover, purge, make an atonement, make reconciliation, cover over with pitch (a) (Qal) to coat or cover with pitch (b) (Piel) 1. to cover over, pacify, propitate 2. to cover over, atone for sin, make atonement for 3. to cover over, atone for sin and persons by legal rites (c) (Pual) 1. to be covered over 2. to make atonement for (d) (Hithpael) to be covered" (Brown, Driver, Briggs and Gesenius. "Hebrew Lexicon entry for Kaphar". The KJV Old Testament Hebrew Lexicon".. Another related Hebrew word is Kippur (Strong's Hebrew #3725). In the New Testament Greek, the atonment is referred under the wordsKatallage (Strong's Greek #2643), which appears at Romans 5:11; 11:15; 2 Corinthians 5:18,19, and Katallasso (Strong's Greek #2644; Romans 5:10; 1 Corinthians 7:11; 2 Corinthians 5:18,19,20). Three other related words in Greek are Hilasmos (Strong's Greek #2434; 1 John 2:2; 4:10), Hilasterion (Strong's Greek #2435; Romans 3:25; Hebrews 9:5) and Hilaskomai (Strong's Greek #2433, Luke 18:13; Hebrews 2:17). "The meaning of the word is simply at-one-ment, i.e., the state of being at one or being reconciled, so that atonement is reconciliation. Thus it is used to denote the effect which flows from the death of Christ." (Easton, Matthew George. "Entry for Atonement". Easton's Bible Dictionary.)

Three Views of the Subject

¶2 There are two general views of the Atonement:

¶3 First View: What is known as the orthodox view, namely, that man, as a transgressor of the divine law, came under divine condemnation—"under wrath"; and that God, while hindered by Justice from exonerating the sinner, has provided a just redemption for him, and thus provided for the forgiveness of his sins, through the sacrifice of Christ. This entire work of satisfying the claims of Justice and making the sinner acceptable to God, is denominated the work of Atonement.

¶4 Second View: What is known as the unorthodox view of the Atonement (at one time represented chiefly by some Universalists, but which has recently been spreading rapidly and generally in every quarter of Christendom), approaches the subject from the opposite side: it presupposes no requirement on the part of divine justice of a sacrifice for the sinner's transgression; it ignores the wrath of God as represented in any special sentence of death; it ignores "the curse." It holds that God seeks and waits for man's approach, placing no hindrance in the way, requiring no atonement for man's sin, but requiring merely that man shall abandon sin and seek righteousness, and thus come into harmony with God—be at-one with God hence this view is generally styled At-one-ment, and is understood to signify harmony with righteousness regardless of the methods by which mankind may be brought into this state: atonement for sin being considered from the standpoint of expiation by the sinner himself, or else as unconditional forgiveness by God. From this standpoint our Lord Jesus and all his followers have part in the atonement, in the sense that they have taught and exhorted mankind to turn from sin to righteousness, and in no sin-offering or ransom sense.

¶5 A Third View: The view which we accept as the Scriptural one, but which has been overlooked very generally by theologians, embraces and combines both of the foregoing views. The Bible doctrine of the Atonement, as we shall endeavor to show, teaches clearly:

¶6 {a} That man was created perfect, in the image of God, but fell therefrom, through wilful disobedience, and came under the sentence of wrath, "the curse," and thus the entire race became "children of wrath." (Ephesian 2:3)

¶7 {b} While God justly executed against his disobedient creature the sentence of his law, death, and that without mercy, for over four thousand years, yet, nevertheless, blended with this justice and fidelity to principles of righteousness was the spirit of love and compassion, which designed an ultimate substitutional arrangement or plan of salvation, by which God might still be just and carry out his just laws against sinners, and yet be the justifier of all who believe in Jesus. (Romans 3:26) By this plan all the condemned ones might be relieved from the sentence without any violation of Justice, and with such a display of divine love and wisdom and power as would honor the Almighty, and prove a blessing to all his creatures, human and angelic —by revealing to all, more fully than ever before seen, the much diversified wisdom and grace of God. — Ephesians 3:10, Diaglott

¶8 {c} It was in the carrying out of this program of Atonement to the divine law for its transgression by father Adam, that our dear Redeemer died, "a ransom for all, to be testified in due time," — 1 Timothy 2:6, King James Version.

¶9 {d} But the sacrifice for sins does not complete the work of Atonement, except so far as the satisfaction of the claim of Justice is concerned. By virtue of the ransom paid to Justice, a transfer of man's account has been made, and his case, his indebtedness, etc., is wholly transferred to the account of the Lord Jesus Christ, who paid to Justice the full satisfaction of its claims against Adam, and his race. Thus Jesus, by reason of this "purchase" with his own precious blood, is now in consequence the owner, master, "Lord, of all." — Acts 10:36; Romans 14:9; 1 Corinthians 15:27,47; Ephesians 1:20,21; Philippians 2:9,10.

¶10 {e} One object in this arrangement for Adam and his race was the annulment of their death sentence, which, so long as it remained, estopped Love from any efforts to recover the condemned, whose privileges of future life under any circumstances were wholly abrogated — destroyed.

¶11 {f} Another object was the placing of the fallen race beyond the reach of divine Justice, and under the special supervision of Jesus, who as the representative of the Father's plan proposes not only to satisfy the claims of Justice, but also undertakes the instruction, correction and restitution of so many of the fallen race as shall show their desire for harmony with Justice. Such he will ultimately turn over to the Justice of the divine law, but then so perfected as to be able to endure its perfect requirements.

¶12 {g} Though originally the only separating influence between God and man was the divine sentence, now, after six thousand years of falling, degradation and alienation from God through wicked works — and because of ignorance, superstition, and the wiles of the Adversary — and because the divine character and plan have been misrepresented to men, we find the message of grace and forgiveness unheeded. Although God freely declares, since the ransom was accepted, that he is now ready to receive sinners back into harmony with himself and to eternal life, through the merit of Christ's sacrifice, nevertheless the majority of mankind are slow to believe the good tidings, and correspondingly slow to accept their conditions. Some have become so deluded by the sophistries of Satan, by which he has deceived all nations (Revelation 20:3), that they do not believe that there is a God; others believe in him as a great and powerful adversary, without love or sympathy, ready and anxious to torment them to all eternity; others are confused by the Babel of conflicting reports that have reached them, concerning the divine character, and know not what to believe; and, seeking to draw near unto God, are hindered by their fears and by their ignorance. Consequently, as a matter of fact, the number who have yet availed themselves of the opportunity of drawing nigh unto God through faith in the blood of Christ is a comparatively small one — "a little flock." -- Romans 3:25; Ephesians 2:13; Luke 12:32.

¶13 {h} Nevertheless, the sacrifice for sins was not for the few, but for the "many," — "for all." (1 Timothy 2:5,6) "Through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous." (Romans 5:19, New American Standard Version) And it is a part of the divine program that he who redeemed all with his own precious blood shall ultimately make known to all men, "to every creature," the good tidings of their privilege under divine grace, to return to at-one-ment with their Creator.

¶14 {i} Thus far only the saints have been benefited by the Atonement, except indirectly; but the teaching of the Scriptures is that the saints (Ephesians 1:18; Colossians 1:26) shall constitute a "Kingdom of priests" (Exodus 19:6; Daniel 7:22,27), "a kingdom and priests" (Revelation 5:10, New American Standard Version) or "royal priesthood," (2 Peter 2:9) with Christ the Royal High Priest (Hebrews 3:1; 4:14,15; 5:1), and that during the Millennial age this Kingdom class, this royal priesthood, shall fully and completely accomplish for mankind the work of removing the blindness which Satan and error and degradation brought upon them (2 Corinthians 4:4; Revelation 12:9; Isaiah 2:2-4; 11:9; 25:7; Revelations 21:1-5; 22:2), and shall bring back to full at-one-ment with God whosoever wills, of all the families of the earth. -- Revelation 22:17.

¶15 {j} In harmony with this is the apostle's statement that we, believers, the saints, have received the atonement. (Romans 5:11) The provision for atonement was made, so far as God was concerned, eighteen centuries ago, and that for all; but only believers have received it in the sense of accepting the opportunity which the grace of God has thus provided — and the rest of mankind are blinded. "The god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not dawn on them." — 2 Corinthians 4:4.

¶16 {k} In harmony with this thought also is the statement of scripture, that the first work of Christ in connection with his Millennial reign, will be to bind, or restrain, Satan, so that he will deceive the nations no more for the thousand years. (Revelation 20:3) We also have the numerous statements of the prophets, to the effect that when the Kingdom of God shall be established in the earth, the knowledge of Yahweh will fill the whole earth, as the waters cover the great deep, and none will need to say to his neighbor, "Know Yahweh". (Hebrews 8:11; Jeremiah 31:34) Additionally, we have the petition of the Lord's prayer, "May your kingdom come. May your will be done, as in heaven, so on earth." — These scriptures agree with what the apostle expressly declares, that God desires all men to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth. — 1 Timothy 2:4.

¶17 {l} Therefore, the Atonement is in two phases — the satisfaction of Justice, as well as the bringing back into harmony or at-one-ment with God of so many of his creatures as, under full light and knowledge, will avail themselves of the privileges and opportunities of the New Covenant. The atonement work continues until the close of the Millennial Age, when all who have willfully and intelligently rejected divine favor, offered through Christ, "will be destroyed from among the people," with "an everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power" — with a destruction from which there will be no hope of recovery by future resurrection. — Acts 3:23; 2 Thessalonians 1:9.

¶18 {m} Then the great work of the Atonement will be completed. All things in heaven and in earth will be found in harmony with God, praising him for all his munificence and grace through Christ. (Psalm 103:19-22; 148:3-10; Revelation 5:13; Philippians 2:9-11) There will be no more dying and no more sighing, no more pain there, because the former things will have passed away (Revelation 21:1-3) — as the result of the work of the Atonement, commenced by the propitiation of Justice by our Redeemer's sacrifice, concluded by the full reconciliation of all found worthy of eternal life.

¶19 However the word Atonement may be viewed, it must be conceded that its use at all, as between God and man, implies a difficulty, a difference, an opposition, existing between the Creator and the creature — otherwise they would be at one, and there would be no need of a work of atonement, from either standpoint. And here particularly we discern the deadly conflict that exists between the Bible and the modern doctrine of evolution as the explanation of the origin of man, which, for the past century in particular, has been permeating the faith of Christian people of all denominations, and which shows itself even in many theological schools and pulpits of Christendom.

¶20 The theory that the first man evolved from lower forms of life denies the fall of man; denies that he ever was in the image and likeness of God; denies that he was ever in a fit condition to be on trial before the bar of exact Justice; denies that he ever sinned in such a trial, and that he ever was sentenced to death. It claims that death, so far from being a penalty is but another step in the process of evolution; it holds that man, instead of falling from the image and likeness of God into sin and degradation, has been rising from the condition of lesser sentient abilities into greater levels of sentient abilities. The logical further steps of the theory would evidently be, to deny that there could be any justice on God's part in condemning man for rising from a lower to a higher plane, and denying, consequently, that Justice could accept a sin-offering for man, when there had been no sin on man's part to require such an offering. Consistently with this thought, it claims that Christ was not a sin-offering, not a sacrifice for sins — except in the same sense, they would say, that any patriot might be a sacrifice for his country; namely, that he laid down his life in helping to lift the race forward into greater liberties and privileges.

¶21 But we find that the Word of God most absolutely contradicts this entire theory, so that no harmony is possible between the scripture teaching and the teaching of evolution of man from lower forms of life — science falsely so-called. (1 Timothy 6:20, King James Version) Whoever believes in the evolution theory as an explanation of the origin of man, to that extent disbelieves the Scriptural teaching; and yet we find a very large number of Christian people vainly struggling and attempting to harmonize these antagonizing teachings. To whatever extent they hold the theory of evolution to account for how man can be, to that extent they are off the only foundation for faith which God has provided; to that extent they are prepared for further errors, which the adversary will be sure to bring forward to their attention, errors presented so forcibly from the worldly-wise standpoint that they would, if it all possible, even lead astray the elect. (Matthew 24:24*) But the elect have in the scriptures "the faith once delivered to the saints"; by God through his holy spirit to aid them to hold to the doctrine of the atonement. Having also the holy spirit, if they submit to what the spirit has revealed, they will thus be aided to guard against every item and feature of the evolution theory respecting the origin of man, for the faithful will be willing to be taught by God through holy spirit, by means of the apostles and the prophets (Luke 11:49; Ephesians 2:20; 3:5; 2 Peter 3:2), especially upon this doctrine of the atonement, which lies at the very foundation of revealed religion and Christian faith.

¶22 The Scriptures unequivocally testify that God created man in his own image and likeness — mental and moral; that man, an earthly being, was the moral and intellectual image or likeness of his Creator, a spirit being. (Genesis 1:26,27; 9:6) They declare his communion with his Creator in the beginning (Genesis 2:16); they declare that his Creator approved him as his workmanship, and pronounced him "very good," very acceptable, very pleasing; they show that the proposition of life or death was set before the sinless and incorrupt Adam, and that when he became a transgressor it was an intelligent and wilful act, inasmuch as it is declared that Adam "was not deceived." They declare the beginning of the execution of the death penalty. They record the progress for centuries of the death sentence upon the race. They point out how God revealed to faithful Abraham his purpose, his intention, not at once, but later on, to bring in a blessing to the race, which he declared he had cursed with the sentence of death. -- Genesis 1:31; 2:16,17; 3:23; 1 Timothy 2:14; Genesis 12:3; 18:18; 3:17.