On this page
-
Text (1)
-
Untitled Article
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
-
-
Transcript
-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Untitled Article
express the vicarious sacrifice of Christ , are found in connexion with common persons and acts . There are also expressions relating- to atonements which are very forcible but which are iiot used in relation to the death cf Christ : for instance ,
1 Cor . iv . 13 . c We are made as the filth of the world , we are tte offscouring of all tiling's unto this day . ' Paul here applies to himself , and the other apostles , the terms by whioh those unfortunate persons were distinguished who , iir certain Greek colonies , were offered to the gods as
expiatory sacrifices for the cities to which they belonged . Had Christ , instead of the apostles ,, been the subject of this comparison , the passag-e would have been regarded as no slight addition to the supposed proofs of the doctrine whicli you advocate . It would have been classed with similar texts
concerning Christ , and we should have been told lhat c presumptuous and nugatory would it be to attempt any addition to the strength and clearness of these divine testimonies / " Pp . 13 , 14 . The following description of the
Unitarian view of Atonement ( if we may use a word which has been so much perverted ) will interest our correspondents who have agitated this subject in the present and the last volume of the Monthly Repository :
" Unitarians consider the death of Christ as an important part of the divine plan for the redemption of mankind from sin and misery . l It was necessary that the Messiah should suffer * . ' His death perfected his lovely example ; sealed the truth of the gracious doctrines which he ta « g * ht ; and was essential to liis resurrection and .
exaltation , on which rest our hopes of immortality and bliss . Hence its tendency to purify the depraved , and console the wretched . Hence we l > elieve , equally with you , that he gave himself for us , that he might redeem us from all iniquity ; that his blood cleanseth from all sin ; that by his
stripes we are healed ; that he hath once suffered for sins , the just for the unjust , that he mignt bring us to God ; and we unite with you in ascribing unto him that loved us , and has washed us from our sins in his own blood , and made us king's and
priests unto God and his Father , glory and dominion for ever -J *! Such passages arc beautiful descriptions of the moral influences of his death , and it is our desire to partake of the holy feel ings which they so finely express . " Pp .
11-* Luke xxiv . 40 . f Titus ii . 14 . 1 John i . 7 . 1 Pet . ii & 4 . iii . 18 . Rev . i . 5 , 6 .
Untitled Article
In Letter III . are considered the " Propositions implied in the Doctrine of Satisfaction . " It is here inquired , What law was it , to atone for our violation of which Christ suffered-Was it the moral law which he
himself established , or some prior law the law of nature , the law imposed on Adam or the law of Moses ? The doctrine of satisfaction , it is urged , takes for granted the implacability of God , an unsupported and odious supposition : it implies that personal
divinity of Christ , which is at variance with the plainest declarations of the New Testament , and it proceeds upon the principle of the transferable nature of guilt and innocence , a principle which sets every idea of justice at defiance .
Letter IV . is a successful exposition of the " Inconsistencies connected with the Doctrine of Satisfaction /' On this scheme , God pardons and punishes the very same offence . Calvinistic notions are called ' the
doctrines of grace , yet tney represent all the divine grace as purchased . Christ is said to be the gift- of the Father and was at the same time equal with the Father and supremely independent . He suffered in one nature , in
another he could not suffer , though the two natures make but one person . He bore the indignation of the Father , who at the same time never ceased to delight in the Son of his leve . He made full satisfaction either for all men
or only for a few : if only for a few , how can all be invited to accept purchased mercy ; if for all , how can any be condemned ? What is the meaning of future judgment if the doctrine of satisfaction be true ? Calvinists cry out , Mystery ! but all others discover absurdity .
The " Scriptural Evidence for the Doctrine of Salvation by the Free Grace of God" is exhibited in Letter V . where it is proved that both the Old and the New Testament represent
God as shewing mercy on repentance * without aany reference to the sacrifice of Christ , and concur in decl aring his grace to penitents to be comp letely free and unconditional .
Letter VI . is devoted to a " Comparison of the moral tendency of the Doctrines of Satisfaction and Free Grace . " The result may be e xpressed in the author's own eloquent language :
Untitled Article
# 18 Review . ' —Foxs Letters on the Sacrifice of Christ .
-
-
Citation
-
Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1815, page 518, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1763/page/54/
-