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Akt . 11 . —Rernarfts on the commonlyreceived Doctrine of Atonement and Sacrifice . By William Turner , Jun ., A . M . Marshall , Newcastleon / Tyne . Pp . 48 . 1830 . The confusion of tongues was an awful dispensation ; and erery one can imagine the inconvenience which it must have occasioned , if the story be
understood literally , or can gain some insight into the perplexities which it may be intended figuratively to represent . But few are aware of the worse consequences which arise from the imperfection of tongues ; by which multitudes of minds are made the scene of iuteliectual confusion , and every department of science is converted into a Babel . I 5 y the
misapprehension or the faulty application of terms , realities are lost sight of , false analogies are made the basis of argument , and errors are originated which spread and reproduce till their extermination becomes a work of time and difficulty . Theological philosophers have as heavy a work in hand , even in these
days , in analyzing systems of error as the wise men of other schools have performed in exposing the fallacies of the Aristotelian philosophy ; while their task is of infinitely moie importance , inasmuch as it respects the being and nature of the First Cause , and not only the ' < motions of his will . " The most
absurd and noxious theological errors which prevail in civilized countries may be mainly referred to ignorance or carelessness in the application of language ; and it affords us a high satisfaction when we see religious teachers beginning their work of reformation by enlightening and purifying the passages by which the ear converses with the heart .
The author of the tract before us pursues this method among others , of attacking the popular doctrine of Atonement ; and in our opinion , with eminent
success . He presents us with a clear explanation of the mistake into which inaccurate reasoncrs are led by instituting too hasty an analogy between divine and human law . Where the administrator of the law derives his authority from the law itself , his decrees must be immutable ,
and the law itself inexorable . This is the case with human laws . But when the law is originated and administered by the same Being , and bears no relation to himself , but only to the subjects of iiis government , as is the case with the Divine haw , there is a perpetual power of remission , conditional or uncondi-
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tional . Revelation declares this remission to be conditional ; and explains the character of the conditions ; viz . necessary , as they respect the moral attributes of God and the nature of man , but not necessarily arising from the law as a law . This argument is , of course , addressed to those who attempt to support
the popular doctrine of Atonemeut by reasoning ; and many such there are , even while the prevailing cry against their opponents is about th « impiety of being voluntarily rational in the examination of religious doctrines . It is followed by a brief exposition of the duty of estimating the Divine character and purposes bv the application of the same
rules which are employed in the investigation of truth in general : by a reprobation of the notions of vindictive justice , and of the necessity of satisfaction , ( which are totally irreeonciieable with the scriptural conditions of forgiveness , ) of the retrospective effect of the death of Christ , and of the popular system of typical interpretation . The bad moral
consequences which must result if the true Calvhiistic creed be made the basis of action are then exhibited , and finally , the benefits which men have actually received by means of the death of Christ , and the affections which , as a natural consequence , they ought to cherish to- ? wards him , are briefly but forcibly set forth .
This tract is so full of sound argument and irresistible appeals to reason and scripture , that it is difficult to point out one portion as more worthy of consideration than another . But to us its chief strength appears to lie in the first division of the argument , which is by far the least hackneyed of the various instruments of attack which shall not fail
eventually to overthrow the most monstrous of Protestant theological errors . While the orthodox believers in the Atonement protest against the exertion of the faculties in matters of the most serious concern , we can do little but pity them for the merciless ness of their creed ; but if they attempt to prove their doctrine by reasoning on the nature ol
legislation , we arc provided with the means of proving to them how " false and erroneous is the principle that to be unbending and inexorable is essential to the very idea of a system of laws , "which aic in other words , the means by which the perfection and happiness oi the human race are promoted .
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Crxtiml ' Notices . — Theological . 625
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1830, page 625, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2588/page/41/
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