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MISCELLANEOUS CORRESPONDENCE-
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On Atonement . To the Editor . Sir , St . fves , June 1 , 1831 . You receive a letter , written me a long time ago by a late lamented friend of ours , which I should like to see placed on record , by insertion in the Repository , if the Editor think fit . J . E . FISHER . Stanton , Dear Sir . June 24 , 18 i 2 .
I thank you for your obliging note , which I should have answered sooner , had I not beeu gone f rom home upon a journey at the time you sent it . The report you allude to is perfectly correct . I certainly have changed my opinion in respect to the doctrine of atonement , and this change , which has taken place for some time in my mind , has been the result of a most careful and diligent
exam iuation of the New Testament . It is , however , necessary to observe , that I see this doctrine in a different light from the generality of orthodox Christians , but I deem it of so much importance , that I think there can be no Christianity without it , at least , none to any beneficial purposes , and therefore I ana a zealous advocate for the propagation or it . I do not think that the death of
Christ was a vicarious , a propitiatory , or a satisfactory sacrifice ; but , to express my idea of the atonement in one word , I believe that the death and sufferings of Christ were an appointed means for the forgiveness of sin . This I do most sincerely and conscientiously believe to be the doctrine of the New Testament
on this subject , and I cannot sufficiently recommend it to your most serious attention , and 1 earnestly wish to call the attention of every . Unitarian to the subject , which I deem to be of the first importance in Christianity , and without it I can see little or no advantage which a Unitarian Christian possesses above a Deist , Jew , or Mahometan , all of whom
profess to live in the belief of one true God , and of a future life ; but they have np provision in their creed for the pardon of sin , at least with respect to the moral turpitnde of it . The Mosaic , law provided only for legal incapacities , not for guilt of conscience before God . When I first began to entertain doubts concerning the commonly-received opinions in Christianity , I carefully read
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over the writings of Dr . Jebb , Mr . Lrindsev , and Dr . Priestley . No one can entertain a greater veneration than I do for the memory of these very learned and excellent men . The doctrine of the unity they have established by irresistible arguments on a foundation that can - not be shaken , namely , the Holy
Scriptures ; but I think they were mistaken In respect to the atonement . This they explained away by supposing that all the expressions which were , applied to that subject were only figurative allusions to the sacrifices under the law , and that they were not to be taken literally . By reading their writings I
imbibed the same notion of it myself , but I have since found reason to alter ray opinion upon a careful investigation of the subject , and a critical examination of all the passages in scripture which are supposed to refer to it . The result of my inquiry has been this , —that the doctrine of the atonement is so
interwoven with the account given us of the death and sufferings of Christ by the prophets , evangelists , and apostles , that it is impossible to explain it away by any rules of fair and sound criticism . I earnestly request you to read and
maturely consider the 53 d chapter of Isaiah , the 5 th of Romans , the 5 th of the ! 2 d Epistle to the Corinthians , Heb . vii . — -x ., John i ., Eph . ii . 1 , 2 , and iv . . % 10 . I adopt the common , popular term Atonement , though it does not answer to the words made use of iu reference
to this subject in the original , which are chiefly these— -yictTciKhasyv ) , iXcctpvjpiov , iKoca-fAoq , the first of which signifies reconciliation ; the second , mercy-seat ; the last , sin-offering ; but none of them conveys the idea of atonement as it is generally understood by orthodox Christians . The death of Christ was not the procuring cause of the forgiveness of sin . It was the instrumental or efficient cause .
The love of God was the primary or moving cause of our redemption : God so loved the world that he gave jiis onlybegotten Son to be the propitiation or sin-offering for our sins . This view of the atonement does not Impugn the Divine attributes , and particularly the justice of God , by supposing that he could not pardon sin without a full satisfaction made by tlie innocent suffering in the place and instead off the guilty , which always appeared to me a horrible doc-
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Miscellaneous Correspondence-
MISCELLANEOUS CORRESPONDENCE-
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Nov. 2, 1831, page 786, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2603/page/62/
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