Atonement; or, Reconciliation with God

Front matter

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Introduction

Here is offered to the English reader a devotional, non-controversial, little book of the greatest importance both as regards Christian Biblical knowledge and as regards the influence of that knowledge on the mind and whole life of a believer in God and his Word. Facts and experience in the cases of thousands of readers have shown that the practical results of the Author's setting forth of God and his work in Christ as is done in this book have been these among others, to wit: — a clearer and more satisfactory apprehension of the whole subject in all its bearings, — a greater love of God, the Father, and of Christ, his beloved Son, the Redeemer, — more faith and interest in the Holy Scriptures, together with a wonderful opening of eyes and hearts to their truths, accompanied by a greater conformity to their teachings as well in regard to the Church as in regard to individuals, — a more sanctified and spiritual life under the more clearly recognized influence and guidance of the Holy Ghost, — a greater Christian activity in genuine revival work and general missionary effort for the cause and glory of Christ only. Thus these teachings have stood and stand the test, "By their fruits ye shall know them."

Of the Author and his works some few simple notices are given in the Introduction to his treatise entitled "THE BLOOD OF JESUS," published in English simultaneously with this, and in the "Announcements" at the end of the same, to which the reader is referred.

Very likely many questions will rise in the minds of thoughtful readers, especially of such as have preconceived opinions concerning the subjects touched upon by the Author in this book, which opinions they may be loath to give up. The Author asks for his presentations only a

4 INTRODUCTION.

candid reading, and a judging of them simply according to the question which he has so solemnly propounded these many years and made to ring in the minds and hearts of the mass of Swedish Christians: "What is written in God's Word?" Let the Scriptures be searched as to whether these things be so! (Acts xvii. n). It is not expected that this little book will answer all questions that may be raised as to the subjects of which it treats; many important points are cleared up and treated more fully in other works of the Author, works that are referred to in the notes here and there, and that will be published, God willing, from time to time.

For obvious reasons some quite copious foot-notes have been added by the undersigned; those not marked J. G. P. are by the Author. Also in the text everything within brackets has been added by the undersigned for the sake of (at least supposed) greater clearness in the bringing out of the thought in the original. The Bible quotations are from the Authorized Version unless otherwise distinctly stated.

As the Author is thoroughly loyal to the Bible he finds in it nothing to deny and nothing to explain away; with him there is no denying of the full, absolute divinity of Christ, no belittling of sin or the punishment due to it, no questioning of the justice or wrath of God, — rather the reverse of all this: he lays greater stress on all these facts than do most of his opponents. He brings no pet theory to the Bible to be proved or defended by it; he simply asks: "Blessed Book, what dost thou teach?" And then he records the answer. Hence, he mentions and combats no theories by name — whether the moral, the vicarious, the governmental, or any other. If, dear reader, you must have a name for the Author's view, call it the Scriptural, or the Biblical, one, — the Bible View of the Atonement.

Chicago, May, 1889. J. G. Princell.

CHAPTER I. Necessity and Cause of the Reconciliation

i. "Therein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins" (i John iv. 10). The salvation which God has in Christ prepared for the world is in the Bible called sometimes redemption, sometimes reconciliation, or propitiation. All those expressions, to save, to redeem, to reconcile, denote the same thing, seen from different sides.*

* As there are at least three words used in English to express the subject-matter of this treatise — to wit, atonement, reconciliation, and propitiation — and only one word is used in Swedish for all those three, that word being forsoning, from the German versohnen, (another word, forlika, to make alike, or to make to like, is often used as synonymous with fdrsona, but less frequently in religious literature), and also as there is in the English Authorized Version of the New Testament considerable irregularity in the translation of the Greek words in question, I will here, for the convenience of the reader and for the purpose of clearly stating at the outset the subject-matter of this treatise, cite all the words and passages of the N. T. referring to the subject which is variously called atonement, propitiation, reconciliation, and redemption. These four are Bible terms, but to them have been added in man's theology several terms to express, as supposed, either the same thing more fully or some other thing thought to be inherent in the Biblical terms. Such superadded theological terms are: expiation (and the verb, expiate), appease, render satisfaction to divine justice, vicarious sacrifice, substitution, and perhaps a few others of like import. Though these terms may be appropriate, and are, no doubt, properly used in various human relations and in reference to matters on merely human spheres, they are never used in the Bible to ex-

In other meditations we have already seen what the term "redemption" implies. This term is figurative. It sets forth salvation under the figure of a purchase, according to which a slave or prisoner is purchased or bought out of the bondage in which he is found. The term reconciliation, however, sets forth the real essence of salvation. For salvation consists just in the reconciliation of man to God. Let us, therefore, now examine the Bible passages which set forth salvation as a reconciliation. May God graciously lead us in his light and truth. This subject is of extrapress any relation between God and man, never in reference to any thing on the strictly divine sphere — most of them do not occur in the Bible at all. The generic term, comprising all the Bible terms on the subject, is salvation (Greek soteria, from soter, deliverer, saviour, that from sozo, deliver, save, make or preserve safe, afford safety, make whole or sound, restore, from so- os, safe, sound). Of that term it is not necessary to say anything more special here. Of the four N. T. terms, atonement, propitiation, reconciliation, and redemption, the last one and its verb, redeem, are considered by our Author in a separate treatise, which soon will be published in English. Of the three other terms, atonement is used in the Eng. Auth. Ver. of the N". T. only once: to wit, in Rom. v. 11, where it is a translation of the Greek word which is everywhere else rendered reconciliation, and is thus rendered in the Revised Version also in Rom. v. 11.

It is for this reason that I have translated the Swedish title of this treatise ("For sorting ens betydelse"), not thus: The Significance of the Atonement; but thus: The Reconciliation, its Significance, etc. In the N. T. are, therefore, really only two Greek words with their derivatives, just as in a true English translation there need be but two words and their derivatives (in the now accepted Swedish Version there is but one word with its derivatives) to express the whole idea of the subject here considered: to wit, man's salvation, or the means and acts of bringing men into a true and happy relation to God. These words are: 1. Katallasso, from kata, down, through, throughout, and allasso, I change, I effect a change,hence katallasso,! change thoroughly or throughout, I effect a thorough change, as between parties at variance. This word occurs six times, rendered, reconcile, viz. in Rom. v. 10 (twice), in 1 Cor. vii. 11, in 2 Cor. v. 18, ordinary importance; and especially in consequence of the unhappy questioning which has been going on among us these late years concerning this subject, it is necessary as well to examine what the word of God teaches, as also, in the light of that word, in all quietness to test what men have taught concerning this subject aside from the word of God, and which side-teaching has so often perplexed simple souls. By a sincere love of the truth, we can find it; and by remembering that we can never lose anything by giving up wrong opinions for the sake of the word of

19 arid 20. Its derivatives are: (1) Katallage, a change throughout, or a thorough change; it is used four times, viz. in Rom. v. 11 (there incorrectly translated atonement; it should be reconciliation), in Rom. xi. 15, reconciling, and in 2 Cor. v. 18 and 19, reconciliation. (2) Apokatallasso, from apo, from, out of and katallasso (as above), hence I change thoroughly from, or I effect a thorough change from or out of, as from or out of one state or condition into another; it occurs three times, rendered reconcile, viz. in Eph. ii. 16, and in Col. i. 20 and 21. (3) Diallassomai, from clia, through, throughout, and the passive form of allasso (as above), hence of the same force as katallasso in the passive, that is, be changed throughout or thoroughly; it occurs but once, viz. in Matt. v. 24, rendered be reconciled. 2. Hilasmos is the second of the two principal N. T. words under consideration; its root-word is the adjective Jiilaos (not used in theN. T.), gracious, favorable, kind, cheerful, hence the noun hilasmos would mean graciousness etc., but is restricted to the meaning of what makes gracious, kind, cheerful, hence the act or thing which affords grace, cheer, kindness, favor, and is translated propitiation in the tico only passages in which it occurs, 1 John ii. 2 and iv. 10. Its related words used in the N. T. are: (1) Hileoos, same as hilaos above, gracious, merciful, kind; occurs twice, viz. in Matt. xvi. 22 (rendered be it far; better, have mercy, or spare) and in Heb. viii. 12, rendered merciful. (2) Hllaskomai, the verb, meaning in the two N. T. passages in which it occurs plainly this and nothing more: I show grace, mercy or kindness with respect to, that is, I pardon; Luke xviii. 13, rendered be merciful, and Heb. ii. 17, the A. V. rendering, to make reconciliation, the R. V. rendering, to make propitiation, plainly meaning, to show mercy with respect to, that is, to pardon. (3) Rilasterion, neuter adjective, showing

God, we can with serenity of mind search after the truth. But by knowing and, understanding the truth, we shall better learn to know our God and his Son, Jesus Christ, our Saviour, and thereby become more and more truly free. "If ye continue in my word," says Jesus, "ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John viii. 31, 32).

2. Not only in the Christian religion, but also in heathenism has the necessity of reconciliation made itself felt. There is a witness within man, a witness whose voice has never by any means been completely silenced, a witness that testifies that it is impossible for man to be saved or to obtain peace without reconciliation. Even pagans feel that their happiness depends upon their being in a right relation to God; but they also feel that now they are not in a right relation to God, and this fills them with fear before their gods. TherefDre, also their hearts cry

mercy, one who or that which exhibits grace or mercy; occurs twice: Rom. iii. 25, rendered a propitiation, that is, as one who shows mercy, and Heb. ix. 5, rendered mercy-seat, the Septuagint translation of the 0. T. term kapporeth (the lid or covering of the ark in the tabernacle of Israel) being hilasterion, Ex. xxv. 17, 21 and elsewhere.

Taking it all in consideration, there is a-real identity of import and application of the three principal Biblical terms, atonement, propitiation, and reconciliation, and that is what our Author holds forth in this treatise, showing that God is never in the Scriptures said to be the object of what these words imply, but that man is the object, and that God through his representatives, and not man, — Christ being most supremely God's representative, as he frequently declared (e. g. John v. 19, 30, 36, 48) — , is the subject, the author, or doer of the acts expressed in these words, these acts being always represented as directed towards and bearing upon man. All the Bible terms on this subject clearly denote, not God's becoming merciful, conciliated, reconciled, appeased, propitiated, or the like, but God's shotting himself, by sending Christ and having him to do his work, as already merciful and gracious, so that he needed not to be conciliated, reconciled, appeased, or propitiated. J. G. P.

for reconciliation. Their many sacrifices, ceremonies, tormentings of self, pilgrimages, etc. are just so many cries after reconciliation unto God. This feeling of theirs is no error, but a deep truth. All thoughts of salvation without reconciliation only bear witness of a stupified conscience or an effort to silence it. The Holy Scriptures testify with the greatest possible decisiveness of the necessity of reconciliation. The whole object of Christ's coming and work in the world was reconciliation. Every religion — pagan, Jewish, and Christian — is penetrated with the expressed or implied need of reconciliation. Not to stifle or to explain away this need, but to confirm, strengthen, and satisfy it was Christ sent by the Father into the world.

3. Often even such men as, when there is no danger, impudently and without fear deny God, are seen to tremble at the nearness of death, because, in spite of all their denials, they feel themselves standing before God. Their conscience testifies that they are in a wrong relation to him, and this fills their soul with fear and despair. There was once a man who delivered a lecture before a large concourse of people, in which lecture he tried to prove, amid the applause of the audience, that there is no God and no eternity, that no reconciliation is necessary, that no judgment or reckoning would ever come or ought to be expected, etc. When he had concluded his lecture, there stepped forward an old man, who related how once from the banks of a river he had seen a boat in the act of being more and more drawn by the current towards a waterfall. In the boat sat a man, who with all his might was using one oar to stop the boat or bring it to the shore; the other oar was broken. When the man saw that all his work was in vain and that in a few moments he would have to meet an unavoidable death, then in despair he let go his oar, fell down on his knees in the boat and cried to God for mercy. He was saved in a very wonderful

IO THE RECONCILIATION.

manner. "And" — thus the old gentleman concluded — "that man was just this person, who now here before you has tried to show that there is no God, no judgment, no eternity, and no need of reconciliation." Pale and trembling, the infidel withdrew while the old gentleman was speaking; and the audience dispersed with feelings of sadness.

4. Thus, as to the necessity of reconciliation, testifies not only the word of God, but also the conscience of every man. But then arises this question, whether it was God, or man, or perhaps both parties, that needed to be reconciled. And in this question it is that the thoughts of God and man separate as far as heaven and earth. Just as soon as Adam had sinned, he received in his heart another image of God than he had had. Instead of returning, as a fallen son, to God with confidence, he fled from him with terror, hid himself from him and endeavored to conceal the truth from him. "The evil spirit had," as Luther expresses himself, "snatched the true image of God from Adam, darkened it and blotted it out of his heart." The change which had taken place in Adam's heart made him believe that God, also, had changed.

5. It is this thought about God that runs through the whole of the worship of the heathen. The heathen imagine God to be a dreadful being, and they always regard the hindrance to man's salvation as lying in a certain wrath or fierceness that has filled the heart of God in consequence of man's sin. Their worship is therefore always marked by fear and bondage. It is with reference to this that Paul says to the Christians: "Ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption" (Rom. viii. 15). Therefore, the reconciliation which the heathen fancy is always a reconciliation which has its source in man, and its aim to appease God. They have only the light of nature to judge by, and therefore they judge of God according to

NECESSITY AND CAUSE. II

what they are themselves. This wrath in the heart of God they wish to appease, partly by gifts which they offer to him, as gold, silver, animals, and human beings, and partly by self-torture or pain inflicted on themselves. They think that his wrath will allow itself to be soothed by such means, and especially by seeing the sinful suffer. They well know that their own wrath is soothed by gifts, or by causing sufferings, or by seeing him suffer who has offended them; and so they judge of God accordingly. Such is their darkness. Air their worship of God proceeds from the principle that God is angry with them.

6. But, alas! this idea we find not only among the heathen, but it is so deep-roted in all human nature, that it seeks to maintain its hold even where the word of God is known and read. From this wrong view of God it comes that men often consider Christ, whom God in his grace has sent to reconcile us to himself, as one on whom God has poured out his wrath, in order that he might be gracious to us. Yea, many truly living and dear children of God view this as the very essence of Christ's work, and they even fear that, if they may not believe this to be so, Christ would be entirely superfluous. They think that they never can escape the wrath of God, unless it has been poured out upon some one else in their stead. In their opinion, the chief significance of Christ is that he be a shelter or shield against God, or, so to speak, a lightningrod for his wrath, in order that they may feel safe before him. May God open their eyes more and more. They do not understand what injury they are doing themselves by thinking worse of him than he deserves. God would fain, as any other father, like to be truly known by his children.

7. Contrary to all such perverse imaginations, the Scriptures teach that no change took place in God's disposition towards man in consequence of his sin; that, therefore, it was not God who needed to be reconciled to man, but that it was man who needed to be reconciled to God; and that, consequently, reconciliation is a work which proceeds from God and is directed towards man, and aims not to appease God, but to cleanse man from sin, and to restore him to a right relation with God.

8. That no change of disposition in God towards man took place on account of man's sin, this may indeed far exceed our comprehension. Yes, we may be ready to call it the most unreasonable thing, that the love of God should not have suffered any abatement, or interruption, by the fall of man. But however unreasonable and foolish it may appear, still it is a fact. If you, with your little understanding, cannot comprehend such love, well, that does not alter the fact. It is far better for us that the fact, happily, remains as it is. And God has shown this in that he has so loved this sinful world, that he has given it his only begotten Son to be its Saviour. "With God there can be no variableness, neither shadow ol turning" (Jam. i. 17). He remains the one he is from everlasting to everlasting. Dreadful is the injury and desolation which the sin of man has caused, but the desolation of changing the disposition of God, that is a thing man's sin has not been able to do. Just as the deluge, indeed, reached far above the highest mountains so as to destroy all life on the earth, but it did not reach to the sun to extinguish it or cool it off; so the sin of man was, indeed, enough to make all flesh on the earth depraved, but it could not change the disposition of God or make him any thing else but love. "God is love" (1 John iv. 8, 16). God has not only been love or become love, but he is love from everlasting to everlasting, perfect love. But perfect love can never be diminished, because it would then no longer be perfect. Only that which is imperfect can be increased or decreased.

9. Consequently, the love of God never needed to be restored by any propitiation, because it was never lost; it never needed to be increased, for it was never diminished. God loves because he is love, and he continued to be love, in spite of our fall into sin. God's love for the world was not of one kind before the fall, and of another kind after the fall; and, again, it did not become of still another kind after the death of Christ. A higher degree of love cannot be conceived of than this, that God gives his only begotten Son. But with such a love he has loved Cain as well as the virgin Mary, Judas as well as John, Demas as well as Paul. Just as God lets his sun shine as mildly on the field of the ungodly as on the field of the righteous, and as he lets the rain fall just as copiously on the meadow of the ungodly as on that of the righteous, so he has given Christ for the ungodly just as well as for the godly; and this he has done, not as a help for himself to love them, but that he might help them out of sin, and help them to true love. Therefore Paul does not say that God increased his love to us by Christ dying for us, nor that the change supposed to have taken place in God's disposition by our fall was remedied or removed, but he does say this: "God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Rom. v. 8). And John does not say: By Christ laying down his life for us, the love of God has been restored to us. No, he says this: "Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us" (i John iii. 16). And again (Revised Version): "Herein was the love of God manifested in us [that is, in our case], that God hath sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins" (1 John iv. 9, 10). And when the Lord himself would by pictures illustrate this disposition of God, he related the stories of the lost sheep, the lost piece of money, and the prodigal, or the lost, son (Lukexv). The father of that prodigal son had felt grief, yes, deep grief, but his love had not in the least suffered decrease; he loved his son none the less now than before. The shepherd had felt grief for the lost sheep, but he so loved it that for its sake he left the ninety and nine, and went after the one that was lost. And mark you: Christ is using these illustrations, not in order to show the disposition of God's heart before the fall, nor what it should become after his death, but in order to show us how it always had been and always is towards sinners.

10. But, perhaps, some one now says: "God had to be reconciled, not indeed that it might be possible for him to love man, but so that it might be possible for him to bestow his grace upon man. His love may, indeed, have remained unchanged, but without an expiation as a satisfaction no grace was possible for sinners.'' This is apparently a very important objection. And we will therefore first of all inquire: Is this taught anywhere in the word of God, so that we there may read about it? This question must be answered thus: No, nowhere. Butwhence, then, has this thought been derived? Answer: It has been derived from that wrong image of God which by the fall has been burnt into our natural heart. But this image cannot be harmonized or reconciled with the image which the word of God gives us. But furthermore we ask: Was it not grace that God gave his Son for the redemption of sinners? Can any greater grace be conceived of in heaven or on earth? Grace is a love that is wholly unmerited by him who is the object of it. But then, the sending of Christ into the world, his life, his death, and his work, all this is not a cause of God's grace, but a consequence of it, yea, the highest conceivable expression of this grace. For no manifestation of love has ever been so unmerited, no work of God has been such perfect grace, as just this manifestation and this work, that he gave to the world his only begotten Son. Yes, indeed, back of all the works of God are his love and grace as the ever unmoved and immovable foundation, the never failing, but always overflowing fountain out of which issue all his acts of redemption. O may we allow our heavenly Father to be as good as he is. He is jealous of the honor to be considered just as he is.

11. "But," so some one will say, "though the love of God was not diminished by sin, still his justice suffered injury, and it requires satisfaction; his love is bound by his justice." To this we answer, first: It is nowhere so written, and in such important matters it is not advisable to teach anything else than what the word of God teaches. There is not to be found a single passage in the Bible setting forth the atonement as having its cause in this, that the justice of God needed satisfaction. But if some one says / that this is, however, the spirit of the whole Bible, then let such a one, in the name of God, at once pause before this solemn question: How is it that just that which is said to constitute the spirit of the whole Bible, is nowhere written in the Bible? No; the spirit of the Bible is what the Bible says — that is certain. But love and justice are never in the Bible set forth as being in conflict with each other, so that one can bind the other. On the contrary, it is right and just both for God and men to love, to have compassion upon and to save sinners. It was righteous and just that God so loved the world as to give his only begotten Son for its salvation. Yes, nothing can be more just and righteous than such a love.*

* In translating into English the one Swedish word ("rdttfcirdig", the adjective, "rattfardighet", the noun — the Swedish letter a has the sound of the English diphthong ai in air), the word which the Author uses in this paragraph and in several of the following, I think it best to use both of the words, just and righteous, or sometimes right, and their corresponding nouns, justice and righteousness. There are in Swedish, as well ac in English, two distinct words with this shade of difference in meaning; but the one means rather less than the wox&jvAt, and the other rather more than the word righteous. The first is "rdttvis", literally "right-icise" , from which comes righteous (see the

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12. To love those who are nearest to us, our friends and brethren, is indeed a just and righteous act; but it is a higher kind of righteousness and justice to love our enemies, and a perfect righteousness or justice is perfectly to love one's enemies. When, therefore, the Lord would teach his disciples to be righteous after the likeness of God he said: "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you .... For if you love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?" (Matt. v. 44,46). That is, if you love only your friends, then you are not more righteous than the heathen and the publicans can be, because they, also, love them by whom they are loved. Yea, what righteousness is it which God in the law requires as corresponding to his own righteousness? The Saviour gives this answer: "Thou shalt love God above all things, and thy