beneath his burden on the terrace of Pride, and Guido Guinicelli, disappearing within the flame-wreath on the terrace of Unchastity, can praise God as joyfully as the saints in the Rose of Heaven, though their body be enduring anguish; and Buonconte, preserved from falling into hell by "one little tear" of repentance in the hour of his mortal weakness, is content to wait for unspecified years outside the actual gate of Purgatory, because he knows that hell's angel has been finally robbed of his prey.

Other considerations remain; but they must be left over for subsequent chapters. Why God is angry with sin; how and why He punishes it; how the Christian feels himself forgiven through the death of Christ, and how Christ is made one with the human race, and at the same time is divine-of all these questions we have but touched the fringe. But the answers to them must depend on Christ's position as Mediator; this we have tried to study; and our study has at least convinced us that the accusations of immorality, levelled so often against the Atonement, can only hit, not the doctrine itself, but a misconception that obscures the real truth which they attempt to damage. There is no baseness, and no legal fiction in the Atonement; all the noblest instincts of mankind, all the unselfish struggling to raise a fallen brother, all the intense determination to overcome evil with good, all the passionate yearning for righteousness, all the deep loathing of impurity, and the indignant enmity against death, selfishness, and dissolution, are "writ large" in the mediating work of Christ.

NOTE TO CHAPTER V.

It is impossible to prove any theory of the Atonement by quoting texts. Passages can be adduced with equal cogency to support the most diverse views of this great theological fact, and to destroy them. Again, there is no passage in the New Testament which contains a careful elaboration of the doctrine. Even the locus classicus in Rom. iii. cannot for a moment claim to be exhaustive. As we pointed out in chapter iv., the single yet complex view of the central figure of the Atonement is presented in ways as diverse as are the characters of the individual writers. Exactly the same is true of the Atonement itself. The Mediator is successively represented as the Shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep, the ransom, the advocate, the propitiation, the sacrificial lamb, and the priest who makes the Atonement for the sins of the people. We are redeemed by his blood, his death, and even his obedience. The representation is surprisingly many-sided, yet each of these many sides is referred to as a matter of familiar thought that needs no enlargement, by nearly every one of the sacred writers. Somehow or other an elaborate conception of the Atonement had very early taken shape and spread through the various circles of Christian thought and preaching. We must explain and amplify "scripture by scripture" in order that we may collect the scattered fragments of the picture into one whole. This will inevitably entail the treatment of passages apart from their context; but the dangers of this proceeding are minimized by the fact that many of the so-called Atonement passages stand curiously clear of their surroundings ; it is therefore all the easier to fit them into the larger context of the general plan of the New Testament teaching on this subject.

In this note an attempt is made to show how each of the elements in our interpretation is borne out by the actual words of the New Testament. Some of the more familiar passages have been already referred to in the text. Others which may seem to militate with our view will be dealt with in subsequent chapters. We subjoin at the end of our citations a more detailed reference to Romans 321-26

1. The Gulf between God and Man caused by Sin. "God hath shut up all unto disobedience."-Rom. 1132. "The scripture hath shut up all things under sin.”—Gal. 322. "You, when ye were dead through your trespasses and sins

and were by nature children of wrath even as the rest.”— Eph. 21-3

2. God's Desire to bridge the Gulf.

"God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten son."Jn. 316.

"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 Jn. 41o.

"He that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not also, with him, freely give us all things?”— Rom. 832.

3. Christ's willingness to act as Reconciler.

"The son of man is not come to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many."-Matt. 2228.

My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to accomplish his will."-Jn. 434.

“I and the Father are one.”—Jn. 1030.

"Even as thou gavest him authority over all flesh; that whatsoever thou hast given him, to them he should give eternal life.” —Jn. 172.

4. Christ represents God in Humanity.

"One Mediator between God and men, himself man, Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all.”—1 Tim. 25 6.

"God sent forth his son, born of a woman, born under the law."--Gal. 4a.

"He that hath seen me hath seen the Father."—Jn. 148.

5. Christ feels as Man feels.

"We have not an High Priest that cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but one that hath been in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin."-Heb. 415.

"The Son of man hath not where to lay his head."-Matt. 820. "Jesus, therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus by the way."-Jn. 4o.

‘Jesus wept.”—Jn. 113.

"When Jesus had thus said, he was troubled in the spirit, and testified and said, 'Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me.'”—Jn. 1321.

(Compare the whole narrative of Gethsemane.)

6. Christ feels as Man should feel towards Sin.

"When he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved with the hardening of their hearts.”—Mark 35.

"He beheld the city and wept over it."-Luke 1941.

Through the obedience of the one shall the many be made righteous."-Rom. 519.

"God, sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and as an offering for sin, condemned sin in the flesh."-Rom. 83.

7. Christ bears our sin.

"Who his own self bare our sins in his body on the tree.”I Pet. 224

"Christ also, having been once offered to bear the sins of men."-Heb. 928.

Under this heading we might refer to the passages which speak of Christ as the Lamb, the victim, which, in the Old Testament language, bears the sin of the offerer :—

"Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world."-Jn. 129.

"I saw in the midst of the throne . . . a lamb standing as though it had been slain. . . . Worthy is the lamb that hath been slain to receive the power."—Rev. 56 12.

And, with a slightly different reference,

"Our passover also hath been sacrificed, even Christ."1 Cor. 57.

8. Christ dies for us.

"The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep."—Jn. 1011.

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."—Jn. 1513.

"While we were yet weak, Christ in due season died for the ungodly."-Rom. 58.

"That by the grace of God he should taste death for every man."-Heb. 29.

It is noticeable that in all these passages "for" is vπèρ, “on behalf of."

9. We die through him.

"I have been crucified with Christ."-Gal. 220.

"Our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away."-Rom. 66, cp. 511.

"We thus judge that one died for all, therefore all died.”— 2 Cor. 514.

"Ye died and your life is hid with Christ in God."—Col. 33.

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10. Reconciliation, Forgiveness, Cleansing, through Christ. "For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his son, much more, being reconciled, shall we be saved by his life."

"Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation."-Rom. 510 11.

Other reconciliation passages have already been quoted in the text.-Cp. Eph. 214 15. "He is our peace . . . having abolished in

his flesh the enmity."

"God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself."– 2 Cor. 519.

"Through his name every one that believeth on him shall receive remission of sins."-Acts 1043.

"In whom we have our redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses."-Eph. 17.

"Thou wast slain and didst purchase unto God men of every tribe and tongue."-Rev. 59.

"How much more shall the blood of Christ . . . cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?"-Heb. 914. "That he might sanctify the people through his own blood."Heb. 1312.

"The blood of Jesus his son cleanseth us from all sin.”- —1 Jn. 17. For this special reference to the blood of Christ see pp. 185 ff.

II. New life in Christ.

"Even so reckon ye yourselves dead unto sin, but alive unto God in Christ Jesus."—Rom. 611.

"If ye then be risen with Christ."—Col. 31.

"Of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who was made unto us wisdom from God and righteousness and sanctification and redemption." -I Cor. 130.

"Wherefore if any man is in Christ he is a new creature."2 Cor. 517.

"Of his fulness we all received.”—Jn. 11.

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Cp. "As many as received him to them gave he the right to become the children of God."

-V. 12.

"Unto him that loveth us and loosed us from our sins by his blood; and he made us to be a kingdom, to be priests unto his God and Father."-Rev. 15 6.

In the passage in Rom. 3, the following points are emphasised: