DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.9552#0196
CHAPTER IV.
Inquiry into the Doctrine of the Atonement.
All the texts collected by the Reverend Editor in
his review from the authority of the divine Teacher, in
favour of the second important doctrine of the cross, im-
plying the vicarious sacrifice of Jesus as an atonement
for the sins of mankind, are as follow : "I am the living;
bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of
this bread, he shall live for ever." " His giving his flesh
for the life of the world." "I lay down my life for my
sheep." "The Son of Man is come to give his life a
ransom for many." Is any one of these passages, I
would ask, in the shape of an explicit commandment, or
are they more than a mere statement of facts requiring
figurative interpretation ? For it is obvious that an at-
tempt to take them in their direct sense, especially the
first, ("I am the living bread;—if any man eat of this,
&c.,") would amount to gross absurdity. Do they
reasonably convey anything more than the idea, that
Jesus was invested with a divine commission to deliver
instructions leading to eternal beatitude, which whoso-
ever should receive should live for ever? And that the
Savfbur, for^eeing that the imparting of those instruc-
tions would, by exciting the anger and enmity
of the superstitious Jews, cause his life to be des-
troyed, yet hesitated not to persevere in their
promulgation; as if a king, who hazards his life to
procure freedom and peace for his subjects, were to ad-
dress himself to them saying, "I lay down my life for you.'r
Inquiry into the Doctrine of the Atonement.
All the texts collected by the Reverend Editor in
his review from the authority of the divine Teacher, in
favour of the second important doctrine of the cross, im-
plying the vicarious sacrifice of Jesus as an atonement
for the sins of mankind, are as follow : "I am the living;
bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of
this bread, he shall live for ever." " His giving his flesh
for the life of the world." "I lay down my life for my
sheep." "The Son of Man is come to give his life a
ransom for many." Is any one of these passages, I
would ask, in the shape of an explicit commandment, or
are they more than a mere statement of facts requiring
figurative interpretation ? For it is obvious that an at-
tempt to take them in their direct sense, especially the
first, ("I am the living bread;—if any man eat of this,
&c.,") would amount to gross absurdity. Do they
reasonably convey anything more than the idea, that
Jesus was invested with a divine commission to deliver
instructions leading to eternal beatitude, which whoso-
ever should receive should live for ever? And that the
Savfbur, for^eeing that the imparting of those instruc-
tions would, by exciting the anger and enmity
of the superstitious Jews, cause his life to be des-
troyed, yet hesitated not to persevere in their
promulgation; as if a king, who hazards his life to
procure freedom and peace for his subjects, were to ad-
dress himself to them saying, "I lay down my life for you.'r