From Bondage to Liberty in Religion: A Spiritual Autobiography

by George T. Ashley

And now for the interpretation. All the ceremonial of Israel had a meaning; but it was symbolic, typical of some reality to come. The blood of bulls and lambs and goats could not in themselves atone for sin; but they could point to the "Lamb of Calvary," slain for the sins of the world. He that was without sin,—"the lamb without spot or blemish,"—was offered as a sacrifice for the sins of others. The law had its purpose, but it was now fulfilled, all its symbolic meaning was consummated in the death of Jesus, and now it must go. It was only a school master, to keep us in the way until the Christ should come. When this "lamb" was slain, God saw his shed blood, and was satisfied. His anger relented, his wrath cooled and the hand of mercy was extended, on the simple condition,—of faith. What was the meaning, intent and purpose of this vicarious atonement? According to the belief of the time, that Jesus would soon return in the power and glory of heaven to set up his everlasting kingdom here on earth, it was to prepare a people for this kingdom. This kingdom was to be composed only of those who had been thus prepared for it, by the remission of their sins, thru this blood atonement. The earliest Christians, all of whom were Jews, led by Peter, held that this new kingdom was to be forever limited to Jews and Jewish proselytes. If any Gentile wanted to have any part or lot in this new kingdom, he must first become a Jew. But Paul took a broader view. To him the whole Jewish system was purely preliminary to a greater dispensation, which was now fulfilled; symbolic and typical of a greater reality which was now here; and had therefore fulfilled its purpose and was ended. All symbolic ceremonial was now past forever. There was no longer any distinction between Jew and Gentile as far as God's grace was concerned. The New Kingdom was open to all upon the same terms,—faith in Jesus as the Messiah of God, and this particular interpretation of his mission.

This opening of the gates to all the world on equal terms produced a bitter controversy between Peter and Paul and led to a sharp and well defined division in the early church, which continues to this day. The Roman Church is Petrine, narrow, exclusive and given to much elaborate ceremonial, as were the ancient Jews; while Protestantism is generally Pauline, much broader, generally freer from ceremonial, and as a rule much more truly Catholic; yet often narrow enough.

As time went on, and Jesus did not return as expected, faith in his early coming waned; and the idea began to grow that his real Kingdom was not for this world at all, but a heavenly one hereafter. By this time the Apostle Paul was dead and the Fourth Gospel had appeared, supposed to be written by the Apostle John, in which the Master was quoted as saying, "My kingdom is not of this world." Thus the idea took form, grew and developed that the real mission of the Messiah, after all, was not the establishment of a kingdom here on earth, but a heavenly kingdom hereafter; and hence that his death was a vicarious atonement made by the shedding of his blood, to satisfy the divine vengeance against sin, and save souls from hell hereafter; and thus fit them for this heavenly kingdom.

And ever since this doctrine became thus established, by the middle of the second century, almost the whole emphasis and entire energies of the church, Catholic and Protestant, have been directed, not towards making this a better world by making mankind better, building up, developing, purifying and uplifting human character; but toward saving them from a hell hereafter. And what little energy the church had left after this, has been spent, and is still being spent, in never-ending controversy among themselves over just how to do it.

Thus the doctrine of vicarious atonement, thru blood, and blood alone, had its origin in the lowest paganism, away back in the infancy of the human race, was transmitted down thru Judaism, and transplanted from it into Christianity.

But I cannot leave this subject without a few remarks on the various meanings that have been attached to the idea of vicarious atonement, since it became an integral part of the Christian system. We have already seen that the original pagan meaning of blood atonement was based upon the idea that the gods were angry and out for vengeance, and nothing but blood would appease them; but that the blood of a proper substitute would answer this purpose. But the earliest Christian doctrine of the atonement made by Christ was in the nature of redemption. In fact the term became so deeply rooted and grounded in early Christian nomenclature that it has never been fully eliminated. But its use is much less now than formerly. The theory was based upon tradition, partly scriptural and partly not, that in the affair of Eden the devil fairly outwitted God and became rightfully entitled to the souls of all mankind forever; but that on account of the great war in heaven, in which the devil and his angels were cast out by the "Eternal Son" of God (see Milton's "Paradise Lost"), the devil held a bitter grudge against this son, and offered to bargain with God and give him back all the souls of mankind for the soul of this son. So God, knowing the power of his son to break the bands of death and hell,—which the devil did not know,—accepted the bargain; and in due time, as agreed upon, the Son of God came into the world, died on the cross and went to hell, in fulfillment of this contract; and thus liberated all the souls already there, and obtained a conditional release of all the balance of mankind,—-the condition of faith,—and then suddenly broke the bands of death and hell and escaped back to heaven. But he literally fulfilled his contract as originally made. Thus we find the old church creeds reciting—and still reciting—that "he was crucified, dead, buried and descended into hell, and the third day rose," etc. This idea may look strange to present day Christians; but all they have to do is to consult the early church literature to find that it was almost the universal belief as to the meaning of the atonement during the first few centuries of Christianity.

The next view that gradually developed as the older one waned, was the old Jewish idea of substituted suffering and to which was added that of imputed righteousness. That is to say, that in order to save mankind and yet appease the divine wrath, and satisfy the vengeance of an offended God, God sent his son into the world to bear the brunt of his wrath instead of mankind, and tho innocent, to suffer as tho guilty; and finally to die as a malefactor, tho innocent of sin; and because of the dignity and character of the victim and the intensity of his sufferings in both life and death, they were sufficient in both quality and quantity to satisfy the divine vengeance against all mankind; provided man would avail himself of these provisions for his release by accepting by faith the Son of God as his suffering substitute; whereupon, God would forgive the sins of the faithful and impute to them the benefits of the righteousness of Christ. This doctrine of the atonement dominated the Middle Ages. Upon it was based the doctrine of supererogation, whereby the surplus stock of good works of the holy saints might be laid up for the benefit of the less worthy, who might receive the benefits of them thru the process of indulgences, sold by the church for a money consideration. It is still held in a somewhat modified form in a large part of Christendom to this day.

The more modern doctrine of the atonement is that called the Governmental Theory. That is to say, that God was not so mad with mankind after all; but having once ordained the law that "the soul that sinneth, it shall die," the law could neither be abrogated nor suspended, but must have its penalty. As no mortal man could fulfill it for any one but himself, and that only by his eternal death, only the Son of God could satisfy it for mankind. Therefore the Eternal Son of God became incarnate in human flesh, but still remained "Very God of Very God," in order that he might meet the demands of this divine law for all mankind, by not being amenable to it himself, being without sin; and yet by his sufferings and death paying its penalty in full for the whole human race; subject, however, to the appropriation of its benefits by the individual, thru faith. In a measure this is the same as that of the substitution theory; but it does not go to the extent of the doctrine of imputed righteousness.

The only exception to it is in the Roman church, and here the exception is apparent rather than real. In the Roman church salvation is by faith in the church, the benefits of which are transmitted to the individual thru the sacraments of the church; but in the ancient church, and in practically all modern Protestant churches, saving faith is held to be individual and personal; and must be not only faith in the atoning sacrifice made by Jesus Christ on the cross for all mankind; but it must be faith in the correct view of the atonement. Hence, no matter which of the views I have herein outlined may be correct, those who have held to either of the others are all lost. This is the only logical conclusion any one can reach who insists that salvation is impossible except by accepting any prescribed creed. Only those who possess and accept the right creed can be saved. All the balance of mankind must be lost forever. To take either of these views of the atonement, or all of them together, as the only means by which mankind can be saved from hell is to make God a complete failure from beginning to end. As we have already seen, the orthodox view of creation makes God either a failure or a monster. The attempt to reform man thru the process of elimination by the flood proved a failure. And now if the success of God's last attempt to save mankind thru the death of his son, is limited to any interpretation orthodox Christianity has ever placed upon it, it is the most stupendous failure of all.

There is but one rational interpretation of any doctrine of salvation by vicarious atonement; and that is that the atonement must be automatically as far-reaching and comprehensive in its results as the sin it is designed to remedy. If sin entered into the world because of the offence of Adam, the head of the race, and thus passed upon all men, without their knowledge or consent, simply because they were descendants of Adam, any scheme of redemption, atonement, or salvation that purports in any way to remedy, or obviate the consequences of this original sin, in order to be just must be equally as broad and comprehensive, and operate as automatically and unconditionally in its remedial effects, as did Adam's sin in its consequences.