"dence, and is admitted in some sense by “some Unitarian Christians. The scriptu"ral doctrine of at-one-ment, or bringing "to one, that is, of reconciliation, it is "presumed is embraced by all.” "Uni"tarians allow the efficacy of the death of "Christ; but then that efficacy is to take

66

away sin entirely, to destroy it, and not "to satisfy God, that thus he may be "induced to pardon it; in one word, to "save men, not in their sins, but from "their sinst." 66 They conceive, that the "death of Christ is no where represented "in the Scriptures, as an expiatory sacri"fice for human guilt, as appeasing the "wrath of God, as a satisfaction to divine justice, or as a vicarious suffering for the

transgressions of mankind"." In their judgment," the sufferings and death of "Jesus were necessary in order to fulfil "the gracious purposes for which he came, "and therefore his death was a necessary

t Ibid. p. 70.

s Estlin, p. 28. u Belsham's Lett. to the Bp. of London, p. 10. Carpenter, p. 324.

"sacrifice for the redemption of mankind. "But that he suffered and died in our

stead, in order to satisfy the justice of "God, that his death propitiated or recon"ciled God to man," is without hesitation pronounced "not Christian doctrine." It is maintained also by the Unitarian, that in the Scriptures, "the benevolence of God "is represented as complete and unlimited, "his mercy as unrestrained and independ❝ent of all external causes, except the "moral quality of its object, and his for

giveness as ready to be freely bestowed "whenever the sinner complies with the "condition of pardon';" and it is his "full "and firm conviction, that the death of "Christ made no change in the divine pur

66

poses, dispositions, or dealings towards "mankind, further than as it tended by "operating a powerful motive on the well

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disposed mind, and by assuring the most important promises and declarations, to "render men fit to receive the blessings

* Carpenter, p. 9. 271. 324. 349. Estlin, p. 29. y Carpenter, p. 282.

F

"which he was sent to offer." The Uni-
tarian finds "no reference to any mysteri-
"ous efficacy in his death, still less to the
"necessity of faith in such efficacya;" and
he opposes
"the doctrines as unscriptural,
injurious to the divine character, and
"baneful in their moral tendency b."

The objections to our faith, which are deduced from the moral attributes of the Deity, or from its alleged effects upon the manners of mankind, must be confuted in subordination to the principal inquiry which relates to the scriptural authenticity of the doctrine. This doctrine will be sufficiently confirmed, by reciting the inspired testimonies which prove, that Jesus was a propitiation for sin, a vicarious offering for the sins of men, and that his blood was the price of our redemption. In his own words, he was to give his flesh "for the life of the "world," and he came " to give his life a "ransom for manyd." In those of his Apo

Ꮓ

Carpenter, p. 242.

b Ibid. p. 342. 351.

d Matt. xx. 28.

a Ibid. p. 287.

c John vi. 51.

stles, he "gave himself a ransom for all;" and he is the price for such as believe, even the price with which we were bought: nor have we been redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, but with the "precious blood of Christ, as of a Lamb " without blemish and without spot." "He' "suffered the just for the unjusti:" "he ❝ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, "being made a curse for us*;" "and him, “ who knew no sin, did God make to be a sin-offering for us';" "Christ our pass"over was sacrificed for us ";" and "was "offered to bear the sins of many ";"" nei"ther by the blood of bulls and of calves, " but by his own blood, he entered in once "into the holy place, having obtained "eternal redemption for us." "He ap

6

m

n

peared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself";"" and he is the propitiation

"whom God

"for our sins." It is he, "hath set forth to be a propitiation, or "mercy-seat, through faith in his blood, "to declare his righteousness for the re"mission of sins that are past, through "the forbearance of God; to declare at "this time his righteousness: that he is just, and the justifier of him that be"lieveth in Jesus"." "For when we were yet without strength, Christ died for the

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ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man "will one die: yet peradventure for a "good man some would even dare to die. "But God commendeth his love toward << us, in that, while we were yet sinners, "Christ died for us. Much more then now,

having been justified by his blood, we "shall be saved from wrath through him. "For if, when we were enemies, we were "reconciled to God by the death of his 'Son, much more, having been reconciled,

we shall be saved by his life. And not "only so, but we also joy in God through "our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have

91 John ii. 2.

I Romans iii. 25, 26.