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THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN AND MEWS. SATURDAY, MAY 25, 1907. >•••••••••••••••••< THE LIVING ATONEMENT By REV. EVERETT DEAN ELLENWOOD, Pastor Universalist Church A CERTAIN modem magazine . editor, the wielder of a tren- ' chant pen, the pungency of .whoso utterances sometimes almost reaches the point of impudence and irreverence, but whose thoughts pos seas the splendid faculty of making other men think, has declared that, “although there have been some re ligions without sense, there has never yet been a religion without incense.' Underneath the sarcastic humor of this declaration there lies a solid foundation effect. The initial Instinct of religion is worship, and the primal expression of worship is sacrifice. And ever must the most Intelligent and the most practical expression of worship be sacrifice. However we may be able to refine our religion, purifying its forms and removing the crudities of its ceremonies, we shall make no real progress away from the fundamental idea of sacrifice, for it is bom of na ture. from whence comes also, religion. But it Is imperative that we should make progress away from the original adaptation and incorporation of that idea of sacrifice in theology and in philosophy, If we are to do honor to those who have been our spiritual as well as our physical ancestors. A pity it Is that some men and women suffer from an obscesslon that they “honor their fathers and mothers” by accept ing and adopting unquestioning!)', th“ ancestral grasp of knowledge, practical theological, or philosophical. The man who continually prates that "the old tBhe religion Is good enough for me' forgets that had those who were Im mediately his predecessors adopted this as their motto, wo would still be burning witches at the stake. We need always to remember that he most close ly observes tho letter as well as the spirit of the fifth commandment, who has safely and honorably passed the frontier of ancestral attainment, and has pitched his own tent a day’s march In the van. This way only, lies progress, and progress Is God's mani festation of Hitpseif to the world. A study of human development seems to Justify the belief that worship had its origin in the awakening of the religious Instinct through fear or awdr Man’s growing consciousness of him self, gradually made him conscious of certain circumstances and forces over which he could have no control, and which he could not comprehend. He became gradually conscious of a power or powers outside himself which oper ated either for his weal or hit woe as the case might determine. Con science also was born and the sense of right and wrong became Ids pos- ; REV. E. D. 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His early Ideas of diety were, naturally enough, decidedly anthropo morphic, nor has any very remarkable development away from that Idea yet taken place. The things that would please or displease a man were, "con sequently, cohcluded to be the things that must correspondingly affect and Impress a god. Hence sacrifice became the earliest evidence of man's con sciousness of God, and Ills earliest act of worship. Theologically, It may be claimed that a wide separation exists between the frantic, fanatical mother who casts her babe to tile crocodiles, and thd appoint ed Levite who performed tho sacrifices for Israel, but, spiritually, the hiatus Is scarcely perceptible. The difference Is only one of culture, and, consequent ly. of Interpretation. The Impulse for wors'hlp Is-ftindumental and identi cal. The difference of application Is a difference of enlightenment. The early Idea of God held by tho people from whom we are religiously descended, seems unquestionably to have been that of a being whose favor might be won, or whose wrath might be appeased and whose vengeance es caped, by gift or by sacrifice. Hence .the early books of our sacred litera ture are largely occupied with the rules and forms of sacrificial observance; morality is often crowded by the altar, and ethics obscured by the fog of blood freshly shed that God might thereby bo reconciled to His people. Theologies have their offspring as ell as men. And though features may change with generations, and even the muthor tongue be all but forgotten, yet, certain marked family characteris tics of physiognomy and of tempera ment will remain os the evidences of genealogy. in its fundamental tenet, Christian ity, If we are to be allowed to Judge this religion by Its leading exponents, seems to have made but little Improve ment upon the crude conception of dei ty, which was the possession of the early Hebrews, The God of .human passion and Impotence, the God, glad dened by sacrifice and angered by its absence, still remains, grown a little less human It Is true, In that the socrl flee now demanded as the price o man's safety and happiness. Is the death of His only son. But, the Idea of sacrifice Is still there, the thought of an act performed to win the favor and kindly consideration of tho Al mighty, In other words, to "reconcile God to man.” Here and there, through tho pages „' tho Scriptures, we catclt occasional evidences of tho dawning of Bie high er truth In the hearts of men, sug gestion* of that genuine spirituality which ever enabled Its possessor to divine the difference between the sym bol and the reality, and to know that the only value which a sacrifice may possess exists In Its personal quality. These encouraging beacon lights of hope aro the sturdy declarations of the seers and prophets who contributed all that we find of definite ethical value In our sacred literature; those veritable men of God who declared again and again, that God delighted not in the blood of goate and bullocks and rams, but that the sacrifices for which He yearned were the contrite hearts and the obedient wilts of His children. These seers of the higher vision have their place and arc repeatedly heard In both the Old and New Testaments, and It Is exceedingly unfortunate that their testimony has not been the domi nant note In Christian theology. Had it been so, the religion of Jesus must have been a far more Important fac tor In the development of modern civili zation and the consummation of His prayer and the kingdom of His t'other and our Father should come upon the earth, would not today be so far la the hazy future. By no reasonable interpretation of the reliably translated utterance* of Jesus may It be maintained that Ilia conception of Himself and of His mis sion to the world was tho conception commonly held by the largo majority of Hla followers. In this latter day, namely, that of a sacrifice to appease the wrath of an outraged and offended God, and purchase clemency for His children. True enough He frequently made uso of the symbolical language with which Hla hearers were easily fa miliar, and through which their hearts might most readily be reached, and so It ts that by carefully selecting hero and there, through tho reported utter ances of Jesus, these strongly figura tive statements In which He likens Himself to the lamb of the sacrifice and others of a similar nature, it is not at all difficult to make oneself believe that Jesus'believed and taught that He was Indeed sent Into the wort* to be of fered as a sacrifice to “rcconcllo God to man.” But, If wo nro to be allowed to misuse the Bible in this way, we shall discover to our dismay that any the ology or philosophy which may find a home in man's unstable mind may.thus be Justified. The teachings of Jesus aro not fairly Judged by Isolated utter ances no more than are the teachings of any great leader of ethics. These teachings, taken as a whole and thus carefully considered, must convince the unbiased student that Ho hod a higher conception of His mission' uphn the earth than that of a purely mechanical Interposition between God and the ob jects of His displeasure. The reconciling of God to man was apparently not such a mighty task, since In the olden days of man's re ligious history It was safely accom plished by the elaughtcrlng of a sheep or a bullock. But, If we may be al lowed to change somewhat our con ception of God and cease to think of Him as an angry, petulant, impatient, changeable, man-llke being, and come to think of Him as Jesus desired that wo should think of Him. as the Fa ther, whose love for His children Is the some yesterday, today and forever, the Father who loves the. sinner with the same yearning desire with which He encompasses the life of the saint, the Father who has never been unrecon ciled to Hie offspring, then we can un derstand that the atonement which Jesus believed It was His mission to effect was on atonement grander, truer, nobler and more difficult than the keep ing from humanity of the discipline so sorely needed for his development. By many scholars St. Paul Is con. ceded to bo one of the most eminent and trustworthy of tho earlier Christian theologians. It is worth our while, therefore, to consult him upon this point of the doctrine of the atonement of Jesus Christ. If we consult him in a spirit of absolute fairness, we shall find that, while he frequently speaks of the sacrifice of Jesus, It la always as a sacrifice, not to save ua from the pun ishment for our elna, but always as a sacrifice to save us from sinning, and nowhere does he hold out the hope that any transgressor, by tho denth of Christ, or by any other eacriflce what soever, shall be able to eacape the Just and entirely natural result of hla trans gression. It Is a living atonement which St. Paul declares that Jesus makes for us, not n death to save from death or punishment, but a life, whereby others might be led to tho realization of a life. Here nro his worda upon the sub ject: “All things are of God, who hath reconciled us unto Himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the mln- iztry of reconciliation, to-wit: That God was In Christ, reconciling tho world unto Himself." This, then, la the atonement of Jesus Christ, when It shall be correctly un derstood and applied by the great Christian world. It Is a task Impos sible to any save tho man, Jeaua; tho task of reconciling to God. a world of mep, estranged and alienated by sin, wearied of the world's travail and In sufficiency, heart elok and longing for the Father's house and the Father’s love, but driven farther and farther away from both by the false and cruel talcs of ignorant men In which the fierceness of His wrath Is graphically pictured, and the ceaseless yearning of Ills redemptive love has no part. No sacrifice has ever been necessary to reconcile God to man. for God hua never been in a state of unreconcllia- tlon toward man, and all theology to the contrary Is but the troubled dream of men who have mk yet graduated from tho kindergarten of religious ex perience and development, but who aro still fascinated by the imaglnery and the symbolism of prlnltlvc worship, and whose spiritual culture has not pro gressed beyond the gospel of fear. But how truly and how sadly tho world does need to be reconciled to God. How Imperative is the need that the great church of the ever living Christ should cease her profitless the ological controversies and heartily unite with SL Paul when he says: “Now, then, we arc ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us; we pray you In Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.” The reconciliation of the world to God can only be effected by eacriflce, for the most stupendous and unescap- able fact In human experience Is the fact of the cross. But It was not enough, that Christ should live, nnd that Ho should confirm His life by His death that mankin<Tmlght be shown the way of salvation from sinning. The cross must become an Individual experience. Sacrifice ie a personal privilege. "Then said Jesus to His dlscln!es:‘If any man will come after me, let him deny him self, and take up hie cross and follow me; for whosoever will save his life shall lose It; and whosoever will lose hla life for my sake shall find It.’" A world reconciled to God will find Its selfishness changed to service. Its saloons turned Into hospitals, Its pris ons and penitentiaries mada over Into scrnol. and museums andconcert halls. Its men no longer debauched to feed the greed of their still more Ignorant fellows. Its women turning from diver sion to culture. Its children rescued from the mighty mills where their tiny bodies are ground Into dollars, and turned loose In the parks and play grounds, Its lawmakers more conscious of God than of the state of their poli tical fences, its doctors more Interested * In the recovery of their patients than In the size of their fees, and Its preach ers more concerned about the weal of humanity than about the defense of theology. AM that would be such a decent sort of a world to live In that I am not at all sure that we should really bo In need of heaven at all. If you think that would be a good sort of a world, then suppose you Just taka hold and help to bring It to pass. ONLY EXCLUSIVE TENT AND AWNING ESTABLISHMENT IN THE CITY CALL FOR SOLICITOR WITH SAMPLE8 — BELL PHONE 2400 - L. Acme Mattress Co. and Irwin Streets. WE RENOVATE—Work called for and delivered same day—SATIS FACTION GUARANTEED—Bell phone 6338-J—Atlanta 1948.