Men, Women, And Gods
Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: VICARIOUS ATONEMENT. JN an art collection in Hoston there is a god?a redeemer? the best illustration I have ever seen of the vicarious atonement theory. It is a perfect representation of the agony endured by a helpless and innocent being in order to relieve the guilty of their guilt. This god was captured in Central Africa before his mission was complete, and there is still suffering-space upon his body unused. It is a wooden image of some frightful beast, and it is represented as suffering the most intense physical agony. Xails are driven into its head, body, legs, and feet. Each wrongdoer who wanted to relieve himself of his own guilt drove a nail, a tack, a brad, or a spike into the flesh of his god. The god suffered the pain ; the man escaped the punishment. He cast his burdens on his god, and went on
...his way rejoicing. Here is vicarious atonement in all its pristine glory. The god is writhing and distorted with pain ; the criminal has relieved himself of further responsibility, and his faith has made him whole. His sins are forgiven, and his god will assume his load. It is curious to examine the various illustrations of human nature as represented by the size and shape of the nails. A sensitive man had committed a trifling offence, and he drove a great spike into the head of the god. A thick-skinned criminal inserted a small tack where it would do the least harm?in the hoof. An honest, or an egotistic penitentdrove his nail in where it stands out prominently ; while the secretive devotee placed his among a mass of others of long standing and inconspicuous location. One day I stood with a friend looking at this god. My friend, who was a devout believer in the vicarious theory of justification ami punishment as explained away by the ethical divines of Boston, was nn...
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