An Introduction to Christian doctrine of Atonement
 by Brother A. D. AJIJOLA (Bar at Law)
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The second cardinal doctrine of Modern Christianity is that Jesus died on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins, this is the basis of the doctrine of Original of Original Sin and the doctrine of Atonement.

 The Christian assert that God has a son, who is His only Son. This Son of God incarnated himself in the womb of Mary. She and her husband Joseph, the carpenter were informed of this by angel. In fullness of time, the Son of God was born in the form of a human child. He was brought up like human children and when he grew old, he worked miracles. The Jews, among whom he was born, persecuted him and at last killed him by suspending him on the Cross. Thus, the Son of God, incarnate, died and after death descended into hell where he remained for three days. Then he rose from the dead and now sits in the heavens on the right hand of God. Though he was innocent, yet he bore this pain and death for the sake of human beings, so that his suffering s may atone for the sins of man. Now man will not be punished for his sins provided he believes in Jesus for the latter has taken upon himself the sins of all men.

This is what the Christian doctrine of Atonement means. According to Christian belief, all children of Adam are sinful. Adam and Eve were expelled from heaven for their sin and all their children have inherited the sin and hence all are born sinful. It was for this reason that the Son of God did not enter the womb of Mary through the seed of man, but Mary conceived him without knowing a man, so that he may not inherit the sin of Adam, like the rest of Adams children.

This doctrine of Atonement raises the question:

Whether anyone except Jesus can be impeccable?

In the school of theology this dogma is oaf cardinal import.  The Christians construct the premises and deduce Atonement along the following lines. Every man is under the sway of sin and its hold universal. A redeemer and saviour called for. Mankind cannot serve as its own redeemer since mankind is a race of wrongdoers. He assumed the body of man and therefore, he was whole and upright. Thus, he can make good and loss of man and offer Atonement.

If one adduces evidence that a man – or for that matter men had led the lives of absolute moral purity, the Christians view will fail instantly. The wrap and woof of Atonement will disintegrate. The infallibility of prophets sands as anathema to Christians who trade in Atonement. Many Christians believe what the Gospels seem to say that men are   of two kinds: evil-doers and righteous. If this is so, to turn around and paint everyone with the brush of sin is tantamount to denouncing the explicit teaching of the Gospels. Thus we read :

“ Truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it ” (Mathew 13:17)

“ So that you may be sons of your father who is in heaven; for He makes His son rise on the evil an on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust “(Mathew 5:45)

  “ As He spoke by the mouth o His Holy Prophets from the old “ (Luke 1:70)

  “ Because no prophecy ever came by the impulse of man, but men moved by the Holy spirit spoke from God “ (Peter 1:21)

  “ There you will weep and gnash your teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God and you yourself thrust out “ (Luke 13:28)

  “ We know that anyone born of God does not sin, but he who was born of god keeps Him, and the evil one does not touch Him” (John 1,5 :18)

“ Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven…. for so men persecuted the prophets who were before you “ (Mathew 5: 10-12)

The above versed testify to the righteousness and holiness of the prophets who were born of God and were inmates of His kingdom. Satan failed to obtain the least access to them. They were persecuted for righteousness’ sake (peace and mercy of God be upon all of them). Exalted to a rank as high, they must be infallible. Satan can never prevail on them. In view of these verses, one is persuaded to acknowledge that the progeny of Adam embraces vicious as well as virtuous men. Not all of them are given excesses. Once one accepts this truth, it will render the Christian faith outlined above untenable. The superstructure of the doctrine of Atonement will come down with a thud.

  The prophets are sent by God as models of virtue to teach people through persuasion. It is written:

  “Many years thou didst bear with them, and didst warn by the Spirit through thy Prophets “. (Nehemiah 9:30)

  How cans a prophet taken as model of good and a guardian over people commit transgressions? His failing is inconsistent with his office. Any theory that brands prophets as sinners must be set aside as false.

  The Holy Bible testifies to a host of pious and holy men who were ever obedient of God and who abided by His command. Never did the prophets, some of whom I list below, rebel against God’s wish.

The first of them is John (Yahya) (Peace be upon him). The Gospels speak of John the Baptist clad with chaste and undefiled conduct.

  “ For he will be great before the Lord, and he shall drink no wine nor strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb” (Luke 1:15)                    

  “ For the hand of the Lord was with him “ (Luke 1:66)

  “ And the child grew and became strong in Spirit, and he was in the wilderness till the day of manifestation to Israel” (Luke 1:80)

  “ Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and kept him safe “ (Mark 6: 20)

  “ John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins “ (Mark 1: 4)

  “ Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has risen no one greater than John the Baptist “ (Mathew 11:11)

  “ For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say. ‘He has a demon’: the son of man came eating and drinking, and they, ‘Behold, glutton and drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners. Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds” (Mathew 11: 18-19)

  “ The word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in he wilderness” (Luke 3:2)

John is said in theses verses to be an illustrious prophet far removed from all ills. God’s hand was on him. He is a recipient of His revelation. He was filled with the Holy Spirit form the womb of his mother, a practitioner of baptism by repentance to deliver the infirm and unholy man, he was the greatest among those born of woman’s womb. Can such a man be a moral wreck? No Christian of sound mind can consider John lacking in goodness, particularly keeping in mind that Jesus himself had to have a special immersion from John. I challenge any Christian to find fault with John from the accounts contained in the Bible

The Second prophet is Abel son of Adam. Abel, from the loins of Adam was also truthful and pure in every walk of life. He did not sin. The Gospel has the following to say about him :

  “ That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of innocent Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachaiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar” (Mathew 23:35)

“ By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he received approval as righteous, God bearing witness by accepting his gift ” (Hebrew 11: 4)

 

“ And not be like Cain who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him ? Because his won deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous.” (John 1,3: 12)

The Third is Prophet Daniel, who is immune from any immorality. Testimony of his infallibility abounds in the Bible. King Nebuchadnezzar describes him thus :

  “ I whom is the Spirit of the Holy God’s “ (Daniel 4:8)

  “ Then the presidents and the satraps sought to hind a ground for complaint against Daniel with regard to the kingdom: but they could find no ground for complaint for any fault, because he was faithful, and no error or fault was found in him “ (Daniel 6:4)

  “  The Daniel said to the King, ‘ O King, live for ever. My god sent His angels and shut the lions’ mouths, and they have not him, because I was found blameless before him : also before you, O king, I have done no wrong “ (Daniel 6: 21-22 )

Fourth is Prophet Josiah about whom the Bible says :

  “ And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, and walked in all the ways of David his father, and he did not turn aside to the right or to the left “ (11 King  22:2)

The fifth Prophet is Zechariah and his wife; according to Luke :

  “ And they were both righteous before God, walling in all the commandment and ordinances of the Lord in blameless “ (Like 1:16)

The sixth is the King Hezkiah ; according to the account in the Bible ;

  “ He trusted I the Lord the God of Israel; so that there was none like him among all the Kings of Judah after him, nor among those who were before him. For he held fast to the Lord; he did not depart from following him, but kept the commandments which the Lord commanded Moses. And the Lord was with him; wherever he went forth, he prospered ” (11King 18: 5-7)

  “ Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall, and prayed to the Lord- and said, ‘ Remember now. O Lord, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in thy sight “ (Isaiah 38: 2-3)

The seventh person is Samson, son of Manoah, The Angels foretell the news of his birth to his mother :

“ Therefore beware and drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean for lo, you shall conceive and hear a son. No razor shall come upon his head, for the boy shall be a Nazirite to God from birth to his dearth ”  (Judge 13: 4-5,7)

The eighth person is Samuel who made bold his righteousness before Israel, and the nation bore witness to his piety “

  “ Or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed? Or from whose hand I have taken a bribe to blind my eyes with? Testify against me and I will restore it to you. They said, ‘ You have not defrauded us or oppressed us or taken anything from any man’s hand ‘. And he said to them, ‘ The Lord is witness this day, that you have not fount any thing in my hand’. And they said, ‘ He is witness “ (Samuel 12 :3-5)

The ninth person is Siemon about whom Luke writes :

“ Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Siemon, and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him “ (Luke 2:25)

The tenth person is Joseph, the husband of Mary; the Bible has this to say of him :

“ And he husband, Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly “ (Mathew 1:19)

  The above ten citations have been made to show that other prophets and righteous persons besides Jesus were endowed with divine grace and piety. There is quite a number besides them. It is said of Noah, Daniel and Job :

  “ Son of man, when a land sins against me by acting faithlessly, and I stretch out my hand against it and break its staff of bread and send famine upon it, and cut off from it man and beast, even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would deliver but their own lives by their righteousness, says the Lord God “ (Ezekiel 14: 13-14)

  The Christians always argue that Adam violated God’s Law as he ate from the forbidden tree ; subsequently a fall ensued. Any one born of the seed of Adam will follow suit. All people except Jesus the Messiah are sinful because they are born of Adam.

  This doctrine does great injustice to mankind. It is not n consonance with the Holy Bible either. That Adam sins and his whole progeny is saddled with his sin till doomsday is contrary to the teachings of the Bible wherein one finds the following :

  “ The father shall not be put to death for the children nor shall the children be put to death for the fathers; every man shall be put to death for his own sin “ (Deuteronomy 24 :16 )

  “ According to what is written in the law, in the book of Moses, where the Lord commanded, ‘ The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, or the children be put to death for the fathers; but every man shall die for his own sin’ ”(11Chronicles 25 : 4)

“ In those days they shall no longer say: ‘ The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge’. But every one shall die for his own sin; each man who eats sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge “ (Jeremiah 31: 29-30)

  “ Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine ; the soul that sin shall die “ (Ezekiel 18 : 4 )

  “ The soul that sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor, the father suffer for the iniquity of the son; the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself. But is a wicked man turns away from all his sins which he has committed and keeps all my statutes and does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. None of the transgressions which he has committed shall be remembered against him; for the righteousness which he has done he shall live” (Ezekiel 18 : 20-22)

An interesting question is : “ Is Mary the mother of Jesus a sinner since she was the seed of Adam“?

 Some Christians argue that Mary is not innocent although the Messiah being her son does not inherit her sin as he the messiah is innocent. The Christian religion attributes sin to the issue of Adam merely because they are Adam’s sons, why is it that owing to his mother’s sins, Jesus is not a sinner ?

Let us have another look.

(1)   In eating the forbidden fruit Eve is also a partaker along with Adam.

(2)   Her sin is graver than that of Adam. It was she who ate first. Adam was seduced afterwards to follow her dictate. So it is written :

“  So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired t make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave to her husband, and he ate “(Genesis 3:6)

  “ And Adam was not deceived “ says Paul, “ but the woman was deceived and became transgressor ‘ (Timothy 1,2 :14)

Eve’s fault, it would seem, is twice as great as that of Adam, if this hypothesis is warranted then a child conceive of cohabitation will carry half of man’s and half of woman’s guilt, thus, making up a mediocre sinner. A child conceived only of woman shall inherit her two-fold sin thus becoming a perfect sinner. On this ground, a man born only of a woman instead of being innocent shall carry more than ordinary sin.

Argument # 1:  Some Christians have supported their argument that all men are sinners by relying on the following words of Psalms :

  “ The Lord looks down from heaven upon children of men, to see if there are any that act wisely, that seek after God. They have all gone astray, they area all alike corrupt; there is none that does good, no, not a one “ (Psalms 14: 2-3)

  It is submitted that the above quotation is confined to a particular nation and age. On the occasion of taunt and reproach the usage of language demands words, which are common and general in scope. Hence the verse following immediately reads:   

“ Have they no knowledge, all the evil-doers who eat up my people as they eat bread, and do not call upon the Lord? There they shall be in greater terror, for God is with the generation of the righteous “ (Psalms 14 : 4-5)

Argument # 2: Others supported their argument that all men are sinners by referring to David. David was a prophet, they argued yet; he took possession of the wife of Urias and eventually had her engaged in illicit intimacy with him. These Christians never ponder before they tax David with immodesty seeing that the Gospel opens with the verse :

  “ Jesus Christ, the son of David… “ (Mathew 1:1)

  If theses Christians hold David liable to unchastity (God’s refuge) what is Jesus then?

These Christians who hold this view should ponder a while. David is God’ chosen prophet. He held communication with him. How come then, that a person no less that God’s prophet could be subject to such an abominable deed?  God had endowed us with intellect.  We can discern fake from genuine, false from true. The Bible itself is replete with hints, which acquit David. This story is fabrication in the Bible. No decent man will fall low; certainly not a great prophet. The Gospel contains allegations pertaining to the sins of Jesus as follows:

1)      Jesus took immersion from John. John’s baptism was for the “ forgiveness of sins” (Mark 1:4)

2)      Jesus offered wine of people-(John 2:8).It is written about wine:

 “Wine and new wine take away the understanding “ (Hosea 4:11)

  3)      The Gospel also tells of Jesus’ lies. On the feast of the tabernacles, Jesus replied to his brothers:

  “  Go to the feast yourselves; I am not going to up to the feast, ‘ and after his brothers were gone ‘ he also went up, not publicly but in private “ (John 1 : 8-10)

  4)      Jesus Addressed, it is evident from the Gospel, to his mother with contempt:

“ O woman; what have you to do with me? My hour has not yet come “ (John 2:4)

  There are many things derogatory to the eminence of Jesus. The only way our from these allegations is to renounce them as distortions and believe David and Jesus to be innocent prophets as is the belief of Muslims.

  Some other Christian theologians accused Samson of adultery by referring to the Book of Judges:

  “ Samson went to Gaza, and there he saw a harlot and he went in to her. The Gazites were told, “ Samson has come here.” And they surrounded the place “ (Judge 16: 1-2)

  It is submitted that the verse in question goes to suggest to this: Samson in order to protect himself from his enemies book refuge in a house. This house happened to be that of a lewd woman. A story corresponding to this in the book of Joshua :

  “ And Joshua the son of Nun sent two men secretly from Shittin as spies, saying ‘ Go , view the land especially Jericho’. And they weat, and came into the house of a harlot whose name was Rahab and lodged there “ (Joshua 2:1)

  Those two men had no affairs with the woman. They merely used as hideout the house of a prostitute. Samson was in the same situation. If we assume Samson to be an adulterer, the prophesy of God that “ the boy shall be a Nazarite to God from birth “ will no longer hold. In the epistle to Hebrews it is written :

“ And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak , Samson , Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets… who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, received promises, stopped the mouth of lions “  (Hebrews 11: 32-33)

  Samson, from the account above, had faith, was righteous and received the promises of God. If these Christians who accused Samson would strain their mind but little, the case of Samson will appear less embarrassing than that of Jesus which Luke puts as follows:

“ And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner when she learned that he was sitting at table in the Pharsee’s house, brought as alabaster flask of ointment, and standing behind him at his feet, weeping she began to wet his feet with tears and wiped them with the hair of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment “ (Luke 7 : 37-38)

  It is not warranted to condemn Samson whose action is less serious than that of Jesus. Unless, if those who condemn Samson are equally prepared to bring a charge of sin against Jesus.

  The Bible at least proclaims that John the Baptist, Zechariah and his wife, Daniel, Josiah, Hezekiah and Abel as righteous men and there was no sin attached to them in the Bible. Therefore, the Christians claim that all people except Jesus area sinful has no foundation. This, therefore, repudiates the doctrine of Atonement

  Source : "The Myth of  the Cross "

 (ICRA) 

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