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cursed, as Christ was accursed, by the people, not by God. He speaks again of Christ suffering, that the strokes inflicted on Him may give life to us, and "that we may be sanctified by the remission of sins, that is, the sprinkling of His blood," of which the blood of the Passover was a figure. In one passage of chapter fourteenth we seem to have the first notice of the conquest over Satan, where it is said, in manifest allusion to Col. i. 13, "He ransomed from darkness our souls, given over to death and lawless wanderings;" but of this theory we shall have to speak later.

The Shepherd of Hermas, which used at one time to be ranked with the New Testament Scriptures, contains but a single reference to the redemption wrought by Christ, occurring in a parable about a vineyard, representing the people of God, where His Son is set to work as a servant, and is said to have 'laboured much and suffered much that He might do away their sins,' and afterwards to have 'pointed out to them the way of life by giving them the law, received from His Father;'* thus connecting the forgiveness of sins especially with His obedience and His teaching.

In the Epistles of Ignatius there are several references, in general terms, to the sufferings of Christ for

us.

In the Epistle to Smyrna the writer says: "Christ suffered for us (di uas) that we might be saved, and suffered really;" and he calls the Eucharist "that flesh of our Saviour Jesus Christ which suffered for (rep) our sins, which the Father in His goodness raised." In the account of his martyrdom there is

*Pastor. lib. iii, Sim. 5.

Ignat. Ep. ad Smyrn. i. 7. Ep. ad Ephes. i.

a distinct reference to the triumph over Satan by the Cross of Christ, as alluded to by St. Paul,* when he is made to speak of our Lord as "Him that crucified my sin with him who invented it, and condemned all demoniacal error and wickedness, putting it under the feet of those who carry Him in their heart." He also calls Christ a High Priest.

The last apostolic Father to be noticed here is St. Polycarp. In his Epistle to the Philippians, he says that Christ 'persevered even unto death for our sins, whom God raised, having loosed the pains of Hell;' and again, in language moulded on St. Peter's, says: "He bore our sin in His own body to the tree, who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth, but He endured all for our sakes, that we might live in Him;" thus connecting the gift of life with His sufferings for us. Further on he calls Christ' the

eternal High Priest.'

One more document of the first century may be quoted: the Epistle to Diognetus, which has been erroneously ascribed to Justin Martyr. It contains a passage of importance, as showing that the writer had no notion of that divergence of will between the Persons of the Holy Trinity, which has sometimes been so strangely imported into the doctrine of the Atonement; as though the mind of the Father towards us were actually changed by the Sacrifice of Christ. I will give it in full, translating from the Greek. "God, the Master and Maker of all things, who created all things and disposed them in order, was not only a Lover of man, but also long-suffering; and He,

*Col. ii. 15; cf. Heb. ii. 14.
Polycarp. Ep. ad Phil. i. 8.

indeed, was always such, and will be, gracious and good, and without anger (ȧópynros), and true; and He alone is good, and conceived the great and ineffable design which He communicated only to His Son." And again: "When our iniquity was full, and it was perfectly manifest that punishment and death were the expected recompense...... He did not hate or repulse us, or think evil of us, but was long-suffering and bore with us, and took our sins upon Him (åvɛdéžato); He Himself gave up His Son as a ransom for us, the Holy for the unholy, the Sinless for the sinful, the Righteous for the unrighteous, the Incorruptible for the corruptible, the Immortal for the mortal. For what else but His righteousness could cover our sins? by whom could we, the lawless and impious, be justified, but only by the Son of God? O sweet change! O unsearchable work! O unexpected benefits! that the wickedness of many should be covered by one Righteous One, the righteousness of One justify many sinners!" I will merely observe, to preclude a possible misconception, that it would be to ignore the whole tenor of patristic theology, if we supposed the imputation theory was intended in the concluding words. It is clearly a real change in ourselves that is spoken of, from sin to holiness, through the imparted grace of Christ.

St. Justin Martyr, the great Christian apologist of the second century, is naturally led in his dispute with the Jew Trypho to enlarge on the death of Christ. He does not, however, construct any systematic theory on the subject; but his statements are important as incidentally contradicting some later theories. He speaks generally of Christ being incarnated, 'that He might

be partaker of our sufferings, and heal them;' but, in commenting on the great prophecy of the Passion (Is. liii.), he does not, like Luther afterwards, explain "the discipline of our peace was upon Him,"* of Christ being punished by God for our sins; and, so far from explaining Gal. iii. 13, of the curse of God resting upon Christ, he says expressly that it was by the Jews He was accursed: "Ye maintain that He was rightly crucified, and an enemy of God and accursed, which is a work of your unreasonable judgment." And, again, more definitely: "The curse of the law lies upon crucified men, but the curse of God does not lie upon Christ, through whom He saves those worthy of curse;" and the Jews are reproached with calling Him accursed whom God willed to take our curses upon Him, meaning to raise Him from the dead. There are other passages to the same effect; and the example of the scape-goat is explained, as by Barnabas before and Tertullian afterwards, of the curses of the people being laid upon Christ. Justin frequently alludes, as do nearly all writers after Ignatius, to the conquest over Satan as a consequence of the Passion, and in one passage, where he speaks of Christ having acquired possession of men (kтnσáμevos) by blood and the 'mystery of His Cross,' he may even seem to hint at the view of a price paid to Satan, which we shall have to notice later, in dealing with Irenæus and Origen. He speaks of the restoration of our fallen nature through Christ, who suffered to deliver us from the wickedness in which we were born,' and of His blood 'delivering

* In the Septuagint, where Justin uses τaidɛía ɛipývns nμwv. disciplina pacis nostræ, Vulg. The references are to the Dialogue against Trypho, and the Apologia.

those who believe on Him,' quoting the usual types of the Paschal sprinkling and Rahab's scarlet thread; and calls Him 'a chosen Priest, and eternal King,' fulfilling the type of Melchisedec.

Clement of Alexandria may be regarded as the forerunner of that great theological school, taking its name from his native city, of which Origen was properly the founder. He does not, however, speak on this question with any special fulness or precision, and adds little to what had already been said by others. The sufferings of Christ are attributed to His exceeding love for man; He is a Sacrifice acceptable to God;'* and is elsewhere called 'the Passover sacrificed (Kaρevels) by the Jews.' The conquest over the serpent, whose form is taken to symbolize sensual pleasure, is spoken of in language which deserves to be quoted: "How did pleasure prevail? Man, who had been set free by simplicity, was found bound to sins; the Lord wished to release him again from his chains; and being bound to flesh (a Divine mystery), in this He overcame the serpent, and took captive the tyrant and death, and, what is strangest, with hands stretched out [on the cross] showed man set free who had been led astray by pleasure, and chained to corruption. O mystical wonder! The Lord lay down, and man rose; and he who was cast out of Paradise receives heaven, a greater prize than his obedience could have won."+ The last words, which sound like an echo of the O felix culpa chanted in the Paschal anthem, are the earliest distinct intimation, so far as I am aware, of our having gained more by the Incarnation than we had lost by the Fall.

Clem. Alex. Strom. 7, Pædag. 5.

† Ib. Protr. 69.

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