Muhammadan Objections

170	OBJECTIONS AGAINST THE DOCTRINE

say as to the possibility of God's forgiving a sinner on his repentance without an Atonement is contrary to our innate feeling of Justice. If a human judge were to do so, it would be said that he was unjust, for justice must be satisfied: but God does not do what is unjust, for He is Just (العادِل

Al'Adil), and does not therefore forgive without an Atonement. Nor can a sinner truly repent if he does not realize the guilt he has incurred. Christ's Atonement was needed to make us realize the guilt of sin.

170. M. How can one man's death atone for the sin of many?

C. One diamond may pay a debt of many thousands of rupees¹. But the true reason why Christ's death has atoned for the sins of the whole world (1 John ii. 2) is that He died as the Head of the human race and as its representative (1 Cor. xv. 22, 45-49)².

171. M. Where is the justice of the innocent suffering for the guilty?

C. The substitution³ of the innocent for the guilty in the case of human justice could not be admitted. But much of the difficulty which is often found in accepting the Christian Doctrine of the Atonement of Christ arises from the fact

¹ Rev. Dr. Rouse.
² A man's back may pay the penalty for the sin of his hand, because both are parts of one body. (Rev. J. A. Wood.)
³ Vide Dr. Dale on the Atonement: 5th Edition, ch ix. p. 358.

OF CHRIST'S ATONEMENT

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that so many people mistake an illustration for a full explanation or statement of the doctrine. We have again and again seen (§§ 39, 114, &c.) that no human language is adequate (because of its imperfection) to express Divine realities. Almost all the objections are based upon a misunderstanding of this fact. I hesitate therefore to use any illustration, lest it should be misunderstood. But if you remember that what I am about to say is intended only as a (necessarily imperfect) illustration, it may perhaps be helpful to you. Remember too that, if you find defects in the illustrations, that does not disprove the truth of the doctrine. In one sense we frequently see that the innocent suffers for the guilty. A mother's pangs usher the child into the world¹. On the other hand, a drunkard's or a spendthrift's children suffer in consequence of their father's sins. Or again, a child's prosperity may be due to his father's toil and suffering. So our salvation depends on Christ's sufferings for us. Christ, the sinless One who suffered, the Just for the unjust, is Himself also the Judge of living and dead. If a judge is compelled by a just law to sentence a man to pay a heavy fine, and if the judge is kind and generous enough to pay the fine himself when the other cannot², is not justice satisfied

¹ Rev. T. P. Ellwood.
² A man may pay another's debt, his money is his own property. He could not pay it honestly with another man's money. So a man cannot give his life for another's offence,
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