ost the whole emphasis and entire energies of
the church, Catholic and Protestant, have been directed, not towards
making this a better world by making mankind better, building up,
developing, purifying and uplifting human character; but toward saving
them from a hell hereafter. And what little energy the church had left
after this, has been spent, and is still being spent, in never-ending
controversy among themselves over _just how to do it_.

Thus the doctrine of vicarious atonement, thru blood, and blood alone,
had its origin in the lowest paganism, away back in the infancy of the
human race, was transmitted down thru Judaism, and transplanted from it
into Christianity.

But I cannot leave this subject without a few remarks on the various
meanings that have been attached to the idea of vicarious atonement,
since it became an integral part of the Christian system. We have
already seen that the original pagan meaning of blood atonement was
based upon the idea that the gods were angry and out for vengeance, and
nothing but blood would appease them; but that the blood of a proper
substitute would answer this purpose. But the earliest Christian
doctrine of the atonement made by Christ was in the nature of
redemption. In fact the term became so deeply rooted and grounded in
early Christian nomenclature that it has never been fully eliminated.
But its use is much less now than formerly. The theory was based upon
tradition, partly scriptural and partly not, that in the affair of Eden
the devil fairly outwitted God and became rightfully entitled to the
souls of all mankind forever; but that on account of the great war in
heaven, in which the devil and his angels were cast out by the "Eternal
Son" of God (see Milton's "Paradise Lost"), the devil held a bitter
grudge against this son, and offered to bargain with God and give him
back all the souls of mankind for the soul of this son. So God,
knowing the power of his son to break the bands of death and
hell,--which the devil did not know,--accepted the bargain; and in due
time, as agreed upon, the Son of God came into the world, died on the
cross and went to hell, in fulfillment of this contract; and thus
liberated all the souls already there, and obtained a conditional
release of all the balance of mankind,---the condition of faith,--and
then suddenly broke the bands of death and hell and escaped back to
heaven. But he literally fulfilled his contract as originally made