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BEREAN STUDIES ON THE ATONEMENT

THE TEXT BOOK USED FOR THIS COURSE IS SCRIPTURE STUDIES, SERIES V. (E)

Questions on Study I.—The Fact and Philosophy of the Atonement

MARCH 1

(1) Is it because Justice and Love are the basis of the divine government that atonement for man’s sin is made the foundation of the Christian religion? Or what does differentiate the religion of the Bible from all other religions? Page 15.

(2) Do Christian believers generally understand this or appreciate the philosophy of the Atonement set forth in the Bible? If not, why not? What is their disadvantage, and what should they do to put on this part of the armor of God, to be ready for the testings of “the evil day”? Page 15.

(3) Statetheso-called” orthodox” view of the Atonement. Page 16.

(4) State the unorthodox but growingly popular view of the subject. Page 16. State the Bible’s teaching on this subject and quote the Scriptures supporting same, under the following divisions of the subject:

(5) Did man fall into sin so as to need an atonement for his sin? What Scriptures prove this? Page 17, par. 2.

(6) Was it right on God’s part to condemn Adam and to allow the death penalty to follow and to involve all of Adam’s race? Page 17, par. 3.

(7) What provision did God’s love make for mankind? Page 17, par. 4.

 

MARCH 8

(1) Was not the providing of a ransom all that was necessary? What more could God do? Page 17, par. 5.

(2) What prevented our Lord Jesus from uplifting our race without redeeming it by his death? Page 18, par. 1.

(3) If the sins of the past had all been cancelled would further work for man be necessary? What? Page 18, par. 2.

(4) What has Satan had to do with the fallen race? and how does this affect its future? And does he even now hinder the blessing from reaching the masses? Page 18, par. 3.

(5) Was God’s provision of Atonement merely for the few who now hear of and accept it? Support your reply with Scripture quotations. Page 19, par. 1.

(6) What is the divine order for extending the blessings of the Atonement to every creature? Page 19, par. 2.

(7) Do any now enjoy the blessings of the Atonement? Who? Why do not all share this blessing now? Page 19, par. 3.

(8) Will not present hindrances always prevent the majority of the race from sharing the benefits of the great sin-atonement? If not, why not? Page 19, par. 1.

MARCH 15

(1) Is there more than one phase of Atonement? If so, state the other phase and show the harmony between these as one Atonement work. Page 20, par. 1.

(2) What will be the final result of this Atonement work, which God has purposed and has begun? Page 20, par. 2.

(3) Is the Bible doctrine of Atonement for man’s sin and his reconciliation to God in accord with the modern theory of Evolution? Page 20, par. 3.

(4) The Bible teaches a fall of man from divine fellowship. Can the Evolution theory be harmonized with this? Page 21, par. 1.

(5) Would it have been justifiable on God’s part to punish mankind for evoluting, if that was the law of his organism? Page 21, par. 1.

(6) Could Justice have demanded a ransom or any sin-sacrifice, had Adam not been intelligent and a transgressor and justly under the sentence of death? Page 21, par. 1.

(7) Is the belief or disbelief of Evolution optional with Christian believers? Or is it so radically opposed to the divine revelation that to accept the one intelligently must mean the repudiation of the other? Page 21, par. 2.

(8) Are Christians generally aware of this conflict and of the importance to themselves of a correct faith? Or are they generally so overcharged with the cares of this life that they are not worthy to be counted of the “Very Elect,” and are intended to be sifted out by the “strong delusions” which are to make the close of this age “perilous”? Page 21, par. 2.

MARCH 22

(1) Do the Scriptures teach that God created Adam in the image of God or in the image and likeness of a chimpanzee? Page 22, par. 1.

(2) Do the Scriptures teach that Adam’s perfection implied a perfection of knowledge—that he knew everything? Or, merely that he had a perfect organism and with sufficient knowledge for the tests of obedience imposed? Was Adam deceived into sin? Page 22, par. 1.

(3) What has uniformly been God’s methods for revealing knowledge in the past—to Abraham and others? Page 22, par. 1.

(4) Do the angels of heaven have all knowledge? Matt. 24:36.

(5) Will the saints ever know perfectly—”know as they are known”? Will that which is perfect in knowledge ever be our portion? I Cor. 13:10,12.

(6) What penalty was pronounced on Adam and shared by his posterity? Page 22, par. 2. Rom. 5:12.

(7) What does salvation from sin and its death penalty imply? Page 22, par. 2.

(8) What was predicted as respected Messiah and his work? Page 22, par. 2.

(9) How would the Evolution theory agree with St. Peter’s declaration respecting coming glorious years, or “times of restitution”? Page 23, par. 1.

MARCH 29

(1) To what three important matters, past and future, do the Scriptures point us, in explanation of sin, redemption and salvation? Page 24, par. 1.

(2) When did sin enter the world, or was it always here? Page 24, par. 2.

(3) Is it correct or incorrect for us to speak of the world as “children of wrath”? and why? Rom. 5:8,9; Eph. 2:3.

(4) Is it correct or incorrect for us to speak of “the fatherhood of God” to all humanity and “the brotherhood of all mankind”? John 8:44.

(5) If the relationship of sons of God belongs only to

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believers, and if such are “brethren” in the true sense, who is our “neighbor” if we are to do “good unto all men as we have opportunity, especially to the household of faith”? Gal. 6:10.

(6) Has reconciliation, or at-one-ment, yet been completed between God and any of Adam’s race? Page 25, par. 1.

(7) What evidences have we that such a reconciliation will ultimately reach beyond the Church of this age to the race in general? Page 25, par. 1 and 2.

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— February 1, 1908 —