Christian Thought (Volume 3)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: THE VICARIOUS PRINCIPLE IN THE UNIVERSE. [A Paper read before the American Institute of Christian Philosophy, in New York City, April gth, 1885.] By A. H. Bradford, D.D., Montclair, N. J. I HE purpose of this essay is not a discussion of the doctrine -L of the Atonement. It will not enter into any extended consideration of the nature of the Atonement. Its primary object is to show that the Atonement was to have been expected, something without which the universe would have been as incomplete as our solar system without the planet Jupiter. A slight contribution toward an understanding of the naturalness and reasonableness of the sacrifice of Christ, it is our desire to present at this time. The Vicarious Principle in the Universe is the large form in which our subject phrases itself, and I know not how to simplify it. Does the vicarious principle find expression in all parts of the universe, in all gradations of life ? or, is it something which comes into prominence and culminates only in the supreme event of human history, the death of Jesus Christ ? What does the word vicarious signify ? The common definition is The position, place, office of one person as assumed by another.. Acting or suffering for another. The origin of the word is evident. It is the same in the root as, the word vice in Vicegerent, Viceroy, Vicar, Vicar-general, Vice- President, and the like. It is a word that carries always a face of substitution indicating that one person comes in place, somehow, of another. A Vice-President is one who is to act in certain contingencies as, and for, the President. The Pope is called the Vicar of Christ because supposed to be authorized to fill Christ's place. Any person acts vicariously so far as he comes into the place and assumes t...