Atonement

Knowledge Leads to Salvation  ( Taken from The Infinite Atonement by Tad R. Callister, beginning on page 12).

“It seems paradoxical that the very doctrine that is essential to our salvation is also one of the least understood doctrines in the Christian world.  The misunderstandings, confusion and doctrinal heresies associated with this foundational doctrine and its precursor, the Fall, are rampant.  The following are examples of such misconceptions taught by many in the Christian world today:

1. Adam and Eve would have had children in the Garden of Eden if they had been allowed to remain.

2. Adam and Eve were not in a state of innocence in the Garden, but rather were experiencing unparalleled joy.

3. The Fall was not part of God’s master plan, but rather a tragic step backwards.  It was a stumbling block, not a stepping stone in man’s eternal journey.

4. If Adam had not fallen, all of Adam’s children would have been born in a state of bliss, to live ‘happily ever after’ in Edenic conditions.

5. Because of the Fall, all infants are tainted with original sin.

6. Grace alone can save, (that is, exalt) us, regardless of any works on our part.

7. The physical resurrection of the Savior was merely symbolic; we will be resurrected as spirits without the ‘limitations’ of a physical body.

8. The Atonement does not have the power to transform us into gods; in fact, such a thought is blasphemous.

Each of the foregoing doctrinal assertions is false.  They are not minor issues, but major theological points that strike at the doctrinal core of the Atonement.  Without a correct understanding of them, one will ‘end up’ with many misconceptions of this central Christian teaching.  Fortunately, the truth about each of these doctrinal points is taught in the Book of Mormon, with additional support from modern scriptures…

There are also many key points of the Atonement that are not incorrectly taught by other religions—they simply are not taught at all.  For example, which other religions discuss not only Christ’s taking upon himself all sins, but likewise his assumption of all pains, infirmities and sicknesses inherent in the mortal experience?  Who else preaches of the Atonement’s power to reach those who have no law or of its retroactive effect upon the saints of premeridian times?  Who speaks of its power to transcend the grave and redeem spirits in the premortal realm?  Ironically, the answers to these questions are not to be found in what many call ‘mainstream’ Christianity rather in the restored Church of Jesus Christ.

President Ezra Taft Benson taught:

‘Much of the Christian world today rejects the divinity of the Savior.  They question His miraculous birth, His perfect life and the reality of His glorious resurrection.  The Book of Mormon teaches in plain and unmistakable terms about the truth of all of those.’

…If it were not for the Book of Mormon, we would fall victim to many of the misconceptions about the Fall and the Atonement as discussed above, simply because the Bible, as inspired as it is, has had ‘many parts which are plain and most precious’ deleted from its original contents.

Sometimes it is difficult for us as members of the Church to distinguish between our beliefs in the Atonement and those of the rest of the Christian world.  Many of us grow up thinking that what we know and believe about this central doctrine is also what the world knows and believes, but it is not so.  Without modern scriptures, particularly the Book of Mormon, it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to grasp many of the basic tenets of the Atonement.  Almost two thousand years of Bible interpretation and the varied conclusions arrived at by many of the Christian world should be ample evidence of the need for additional scriptural insight.

For many, the beautiful and deep doctrine of the Atonement is summarily dismissed and placed on the back shelf with the (easy) response, ‘Just believe and be saved.’

Hugh Nibley has said, ‘So (casual) has been the reception of the message [of the Atonement] that through the centuries, while heated controversy and debate have raged over evolution, atheism, the sacraments, the Trinity, authority, predestination, faith and works and so on, there has been no argument or discussion at all about the meaning of the Atonement…People either do not care enough or do not know enough even to argue about it…’

Satan has been successful in diverting much of the Christian world’s attention from the one doctrine that can save us, the Atonement of Jesus Christ, to the (secondary) doctrines that have meaning only because they draw their sustenance from this redeeming event.

(However), with increased (knowledge) can come increased motivation.  So it is with the Atonement.  As our vision of the Atonement is enhanced, our motivation to embrace its full effects is proportionately increased.”