CHRIST’S DOCTRINE OF THE ATONEMENT by G. Smeaton, Banner of Truth Trust. Price £9.95.
G. Smeaton was one of the venerable company of the godly and learned men that adorned the Free Church of Scotland in the latter part of the nineteenth century.
The book may not exhibit the same close reasoning as is to be found in that of his compeer Hugh Martin; nor is there in it what answers to the profundity of the renowned John Owen when he deals with the same subject; but there is in it freshness of thought and felicity of expression with a close adhesion to the subject title. The style is facile, plain and devotional.
From the lips of Christ Himself, the author proves the nature of Christ’s sufferings to be wholly vicarious and such as could be endured only by Him who is both God and man. He exhibits the truth that full satisfaction was made by Christ to God when “He encountered all the elements of eternal death as far as they could fall on such a sufferer;” while the cry of dereliction is described as that “which brings us to the margin of the inscrutable (where it is) wiser to stand by and adore than grope our way to the meaning of this ‘why?'” Our author illustrates how in all these sufferings the Son of God in our nature was assured of victory, as when He said ‘Now is the Son of Man glorified’ — ‘grasping the crown as already at hand.’
The restriction of the Atonement, in its purposes and efficacy, to the elect, is asserted and its effects upon Satan, angels and men opened up. The relation of the subject to the ‘free offer’ of the gospel is so dealt with as must relieve the fears of those who shrink from the phrase for fear of dishonouring God and of going contrary to the Word. ‘Any carping’ says he ‘at it is due to the exercise of human reasoning on themes the finite mind must rather accept than presume to explore. . . . A special atonement and invitations sincerely made on the ground of it to mankind indifferently are quite compatible. They will be found to meet at some point though their junction be beyond our present line of vision.’
As our Reformers said, ‘an unapplied Christ is no Christ’, so our author sets forth the need of application of the atonement which is by a faith that is ‘a Spirit-given trust in the divine mercy and on a personal Saviour as opposed to man’s native self-reliance.’
False theories of the Atonement are summarily dismissed — the Arminian view that Christ shall give eternal life to all who obey His Word and persevere to the end: the Amyraldist view, that the atonement is for all if they believe; that Christ died with the intention that He might be a sufficient Saviour for all and every one provided they believe; the view of Cameron, that the death of Christ on condition of faith belongs EQUALLY to all.
Further, the author brings forward some of the errors of Darbyism and describes Darbyism as the very antithesis of Reformation doctrine. He draws the necessary distinction between believing in Christ and believing that Christ died for oneself, observing that no one, in the first instance, is called upon to believe that Christ died for him.
A section of the book is compiled of notes of an academic nature, expanding and explaining references in the main part. Being thus placed it means that the book can be read through without the reader being encumbered with unfamiliar theological terminology. One of the notes refers to the theology of Schleiermacher and is deserving of perusal as that ‘New Theology’ has permeated theology ever since. Its main emphasis is on the Incarnation and the life of God in Christ from whom sinners are to receive the life simply in virtue of it being in Christ. He shows how this is a bypassing of the need of an Atonement and hence a most serious and fundamental error.
On page 120 there is reference to the law concerning the sabbath, and while the author makes plain that Christ did not abrogate that law, the words used are calculated to give the reader the impression that the law of the sabbath as commanding one seventh of man’s time to be given to God by way of worship, is not moral and unalterable.
There is much to commend the book to all classes of readers.
EPHESIANS by Charles Hodge. Banner of Truth. £7.95.
Readers of the Free Presbyterian Magazine broadly speaking, need no formal introductions to Charles Hodge of Princeton. His name is a household word among our ministers and students. His eminence, piety and learning are beyond suspicion, and in this latest reprinted edition of his commentary on Ephesians, they are put to their highest use in unfolding the treasures of this great Epistle. The burning of the costly but dangerous volumes, kindled in Ephesus by the flame of the Gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit, give additional interest and significance to the Epistle.
Scholarship without grace has blighted the church of God, but to erudition in the hands of piety, the church owes a debt of gratitude to God. Behind the production lies no small degree of loving and prayerful labour. The volume is for ministers and students, rather than for laymen. To peruse its contents with profit requires close prayerful study and concentration. To affirm this gives us some indication of the spiritual ability and stamina of the author. He leans heavily on Calvin, and moves with ease and fluency from Greek to Latin. His thorough familiarity with the original tongue and its idioms is most apparent, yet useful in grappling with the subject matter. First published in 1856, reprinted by the Banner of Truth in 1964, this most tastefully bound volume appears again in 1991.
While we call no man master, yet we highly recommend this Commentary for its manifold merits and heart-warming orthodoxy. Extensive knowledge of the ‘fathers’ eminent theological acumen, and linguistic ability all combine to make this work what it is; a most helpful and illuminating Commentary. Hodge’s comments on Ephesians 5: 19 merit close study, but it must be stated categorically that the Psalms alone are divinely inspired.
F.M.