The Infinite Atonement

Rating:
Summary: Sensitive and Thoughtful
Review: Mr. Callister gives us a thoughtful and lyrical view of the most important event in human history. The book is well-written and easy to understand. What I especially appreciate, however, is Mr. Callister's sensitive, obviously hard-won personal testimony of Jesus Christ. His conclusions come from years of perceptive living combined with a conscious effort to understand what it means to be redeemed. I highly recommend this book. It is one of the best efforts by any Latter-day Saint. Perhaps some of the doctrine is not familiar to people of different faiths. That does invalidate the thought and beautiful testimony of the writer.

Rating:
Summary: The Infinite Atonement
Review: Mr. Callister?s book on the atonement is no more than an attack on Christian doctrine. He writes on pages 12 and 13, ?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 (i.e., 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.?

The book is built around these eight points. Five of which the Bible teaches and Christians believe. Point 1, Genesis 1:28 answers adequately. Point 4, common sense demands that if Adam had not fallen, Edenic conditions would have persisted. Mr. Callister contradicts himself on page 31 and 32, by stating the exact same thing. Point 5, is covered in Psalms 51:5, 58:3, Job 14:4 and Romans 5:12. Point 6, Ephesians 2:8-10 answers adequately. Once again Mr. Callister contradicts himself, see page 309. Point 8, we agree on, reference Exodus 20:2-5, Deuteronomy 6:4, Isaiah 43:10-11, Isaiah 44:6, Isaiah 48:12, and I Corinthians 8:4-6. Christians do not believe the Atonement has the power to transform anyone or anything into a god. From the book ?Studies In The Atonement? by Dr. Robert A. Morey, he writes in the chapter titled ?The Nature of the Atonement?, ?The nature of the atonement arises out of the same considerations from which we derived the necessity of the atonement, i.e., the character of God, the Law of God, the nature of sin and the needs of man. While the doctrine of the necessity of the atonement answers the question, ?Why did Jesus die?? the doctrine of the nature of the atonement answers the question, ?What did Christ accomplish by His death?? We will find that propitiation and reconciliation have as their central concern the character of God.

Propitiation is that priestly work of Christ wherein He removed God?s anger and wrath by the covering over of our sins through the substitutionary sacrifice of Himself to God, thus securing our acceptance before God.
Reconciliation is that sovereign work of God the Father in which His alienation from sinners is removed through the propitiatory sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Reconciliation flows out of and is based upon propitiation.

Redemption is that priestly work of Christ wherein He delivered us from our bondage to the Law, Sin and Satan through purchase by the ransom of His substitutionary obedience in life and in death.

Sacrifice (expiation) is that priestly work of Christ wherein He removed our sin and its guilt by offering up Himself to God in our place.?

Mr. Callister?s concept of the atonement is somewhat skewed. In the chapter titled ?What Are The Purposes Of The Atonement? he writes: ? Third: To provide the power necessary to exalt us to the status of a god (see D&C 76:69).? He equates being saved to being exalted to godhood, reference page 263. According to him, being saved means one becomes a god. Christians disagree with this.

Points 2, 3 and 7 as Mr. Callister states them, are not taught by Christians. Point 2, the only state that Adam and Eve could be in before the fall was a state of innocence. Point 3, the Bible teaches and Christians believe that God is omnipotent, omnipresence, and omniscient. Point 7, Luke 24:13-32 tells us how Jesus revealed Himself to two Emmaus disciples. This same chapter of the gospel of Luke (Luke 24:33-42) tells us that Jesus appeared to the Eleven in Jerusalem. The gospel of John teaches a physical resurrection, John 20:11-25, which Christians believe.

Concerning our resurrection, I Corinthians 15:51-53 and I Thessalonians 4:13-18 teaches us that the dead will be raised imperishable and that we that are alive will be changed. ?For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.?

Mr. Callister should stick to what he knows, LDS doctrine. His lack of understanding of Christian doctrine is evident from these eight points.

Rating:
Summary: A STORY FOR ALL SEASONS
Review: This book was written to be an expression of the author's love. It clearly presents the topic of the atonement in a thorough manner. If you desire to comprehend the topic, purchasing it is an essential step in the right direction. There may be doctrinal issues that will perplex those not of the same faith as the author, but every college student will recognize that this has never stopped them from studying other men's ideas. The atonement is expressed as the answer to the demands of justice, insomuch as it draws power from the principle of mercy and agency; and, I think it explains the words of Socrates spoken in Crito, "that not life, but a good life, is to be chiefly valued."