Author's Note: The Bible Dictionary says that atonement "describes the setting 'at one' of those who have been estranged, and denotes the reconciliation of man to God. Sin is the cause of the estrangement, and therefore the purpose of atonement is to correct or overcome the consequences of sin. From the time of Adam to the death of Jesus Christ, true believers were instructed to offer animal sacrifices to the Lord. These sacrifices were symbolic of the forthcoming death of Jesus Christ, and were done by faith in Him (Moses 5:5-8." (BD:617)
Hugh W. Nibley depicts atonement in this manner: "There is not a word among those translated as 'atonement' which does not plainly indicate the return to a former state or condition; one rejoins the family, returns to the Father, becomes united, reconciled, embracing and sitting down happily with others after a sad separation. We want to get back, but to do that we must resist the alternative, being taken into the community of the 'prince of this world' (John 12:31)." ("The Meaning of the Atonement," p. 26)
Bruce R. McConkie defines atonement: "To atone is to . . . pay the penalty. Thus the atonement of Christ is designed to ransom men from the effects of the fall of Adam in that both spiritual and temporal death are conquered; their lasting effect is nullified." (DGSM:23)
Redemption is tied into Atonement and is defined by Bruce R. McConkie thus: "Redemption is of two kinds: conditional and unconditional. Conditional redemption is synonymous with exaltation or eternal life. It comes by grace of God coupled with good works and includes redemption from the effects of both the temporal and spiritual fall. . . . Unconditional redemption is redemption from the effects of the temporal but not the spiritual fall. It consists in obtaining the free gift of immortality but being denied 'the eternal life which God giveth unto all the obedient.' (Moses 5:11) It comes by grace alone without works." (Mormon Doctrine, p. 623)
030. The Fall of Adam brought physical and spiritual death to all people and thus established the need for an atonement.
President Joseph Fielding Smith
quoted by Nephi
For as death hath passed upon all men, to fulfil the merciful plan of the great Creator, there must needs be a power of resurrection, and the resurrection must needs come unto man by reason of the fall; and the fall came by reason of transgression; and because man became fallen they were cut off from the presence of the Lord.
7. Wherefore, it must needs be an infinite atonement—save it should be an infinite atonement this corruption could not put on incorruption. Wherefore, the first judgment which came upon man must needs have remained to an endless duration. And if so, this flesh must have laid down to rot and to crumble to its mother earth, to rise no more.
8. O the wisdom of God, his mercy and grace For behold, if the flesh should rise no more our spirits must become subject to that angel who fell from before the presence of the Eternal God, and became the devil, to rise no more.
9. And our spirits must have become like unto him, and we become devils, angels to a devil, to be shut out from the presence of our God, and to remain with the father of lies, in misery, like unto himself; yea, to that being who beguiled our first parents, who transformeth himself nigh unto an angel of light, and stirreth up the children of men unto secret combinations of murder and all manner of secret works of darkness.
10. O how great the goodness of our God, who prepareth a way for our escape from the grasp of this awful monster; yea, that monster, death and hell, which I call the death of the body, and also the death of the spirit.
11. And because of the way of deliverance of our God, the Holy One of Israel, this death, of which I have spoken, which is the temporal, shall deliver up its dead; which death is the grave.
12. And this death of which I have spoken, which is the spiritual death, shall deliver up its dead; which spiritual death is hell; wherefore, death and hell must deliver up their dead, and hell must deliver up its captive spirits, and the grave must deliver up its captive bodies, and the bodies and the spirits of men will be restored one to the other; and it is by the power of the resurrection of the Holy One of Israel.
13. O how great the plan of our God For on the other hand, the paradise of God must deliver up the spirits of the righteous, and the grave deliver up the body of the righteous; and the spirit and the body is restored to itself again, and all men become incorruptible, and immortal, and they are living souls, having a perfect knowledge like unto us in the flesh, save it be that our knowledge shall be perfect. (Jacob recounts to the people of Nephi the covenants of the Lord made to the house of Israel, 559-545 B.C.) 2 Nephi 9:6-13
Adam became mortal; spiritual death came to him; and mortal death came to him. This was the first great crisis in the history of mankind. Indeed, it may be said to have produced mankind.
In order for him to get back to the place whence he began, it was necessary that there should be an atonement for this disobedience.
Quite obviously, Adam could not retrace his steps; he could not un-eat. He was mortal. No matter how good any of his children might be, they, also mortal, had no more power than had he. So, to pay for the disobedience, it took a Being conceived by the Infinite, not subject to death as were Adam's posterity; someone to whom death was subject; someone born of woman but yet divine. He alone could make the sacrifice which would enable us to have our bodies and our spirits reunited in the due time of the Lord and then go back to the Father, thus reunited; and finally, body and spirit together, we might go on through all the eternities. CR1955Oct:23
quoted by Mormon
But behold, it was appointed unto man to die—therefore, as they were cut off from the tree of life they should be cut off from the face of the earth—and man became lost forever, yea, they became fallen man.
7. And now, ye see by this that our first parents were cut off both temporally and spiritually from the presence of the Lord; and thus we see they became subjects to follow after their own will.
8. Now behold, it was not expedient that man should be reclaimed from this temporal death, for that would destroy the great plan of happiness.
9. Therefore, as the soul could never die, and the fall had brought upon all mankind a spiritual death as well as a temporal, that is, they were cut off from the presence of the Lord, it was expedient that mankind should be reclaimed from this spiritual death.
10. Therefore, as they had become carnal, sensual, and devilish, by nature, this probationary state became a state for them to prepare; it became a preparatory state.
11. And now remember, my son, if it were not for the plan of redemption, (laying it aside) as soon as they were dead their souls were miserable, being cut off from the presence of the Lord.
12. And now, there was no means to reclaim men from this fallen state, which man had brought upon himself because of his own disobedience;
13. Therefore, according to justice, the plan of redemption could not be brought about, only on conditions of repentance of men in this probationary state, yea, this preparatory state; for except it were for these conditions, mercy could not take effect except it should destroy the work of justice. Now the work of justice could not be destroyed; if so, God would cease to be God.
14. And thus we see that all mankind were fallen, and they were in the grasp of justice; yea, the justice of God, which consigned them forever to be cut off from his presence.
15. And now, the plan of mercy could not be brought about except an atonement should be made; therefore God himself atoneth for the sins of the world, to bring about the plan of mercy, to appease the demands of justice, that God might be a perfect, just God, and a merciful God also. (Alma speaks to his son, Corianton, concerning the resurrection of the dead, about 73 B.C.) Alma 42:6-15
We believe that he [Christ] came into the world to ransom men from the temporal and spiritual death brought into the world through the fall of Adam, and we have in our hearts unbounded gratitude that through the shedding of his blood all men are raised in immortality, while those who believe and obey his laws are raised also unto eternal life. ("The First Prophet of the Last Dispensation," EN1971Aug:6) TLDP:37
Justice made certain demands, and Adam could not pay the price, so mercy steps in. The Son of God says: "I will go down and pay the price. I will be the Redeemer and redeem men from Adam's transgression. I will take upon me the sins of the world and redeem or save every soul from his own sins who will repent." That is the only condition. The Savior does not save anybody from his individual sins only on condition of his repentance. So the effect of Adam's transgression was to place all of us in the pit with him. Then the Savior comes along, not subject to that pit, and lowers the ladder. He comes down into the pit and makes it possible for us to use the ladder to escape. . . .
This was precisely the condition that Adam placed himself and his posterity in, when he partook of the forbidden fruit. All being together in the pit, none could gain the surface and relieve the others. The pit was banishment from the presence of the Lord and temporal death, the dissolution of the body. And all being subject to death, none could provide the means of escape.
Therefore, in his infinite mercy, the Father heard the cries of his children and sent his Only Begotten Son, who was not subject to death nor to sin, to provide the means of escape. This he did through his infinite atonement and the everlasting gospel. (Doctrines of Salvation, 1:123) TLDP:48-49,50
We learn in the revelations of the Lord that the fall extended to all, and that the grievous consequence of the fall was banishment from the presence of our Heavenly Father. The consequences of the fall were both temporal and spiritual. Jesus came; He made the sacrifice. He did it willingly. He was without blemish or fault. No sin was found in Him, and as such He was proper subject for the sacrifice. CR1912Apr:12
Was it known that man would fall? Yes. We are clearly told that it was understood that man should fall, and it was understood that the penalty of departing from the law would be death, death temporal. And there was a provision made for that. Man was not able to make that provision himself, and hence we are told that it needed the atonement of a God to accomplish this purpose; and the Son of God presented Himself to carry out that object. (At Provo, Utah, Aug. 28, 1881, JD22:300) TLDP:41
Death was "passed upon all men to fulfill the merciful plan of the great Creator;" and furthermore, that the resurrection came "by reason of the fall." For if man had not sinned, there would have been no death, and if Jesus had not atoned for the sin, there would have been no resurrection. Hence these things are spoken of as being according to the merciful plan of God. This corruption could not have put on incorruption, and this mortality could not have put on immortality; for, as we have elsewhere shown, man by reason of any thing that he himself could do or accomplish, could only exalt himself to the dignity and capability of man and therefore it needed the atonement of a God, before man, through the adoption, could be exalted to the Godhead. (The Mediation and Atonement, pp. 132-33) TLDP:39-40
031. Adam and Eve were commanded to sacrifice animals in similitude of the future sacrifice that Christ would make to redeem all people from the Fall of Adam.
translating the Book of Moses
And he gave unto them commandments, that they should worship the Lord their God, and should offer the firstlings of their flocks, for an offering unto the Lord. And Adam was obedient unto the commandments of the Lord.
6. And after many days an angel of the Lord appeared unto Adam, saying: Why dost thou offer sacrifices unto the Lord? And Adam said unto him: I know not, save the Lord commanded me.
7. And then the angel spake, saying: This thing is a similitude of the sacrifice of the Only Begotten of the Father, which is full of grace and truth.
8. Wherefore, thou shalt do all that thou doest in the name of the Son, and thou shalt repent and call upon God in the name of the Son forevermore.
9. And in that day the Holy Ghost fell upon Adam, which beareth record of the Father and the Son, saying: I am the Only Begotten of the Father from the beginning, henceforth and forever, that as thou hast fallen thou mayest be redeemed, and all mankind, even as many as will. (Revelation to Moses concerning Adam and Eve after they were driven out of the Garden of Eden) Moses 5:5-9
The Lord designed in the beginning to place before man the knowledge of good and evil, and gave him a commandment to cleave to good and abstain from evil. But if he should fail, he would give to him the law of sacrifice and provide a Savior for him, that he might be brought back again into the presence and favor of God and partake of eternal life with him. This was the plan of redemption chosen and instituted by the Almighty before man was placed on the earth. And when man did fall by transgressing the law which was given him, the Lord gave to him the law of sacrifice, and made it clear to his understanding, that it was for the purpose of reminding him of that great event that should transpire in the meridian of time, whereby he and all his posterity might be brought forth by the power of redemption and resurrection from the dead, and partake of eternal life with God in his kingdom. For this reason Adam and his posterity, from generation to generation, observed this law, and continually looked forward to a time when there should be provided for them a means of redemption from the fall and restoration from death to life, for death was the penalty of the law transgressed, which man was powerless to avert, that fiat of God being, "In the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die," and this penalty was to follow upon all flesh, all being as helpless and dependent as he was in this matter. . . .
In anticipation, therefore, of this great sacrifice which was to be offered for Adam and his seed, they offered sacrifices. . . .
They would take the firstlings of their flocks, the best fruits of their fields, and those things which were emblematic of purity, innocence, and perfection, symbolical of him who was without sin, and as "a lamb slain from the foundation of the world," and offer sacrifices unto God in memory of him, and the matchless and wonderful deliverance to be wrought out for them by him. (Gospel Doctrine, pp. 202-03) TLDP:52
For four thousand long years, from Adam to that bleak day when our Lord was lifted up by sinful men, all of his righteous followers sought remission of their sins through sacrifice. It was an ordinance of the Melchizedek Priesthood: it antedated the law of Moses by two and a half millenniums. . . . For our purposes now it suffices to know that there neither was nor could have been any ordinance or system devised that would have dramatized more perfectly the coming eternal sacrifice that was and is the heart and core of revealed religion. . . .
After the final great sacrifice on the cross, the use for the similitude that looked forward to our Lord's death ceased. Blood sacrifices became a thing of the past. New symbolisms, found in the sacrament of the Lord's supper, were adopted so that the saints might look back with reverence and worship upon his atoning ordeal. (The Promised Messiah, pp. 379-80) TLDP:52
Related Witnesses:
Jesus had to take away sin by the sacrifice of Himself, the just for the unjust, but, previous to this grand sacrifice, these animals had to have their blood shed as types, until the great antitype should offer up Himself once for all. (The Mediation and Atonement, pp. 149-50) TLDP:43
All the sacrifices of old, from the days of Adam to the atonement of Jesus Christ by blood were in the similitude of and a reminder of the great sacrifice, and pointed forward to its fulfillment by Jesus upon the cross. (Answers to Gospel Questions, 1:188) TLDP:17
032. The sacrifice of animals (and burnt offerings) ended with the fulfillment of that portion of the law by Jesus Christ, culminating in His own sacrifice on the cross.
After the final great sacrifice on the cross, the use for the similitude that looked forward to our Lord's death ceased. Blood sacrifices became a thing of the past. New symbolisms, found in the sacrament of the Lord's supper, were adopted so that the saints might look back with reverence and worship upon his atoning ordeal. (The Promised Messiah, pp. 380) TLDP:52
Jesus had to take away sin by the sacrifice of Himself, the just for the unjust, but, previous to this grand sacrifice, these animals had to have their blood shed as types, until the great antitype should offer up Himself once for all. (The Mediation and Atonement, p. 150) TLDP:43
He came as the living Paschal Lamb to put a divine seal upon all the sacrifices, all the trespass offerings, all the peace offerings ever offered by either Melchizedek or Aaronic authority since the world began. He came to fulfill the law that he himself had given to Moses, to bring redemption, to atone for the sins of the world. He came as the Lamb of God. He was appointed unto death, and all else incident to his mortal probation was truly incidental. (The Mortal Messiah, 1:140-41) TLDP:38
In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure.
7. Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.
8. Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law;
9. Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.
10. By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
11. And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins:
12. But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;
13. From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool.
14. For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. (Letter to the Jewish members of the Church, about A.D. 60) Hebrews 10:6-14
quoted by Mormon
And ye shall offer up unto me no more the shedding of blood; yea, your sacrifices and your burnt offerings shall be done away, for I will accept none of your sacrifices and your burnt offerings.
20. And ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit. (The voice of the resurrected Jesus Christ immediately before he visited the Nephites, A.D. 34) 3 Nephi 9:19-20
