THE ATONEMENT AND THE SACRAMENTS

A definitive book which treats the Doctrine of the Atonement historically from the earliest days of the Church until now. He views the doctrine through the eyes of all sorts and conditions of believers facing manifold historical situations. This gathering of varied views in the settings which called them forth makes the book valuable in itself. However, he goes on from this point to face the ecumenical demand for a more common approach to this idea today. Dr. Paul's peculiar insight is the extent to which the concept of atonement has an immediate bearing upon sacramental theory and practice, and he relates this specifically to Holy Baptism and the Eucharist. The clergy will find this work useful, and it is not beyond the advanced layman who is not deterred by its size. In the Sacramental part it will occur to some that an investigation of the Sacrament of Confirmation might resolve some of the dilemmas Dr. Paul finds between incarnational and atonement theology, or among various approaches to Baptism. This, however, does not rob the book of its basic value, nor is it limited to the members of the Congregational denomination in England, to whom the book was originally directed, for the doctrine is a fundamental Christian doctrine.