The Atonement: in Its Relations to Law and Moral Government

by Albert Barnes

This is a copy of the original book. In this series, we are bringing old books back into print using our own state-of-the-art techniques. Generally, these books are created from careful scans of the original. This allows us to preserve the book accurately and present it in the way that the author intended. However, as we are working with old material, so occasionally there may be certain imperfections within the text. We are so pleased to ensure these classics are available again for generations to come.

376 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

Albert Barnes was an American theologian. He graduated from Hamilton College, Clinton, New York, in 1820, and from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1823.

Barnes was ordained as a Presbyterian minister by the presbytery of Elizabethtown, New Jersey, in 1825, and was the pastor successively of the Presbyterian Church in Morristown, New Jersey (1825–1830), and of the First Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia (1830–1868).

Reviews

[Tyler Jarboe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Top pick. One of the books I most wish the Reformed world would take seriously.

[Theology · Rating 3 out of 5]

"The Atonement" by Albert Barnes is an excellent defense of the probability and necessity of the atonement.
With arguments, which are most of the time solid, Albert Barnes makes his case.
He often starts from general revelation (nature, conscience,...), from things even the skeptic agrees on and then goes on to give valid reasons which point to the atonement.

Although this book is a good apologetical work, there are a few downsides to it: 1. it is wordy and the author often repeats the same arguments. 2. The author argues that only Christ's human nature suffered on the cross, while His divine nature did not suffer. I believe that this borders on gnosticism and the Bible seems to imply that the whole Person of Jesus suffered and died on the cross.