Did Jesus Redeem Mankind? — Page 111
111. Messiah (peace be on him) was agreeable to redeem the debt of men and the other premises are also proven, we have no choice left but to concede that his atonement stands validated. . But even if Christianity proves the other premises which we have exploded in the foregoing dissertation and fails to establish that the Messiah (peace be on him) took upon himself the sins of mankind of his free will, the whole fabric of the atonement theory comes down with a crash, for the simple reason that the major actor in the atonement drama was an unwilling scapegoat. . EVIDENCE OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. We now turn to the New Testament to find out what it has to say in this behalf. It is mentioned in St. Mark (Ch. 14: 32-42): "And they came to a place which was named. Gethsemane: and he saith to his disciples, Sit ye here, while I shall pray. And he taketh with him Peter and James and John,¹ and began to be sore amazed, and to be very heavy; And saith unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death: tarry ye here, and watch. 2 And he went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. 3 And he said, Abba,. Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me4: nevertheless not what 'The Messiah took only three disciples with him and proceeded to pray in seclusion. 2First, leaving all his disciples behind, he took along only three of them to accompany him and later, fearing that their presence would stifle the free expression of wailing and moaning, he told them to stay behind and keep awake. . He prayed that this hour should pass from him and the enemy should not put him to the Cross-the means whereby he was to carry the sins of all mankind. 4These words clearly show that he was being forced to hang