Did Jesus Redeem Mankind? — Page 22
? 15 bound up with the belief in vicarious atonement and disbelief in the salvation, that they stand together and fall together. Christianity, as is well-known, believes that, in order to save man, God sent the Messiah, His only son, in atonement. According to Christianity, God cannot forgive sin as it would contradict His justice. By forgiving the sins of man, He runs the risk of being iniquitous. But, since, at the same time, He was very keenly desirous that men should be saved, therefore, in order to secure this end, He sent His Son to be put on the Cross, so that those who believed in his death on the Cross may be saved from spiritual punishment and thus his giving up his ghost on the Cross may atone for their sins. It is evident that the theory of vicarious atonement pre- supposes tripartite godhead, for it is based on the doctrine that God hanged His only son to death and gave him life after three days. This belief predicates the existence of more than one God. In the case of His being the one and only God, this cannot be a practical proposition. For, God, cannot bring Himself back to life three days after hanging Himself to death. In the event of accepting the doctrine of tripartite god- head, however, one is confronted with the question of whether the three members of the order have equal powers or differ from one another in that respect. If one