"Keep the commandments" -- that, according to Je-
sus, was the way to eternal life. Salvation could be
gained by believing in God, eschewing evil and do-
ing good, and not by accepting Jesus as the redeemer
and believing in his blood atonement.
The dogma of the Atonement is unsound, for (1)
man is not born in sin, (2) God does not require a
price to forgive the sinners, and (3) the ideas of sub-
stitutionary or vicarious sacrifice is unjust and cruel.
By sinning we do not harm God, but ourselves. The
stain of sin on our souls can be removed, not by the
suffering or death of any other person, whether the
latter be willing or unwilling, but by our own repen-
tance, turining away from evil and doing good. And
so, when Adam, after the act of disobedience, re-
pented and submitted himself completely to God, his
sin was forgiven. Neither is the sin of Adam inherit-
ed by the children of Adam, nor did it require the
suffering and death of Jesus Christ to be forgiven.
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