In Christian theology, atonement is the special work of Christ effected by his life, sufferings, and death. The first explicit exposition of the evangelical doctrine of the atonement is ascribed to Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury, in 1093. Research Atonement
Criminal law is the law relating to crimes. The general theory of the common law is, that all wrongs are divisible into two species: first, civil or private wrongs or torts; secondly, criminal or public wrongs. The former are to be redressed by private suits or remedies instituted by the parties injured. The latter are redressed by the state acting in its sovereign capacity.
The general description of the private wrongs is, that they comprehend those injuries which affect the rights and property of the individual, and terminate there; that of public wrongs or offences being, that they comprehend such acts as injure, not merely individuals, but the community at large, by endangering the peace, the comfort, the good order, the policy, and even the existence of society. In the first, therefore, so far as the law is concerned, the compensation of the individual whose rights have been infringed is held to be a sufficient atonement; but in the second class of offences it is demanded that the offender make satisfaction to the community as acting prejudicially to its welfare. The exact boundaries between these classes are not, however, always easy to be discerned, even in theory; for there are few private wrongs which do not exert an influence beyond the individual whom they directly injure. The divisions, torts and crimes, are thus not necessarily mutually exclusive, cases sometimes occurring in which the person injured obtains damages, while at the same time the criminal is subjected to punishment, not as against the individual, but as against the state. It is, moreover, obvious that legal criminality is not in any strict sense the measure of the morality of actions, though the legal enactment tends to enforce itself as a moral law. In large part it is only an approximate expression of the current sense of justice, this expression being both aided and hindered by the historical and constantly reflexive character of legal method.
The basis of the criminal law of Great Britain is to be found in a series of loose definitions and descriptions, of which many, and those among the more important, date from the 13th century. The irregular superstructure reared upon these consists mainly of parliamentary enactments which originated in the 18th century, but have been twice re-enacted in the 19th century - the first time between 1826 and 1832, and the second time in 1861, with an intermediary attempt at amendment in 1837. The laws as formulated, however, by no means always represent the law as interpreted, the whole system being further complicated by a mass of judicial comments and particular constructions. Thus while there is a statutory division of crimes into treasons, felonies, and misdemeanours, the distinctions between them are so uncertain that it is possible to regard the first head as merely the isolation of a sub-case of felony; while in respect of the second and third classes, the distinction can only be clearly marked by an enumeration of the crimes arbitrarily assigned to each in the common law and judges' decisions.
Even in severity of punishment a misdemeanour may rank as high as a felony. The Criminal Statutes Consolidation Acts - the result of a series of commissions extending over thirty years - accomplished little more in the way of systematization than the introduction of greater exactitude into the definition of certain individual offences and the gradation of penalties. The aim of criminal law as at present constituted, and since the end of the 19th century, is both retributive and preventive - in its former aspect being based upon the primitive passion of retaliation, in the latter primarily upon the fundamental instinct of self-preservation. The prevention of crime may, however, be effected in a threefold manner: by imposing a penalty which shall operate by fear to deter people from committing crimes, or by rendering it physically impossible for a person of known criminal tendency to repeat an offence, or by the reformation of the criminal. With the higher evolution of society the principle of retaliation has fallen into theoretic disrepute, though still a practical legal factor; and the problems of penology are made to turn almost exclusively upon the principle of prevention in these three aspects, and especially on the two last. The discovery in the 19th century that fear of a penalty only operated up to a certain point, beyond which an excessive punishment exercised a brutalizing tendency, led to a large mitigation of penal severity accompanied by a wide desire for the abolition of capital punishment, though this took almost one hundred years to be realised in Great Britain; while, on the other hand, various schemes have been devised for making punishment reformatory. These original changes in criminal law date in a large measure from the publication of Beccaria's Dei Delitti e delle Pene (On Offences and Penalties) in 1764. Research Criminal Law
Tishri is the seventhmonth of the Jewish sacred year, and the first month of the civil year. It corresponds approximately with October. The first day of Tishri is observed as Rosh Hashanah, or feast of the New Year; the day of Atonement is on the 10th; and the feast of Tabernacles, or harvest festival, on the 15th. Research Tishri
Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) is the most solemn day in the Jewish calendar, occurring always on Tishri 10th, corresponding with the end of September. It is a full fast day of 24 hours, observed from sunset to star-rise of the following day, in which neither food nor drink is taken, in accordance with Biblical command. It was observed in ancient times by an elaborate sacrificial ritual, in which the High Priest, representing the whole of Israel, interceded for Divine Pardon. Research Yom Kippur
The Arminians are a sect or party of Christians, so called from James Arminius or Harmensen, a Protestant divine of Leyden, who died in 1609. They were called also remonstrants, from their having presented a remonstrance to the States-general in 1610. The Arminian doctrines are: (1) Conditional election and reprobation, in opposition to absolute predestination. (2) Universal redemption, or that the atonement was made by Christ for all mankind, though none but believers can be partakers of the benefit. (3) That man, in order to exercise true faith, must be regenerated and renewed by the operation of the Holy Spirit, which is the gift of God; but that this grace is not irresistible and may be lost, so that men may relapse from a state of grace and die in their sins. These doctrines were vehemently attacked by the Calvinists of Holland, and were condemned by the Synod of Dort in 1619. The Arminians in consequence were treated with great severity; many of them fled to, and spread in, other countries, and though there is no longer any particular sect to which the name is exclusively applied, many bodies are classed as Arminians, as being opposed to the Calvinists on the question of predestination. Research Arminians
Catharine Grace Gore was an English novelist. She was born in 1799 and died in 1861. In 1823 she was married to Charles Arthur Gore of the 1st Life Guards, and shortly afterwards appeared her first novel, Theresa Marchmont, or the Maid of Honour. She wrote altogether from 60 to 70 novels, clever pictures of fashionable life, among the best of which are Preferment; the Courtier of the days of Charles II; Cecil, or the Adventures of a Coxcomb; The Hamiltons; The Banker's Wife; Pin Money; Peers and Parvenues; and Temptation and Atonement. She was also the author of a tragedy, LordDacre of the South; and a successful comedy, A Quid pro Quo. Research Catharine Gore
David Montagu Erskine (Baron Erskine) was a British statesman. He was born in 1776 and died in 1855. He was British Minister to the United States from 1806 until 1809. In 1809 he officially announced that atonement would be made for the Chesapeake outrage, and that the British orders in council would be withdrawn, provided the American embargo and non-intercourse acts ceased as to Great Britain. In consequence of this, President Madison proclaimed that, on June the 10th, 1809, all interdicts against Great Britain would cease. The British Ministry repudiated the Erskine arrangements and declared them unauthorized. President Madison was, therefore, compelled to restore the suspension of intercourse on August the 9th. Research David Erskine
Elias Hicks was an American clergyman. He was born in 1748 and died in 1830. A celebrated preacher of the Society of Friends, he denied the divinity of Christ and a vicarious atonement, thereby causing a division of the Society into Orthodox and Hicksite Quakers. Research Elias Hicks
Ferdinand Christian Baur was a German theologian. He was born in 1792 and died in 1860. He was the founder of the Tubingen School of Theology. The publication of his first work, Symbolism and Mythology, or the Natural Religion of Antiquity, in 1824-1825, led to his appointment as professor in the evangelical faculty of Tubingen University, a position occupied by him until his death in 1860.
His chief works in the department of the history of Christian dogma are: The Christian Gnosis, or the Christian Philosophy of Religion published in 1835; The Christian Doctrine of the Atonement published in 1838; The Christian Doctrine of the Trinity and the Incarnation published in 1841-1843; the Compendium of and Lectures on the History of Christian Dogmas published in 1847 and 1865. To the department of New Testament Criticism and the Early History of Christianity belong the So-called Pastoral Epistles of the Apostle Paul published in 1835; Paul the Apostle of Jesus Christ published in 1845; Critical Inquiries Concerning the Canonic Gospels published in 1847; A History of Christian Doctrine to the End of the Eighteenth Century published in 1853-1863. Baur's views in regard to the church of the earliest times and the New Testament Scriptures have been very influential. He saw different and opposing tendencies at work in the church of apostolic times, and believed that the New Testament mainly took form in the second century, the only genuine writings previous to 70 AD being the four great Pauline epistles and Revelation. Research Ferdinand Baur
Quaker is a popular term for a member of the Christian sect the Society of Friends. The movement was founded in Great Britain by George Fox in 1650, and is noted for its belief in the Inner Light, in pacifist principles, and for its rejection of sacraments, ordained ministry, and set forms of worship. Originally, the Quakers were also distinguished by the plainness of their dress and speech.
In 1656 some Quakers began to leave Great Britain for Massachusetts, where they were imprisoned, banished, and, in four cases in which they returned, hanged. Charles II. put a stop to the persecution. George Fox, visited America between 1671 and 1673.
In America, Quakers settled largely in Rhode Island, and especially in Pennsylvania, which, founded by the Quaker William Penn, was largely a Quaker colony. New Jersey also was largely settled by Quakers. Everywhere they were thrifty and excellent citizens, though their aversion to war hampered Pennsylvania in making a successful defence against the French. They were constantly forward in movements of philanthropy and reform, and had a most important part in the abolition movement. In 1827 occurred a rupture in the United States between the Orthodox Friends and the Hicksites, or followers of Blias Hicks, the dispute being with regard to the atonement. Research Quaker
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Atonement
