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 REDEMPTION

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REDEMPTION

good will which God granted them in prevision of the saving works of the Redeemer.

V. Titles and Offices of the Redeemer. — Besides the names Jesus, Saviour, Redeemer, which directly ex- press the work of Redemption, there are other titles commonly attributed to Christ because of certain functions or offices which are either impHed in or con- nected with Redemption, the principal being Priest, Prophet, King and Judge.

A. — The sacerdotal office of the Redeemer is thus described by Manning (The Eternal Priesthood, I): "What is the Priesthood of the Incarnate Son? It is the office He assumed for the Redemption of the world by the oblation of Himself in the vestment of our man- hood. He is Altar, Victim, and Priest by an eternal consecration of Himself. This is the priesthood for- ever after the order of Melchisedeck who was without beginning of days or end of life — a type of the eternal priesthood of the son of Ciod." As sacrifice, if not by the nature of things, at least by the positive ordinance of God, is part of Redemption, the Redeemer must be a priest, for it is the function of the priest to offer sacrifice. In an endeavour to induce the newly- converted Jews to abandon the defective Aaronic priesthood and to cling to the Great High Priest who entered heaven, St. Paul, in his Epistle to the Hebrews, extols the dignity of Christ's sacerdotal office. His consecration as a priest took place, not from all eternity and through the procession of the Word from the Father, as some of the theologians seem to imply, but in the fulness of time and through the Incarna- tion, the mysterious unction which made Him priest being none else than the Hypostatic Union. His great sacrificial act was performed on Calvary by the oblation of Himself on the Cross, is continued on earth by the Sacrifice of the Mass and consummated in heaven through the sacrificial intention of the priest and the glorified wounds of the victim. The Christian priesthood, to which is committed the dispensation of the mysteries of God, is not a substitute for, but the prolongation of, the priesthood of Christ : He continues to be the offerer and the oblation; all that the con- secrated and consecrating priests do, in their minis- terial capacity, is to "show forth the death of the Lord" and apply the merits of His Sacrifice.

B. — The title of Prophet applied by Moses (Deut., xviii, 15) to the coming Messias and recognized as a valid claim by those who heard Jesus (Luke, vii, 16), means not only the foretelling of future events, but also in a general way the mission of teaching men in the name of God. Christ was a Prophet in both senses. His prophecies concerning Himself, His dis- ciples. His Church, and the Jewish nation, are treated in manuals of apologetics (see Mcllvaine, "Evidences of Chri-stianity", lect. V-VI; Lescoeur, "J&us- Christ", 120 confdr.: Le Prophete). His teaching power (Matt., vii, 29), a necessary attribute of His Divinity, was also an integrant part of Redemption. He who came "to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke, xix, 10) should possess every quality, Divine and human, that goes to make the efficient teacher. What Isaias (Iv, 4) foretold, "Behold I have given him for a witness to the people, for a leader and a master to the Gentiles", finds its full realization in the history of Christ. A perfect knowl- edge of the things of God and of man's needs. Divine authority and human sympathy, precept and example combine to elicit from all generations the praise be- stowed on Him by His hearers — " never did man speak like this man" (John, vii, 46).

C. — The kingly title frequently bestowed on the Messias by the Old Testament writers (Ps. ii, 6; Is., ix, t), etc.) and openly claimed by Jesus in Pilate's Court (John, xviii, 37) belongs to Him not only in virtue of the Hypostatic Union but also by way of conquest and as a result of Redemption (Luke, i, 32). Whether or not the tcmi)oral dominion of the universe

belonged to His royal power, it is certain that He understood His Kingdom to be of a higher order than the kingdoms of the world (John, xviii, 36). The spiritual kingship of Christ is essentially character- ized by its final object which is the supernatural wel- fare of men, its ways and means which are the Church and the sacraments, its members who are ordy such as, through grace, have acquired the title of adopted children of God. Supreme and universal, it is sub- ordinate to no other and knows no hmitations of either time or place. While the kingly functions of Christ are not always performed visibly as in earthly kingdoms, it would be wrong to think of His Kingdom as a merely ideal system of thought. Whether viewed in this world or in the next, the "Kingdom of God" is essentially hierarchic, its first and last stage, that is, its constitution in the Chiu-ch and its consummation in the final judgment, being official and visible acts of the King. D. — The Judicial office so emphatically asserted in the New Testament (Matt., xxv, 31; xxvi, 64; John, v, 22 sq.; Acts, x, 42) and early symbols [Denzinger- Bannwart, nn. 1-41 (1-13)] belongs to Christ in virtue of His Divinity and Hypostatic Union and also as a reward of Redemption. Seated at the right hand of God, in token not only of rest after the labours of His mortal life or of glory after the humiliations of His Passion or of happiness after the ordeal of Golgotha, but also of true judicial power (St. Augustine, "De fide et symbolo", in P. L., XL, 188), He judges the living and the dead. His verdict inaugurated in each individual conscience will become final at the par- ticular judgment and receive a solemn and definitive recognition at the assizes of the last judgment. (See Atonement.)

OxENHAM, The Atonement (London, 1881): RiviIire, Le dogme de la Redemption (Paris, 1905) ; Hugon. Le mystire de la Redemp' tion (Paris, 1910) : Grimal, Le sacerdoce et le sacrifice (Paris, 191 1) ; Hunter, Outlines of dogmatic theology (New York. 1894); Wil- HELM AND ScANNELL, Manual of Catholic theology (London, 1901) ; T.ANQUERET, Syuopsis theologioE dogmaticm specialis (Rome, Tour- nai, Paris, 1909); with a good bibliography, II, 404, and passim; Hitter, Christus der Edoser (Linz, 1903); Muth, Heilstadt Christi als stelloertreteiide Genugthuung (Ratisbon, 1904).

J. F. SOLLIEB.

Redemption in the Old Testament means either strictly dcUvcianci' by payment of a price or ransom, or simply (lfliver:ince by power, as from oppression, violence, captivity, etc. In the Hebrew Text, the idea of redemption is directly expressed by the verbs ga'dl and pddah, and by their derivatives to which the word kopher (ransom) is intimately related. Of these two verbs, the former, ga'dl, is used technically in the Mosaic Law, of the redemption by price of an inheritance, or of things vowed, or of tithes; the latter, pddah, of redeeming the first-born of children or of animals. Outside the Law, and in relation to the God of Israel, both verbs are used of simple salvation or deliverance by power. In the New Testament, redemption is specifically that of man from sin by Christ's death. The idea is distinctly ex- pressed by the verb \vTpoOix.a.i (from \iTpov, "a ransom") and its derivatives; it is also directly con- veyed by the term a.yop6.^u) (to buy, to purchase) and by its compound iiayopi^u. The following is simply a treatment of legal redemption.

I. Redemption of Persons. — The first-born male of every Jewish family was consecrated to Yahweh and had to be redeemed at the price of five sides or about $2.75 (Ex., xiii, 2, 13; Num., xviii, 16; etc.). Every other Israelite, whether male or female, could be consecrated to God by a personal vow, or by the vow of those to whom he or she belonged. Jephte's actual immolation of his daughter in consequence of his vow concerning her (Judges, xi, 31-39), was con- trary to the Law. Many Israelites carried out their dedication to God, under the form of the Nazarite vow. Most, however, availed themselves of the redemption allowed by the Law. The sum then to be