Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 02.djvu/247

ATOMIC WEIGHTS. mended by a coniniittee of the German Chemical Society, consisting of Professors Landolt, Ostvald, and Seiibert, and now accepted by chemists universally. The basis of these numbers is 16 as the atomic weight of oxygen. The second column gives the atomic weights still much employed in analytical work, the basis being 1 as the atomic weight of hydrogen. Among the names connected with precise determinations of atomic weights, that of Stas is foremost. In recent years Prof. Theodore V. Richards, of Har- Tard, has carried out a number of determina- tions of great precision. See also Chemi.stry; AVOGADBO'S Rl'LE ; MoLECtT.ES MOLECTI-AB "Weigiit.s ; PERiomc L.w.

ATOMICITY. See Valency.

AT'OMISM (Gk. tfro/xot, atnmos, uncut, in- <3ivisil)lp, from d, n, priv. -- Te/ineiv, ictnnein, to cut ) . The term used in philosophy to designate the theory that the universe is not an organic whole — i.e. a whole constituted of parts each of which is what it is only in virtue of its essential relation to other parts. Atomism maintains that the universe is an aggregate of elements (atoms), each of which has an intrinsic na- ture, and that this intrinsic nature would re- main unchanged even if there were no universe, but merely this single element existing in abso- lute solitariness. Atomism is often materialistic (see Materialism) ; but spiritualistic or psy- chic atomism has also been stoutly maintained (see Hume), and a dualistie atomism is equally possible, and is the ordinary common-sense view, according to which the material universe is com- posed of irreducible and essentially independent units, while the world of mind is regarded as composed of self-subsistent souls standing only in accidental relations. These souls may fur- ther be regarded as composed of perceptions, emotions, etc., co-existent and successive. This is substantially the view of Locke (q.v. ), when stripped of its theistic accessories. For a recent defense of atomism consult James, The Will to Believe (New York, London, and Bombay, 1897). For adverse criticism consult Green, In- troduction to Hume, in Green and Grote's edi- tion of Hume's philosophical works (London, 1874) ; or in Green, Works (London, 1885-86).

AT'OMISTS. See Democritus; Leucippus; Epicurus.

ATONE'MENT (from aione, literally to be <tf one). Sin produces estrangement from God and renders man liable to the penalty of the law of God. The work of salvation from this double result is wrought by Jesus Christ, who is sent by God as the Saviour of the world. The word atonement, which originally and literally means reconciliation,' is appropriated in the- ology to designate that portion of the saving work which is wrought by the suft'ei'ings and death of Christ. He lays thereby the objective ground of forgiveness, which we could not lay for ourselves, and without which our salvation •coild not be effected. There were, therefore, some obstacles to forgiveness existing apart from the spiritual condition of the sinner him- self. What these were, and how the death of Christ serves to remove them, it is the object of the doctrine of the atonement to explain. So fundamental is the doctrine of the atone- ment in the Christian religion that it does not. like many other doctrines, form a ground of distinction among the different bodies into which the Christian world has been divided. All churches may be said to be equally orthodox on this point. The Church of Rome, the Greek Church, the various Protestant churches — estab- lished and dissenting — all agree, taking their standards as a criterion, in resting the sinner's hope of salvation on the mediatorial work or atonement of Jesus Christ. Nevertheless, there have been from the very beginning of speculative Christian theology, and still continue to be, within the bosom of the several churches, vari- ous ways of conceiving and explaining the exact nature and mode of operation of this mediatorial work. What follows is a brief sketch of the historical development of these speculations. Christianity differs from heathenism in the clear perception which it has of the antagonism that sin has caused between God and man. Heathenism but vaguely conceives of this vari- ance, and con.sequently has but an ill-defined notion of the atonement required, the notion seldom containing more than the idea of a recon- ciled union of the individual man with nature and the universal life. Even where its mythical divinities assume personalit}', it is but an ideal personality without any concrete reality of life, and consequently without any real significance for the conscience. In this state, the abject subjection of man to nature prevents his rising into that sphere of conscious freedom which makes sin sinful, and demands an atonement with one who is Lord both of nature and of man.

In Judaism, man stands above nature, in conscious relation to a personal God, whose written law exhibits the requirements of His relationship with man — requirements which are never met, and which only make him fearfully conscious of the ever-widening breach between him and his God. Thus the law awakened the .sense of guilt and the desire for an atonement — a desire it could never satisfy. The never- ceasing demands of these ever-unfulfilled re- quirements were constantly acknowledged by its whole sacrificial cultus, which expressed the hidden ground of Jewish hope and prophetically pointed to its future manifestation.

The Old Testament Scriptures, as commonly understood, present a gradually enlarging reve- lation of the idea of a suffering and vicarious Messiah, culminating in the prophecy of Isaiah (chap. liii.). Of this the whole sacrificial sys- tem was typical and prophetic (Lev. xvi. 21; xvii. 11: compare Heb. x. 1-18). Modern study of the Old Testament, under the influence of the idea of development, has sometimes emphasized the human element of the sacrificial sj-stem, and denied its divine origin and i^ermanent signifi- cance. But more sober employment of the canons of criticism finds the course of biblical development in favor both of the divine element from the beginning and of its true culmination in the work of Christ.

In the New Testament, Christ is everywhere exhibited as one sent from God for the salvation of the world (John iii. 16, 17) ; and as the condition on the part of man of his obtaining this salvation, we read of the requirement of repentance, faith, and reformation (Matt. iv. 17; V. 3, 11; vi. 12; Mark xvi. 16: Luke xv. 11) ;