The Atonement (Hugh Martin)

The Atonement 

In Its Relations to the Covenant, the Priesthood, the Intercession of our Lord

We enthusiastically welcome back Hugh Martin’s outstanding book on the atonement, one of the finest ever penned.

The great distinctive feature of The Atonement is the emphasis it places on the importance of a covenant perspective, and its focus on the work of Christ as priest. Martin was adamant that these are essential to the right interpretation and proclamation of the doctrine of the atonement.

For anyone who wants to learn to think soundly about Christ’s atonement, these pages will open up new panoramic vistas.  Martin’s writings have been to known to fill reader’s hearts with love and praise.

Hugh Martin’s most significant work

The Atonement is the most significant contribution to the Christian church by Hugh Martin, an author of extraordinary penetration and great power. At a time when the preaching of the cross has been displaced from many pulpits by talk about man, and where experience-orientated theology has come to reign, Martin’s exposition of the atonement is a book that demands attention.

In these pages the author also exposes errors in theology that empty the cross of its meaning and power. In doing so he notably expounds the concept of the double imputation of sin and righteousness.  He exposes the weaknesses of the theology of F. W. Robertson and treats the relationship between the atonement and the moral law.

Hugh Martin was a man who thought through the truth from first principles, always sensitive to the text of Scripture. His writings are characterized by a powerful, original, compelling, sometimes blazing light and gospel logic that demands and requires the closest attention and reflection. The way in which he penetrates to the heart of the work of Christ and then expounds the gospel out of its true centre calls for our best thinking and humblest spirits. For anyone who wants to learn what it is to think about Christ’s atonement these pages will open up new vistas and indeed whole panoramas that will, when gazed on with a loving and humble mind, fill the heart with love and praise.

Contents

• Foreword by John C. A. Ferguson and Sinclair B. Ferguson
• Preface

1. Atonement the Covenant of Grace
2. Federal Theology
3. Christ’s Priestly Office
4. Christ’s Priestly Action in His Death
5. Atonement and Intercession, Part 1: The Direct Argument
6. Part 2: The Inverse Argument
7. Atonement and Remission
8. The Counter-Imputations of Sin and Righteousness
9. Mr. Robertson of Brighton’s Views of Vicarious Sacrifice
10. Atonement, and the Distinctive Peculiarity of Moral Law

• Appendix: A Discourse on God’s Blessedness and His Statutes

About the Author

Hugh Martin (1822-1885) combined a brilliant analytical and mathematical mind with a child-like heart which rested in Christ. Born and raised in Aberdeen, he gained the top prizes in mathematics at the University there before going on to study for the ministry. He cast in his lot with those who left the Established Church at the Disruption and served at Panbride (Carnoustie) and Free Greyfriars, Edinburgh, until illness forced his retirement from the ministry at the age of 42.

Thereafter, he devoted himself, despite recurring ill health, to writing, preaching and continued involvement in church issues. In 1870 his book The Atonement was published, stressing the substitutionary nature of the atonement as being grounded in the covenant of grace. In recognition of his achievements, Edinburgh University conferred a Doctorate of Divinity on him in 1872.

Sherman Isbell has described Martin’s ‘eloquent theological interpretations of Bible characters and of Christ’s Gethsemane experience’ (Dictionary of Scottish Church History and Theology, Edinburgh, 1993).  Martin is also widely appreciated for his commentary on Jonah and his sermons The Shadow of Calvary and Christ for Us.