The Atonement: The Congregational Union Lecture for 1875

Originally, this Biblical study was delivered as a series of lectures to students and believers present at the Congregational Union Memorial Hall in England. R. W. Dale sought to share decades of accumulated study and wisdom to seekers of Christ, and clarify the circumstances and significance of the death of Jesus upon the cross. The treatment given by Dale is thoroughly meticulous and therefore lengthy; in total ten lectures are accompanied by annotations appended as endnotes to each, with further long notes present in the appendix.

The Biblical scholarship of R. W. Dale is in full display in this work. Chapter by chapter and verse by verse, we are taken through words pertinent to the death of Jesus and the atonement. Analysis of the Gospels and the appraisal of the Apostle Paul are accompanied with a deeper reading of various Bible passages, plus the meditations of Saint Peter and other Christian figures. The very theology of Christianity is explained at length; Christ declared that His blood be shed for the remission of sins, this phrase alone proving a wellspring for devotion.