The Doctine of Blood Atonement

Question: "Will you kindly explain the meaning of the doctrine of blood atonement and the stand of the Church in relation to capital punishment?"

Answer: The doctrine of blood atonement has reference to the great sacrifice made by Jesus Christ in the shedding of his blood upon the cross. Through that sacrifice the power of death was destroyed, and all mankind receive the blessing of restoration to immortality that they can die no more. When Adam was placed in the Garden of Eden he was immortal and could have lived forever; likewise all things that had been created as well as Adam and Eve ". . . must have remained in the same state in which they were after they were created; and they must have remained forever, and had no end." (2 Nephi 2:22.) Had that kind of existence continued, Adam and Eve could not have fulfilled the first great commandment given them in the garden—to multiply and fill the earth with their posterity,(Genesis 1:28:, 2 Nephi 2:23-25. ) and the great plan of salvation voted upon and accepted in the world of spirits, before the earth was formed, would have failed.(Moses 4:1-4; Abraham 3:22-28.)

When in the garden Adam and Eve were granted the privilege of partaking of the fruit of all the trees except the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They were instructed that if they ate of that tree they should surely die, and their state of immortality would come to an end, and the mortal existence would be ushered in with all its pains, sorrows, sins and pleasures, which we find in the earth today; and they would be forced to live by the sweat of the face. Moreover, this death would bring, not only the separation of spirit and body, but also banishment from the presence of God which is the second death. This commandment they broke, and the fall was introduced bringing blood as the life-giving substance to their mortal bodies, which previously were quickened by Spirit. It is difficult to imagine a worse fate than this which befell Adam and Eve and which was inherited by all mankind. Jacob, son of Lehi, has painted this awful picture in these vivid words:

THE WISDOM OF GOD

O the wisdom of God, his mercy and grace! For behold, if the flesh should rise no more our spirits must become subject to that angel who fell from before the presence of the Eternal God, and became the devil, to rise no more.

And our spirits must have become like unto him, and we become devils, angels to a devil, to be shut out from the presence of our God, and to remain with the father of lies, in misery, like unto himself, yea, to that being who beguiled our first parents, who transformeth himself nigh unto an angel of light, and stirreth up the children of men unto secret combinations of murder and all manner of secret works of darkness.(2 Nephi 9:8-9.)

It was never intended that this terrible fate should be the end of man. He was not sent to this earth to pass through mortal probation to suffer the ills of the flesh, be tempted, tried, and then consigned to eternal damnation, losing his physical body which was given him as the tabernacle for his eternal spirit, and to be joined to that spirit through all eternity. Justice demanded that this broken law, which deprived him of this eternal existence, must be repaired; mercy also was equally as insistent that this restoration should be made. The fall of Adam and Eve was foreknown, and preparation for this restoration had been made long before they had been placed on this earth. In the grand council held in heaven, Jesus Christ voluntarily accepted the mission of Redeemer, to come in the due time of the Father and make the sacrifice that would bring to pass this restoration through the shedding of his blood. He is spoken of in the scriptures as the "Lamb slain from the foundation of the world."(Revelation 13:8; 1 Peter 1:19-20. ) Adam was also chosen in this same council to fulfil his part as the progenitor of the human race. When he came to fulfil his part of the plan, all his former knowledge was taken from him. He had forgotten that he was Michael the archangel, holding great authority in the pre-existence. When the truth was fully revealed to Adam and Eve, and they learned that Jesus Christ had been chosen to be their Redeemer, and also of their posterity, they rejoiced, and Eve said:

Were it not for our transgression we never should have had seed, and never should have known good and evil, and the joy of our redemption, and the eternal life which God giveth unto all the obedient.(Moses 5:11.)

TWOFOLD BENEFITS OF THE ATONEMENT

The atonement of our Savior is twofold in its benefits to mankind through the shedding of his blood. First, all mankind are redeemed from death and will receive the resurrection. This is the free gift of God. Second, it gives to all those who will repent of all their sins, redemption from their sins if they will accept and obey his gospel and endure to the end.

Here is a quotation from Elder Orson Pratt:

The universal redemption of the posterity of Adam from the fall will be fully accomplished after the earth has been filled with its measure of inhabitants, and all men have been redeemed from the grave to immortality, and the earth itself has been changed and made entirely new.

But a universal redemption from the effects of original sin has nothing to do with redemption from our personal sins; for the original sin of Adam, and the personal sins of his children, are two different things. The first was committed by man in his immortal state; the second was committed by man in a mortal state: the former was committed in a state of ignorance of good or evil; the latter was committed by man, having a knowledge of both good and evil. As the sins are different, and committed entirely under different circumstances, so the penalties are different also. The penalty of the first transgression was an eternal separation of body and spirit, and eternal banishment from the presence of Jehovah; while the penalty of our own transgressions does not involve a disunion of body and spirit, but only eternal banishment. The first penalty not only shut man out from the presence of God, but deprived him eternally of a body; the second penalty permits him to retain his body, though in a banished condition. As the penalties are different, so also is the redemption. Redemption from the first penalty is unconditional on the part of man: redemption from the second penalty is conditional. Unconditional redemption is universal; it takes within its scope all mankind; it is as unlimited as the fall; it redeems men from all its effects; it restored to them their bodies. . . .

The children of Adam had no agency in the transgression of their first parents, and therefore they are not required to exercise any agency in their redemption from its penalty: They are redeemed from it without faith, repentance, baptism, or any other act, either of mind or body.

Conditional redemption is also universal in its nature; it is offered to all, but not received by all: it is a universal gift, though not universally accepted: Its benefits can be obtained only through faith, repentance, baptism, the laying on of hands, and obedience to all other requirements of the gospel.

Unconditional redemption is a gift forced upon mankind which they cannot reject, though they were disposed. Not so with conditional redemption; it can be received or rejected according to the will of the creature.

Redemption from the original sin is without faith or works: redemption from our own sins is given through faith and works. Both are gifts of free grace; but while one is a gift forced upon us unconditionally, the other is a gift merely offered to us conditionally. The reception of the one is compulsory; the reception of the other is voluntary. Man cannot, by any possible act, prevent his redemption from the fall, but he can utterly refuse and prevent his redemption from the penalty of his own sins.

The earth, like the posterity of Adam, was cursed because of the original sin, and like them, it will be redeemed unconditionally, and restored again unto the presence of God. So far as the original sin is concerned, mankind and the earth keep pace with each other. When one falls the other falls also. When one is redeemed, the other is redeemed also.

Had there been no other sin but that of Adam's, the redeemed earth would have become the eternal abode of all the posterity of Adam without one exception. But both man and the earth have been still further corrupted by other sins. The posterity of Adam have transgressed the code of laws given since the fall, and subjected themselves to its penalty. This penalty does not interfere with the first penalty. Man will be redeemed from the first before the second will be fully inflicted. When his redemption from the first is complete, then comes the judgment, when his own sins will be enquired into, and not Adam's. As he stands before the judgment seat, he will find himself entirely innocent of Adam's transgression, and entirely redeemed from the effects of it, but he still finds himself guilty of his own individual sins, the penalty of which is a second death, not a dissolution of body and spirit like that of the first death, but a banishment from the presence of God, and from the glory of his power.

Redemption from the second death, as we have already observed, is conditional. Man having voluntarily committed sin, must voluntarily comply with the conditions of redemption; otherwise he must suffer the penalty. If any should feel disposed to doubt whether the second penalty will be inflicted, let them look at the infliction of the first, during the past 6,000 years. The first death with all its attendant evils has extended its ravages among all nations and generations since the first law was broken. If God, then has fulfilled his word in the first provocation to the very letter, why should any one suppose that he will not inflict the penalty of the second provocation?(Millennial Star, Vol. 12, pp. 69-70.)

Paul also taught this doctrine. He said to the Corinthian members of the Church:

If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept.

For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.

For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.(I Corinthians 15:19-22.)

THE SAVIOR IS OUR BEST AUTHORITY

The best authority that we have on the effects of the atonement reaching all mankind is Jesus Christ himself. To the Jews he said, when speaking of his missions:

. . . The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.

For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself:

And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.

Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in their graves shall hear his voice.

And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life: and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.(John 5:25-29.)

Of this universal resurrection through the atonement of Jesus Christ, all the ancient prophets have spoken. In the Book of Mormon we find one of the clearest utterances on this subject by Amulek, when preaching to the people of Ammonihah:

Therefore the wicked remain as though there had been no redemption made, except it be the loosing of the bands of death; for behold, the day cometh that all shall rise from the dead and stand before God, and be judged according to their works.

Now, there is a death which is called a temporal death; and the death of Christ shall loose the bands of this temporal death, that all shall be raised from this temporal death.

The spirit and the body shall be reunited again in its perfect form; both limb and joint shall be restored to its proper frame, even as we now are at this time; and we shall be brought to stand before God, knowing even as we know now, and have a bright recollection of all our guilt.

Now, this restoration shall come to all, both old and young, both bond and free, both male and female, both the wicked and the righteous; and even there shall not so much as a hair of their heads be lost; but every thing shall be restored to its perfect frame, as it is now, or in the body, and shall be brought and be arraigned before the bar of Christ the Son, and God the Father, and the Holy Spirit, which is one Eternal God, to be judged according to their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil.

Now, behold, I have spoken unto you concerning the death of the mortal body, and also concerning the resurrection of the mortal body. I say unto you that this mortal body is raised to an immortal body, that is from death, even from the first death unto life, that they can die no more; their spirits uniting with their bodies, never to be divided; thus the whole becoming spiritual and immortal, that they can no more see corruption.(Alma 11:41-45.)

JESUS HAD POWER TO LAY DOWN HIS LIFE

Jesus is the only Person born into this world that ever had the power to lay down his life and take it again. He said:

I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.

As the Father knoweth me even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.

And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold and one shepherd.

Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life that I might take it again.

No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.(John 10:14-18.)

Again he said:

For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel.

For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.(Ibid., 5:20-21.)

Jesus had the power to lay down his life and take it again because he is the Only Begotten Son of God in the flesh, and from his Eternal Father he obtained life including the power over death. From his mother, a descendant of Adam, he obtained his blood and the power to die. It was essential that the mortal blood, with the seeds of death, should be given back, and that could only be accomplished by an infinite atonement. By infinite atonement we mean an atonement made by one who was infinite or eternal. Therefore it had to be by a Son begotten by the Father; and to accomplish this end Jesus Christ was born into the world.

REDEEMED THROUGH SHEDDING OF BLOOD

Our Savior could not have atoned for Adam's transgression or redeemed mankind from death, except by the shedding of his blood. Neither could we, the children of Adam, be redeemed except through the blood of Jesus Christ. This is clearly stated in the blessing of the sacrament and many other passages of scripture. Justice would have demanded that the atonement for "original sin," that of Adam, should have been atoned for by Adam, and that the individual sins of each of us should be atoned for by our own blood; but to take Adam's blood or our blood as a sacrifice would have been futile. We still would have remained subject to death as we have no power to redeem ourselves. Therefore Jesus volunteered to redeem us because he was not under the curse.

Paul has said, writing to the Hebrews:

And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.(Hebrews 9:22.)

All the sacrifices of old, from the days of Adam to the atonement of Jesus Christ by blood were in the similitude of and a reminder of the great sacrifice, and pointed forward to its fulfilment by Jesus upon the cross.

The Lord instructed Israel that they were not to eat blood:

And whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, that eateth any manner of blood; I will even set my face against that soul that eateth blood, and will cut him off from among his people.

For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar, to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh the atonement for the soul.

Therefore I said unto the children of Israel, No soul of you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger that sojourneth among you eat blood.

And whatsoever man there be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, which hunteth and catcheth any beast or fowl that may be eaten; he shall even pour out the blood thereof, and cover it with dust.

For it is the life of the flesh; the blood of it is for the life thereof: therefore I said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall eat of the blood of no manner of flesh: for the life of all flesh is the blood thereof: whosoever eateth it shall be cut off.(Leviticus 17:10-14.)

CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

It has been the law of the Lord from the beginning that

. . . flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.

And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man.

Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.(Genesis 9:4-6.)

Moreover, Moses reiterated this commandment to Israel as the Lord commanded him, and it has never by divine decree been revoked. The Nephites taught and practiced it.(2 Nephi 9:35; Alma 42:19.) In this, the last dispensation, the Lord has confirmed this penalty upon those who deliberately kill.

President Charles W. Penrose, speaking of capital punishment, has said:

This divine law for shedding the blood of a murderer has never been repealed. It is a law given by the Almighty and not abrogated in the Christian faith. It stands on record for all time—that a murderer shall have his blood shed. He that commits murder must be slain. "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed." I know there are some benevolent and philanthropic people in these times who think that capital punishment ought to be abolished. Yet I think the Lord knows better than they. The law he ordained will have the best results to mankind in general.(Penrose, Charlesw., Blood Atonement, pp.25-26.)

President Penrose then continues:

Well, is there any other sin that a man may commit which is worthy of death? I think there is. I will refer you to one in the Book of Leviticus, 20th chapter and 10th verse.

"And the man that committeth adultery with another man's wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbour's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death."

That was the law of God in the days of Moses. It was the law of God previous to the days of Moses, as you will find by reference to the Book of Genesis. It has been the law of God from the beginning. Some people have an idea that Jesus did away with that law, and they bring up the case of the woman that had been taken in transgression. The object of the Pharisees in bringing the woman to the Savior was that they might catch him in some way. You will find by reading the history of Jesus Christ's ministry on the earth that it was then as it is today— snares are all the time being laid to catch the servants of God. They tried to entrap him in many ways, but he was able to meet them with the wisdom of the Great God; for the Spirit of God was given to him without measure. The woman they brought to him was taken in this great transgression. The Pharisees knew the law of Moses was that she should be put to death. They inquired what Jesus had to say. He stooped down and thought a little while, then wrote with his finger on the ground and exclaimed, "Let him that is without sin cast the first stone. . . ." Did Jesus say the law ought not to be inflicted? No, He asked: "Woman, where are thine accusers?" They were gone. "Neither do I accuse thee." It must be remembered that there must be accusers as well as judges. Jesus set a pattern which judges in these times would do well to follow. He did not act as an attorney for the prosecution or as a witness against the accused as well as a judge to pronounce the sentence. . . .(Ibid., pp. 26-27.)

And now, behold, I speak unto the church. Thou shalt not kill; and he that kills shall not have forgiveness in this world, nor in the world to come.

And, again, I say, Thou shalt not kill; but he that killeth shall die.(D. & C. 42:18-19.)

Is it the prerogative of the Church to inflict the punishment? No! The Lord has given commandment that all offenses worthy of death shall be handled by the courts of the land as declared in the Doctrine and Covenants, "And it shall come to pass, that if any persons among you shall kill they shall be delivered up and dealt with according to the laws of the land; for remember that he hath no forgiveness; and it shall be proved according to the laws of the land."(Ibid., 42:79.)


(Joseph Fielding Smith, Answers to Gospel Questions, 5 vols. [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1957-1966], 1: 191.)