"Next we come to Athanasius, who, speaking of the consent of the Old Testament to the fundamental doctrines of the New, says: 'What Moses taught, these things his predecessor Abraham had preserved; and what Abraham had preserved, with those things Enoch and Noah were well acquainted; for they made a distinction between the clean and the unclean [animals], and were acceptable to God. Thus also in like manner Abel bore testimony; for he knew what he had learned from Adam, and Adam himself taught only what he had previously learned from the Lord" (Synod. Nicen. contr. Haer, Arian, Decret., Opp. i, 403).[A] [Footnote A: Ibid.] (c) _Augustine_: Bp. of Hippo. Born 354 A. D.; died 430. "Augustine, after expressly referring the origin of sacrifice to the divine command, more distinctly evolves his meaning by saying: 'The prophetic immolation of blood, testifying from the very commencement of the human race the future passion of the Mediator, is a matter of deep antiquity inasmuch as Abel is found in Holy Scripture to have been the first who offered up his prophetic immolation (Cont. Faust. Manich. Onp. vi:145). These testimonies certainly vindicate the opinion of the divine origin of primitive sacrifice from the charge of being a modern innovation, with no voice of antiquity in its favor."[A] [Footnote A: Kitto, Vol. II, p. 661.] LESSON X. (Scripture Reading Exercise.) THE FACT OF THE ATONEMENT IN NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES.[A] ANALYSIS. I. The Atonement Considered as a Fact. II. The Testimony to the Fact. 1. Gabriel; 2. John the Baptist; 3. The Christ; 4. The Judean Apostles: (a) Paul, (b) Peter, (c) John. REFERENCES. St. Luke, Ch. i; also Heb. ix and x, and all the New Testament citations in the text of this lesson--the context of these passages should also be considered. Richard-Little Compendium, Art. "Atonement," pp. 8-13, and all its references. Mediation and Atonement (Taylor), Chs. iii, iv, v and vi. The Gospel (Roberts), Ch. ii (3rd Edition). _SPECIAL TEXT: "And almost all things are by the law purged with blood and without shedding of blood is no remission." (Heb. ix:22.)_ [Footnote A: "New Testament Scriptures," as here used means more than the New Testament of the Bible. It means that New Testament of course, but that plus the Book of Mormon books written after the birth of Messiah, beginning with III Nephi, and also the immediate scriptures of the New Dispensation, viz., the Doctrine and Covenants.] DISCUSSION.