Alma xxxiv and the works and passages cited in the body of this lesson. _SPECIAL TEXT: "And thus we see that all mankind were fallen, and they were in the grasp of justice yea the justice of God, which consigned them forever to be cut off from his presence." (Book of Alma xlii:14.)_ DISCUSSION. _1. Recapitulation:_ Let us now begin the application of our principles to the Atonement. But first a brief recapitulation of them. We have seen in preceding lessons-- That Intelligences, though differing in degree of intelligence are all eternal; and are begotten spirits in a heavenly kingdom; and God is their Father; That the purpose of God with reference to his spirit-offspring is to bring to pass their eternal life and progress and joy; That to bring to pass possible progress and happiness to the spirits of men, union of the spirits with earth elements is necessary, hence earth-birth and earth-life are provided for man; That to get an environment bringing man in contact with sin and suffering and death, all which shall give him the experience essential to his progress--the harmony in the "reign of law" must be broken--there must be violation of law, there must be a fall of man; That the fall of man did not surprise the purposes of God, but furthered them; That violations of law, however ignorantly done or designedly planned, and that even for right ends, involves destruction nevertheless of the harmony of things, and relations, and also involves the transgressor in the penalties inseparably connected with law, and without which law would be of no force at all; That the attributes of God, each complete and perfect, must exist in harmony with each other, no one supplanting another or intruding upon its domain; That a reign of law subsists throughout the universe as well in the moral and spiritual kingdom as in the physical world; That any manifestations of mercy, or special providence prompted by love must not violate the harmony subsisting in the attributes of God, or be contrary to the conception of the universal reign of law; That Love and Mercy, however, must enter into the economy of the earth-order of things; they must get themselves in some way worthily expressed; no divine economy can exist without them, and without such expression; even justice crys aloud for their presence. To get Love and Mercy adequately expressed in the earth-order of things, and in harmony with law, is the burden and mission of the Christ through the Atonement. This is the point to which our previous lessons have led us; and now to the working out of the application of our principles. _2. The Commandment Given and Violated.--Effects:_ The commandment is given, saying: "O. every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."[A] [Footnote A: Gen. ii:16, 17.]