Wednesday, March 14, 2018

Robert Millet on The Cross in Restoration Scripture


This afternoon I read Robert Millet’s new book, The Atoning One (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2018). I am not a fan of Millet’s works, as they tend to be very superficial, and in recent years, he has accepted, rather uncritically, Protestant concepts of soteriology (e.g., a forensic understanding of justification and the atonement). For instance, he holds, rather uncritically, to a strong penal understanding of the atonement, no doubt due, in part, to his reliance upon Protestant authors, of John 19:30 and 2 Cor 5:21. To see why such is dead-wrong, be sure to pursue:



For more on the atonement, as well as interacting with other Latter-day Saints who have rather uncritically accepted a lot of Protestant understandings of the atonement, see:


Notwithstanding, there are some parts of the book that are decent, such as his discussion of the positive references to the “cross” in uniquely LDS Scriptures. Indeed, in early LDS history, the symbol of the cross was much more common than it is now, with its lesser role in modern times being based, in part, to a strong anti-Catholicism from the 1950s that resulted in the cross playing a lesser and lesser role in LDS symbolism and discourse. An excellent study of this was Michael Reed’s book (based on his MA dissertation), Banishing the Cross: The Emergence of a Mormon Taboo (John Whitmer Books, 2012).

On pp. 72-75, Millet writes:

The Cross in Restoration Scripture

The Bible does not stand alone in testifying of the significance of the cross. Much like Paul, Lehi’s son Jacob called upon the followers of the Redeemer to experience for themselves the power of the cross: “Wherefore, we would to God that we could persuade all men not to rebel against God, to provoke him to anger, but that all men would believe in Christ, and view his death, and suffer his cross and bear the shame of the world” (Jacob 1:8 emphasis added). That is one grand experiential verse! In my mind, to “view his death” is to focus on that singular death, ponder and reflect upon it, fasten upon it. To “suffer his cross” is to be willing to stand up and speak out as a Christian and also to deny oneself of all ungodliness and every worldly lust (see JST, Matthew 16:26). To “bear the shame of the world” is to be unfazed and unaffected by the ridicule and rejection of worldly and influential people and to heed them not (see 1 Nephi 8:33).

Notice the language of the risen Lord to the people of the Book of Mormon: “Behold I have given unto you my gospel, and this is the gospel which I have given unto you—that I came into the world to do the will of my Father, because my Father sent me. And my Father sent me that I might be lifted up upon the cross; and aftr that I had been lifted up upon the cross, that I might draw all men unto me, that as I have been lifted up by men even so should men be lifted up by the Father, to stand before me, to be judged of their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil” (3 Nephi 27:13-14; emphasis added).

The testimony of the Doctrine and Covenants is that “Jesus was crucified by sinful men for the sins of the world, yea, for the remission of sins unto the contrite heart” (D&C 21:9; emphasis added; see also 35:2). In beginning a brief passage on various spiritual gifts, a revelation in the Doctrine and Covenants affirms: “To some it is given by the Holy Ghost to know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that he was crucified for the sins of the world. To others it is given to believe on their words, that they also might have eternal life if they continue faithful” (D&C 46:13-14; emphasis added; see also 53:2; 138:35). President Joseph F. Smith reminded us that “having been born anew, which is the putting away of the old man sin, and putting on of the man Christ Jesus, we have become soldiers of the Cross, having enlisted unto the banner of Jehovah for time and for eternity” (Gospel Doctrine [Salt Lake city: Deseret Book, 1971], 91).

Abinadi, in offering prophetic commentary on the greatest Messianic chapter in the Old Testament (Isaiah 53), and if our Lord: “And thus the flesh becoming subject to the Spirit, or the Son to the Father . . . . suffereth temptation, and yieldeth not to the temptation but suffereth himself to be mocked, and scourged, and cast out, and disowned by his people” (Mosiah 15:5; emphasis added). To which temptation did Jesus refuse to yield? Well, to all of them, you respond. That’s correct: The Savior was singles, perfect, without flaw in his character. In fact, other than the grand act of Atonement itself, he was never even required to forgive anyone, because he had never taken personal offense at anyone. Imagine that! But Abinadi seems to be referring to a more specific temptation, something far more subtle but infinitely more poignant. Our precious Redeemer refused to yield to the temptation—and it must have been a monumental one—to shrink from “the bitter cup,” to stop when the going got roughest in Gethsemane or on the cross, to refuse to finish his “preparations unto the children of men” (D&C 19:19). He had a choice, you know. He would have backed down, backed out, and backed away. But he did not. Why? Because he loves us . . . He who had known us before we were even born came to know us infinitely better as he knelt in Gethsemane and as he hung on the cross of Golgoltha. We come to know those we serve (see Mosiah 5:13; compare 1 John 2:3-4). And we certainly come to love and treasure those for whom we sacrifice. Conversely, the depth of the pain one feels in behalf of a loved one is intimately tied to the depth of the love he or she bears for that loved one. Thus only one filled with infinite and eternal love could perform an infinite and eternal sacrifice.