Kitschl  has  argued  that  the  ritual  atonement  moves
entirely  in  the  region  of  nature,  in  the  sphere  of  that  which
man  and  God  are,  so  to  speak,  physically ;  that  man  needs
to  be  covered  by  the  blood  of  sacrifice  when  approaching
God,  because  of  what  he  is  as  a  finite  creature  in  the  pre-
sence of  the  natural  majesty  of  God.  But  the  terminology
appears  to  be  against  this,  which  speaks  of  specific  acts  of
uncleanness,  and  calls  them  sins.  Eiehm,  in  his  valuable
book  on  Old  Testament  Theology,  and  in  his  Essay  on  Atone-
ment, argues  against  this  transference  of  the  operation  of
atonement  into  the  mere  physical  or  natural  region  ;  but
agrees  with  Kitschl  to  this  extent,  that  the  necessity  for
atonement,  for  the  covering  of  the  sinner's  uncleanness  by
blood,  lies  in  the  danger  to  the  sinner  from  the  holiness
of  God,  which  would  react  against  the  sinner's  unclean-
ness  if  he  approached  uncovered  by  blood,  and  destroy  the
sinner.1  That  is,  the  covering  of  the  sinner  is  regarded  as
a  protection  of  him  against  the  reaction  of  the  Divine  holi-
ness, which  would  destroy  him.  But  this  idea,  that  the
necessity  for  covering  by  blood  lies  in  the  danger  to  the
sinner  from  the  reaction  of  the  Divine  holiness  against  him

1  See  the  discussion  in  Ritschl's  Die  christtiche  Lehre  von  der  Rechtfertic/ung
und  der  Versohnung,  vol.  ii.  ;  Hofmann's  Schriftbeweis,  ii.  191  ff.  ;  Weiss's
Biblical  Theology  of  the  New  Testament,  Clark's  tr.,  i.  419  ff.,  and  ii.  220  ff.;
etc.— ED.
